Cheap, Easy Decor Elements from Things You Have

by Sherry Holetzky | More from this Blogger

13 Jan 2006 12:50 PM

Whether you have a tight decor budget or you just like to be creative, you can use things you already have around the house to make interesting decor elements. These ideas are really cheap and easy to do, but they don't look cheap.

New Candleholders

If your favorite pair of wine glasses is no longer a pair, you can still use the remaining glass. Use it or any other attractive stemware, bar glasses, or bowls to hold candles. Votives or tea candles can be placed inside then lit to create a warm effect. For table decorations, simply arrange several different shapes, sizes, and colors of glasses and fill them with new candles. Votives and tea candles are very inexpensive, so you can create an incredibly simple centerpiece or tablescape for mere pennies.

Baskets for Attractive Storage

Baskets have grown in popularity over the years, leading many of us to purchase quite a few of them. If you have baskets lying around that you don't use, find new uses for them. Fill a basket with paper napkins and place it on the kitchen table instead of using a typical napkin holder. Line a basket with pretty fabric and place it in your bathroom to hold hair accessories. Place a large basket on the floor or the back of the toilet and fill it with rolls of toilet paper. You can find all kinds of great ways to use empty baskets. They come in handy and make an attractive storage solution.

Towel Rugs and Mats

Make those old towels into rugs and bathmats. Cut the towels into strips lengthwise, removing any stained or heavily worn areas. Tack the strips to yard sticks with thumbtacks. Weave the remaining strips through the tacked down pieces, alternating in an over/under fashion. When you are done weaving, begin sewing the pieces together, removing the thumbtacks as you go. This will give you a unique throw rug or bathmat. For backing, sew the woven piece to another towel or other heavy piece of fabric.

Learn more about Sherry Holetzky

Sherry Holetzky is a work at home mom and freelance writer. Married to her best friend, Sherry and her husband are raising their family in a quiet rural setting in the beautiful Ozark Mountains.

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