When decorating, I typically like to make use of my collections or items I have on hand in the house. I knew exactly where I was going to do my Halloween display and had an idea of what items of my own I would use. All I needed was some Halloween inspiration and I found it at my local Family Dollar store.

Some purple lights, some witch garland…and a couple of bags of candy and…

Ta-da! Halloween display complete.

You can always decorate for less when shopping at Family Dollar.

I bought this horrendous plastic faux gold mirror last month at a thrift store for $6.99.

I originally thought I would paint it a lovely shade of lime green…or perhaps hot pink…but opted to use it at the head of the stairs…

…and figured white would be best.

My child complains that the hallway now looks like a “baby’s room”, but I’m happy with it…for now. That’s the joy of paint, it can be changed in a few short hours!

I installed one in my bedroom and will use the other on the patio (that is, if the weather ever cooperates). Even though they are a bit time consuming to make, I love the look of them so much I may even make another for my hallway!

I’ve been wanting to replace my giant, cottage-looking armoire that held my tv for some time now and I knew this piece would make the perfect contemporary tv console. So…with a little paint and some new drawer pulls…let me introduce you to my new tv console…

I’m thrilled with the results. It’s a much needed change from the old armoire, plus, it makes the living room look so much bigger.

My living room walls have been Martha Stewart’s Hot Chocolate (once upon a time when her paint was available at Kmart) with two accent walls in Wal-Mart’s American Elm, for thirteen years. Far too long to stick with the same color, in my opinion.

I knew I wanted to go with a gray for the living room but, oy, there are oh-so-many to choose from. I love Benjamin Moore’s Chelsea Gray but was afraid it would be too dark. I finally settled with BM’s Galveston Gray, but because I’m so thrifty and refuse to spend an excessive amount of money on paint I pulled out my Wal-Mart ColorPlace fan deck (I’ve heard that Sherwin Williams makes this paint for Wal-Mart and I’ve used it in several rooms in my home without hesitation). Fortunately, (and this rarely happens) Wal-Mart’s Ashland gray was pretty darn close to BM’s Galveston Gray. Twenty six dollars and four hours later…I’m in love with the new living room color!

Cutting in with Ashland gray

Cutting in with Ashland gray, covering American Elm & Hot Chocolate

Love this color!

Pardon the mess, now I need to get my living room back in order and take some proper pictures. Looks like I’ll have plenty of time to do that with this continued humidity.

The least expensive and quickest way to change any decor is PAINT. I am constantly changing my mind about how I want a particular room to look and the first step I always take is to grab a bunch of swatches (hey, they’re free!) at my local paint store (True Value, Lowes or Home Depot).

Next, before actually making the big change, I ‘live’ with the color for a few days. I take the swatches and place them next to the molding (if you can cram a swatch in between a bit of the molding that’s great, otherwise you can use just a bit of tape to adhere it to the wall).

Once I’ve decided on a color its’ off to the paint store. You want to make sure you get the correct finish for your project. My rule of thumb is as follows:

Flat finish: ceilings and hallways with little traffic (this finish is harder to clean than those with more of a sheen – I prefer to use it only on ceilings).

Eggshell: ceilings, walls in living rooms and dining rooms.

Satin: walls; particularly in kids rooms, bedrooms (this finish is suited to light scrubbing and washing).

Semi Gloss: doors, trim, cabinets, walls in high traffic areas: kitchen and bathroom (this finish withstands water and frequent cleaning).

Glossy: trim and accent furniture (because this has such a shiny finish and magnifies surface imperfections I actually prefer not to use this finish).

Once your paint color is mixed make sure that the salesperson makes a test swatch for you to ensure the color is correct. Always purchase enough paint for your project. Each time a color is mixed it will come out differently so it is important to have enough of one color mixed at once. It’s always better to have too much paint than not enough (you can always find another use for the leftover paint). I underestimated the amount of red paint I’d need for my dining room and when I went back and had a second gallon mixed, to my surprise, when I put it on my walls the color didn’t even come close to the red I had purchased the day before! I ended up running back to the store, having two more gallons of red mixed and having to repaint the entire dining room for a third time. Ugh!

Many stores are now offering paint in small sample sizes so you can test out the color on your walls before you make a final decision.

Some of my favorite paints:

Martha Stewart Valspar

Benjamin Moore

Behr

Don’t forget to purchase high quality brushes in a variety of sizes…and have fun!!