?Chic on the Cheap

???Now that summer is winding down, the everyday grind will start picking up. Vacations will soon be over, kids are going back to school, and the weather is cooling down. This is usually the time when people get lazy around the house and starting letting stacks of old mail and magazines pile up on the counter. The grass grows very high around the property, and the house starts to become a mess. However, this year, don’t fall into that trap. Let this be the year that your home stays in tiptop shape.
When most people think about maintaining their home and making it look elegant, it is often thought that it will be a costly endeavor. But that does not have to be the case. There are numerous ways to make your house classy, while keeping the money in your wallet. Once your house is in perfect form and you have saved lots of money, you will want to use the extra cash to entertain and show off your new pad.
An obvious way to save money is to do the work yourself. Since first impressions are extremely important, it is essential to manicure your lawn, trim overgrown hedges, and plant flowers around the entrance of your house. This may require a lawn mower, hedge clippers, and a trip to the local nursery, or maybe even the work of local gardeners. The total cost after buying a used lawn mower and hedge clippers and flowers will be a couple hundred dollars, but the outcome will be well worth the small price to pay, especially if you can borrow the tools from a neighbor. After all, curb appeal is crucial.
While your guests are walking up your beautiful path, seeing flowers bloom in the garden, and the shining freshly cut grass, the next thing they will notice will be the house itself. Therefore, make sure the house has been painted recently. If you do the scraping, priming, and painting around the house and on the front door yourself, you will give your house a nice look and save lots of money. A nice touch for the front door would be to have a welcome mat and a seasonal wreath hanging from the door. An excellent way to use what you already have would be to make the wreath from yard clippings.
Fancy numerals hanging by the front door will work well, too. The numbers will also come in handy when your guests are shocked by your home’s new aesthetic appeal and do a double take to make sure it is actually your house. After they see the numbers, the guests will know they are not mistaken and are at your new and improved digs.
Once the outside area blows your guests away, don’t lose them when they enter your home. After all, this is where you live, so it should be nice. Flowers in a vase on the kitchen table will add life to your house as well as color. Shabby Chic furniture is in style, but instead of buying the expensive furniture, just buy used furniture that looks Shabby Chic. You’ll save money and be trendy. A good place to buy furniture, such as a brass bed, and other trinkets for the home are at garage sales all around the Hamptons. There are some good items being sold for inexpensive prices every weekend at the yard sales.
Using what you already have is key. For those of you who enjoy pasta sauce in a jar, take the Mason jar and glue the lids to a wooden plank. Then mount the wood as a shelf and store anything in the jars, whether it will be tea in the kitchen, buttons in the laundry room, or nails in the garage.
In the bedroom, buy two sets of inexpensive sheets. Sleep on one set – they can be hidden from the critical visitor with a fancy bedspread and pillowcase, and only you have to know you’re cuddled up in a bargain. The other set of sheets can turn into matching window treatments with a little work, if you know how to sew. Fresh curtains will add to the bedroom. Framed artwork or photos you have taken will add to the room and impress others with your skill. And don’t forget to put fresh towels and potpourri in the bathroom.
Now that the maintenance to your home is complete, sit back and enjoy a glass of wine. Just make sure that you keep the bottle and put it on the windowsill as a decoration. Remember, a good way to save money is to use what you already have.
–Justin DeMarco