Free or nearly-free ways to make our home pleasant?

August 18, 2011 2:00 PM

Free or nearly-free ways to make our home pleasant?

I want to make our home more attractive, welcoming, and pleasant, but don't have a ready supply of $20 here and $50 there to spend on "cheap" decor and crafts.

Aside from cleaning and organizing, how can I make our home a lovely place to be on a tight budget? Areas I would like to address:

Smell: is there a way to make the house smell fresher? Keeping the cat box clean and washing the dishes and counters every night isn't cutting it. And after I get it smelling like nothing, how can I make it smell subtly pleasant? (I LOVE the smell of a very few expensive candles, but most home fragrances give me a headache.)

Appearance: are there things I can do or make with materials frequently at hand, free, or extremely cheap? If I had money, I'd buy lighting, large vases and stuff to go in them, wall decor, pillows/throw, curtains/rods, missing furniture (dining table and chairs, side table, coffee table, patio chairs), new furniture (daybed, lounge chairs, ottoman), plants/pots, an attractive caddy for bath toys, etc. This stuff is way out of my reach, but how much could I do, given patience and work? (One thing did for our little girl's room was to use a branch cut from our tree as a curtain rod.)

Function: are there things I should consider that make functioning in our home easier? I put a lot of thought into placement of stuff in the kitchen. What other things make using your home easy and thoughtless?

Other: what am I not thinking of?

"Free" is a tall order, and I know it's not realistic for many things, but I'd love help thinking outside of the box. I don't have sewing skills or a machine, but we have a good set of tools and some artistic skill. If it matters, my taste leans strongly toward a clean-lined (but not hard or cold), modern style with some eclectic and rustic (but not shabby or cutesy) elements.

Specific tips and general resources are enthusiastically welcomed.

posted by moira to home & garden (46 answers total)

Smell: is there a way to make the house smell fresher?

Baking. Especially bread and chocolate chip cookies.
posted by Rock Steady at 2:02 PM on August 18, 2011 [4 favorites]

Smell: simmer orange peel and a cinnamon stick in an open frying pan, or bake bread all day.

Appearance: Unless you only have a taste for new furniture, you should be able to find plenty of charming items on Craigslist or from family/friends upgrading. We hardly spent anything to get all of our furniture. With a little stain or paint you can get any colors/appearances you want. I don't know if you have children, but for their rooms and areas of the house, any kind of craft hung on the wall looks fine and appeals to them.

Function: Oil squeaky things and tighten loose things. That's half of it. We have a basket of cleaning stuff that makes it easy to come into a room and clean it in just a few minutes. Pay attention to how people are trying to use your furniture and arrange accordingly.
posted by michaelh at 2:08 PM on August 18, 2011 [2 favorites]

Smell: is there a way to make the house smell fresher?

Cedar mulch from a home improvement store (cheap, not free), if you like the smell of cedar.
posted by goethean at 2:08 PM on August 18, 2011

By children's craft I mean their drawings, colored tissue paper, posters of planets, etc. Things that barely cost a dollar.
posted by michaelh at 2:09 PM on August 18, 2011

1) snag an invite to your local FreeCycle. It's a website devoted to helping locals give things away to locals. Mine has probably expired, but I'll bet someone on the green can hook you up.

2) Keep an eye on curbside collection. Seriously: People throw out beautiful, serviceable things every. single. day. (BONUS if you are in/near a college town, because students just don't care what they ditch, since in many cases Mom & Pop are paying for them.) A lot of people think this is just going too far, but I am telling you, if your budget is $0.00, you can get amazing stuff just by swinging by the apartment complexes at the end of each month & just taking a peek at what the moveouts have left by the dumpsters.

3) Keep an "art supplies" box & spend $5 on a glue gun. If you are at all crafty you can have some awesome good fun using bits & pieces of things to make other things fancier.
posted by Ys at 2:10 PM on August 18, 2011 [2 favorites]

Lots of cleaning products are subtly good-smelling now: Method and Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day both will get your house clean and give off a slight pleasant fragrance when you're through. I love Mrs. Meyer's Lemon Verbena scent.

Plants are definitely the way to make your house look welcoming -- things like pothos and ivy are cheap and unfussy. They grow very quickly and look good in most decor schemes.

Oh, and curbside collection is great...until you discover you have accidentally welcomed bedbugs into your life. Pass up any curbside upholstered items, and be very choosy and careful about other items, clean and vacuum them thoroughly before bringing them into your beloved house!
posted by apparently at 2:14 PM on August 18, 2011

Flowering plants and green plants. Vases abound in thrift shops; get a few and then put pine or other pleasant-smelling branches in them. Wash your windows, you'll be amazed at the difference in the quality of light.

Seconding freecycle, but set up an email account just for that because you'll be inundated!
posted by mareli at 2:15 PM on August 18, 2011 [1 favorite]

The number one way i make our house feel more inviting is to switch off every overhead light, and switch on lamps instead. It makes such a difference to the whole feel of the room, and it doesn't matter if the lamp is a cheap one or expensive one. If you can get Freecycle, that's a great way to get lamps for free, or a Goodwill might have them for pennies as well.
posted by ukdanae at 2:15 PM on August 18, 2011 [9 favorites]

Yep, definitely join FreeCycle and make sure you monitor the e-mails closely--good stuff goes fast.

Have you checked your local thrift stores and discount stores (e.g., T.J. Maxx, Ross, Tuesday Morning)? Those are cheap places for home decor items. Cheap sheets--our Ross here always seems to have tons of them--can be dyed and used as curtains, to make pillow covers, etc. Since you don't sew, you can use iron-on hem tape to do hems, fabric glue to do seams.

Check home improvement stores for paint "mistakes" for cheap.

And always be sure to open your curtains and blinds; it's a small thing, but sunlight makes everything look and feel better.
posted by WorkingMyWayHome at 2:20 PM on August 18, 2011 [1 favorite]

I am in love with these embroidery samplers.

You can get embroidery supplies for insanely cheap at any big-box craft store: the cheapest variety of wood hoops are a buck, a set of needles is $2, and skeins of floss are two or three for a dollar. For fabric, you can use any old scraps (preferably woven). And you can just display 'em in the hoop.

They take time and talent, but the price can't be beat.
posted by Metroid Baby at 2:24 PM on August 18, 2011 [3 favorites]

get a pothos.

chances are you have a friend with a pothos - what you want is 2-6 of the vines with 6-10 leaves on it. you'll rip off the bottom 3 or 4 (right where the leaves attaches to the stem, it's pretty easy to see where it pops off). fill a jelly jar with water, put the vines in the water. when it starts sprouting water roots (they'll come out of where you tore the leaves off), give 'em another week and then plant them in a pot with drainage (or, make a pot with drainage - the right drill and an old big mug could do it).

they are dead simple to care for, you can propagate them many times. i have 3 in pots and 2 in jelly jars right now. our master pothos could give up another 6 rounds of cuttings before it'd start to look bare.

they've really helped freshen up my home and they help with the clean air which helps with the smell. they also make me open my windows more because i love it when the leaves are all reaching for the sun.
posted by nadawi at 2:24 PM on August 18, 2011 [7 favorites]

I'm not sure how much this would help, but I heard that if you hang tea bags on the back of your bathroom door, it will scent it.

Ah - here
posted by needlegrrl at 2:25 PM on August 18, 2011 [3 favorites]

W/o photos, it's hard to tell you. Gardenweb.com has a very helpful Decorating forum, and you can post photos, but they might skew too old for you. Not everyone on the site has a McMansion, which is nice and almost no one has unlimited cash.
posted by Ideefixe at 2:26 PM on August 18, 2011

I have found some very intriguing ideas on Curbly and Dollar Store Crafts. For instance, this lamp tutorial I found through Curbly recently caught my fancy.
posted by Squeak Attack at 2:31 PM on August 18, 2011 [2 favorites]

Minimalism, if you're keen, and use of space!! My place was smallish, and I was on a budget, and it was completely crammed with odds and ends. I didn't buy anything, just got rid of a lot of stuff or re-organised it so I had mostly empty floorspace.

A few wabi-sabi (google it!) inspired second hand pieces for decoration around the house added some detail in otherwise open spaces and select potted herbs just to give some aroma to the place (instead of buying any fresheners, plus I could eat them!)
posted by bbtomo at 2:33 PM on August 18, 2011

Get rid of clutter. Notice that beautiful, classy, welcoming homes have stuff in them, but are arranged sparingly and with thought.

I got one of those scented bamboo sticks in a jar things which was way too strong for me. So I split the liquids into 3 smaller jars, divided the bamboo sticks among the 3, and voila, I am able to put them in 3 different rooms, the smell is a lot less intense and quite nice now.

Seconding plants that propogate easily. Pothos, spider, coleus and jade plants all need little care and are easy to pinch off, throw in some water, and plant in a few weeks.
posted by HeyAllie at 2:34 PM on August 18, 2011

I'm going to suggest Pinterest.com for ideas. There are just so many things. And so many of them are super cheap and/or super crafty.
posted by bilabial at 2:37 PM on August 18, 2011

Oh, and Aunt Peaches make a lot of exuberant decor out of tissue paper, coffee filters, and plastic bags if you want a little drama. I also liked her shiny pillow she featured recently - made out of an old skirt.
posted by Squeak Attack at 2:40 PM on August 18, 2011 [1 favorite]

Nthing curbside shopping. And just about anything can be made to look good by painting it either all black or all white. Not just furniture- I've painted a statue of Venus de Milo black.

Some pretty nice rustic furniture can be built from pallets.
posted by MexicanYenta at 2:56 PM on August 18, 2011

Smell: Arm & Hammer baking soda can be sprinkled on carpets and rugs before vacuuming for fragrance-free air freshening. Use liberally; it's super cheap.
posted by ImproviseOrDie at 3:03 PM on August 18, 2011 [2 favorites]

In my kitchen window I have my colored glass 'collection'. I'm not spending hundreds of dollars on depression ware or anything, most of it is free empties (small wine bottles, etc.) or dollar-store finds that cost a buck or two. They're mis-matched enough to look interesting without looking like a pile of junk. And it's pretty when the light shines through them!

Potted hyacinths smell awesome. You can get a bunch of bulbs for cheap off-season and force them to bloom one at a time (Intructions should be easy to find online.)
posted by Green Eyed Monster at 3:09 PM on August 18, 2011

Look at decorating books and magazines at the library or watch (sparingly) HGTV. If you like a room, analyze what you like about it. Just rearranging the furniture can make a huge difference.

You don't have a sewing machine but you can learn to hand sew a seam. It is not difficult and it is something to do if you are watching tv. Sofa pillows are ridiculously overpriced but you can find material in a thrift store or cut up an old skirt and hand sew a cover for a cushion.

If you have a lot of mismatched wood furniture, don't be afraid to paint it to make it look more coordinated. A dining table can be made out of a door and cinder/glass blocks for legs. I reuse a lot of tin cans (labels soaked off) for small item storage since I have the type of can opener that doesn't leave a sharp edge. And those plants? Group them together; don't spread them out all around the room. There are a ton of books and blogs about decorating on the cheap.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 3:12 PM on August 18, 2011

I am definitely willing to learn how to sew by hand!
posted by moira at 3:34 PM on August 18, 2011

It sounds like you have cats...if you decide to get plants, make sure they're not toxic to the kitties.

Curtains and pillows are great projects when you're learning to sew.

I love the smell of Murphy's Oil Soap in my place when I clean, and it's relatively cheap.

Ground coffee is good for getting smells out of the air.

If you have a Big Lots store in your area, go and at least browse. They often have odds and ends that turn out to be really useful in decorating/organizing.
posted by corey flood at 4:05 PM on August 18, 2011

My husband and I made "art" by collecting pictures from magazines of colorful textures, then tearing them into pieces and making a rainbow collage thing. We eventually bought a $10 frame for it. You can also frame squares of fabric, or colored paper, and get a neat effect.

Get crafty!

Also: Target's Dollar Spot section. I found some neat pictures and clear frames there a few years ago.
posted by peanut_mcgillicuty at 4:08 PM on August 18, 2011

If you have a cat, I'd avoid the pothos. We have dogs and a cat, and one of our dogs recently decided out of the blue to nibble on a toxic houseplant, so when we got home from the vet, we got rid of all of our potentially toxic houseplants, including the pothos.

We did get to keep our jade tree and umbrella plants. I'd recommend either of those. Jade is crazy easy to start, too.

If you have any kind of a yard, one thing that makes my house much nicer is line drying my laundry, especially sheets. I put some white vinegar in a Downy ball as a fabric softener, then dry them outside, and they smell so much nicer than they do out of a dryer. And it's even better than free.

This is not exactly free, but I also make a room and linen spray out of vodka, water, and essential oils (orange and mint are my favorites). It's clean smelling and not overpowering.

Also, when you're in a hardware or home improvement store, check out the mismixed paints. They're usually deeply discounted, and if you're a little flexible, they can work really nicely. I've found anywhere from quarts to a five gallon bucket that I've used in my house.
posted by ernielundquist at 4:10 PM on August 18, 2011 [2 favorites]

I second the Mrs. Meyer's cleaning products - lemon verbena is my favorite as well. They seem a little pricey at first, but get the Countertop Spray for your nightly wipe-down, then when it runs out make your own refill by diluting the All-Purpose Cleaner. It'll last forever that way.

I made cheap wall art by stretching sheets and pretty fabric over wood frames. The frames are really easy to make - just go to the lumber section at Home Depot, find (2) 6' pieces at whatever width looks right to you, and have them cut them in half for you there. Voila - (4) 3' lengths! Glue these together, let dry, then stretch your fabric tightly over the frame, nailing it in place in back. You can sometimes find really pretty old sheets at thrift stores for almost nothing.
posted by ella wren at 4:15 PM on August 18, 2011 [1 favorite]

This isn't necessarily cheap cheap, but you can knit and crochet some pretty cool (or awful, depending) stuff for the home. I really like sock yarn, because it comes in super fun colors, but also because you get more knitting time for your money.

Lion Brand Sock-Ease yarn is actually decent enough for the money, and you can make coffee cup holders, pillow cases, etc with it.

If knitting is not a skill you want to learn, you can sew some pillow covers by hand. Ruffles are super in right now, and doing them by hand, I'm told, is a cinch. For cheap fabric, check out the bedding section of your local thrift store. Awesome tacky sheets! Just be sure to wash them in hot hot water before letting them touch anything else in your home. See also Marshalls or Ross for cheap sheets to use for pillows (cruise the clearance aisles, sheets end up there every now and then).
posted by bilabial at 4:27 PM on August 18, 2011

Smell: Any time you use a lemon, lime or orange, when you're done with it grind up the rind in the garbage disposal. (Um, if you have a disposal.)

Appearance: I really love Ikea's paper napkins for sprucing up the dining table.
posted by BlahLaLa at 5:01 PM on August 18, 2011

Definitely Nthing the going for a walk on garbage night, and learning to sew.

Yes also to thrift stores, though you will need to go heavy on the "patience and work." It is a bit of an art. You can't walk in expecting to get a nice, or even decent, X. You have to go regularly, and have a rummage. (You mention a little girl -- this is a pretty child-friendly pastime; you send the kid off to rummage in the book and toy sections, and eventually she will be making her own scores and rustling out the 50c Playmobil.) Be prepared to stockpile; I only just thrifted the just-right metal hardware (in original packaging; $1) to make a window covering out of a batiked fabric thrifted a few years back.

When I was a student I thrifted (1) photo frames (2) old records with good art on the covers, and a bit of paint for ugly frames and x-acto knifing later had "art." I also decorated my kitchen with hand-sewn fruit and veg, which seems a little twee now. I still have a red velvet pepper to memorialise that time in my life, though...

Larger thrift stores will also have furniture. Be choosy about where you patronise; there are thrift stores with hideous sofas, $200; and there are thrift stores with $ solid wood desks and "You want the cabinet, too? Free." Cabinet and desk came with a story about how they were in front of the store, then stolen, then spotted in the middle of a field, and returned to the store, which...well, I think I got more than my $5 worth. I have taken apart the cabinet, taken the handles off the desk, sanded, and after a coat of paint they'll be lovely. You might browse Etsy and check out what the furniture-flipper types are doing, and look for blogs on that sort of thing; it is too easy to knee-jerk "Ew" at something without realising what paint and some thrifted knobs would do to it.

I find using cloth wipes and handkerchiefs, and defaulting all the fitted sheets, pillowcases, and flat sheets to plain white cotton, simplifies a lot, but ignore me if you have to lug stuff to a laundromat.

Ditching towel-colour towels and going for lime green, orange, bright purple, etc, is a good thing to do to a bathroom.
posted by kmennie at 5:08 PM on August 18, 2011

I really think you need a sewing machine. Watch craigslist, and go to garage sales. Curtains, pillows, slipcovers, lampshades, even rugs. Target had a Singer Sew-Easy on sale last week for $60, everyday price at Walmart is $80. Fabric can be found so cheaply on sale, you will be amazed at what you can do. We have a Hobby Lobby and Joanns, if you watch the sales you can get fantastic patterns for what seems like pennies. I think you can find a used one for $20 to $30 if you get lucky. I would pick a color palette that you really like and then use the thrift stores, garage sales, fabric stores, to make your home fit your style. Cooking is easy and cheap, and the cooking supplies at thrift stores are so cheap.
posted by raisingsand at 7:14 PM on August 18, 2011

You might try "collecting" things that look good together...I have a thing for (other people's) well-done embroidery/needlepoint, and Goodwill always has those because when Grandma dies sometimes no one wants it. I found several that were rather nice for nearly nothing and hung them together.

Really, art is super cheap; you can find good stuff for very little almost anywhere. Vintage-looking souvenirs, framed vintage ads. Day calendars have nice, small images that you can frame, and you can get them after January for almost nothing. And if you're out scavenging, you might see a very ugly picture in a nice frame; take it home, throw out the pic, free frame for whatever you want. Buy cheap art books/textbooks with good images, trim out and frame what you like.

In fact, one minimalist look is a colored wall hung with pretty but empty frames in a nice arrangement. Very arty.

Overall, minimalism is the cheapest form of chic. Clear out clutter and just put one vase on a table, with a branch from outside in it maybe or something else interesting.

Lighting is a little trickier, and it's easy for it to go wrong. In lowlight situations, you can do a lot with a white string of Christmas lights artfully arranged in a clear container. If you want more intense lights that actually look decent, you will have to either save up for a bit or become a bargain-hunter. If you can find a decent base for cheap, buying a new kit to go inside it and installing it is easy; you can get those at Home Depot, and get/make a shade that fits.
posted by emjaybee at 7:18 PM on August 18, 2011

The #1 thing that bothers me at other peoples' houses is the temperature. My mom has a friend whose house is always freezing and I hate having to remember to dress warmly there, and I shiver. On the flip side, being stuffy is even worse! So just be cognizant of your guests' needs and don't cheap out on the heat or A/C when you have guests over.
posted by radioamy at 7:33 PM on August 18, 2011

Freecycle is awesome, so definitely look into that. It's split into different regional zones, and the groups can have widely differing rules, some stricter than others. Someone upthread mentioned snagging an invite. My local group just requires you to give something away before you can ask for anything. Just wanted to chime in and say an invite may not be necessary.

Definitely set up a separate email account for it, or a filtering system (mine are filtered straight into my gmail trash, where I can go visit them f I feel like it, but my inbox doesn't get flooded). Depending on the popularity of your group, it may be hundreds of messages per day.
posted by jessicapierce at 8:13 PM on August 18, 2011

Fun Wall Art Project that might fit your description of your style.
posted by Nickel Pickle at 8:14 PM on August 18, 2011

If you like getting crafty...
Another fun art project with paint chips.
Chevron patterned shoe box lids.
Glitter banner
posted by hellochula at 10:19 PM on August 18, 2011

Smell: Many inexpensive candles give me headaches, too, and forget about air "fresheners". But I find a few drops of pure essential oil in a spray bottle with water can make the house smell really lovely. It runs $6-$12 for a tiny bottle depending on scent, but you literally use it drops at a time, and it keeps forever. I spritz it on anything fabric - bedding, curtains, rugs - lightly. Cheap, pleasant, subtle, and there are dozens of scents to choose from.
posted by donnagirl at 10:28 PM on August 18, 2011 [2 favorites]

smell: if you use as your default cleaning spray simply distilled white vinegar, diluted a bit, you'll find once you get used to the initial salad-y smell (it goes away as the vingar evaporates), it is ace at removing odors, not masking them. bonus, it's cheaper than other cleaners.

use: simply do the same thought process as you use for your kitchen everywhere else. easiest way to deal wth mail immediately so it doesn't pile up, ditto dirty clothes, jackets and umbrellas and clean clothes that need hanging, boots and shoes you wear constantly, cleaning materials for different rooms, garbage bins where you need them, etc. scissors or tape in the rooms you need them. that sort of thing. obvious but super helpful.
posted by ifjuly at 5:23 AM on August 19, 2011

and actually, i know this only works if you already have some but: for smell, if you've got crazy good handmade type soaps in fragrances you love, i've inadvertently discovered how fucking awesome they can make rooms smell if you just have them sitting, wrapped even. i bought a stash of fancy soap a while back and am savoring them slowly so a bunch are stockpiled just out of laziness on a bookshelf in the hallway (drawers in bathroom full!). it didn't take long to realize that every single time anyone's in the hallway we all notice how subtly awesome the place smells. it's a lazier and less cloying approach than say, burning incense or some fake glade thing.
posted by ifjuly at 5:27 AM on August 19, 2011

and obvious but let your house breathe with open windows and lots of sunlight during the day. sunlight helps get rid of that stale musty smell common to so many cave-like clueless bachelor pads.
posted by ifjuly at 5:29 AM on August 19, 2011 [2 favorites]

Plants, plants, plants. They'll help the appearance and the smell and improve your overall air quality of your house. If you don't have much money, grow them from seed. If you have some patience and do a little research it can be practically free.
posted by no bueno at 6:25 AM on August 19, 2011

Smell: Vinegar and / or Baking soda. These remove smell, not mask it. Stick a bunch of cloves in an orange and leave it laying about. Good for months.

Furniture: Some plywood or a door on cheap cabinets or those cement building blocks can be used to create coffee tables, bed frames, or desks. My office has a door I've sanded and varnished. It looks expensive.

Lamps / Vases: An old wine bottle is a great vase. There are places where you can get the glass cut to have the opening be the size you want. They sell these at the MOMA store as sculpture vase art, so it doesn't get more high culture than that. The colored bottles look great on a windowsill. I find bare bulbs artistically interesting. I'm sure there are make your lampshade ideas on the web.

Appearance: Plants really do lighten up a room. Herbs tend to last a long time as plants. Seeds are cheap.

Lighting: Get a photography book and frame some of the images. Pictures are basically a facsimile of a print, almost as good as the real thing, imo.

Deck chairs: Most pharmacies (e.g. Walgreens) sell very cheap folding chairs for travel. If you were to replace the fabric you could have a really nice chair. I often see ways of re-purposing free wooden pallets online to create decks, tables, chairs, and bookcases online.
posted by xammerboy at 8:40 AM on August 19, 2011

that wooden pallet idea reminds me: somewhere, apartmenttherapy i think, did a feature once on mounting a pallet vertically and using it as a planter. looked awesome and it's cheap.
posted by ifjuly at 8:47 AM on August 19, 2011

If your budget really only allows for free things, make sure you let people know. Your family, your friends, your community, should know that you'd love free plants, furniture people are done with, ekcetera. Anyone with a garden ends with a lot of extra plants. And a lot of people upgrade their furniture or move and have pieces they no longer want. (We've gotten two old couches from parents, a small dining table from a friend of my mom's, and an armchair from a great-aunt.)

If you lived closer to me, I'd say I always have free strawberry plants in the fall, California poppy and chive seeds, and possibly a few other nice plants. I'm sure people who live near you have a similar list of plants that propagate easily.
posted by Margalo Epps at 11:13 AM on August 19, 2011 [1 favorite]

PAINT!! Paint your room a warm color. Don't make it too deep, just a nice warm color. I painted my room a butterscotch color. It's a beautiful color. I have my trim painted glossy white. It looks nautical, clean, and I use table lamps to light my room, not overhead. People ALWAYS comment on how warm and comforting my house is. It's not the furniture, it's the color.
posted by Fenshwee at 7:24 PM on August 19, 2011 [1 favorite]

This isn't necessarily cheap cheap, but you can knit and crochet some pretty cool (or awful, depending) stuff for the home.

Knitting and crocheting doesn't have to be expensive! You can repurpose old sweaters that are plentiful (and way cheap) in thrift stores into great pillows and afghans. It's how I get most of my yarn, and now I have more yarn than I know what to do with - for far less than would have ever paid at the stores.

Nthing freecycle and Craigslist and what Margalo Epps said. It's amazing what people give aways...
posted by patheral at 10:35 AM on August 20, 2011