How do I interior design on the cheap

January 9, 2013 7:52 AM

I want to learn how to furnish and decorate my apartment on a budget. What blogs should I look at? I already know about Apartment Therapy.

Simple (read: easy, little to no labor, cheap) DIY stuff is awesome too. My style is eclectic. "On a budget" means I'm currently scouring thrift stores, yard sales and super deep discount furniture places. Gonna make the voyage to Ikea a few towns over when I have a better idea of what do about my space.

Thanks.

posted by goosechasing to home & garden (11 answers total)

DesignSponge

Curbly
posted by Fig at 8:07 AM on January 9

It's not a blog, but 1000 Ideas For Creative Reuse ($16.50 on Amazon) sounds like what you are looking for. It is for inspiration, not a "how to" book. Some of the ideas require labor and expertise. But many do not.

I would also suggest looking at blogs like this that focus on upcycling.
posted by MuffinMan at 8:08 AM on January 9

Paint is your friend. You can buy all kinds of weird furniture and if it's all painted the same, it will look pulled together and cool.

Debbie Travis is the Maven for this sort of thing.

She had a book, Facelift: Solutions to Revitalize Your Home and a project in there was to glue fingertip molding to kitchen cabinets and paint them. We did this in our 1962 split-level and it looks great after 6 years and we get TONS of compliments on it. Total cost, about $30. Not bad.

Christopher Lowell was probably the first one to do the DIY decorating back in the mid-nineties and while a lot of his stuff was a hair, ongepaotchke, but the foundation is there.

The Seven Layers will really open your eyes to how rooms are put together and will help you plan exactly how you want it to look.

One of my favorite blogs is Retro Renovation, it shows mid-century style at it's best. Save the Pink Bathrooms!
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 8:12 AM on January 9

Since there are a bajillion of these kinds blogs out there now, I would actually start with getting on Pinterest, since it's just a content dump--I've found a lot of blogs through it that I probably would have not come across on my own. There's also a TON of DIY stuff, and the Search function is your friend.
posted by lovableiago at 8:38 AM on January 9 [4 favorites]

For cheap DIY projects, check out these blogs:
ikea hacker - you must browse this site! There are some crap projects but there are a few gems.
Young House Love - They are fantastic at step by step DIY and they talk about all the work they do on their house to give you inspiration.
posted by xicana63 at 8:38 AM on January 9 [1 favorite]

I guess "how cheap?" is the question. If the answer is "very", I'll second lovableiago's pinterest with Cinderblock love.
posted by anti social order at 9:15 AM on January 9

It's more of a 'cheap living' blog than a decorating blog, but you might like the ideas in A thrifty mrs. She does a lot of charity shopping.

(Watching with interest as most of the Apartment Therapy ideas are not good for renters here - in the UK they are almost never allowed to paint, recarpet or put in nails to hang things on the walls - many places don't even allow blu-tac ffs - which rules out a lot of cool DIY ideas.)
posted by mippy at 9:28 AM on January 9

Just to respond to something Mippy said.

It is well worth knowing that you can put fabric on apartment walls with liquid starch (like someone in the 50s would use to starch a shirt.)

This is a thing on military bases where painting is not allowed.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 9:38 AM on January 9 [1 favorite]

Flipboard is pretty great for this, just add a lot of style and home categories and the above blogs and you'll get inspired.
posted by fshgrl at 10:05 AM on January 9

Houzz.com
posted by blue_beetle at 11:57 AM on January 9 [1 favorite]

I like Little Green Notebook and Manhattan Nest.
posted by exceptinsects at 11:59 AM on January 9 [2 favorites]