Giveaway Results: Kimberly Clark Prize Pack

I use my son’s artwork to decorate above my kitchen cabinets on a small clothesline.

We used the mantle on our fireplace to ’showcase’ our wedding photos along with my flowers from our wedding and other personal items.

My husband went to the lumber yard and built bookcases flanking a window in a bedroom that is the perfect length of a bed. So he built the bookcases to come out the width of a twin mattress and now we have a beautiful custom look for our son’s bed as it fits perfectly in between the bookcases and sits nicely in front of the bay window. The bookcases house his trophys and books and everything else a little boy can collect. We love it.

One thing I recently did was rearrange some photos of my kids in the living room. Each child has 4 frames all the same color and I decided to put them all on the same wall. (I have 4 kids) We have 4 sets of 4 with spaces in between the sets. In between the sets we put these words, Live, laugh and love! It looks really cute!

we have used some of the old things from my husband’s grandparents to decorate our living room…makes it a bit rustic!

I recently made a genealogy photo wall with pictures of the great grandparents and grandparents. Framed them all in coordinating frames. Looks great!

I’m not terribly creative, but I used vintage pictures from books that I got from my great-grandmother’s house to decorate my baby’s room.

We are in the process of making our kitchen cupboard doors into a place to display our daughters’ school work and art work.

We remodeled our kitchen in November. We built a breakfast bar (our own design) and now we are making our own pots and pans rack to hang over top of the bar. It looks so nice!

Framing calendar pictures from last year’s calendar. I cut them to fit the frame and – instant art.

I just recently changed out the curtains in the living room and dining room, and it made a ton of difference. I was shocked. Now I need to do the rugs! (I know, not so creative, but I am not really a decorator!)

I bought an old hutch at a flee market and mod podged the inside of the shelves with decorative scrapbooking paper! It looks wonderful.

My room most in need is our 50’s kitchen complete with pink tiles, black countertops and white metal cabinets! Being a missionaries wife will probably mean it will sit on the back burner for a while!

One of the creative things I did was to use 2 old doors that I picked up at a yard sale for $10 as a head board for a bed in our guest room- every comments on the unique headboard!

mary

With two rambunctious kids, function beats style, but when I needed more storage by our side entrance we repurposed a pretty oak bookcase and found some attractive baskets to collect our clutter as we walk in. Thanks for the giveaway.

I move around a lot because of the type of work I do so permanent changes to my room haven’t been possible until now. I bought some cheap picture frames and painted them in bright colors. The pictures in them are of friends and family from previous homes and artistic images of those cities. It’s a little bit of home wherever I’m living at that given time.

I’ve kept all of the monster’s artwork from day care and now that the playroom is finished, I’m going to put it up on the walls. That way she’ll be surrounded by her own art!

When my twins started preschool I knew I would no longer be able to put all three kids artwork on the fridge. I hung three long pieces of ribbon across a long wall in our family room and clip their art work to them with little binder clips.

We made the stairway to the playroom an art gallery for the kids. Fun and colorful!

I haven’t done this yet, but I’m really excited to create a “Brothers” wall. All different sized pictures of my two boys together. Cute frames, adorable pictures, a little vinyl lettering, and ta da! I can already tell it’s going to be my favorite part of the whole house.

I have a bunch of artificial apples that I got on clearance. They look great in a basket.

I take black and white pictures of our family, individually and collectively, and put the pictures in silver themed frames on the living room wall. everyone always looks great (including me!) and it’s fun to see how we all change over the years…..
thanks, Amy!

I put these cool electric candles on top of my ikea shelf and they create a beautiful, soft glow. And I never remember to turn them on.

I bought 4 different fern prints off ebay for $2. They were standard 8×10, so i was able to pick up sale Hobby Lobby frames. I hung the four close together in a grouping on our huge wall. This was an inexpensive way to decorate a large wall… and it looks chic!

haleyj99@yahoo.com

My husband built a pots and pans rack out of barn wood. It gives the rustic cabin look. Perfect for our kitchen!

When we moved last fall I had no entry closet. I repurposed an extra wood coffee table to make a bench in a corner of the living room. I purchase two 2 ft. shelves with 4 pegs underneath and hung one on each wall of the corner. This is for hanging and storing coats, bags, etc. I just need to make a cushion for the bench and my entry area will be complete.

We are making various walls in our home “themed travel walls” so we put photos from various trips on different walls.
Thanks!

I put a bowl of fruit on the table for our centerpiece. Saves money and we eat more fruit!

I use baskets that I purchased in South Africa to decorate my walls.

We let our 2 year old paint on some canvases and hung them in her room.

I created a craft station for my kids in our formal dining room. I used a small bookshelf and placed decorative baskets on the shelves. Each basket holds different types of art supplies. It looks attractive and makes the room function as more than a dining room!

I shop a GOODWILL and garage sales for great finds to decorate my home. I’m always looking for a bargin:)

When our daughter was home for Christmas, we repainted a wall and are using that wall to display family photos.

we took the front hall closet and made a shelf insode for games, cubbies for gloves and shoes and space in front for a backpack or two and the closet would still close- also there are hooks for jackets for kids and hubby to hang- it looks like a mini storage room instead of boxes galore stacked

I made a shadow box with some keepsakes from our wedding day- the invitation, program, a picture, etc. It makes for a nice way to display those items that bring back such wonderful memories.

When we moved in to our house, the ceiling in our daughter’s room was ruined by stickers that had been peeled off and had pulled off chunks of sheet rock with it. Rather than spackle sand and paint (I was 4 months pregnant with #3), we decided to hang textured wallpaper on the ceiling. It gave the appearance of an old tin tile textured ceiling that had been painted. It was significantly less expensive than real tin tiles, and much less work. Want a different look? We considered hanging bead board too.

Marissa

After painting the children’s bedroom walls white, I bought 2 packs of 45 wallpaper fireflies. They come with glue on the back and you only have to dip them in water to active the glue, then place them wherever you want them. I put them all over the walls, and the bookcase and wardrobe as well. You only need to wet them again to remove them so they are safe to apply anywhere. At $5 a pack it cost me $10 to make the room fun and unique.

I use cutout from old silk saris to make wall hangings. They not only look elegant but add a touch of the exotic to our walls.

Thanks for this great giveaway!
callmeabookworm at gmail dot com

After painting my laundry room, I used rubber stamps to stamp flowers across the walls.

I love vinyl lettering and have one in a BIG empty wall in my living room. I also buy plain frames and paint on them to match specialty frames from places like Pottery Barn Kids.

After painting my laundry room, I used rubber stamps to stamp flowers across the walls.

The room I need the most help in is our master bath. I can’t wait to get started on it!

We are in the process of making a desk like working area for all of my scrapbooking supplies. Right now they are all over a cardtalbe and the floor in the office. I can’t wait until it’s finished!

I put chalk board paint on my son’s wall and his brother and I write messages or crazy pictures for him. His room also is space themed and we hung planets from the ceiling and the moon on the wall.

I used framed magazine covers (for example Saturday evening posts from 1930-1950) of illustrators I love in inexpensive frames. I can change them out for specific occasions or just when I feel like something new.

Thanks for the giveaway! We put up faux flower garlands around my little girls bedroom window!

Well, we have always rented or lived in parsonages (houses owned by the church, inhabited by the pastors as part of their salary) so I haven’t always had freedom to paint or really change the layout of any house we’ve lived in so far. But, one thing that always works to liven up the walls is to take tons and tons of pictures and put them in the same color frames on your walls. Black really stands out if your walls are light-colored and make black and whites or colored photos stand out. Last year, we got so many great pictures of our 18 month old sitting/playing in the leaves that we had an entire photo shoot we could have displayed on one of our walls. Sure, I didn’t pick the paint, but I can pick the accessories!:-)

I found out that Target does their clearance markdowns on Tuesdays and I am not afraid to call and ask each week if they’ve marked things down further. I also love to make my own art like stretched canvases from smaller and often cheaper remnants of expensive designer fabrics.

stefanielritz [at] gmail [dot] com

we have rooms themed to represent events/locations that are important to our family.

We use old oatmeal containers and paint them and put them on the wall next to my sons table it holds paper, and makers and whatever else he wants to draw with. It great we love it.

My husband and I love Asian stuff. We decorated our guest room in an Asian motif and to mimic the look of the traditional Asian dressing shades, we painted our window trim black. It really looks great against the beige wall with the Asian border. (oh – did I mention there is a 3 foot Chinese warrior in the room that we brought back from China? That is the piece de resistance)

I have 4 big windows along a walkway from my kitchen to my living room. I hung curtain rods about 2 feet higher than the top of the windows, and let the drapes fall to the floor, in order to create height in the room. I have another project i am working on- from our wedding. It’s an entire wall dedicated to the day that we became one.

This weekend I printed out valentine pictures for my kids could color and decorate. After school they hung it all around the house. They do this for every holiday.

My Kitchen! I think everything is original from 1952!! We did paint the cabinets, but have horrible white formica countertops, VERY little cabinet space, and when we moved in, we took down Partidge in a Pear Tree wallpaper! No joke. I want to cry when I see all the shows with granite countertops and stainless appliances. Will I ever get the kitchen of my dreams??

I type up verses of Scripture in pretty fonts and then hang them around my house. Each verse pertains to the room that I put it in (eg. money in the office, food verses in the kitchen).

Painted our kitchen bright apple red and put baskets up on top of the kitchen cupboard. Looks fantastic!

I never have enough room for all the pictures of my family and friends. I hung a HUGE frame of all my photos and mementos of travel on a wall in family room. I have people over all the time that love the idea of having this instead of small frames taking up all your space! They LOVE IT and so do I!

I have a completely open floor plan with a loft. It’s great for having a space to run around but no so great for trying to paint. I am working on that right now.

Covered ugly wallpaper in the dining room with Venetian plaster. It looks great! Found some coordinating fabrics on sale, bought a few yards of different prints, stretched and stapled it on cheap canvas I got at Michael’s and voila! Instant wall art.

For art in the kitchen, I “commissioned” my best friend’s teenage daughter. She’s always been a good painter. It took a while to get the art (did I mention she’s a teenager?) but it looks GREAT and gets tons of compliments.

We enhanced all of the natural beauty around and went for a very eco friendly look.

I’m not really that creative w/ our home’s decorating, but in the kids’ gameroom, we did decorate the walls w/ maps that they’d created themselves in school (the world sure has changed since I was a kid!). We also got this art hanger – from IKEA, I think – and used it to hang add’l artwork/crafts in the same room.

I took everything off my fridge and placed it on fabric covered corkboard that I glued to the inside of my pantry cabinet doors. De-cluttering and decorating all in one!

In my den, I have 2 beautiful vases that are transparent and in them is sand from Costa Rica. Everyone that sees the vases think they are wonderful. My husband and I were missionaries in Costa Rica for a while and came up with this decoration as a reminder to pray for Costa Rica. We see it as every grain of sand represents a soul that will be won to Christ.

This is an awesome giveaway. Would love to win.

When we moved into our home about 1 1/2 years ago, the main bathroom had been painted horrendously. The color (a sky blue) wasn’t bad, but the paint job is terrible. We haven’t yet had the opportunity to paint. However, in the meantime, I’ve put in a pretty new cabinet to match the white medicine cabinet/mirror. On top of the medicine cabinet I put a set of sunshine yellow candles that my sister gave me after we went to the beach once. The combination of sky blue, white, and yellow is cheerful and it reminds me of our trip.

We use live growing plants to add an inexpensive decorative accent to almost every room in our home. The fresh green color of the plants, their accents of color on the leaves, and their occasional blooms all delight the eye. Plants also help clean and freshen the air in our home. We either start them from seed or buy very small plants that we carefully tend. The room in my home that most needs a makeover is my kitchen! Thank you!

The most creative thing I’ve managed to do lately is take a kitchen cabinet off the hinges and attach it to a slide out trash can

The first room in our house that would be redone would be the third bedroom. It used to be a garage and it’s obvious!

As for a creative decorating thing we’ve done in our home, my husband painted a fancy tree, one of his signature art themes, along one side of the doorway into the kitchen. Everybody who sees it loves it.

I to like many am not the creative when it comes to decorating. However, right now we only have one child so we have one spare room. I am a huge dolphin colector so I took that spare room and made it my computer room, where I have dolphin figurines and such on the desk, black frame with glass shelf things hanging on the wall with dolphin things, dolphin pictures and even dolphin puzzles that are framed and hanging. Not much but I like it.

I hung a shelf on the wall behind our couch instead of putting a sofa table there. The shelf was only $30 instead of $150+ for a table!

Honestly I am not the best when it comes to decorating! But, my hubby is painting a mural on my son’s bedroom wall. I know this may not seem like a big deal to most people, but seeing as growing up we NEVER painted our rooms. . .I am so excited!

We buy a small piece of artwork from each of our vacation (it could be a postcard or a poster or just something small) and plan on using them to decorate our finshed basement. This way we’ll always be reminded of our great vacations!

I get ansy in redecorating my house every now and then. I had a new urge to redecorate and knew I couldn’t spend any cash so I just rearranged furniture into differnet rooms and I think my house looks better than ever!

I didn’t redecorate my first child’s bedroom. The room was Victorian pink. We didn’t know the sex of the baby but figured we had a 50/50 chance of it being a girl. It was a boy! But babies don’t care about their rooms. We waited until we had a nice nest egg and picked wallpaper he could live with until he’s ready to redecorate it his way.

framed my kids drawings.

Listen, the best thing I did was take down all the wallpaper in my house and paint the walls. What a job! I also painted all my daughter bedroom furniture bright colors to freshen it up.

We have a corner fireplace which is about 4 feet tall. This leaves some empty space above it that is awkward to decorate. I took a large square mirror and put it across the corner to shorten the depth of the space, then sat a very tall plant alongside it to make it seem less empty. It looks really nice!

I have a whole wall collage of family photos, old and new. On many of them I used wallpaper samples from a wallpaper sample book as mats surrounding the photos. The wallpaper backgrounds add a hint of color to the older black and white photos.

The kids and I went to the beach and brought back sand and shells to decorate the bathroom. We went to the Dollar Tree and bought clear candle holders and filled with shells and some with sand and other with candles. The ocean effect in the Bathroom!
Carla
cpullum(at)yahoo(dot)com

I let the kids post thier artwork thoughout the house.

I painted my daughters room with 12 inch strips. Light pink, pink, and orange. two walls were the pinks and the other two were light pink and orange. I trimmed the room in REd. It looks really good. She now wants the ceiling painted!

I make wind chimes from old utensils. I collect graters and use them to cover candles.

I never really used the comforter that came with my sons crib set, so I sewed to key rings to the back of it and hung it on the wall over the crib like artwork!

I matte and frame my kids artwork.I love rocks and have them sitting round knick knacks,

When I was decorating my son’s room I was going for an ourdoorsy feel. So instead of a curtain rod I used an antique fishing rod I found in my dad’s garage. Then I used fishing hooks to hang a burlap curtain. I found a few cute metal fish that I dangled down near the hooks. It’s chic and rustic- but best of all, cheap!

The room in my house that most needs a make-over is my bedroom. It’s white and boring.

My living room is in need of some love! I found a box of really old dishes in our attic,but they were all broken so I smashed them a little more and did a mosaic table for my bathroom to put a vase and some pretty flowers on and a tray with my soaps and lotions.

I’m not much of a decorator, but I have purchased wall sayings and used them throughout the house.

My husband found some old paned windows on the curb. He sanded them down and hung them on the wall. I added photos and other things. They are an interesting (and FREE) wall hanging.

we collect used furniture from my husband’s uncle and aunt and they normally come as a set so we don’t have to do much else in terms of decorating!

At Christmas time I used the photo cards I received and attached them in layers on our tree. It made it very personal!

I love to use photos to decorate. I have made window treatments and pillows (both no sew) out of curtains.

I took some old recipes of my great aunt’s in her shaky old handwriting and pasted them on a solid piece of remnant matting from the picture frame store. Then I framed the whole thing to hang in the kitchen and give it a nostalgic look.

Wow – another great giveaway! THANKS for the opportunity to win.

One of my favorite decorating projects was to cover the dining room chairs (4) – I chose a beautiful striped upholstery material and went to work. Had enough left over to make a great valance for my kitchen window. BEAUTIFUL dining room makeover!

THANKS again!

Melissa

I recently found some house plants on clearance and bought four large ones for less than $20 total. Then instead of spending $25- $40 each on large ceramic pots, I bought plastic pots and sprayed them with Rustoleum which gives them texture and a cool color. They look expensive now!

I decoupaged several small terra-cotta flower pots with scraps of material (colors to match my kitchen) and then planted different herbs (parsley, chives, rosemary, etc.) in them and placed them on the window seal above my sink. Not only does it decorate the kitchen, but I can snip off a piece whenever I need to spice up a dish.

My kids love to draw and do their homework big so I put big white boards on a wall in each of their rooms for them to use. It is great for homework, drawing and for playing games. I got the ‘white boards’ at Lowes. They are actually a type of MDF board with a coating on it that mimics the actual white boards. They work great!

My husband is great at woodworking so if (make that when, ha-ha!) I see something I love in a catalog or on the net, I show my hubby and ta-da, there it is. We just finished a beautiful entryway storage system similar to what I saw on Pottery Barns website for hundreds less!

My favorite (and most frugal) decorating tip is waiting for my mom (who has great taste!) to get rid of her furniture and then I offer to take it!

I took a baby crib mattress and mounted it to a wood box constructed to the same dimensions and covered the two to make a large ottoman for my living room. I bought some great bargain upholstery fabric for 2.99 a yd as well as some designor fringe to trim the bottom. It made a really nice ottoman that would’ve cost several hundred dollars. It even doubles as extra seating!

Last fall I used my walking doll from my childhood as the background of a display. She was dressed in a pair of overalls I found at a second hand store and she was standing behind some bales of straw, a garland of fall leaves, pumpkins and Indian corn. It really turned out cute.

I found colorful washable mats that I use on my coffee tables an end tables as doilies,that way when the grandchildren are here I have no worries about spills an they can be moved wherever the kids are at

My favorite color is purple. It’s ahrd to find a good purple for painting but I found one and used it for accent walls in two room. I get lots of compliments on it.

My daughters iron bed was her great-gradparents (possibly older) I paired it witha dresser that has doors that look like shutters and a wicker desk. I was having trouble finding a bookcase that worked. I found 2 old shutters at a junk shop for $5 and used them for the sides. the shelves a some wood someone had given us from a warehouse revision that were the perfrct width. I covered them with 4 different colors of gingham fabric to match her comforter. It looks perfect with the old bed. She loves that we made it together.

We transformed the closet underneath our staircase into an entertaining closet. It now holds all of our extra dishes, linens and glasses. My husband painted our monogram above the closet on the ceiling.

I create my own artwork for my walls using house paint and $10 canvases from the hobby store. Throw colors in the room on the canvas and cover with thick epoxy and BOOM….it looks like it came from the gallery!

We did a red wash on our kitchen cabinets to update them. They were way to simple blah, but painting wasn’t an option as we didn’t own the house, so we used deglosser and then watered down red paint and washed them on the centers of the cabinets (leaving the frames the original color) then wiped off the excess. It looks like the centers are stained with red stain.

I love when bookshelves are backed in fabric or paper like this: http://ikeahacker.blogspot.com/2006/10/kelly-bought-ikea-markor-bookcase-from.html

I painted a very happy design in colors matching the inside of my house on my concrete patio – it’s great!

I have a really old house, so the whole thing needs a makeover. But if I had to choose 1 it would be the bathroom. The tub is old and stained, the paint is starting to peel. Thanks for the chance!

Waiting on my adopted daughter to be born we painted a wall mural to pass the time. It’s a big tree filled with birds to match her pottery barn bedding.

In the fall I had my son pick up pine cones. We put them in a Ball jar with a candle holder on top for some fall decorations. I’m using them now as winter decor too.

We decorated my oldest son’s room in the theme of our local university where my husband is a coach. We a painted his walls red, masking off the middle with a black stripe. The lines where the tape was are white. It’s pretty fun for a boy.

I created a reading corner in my living room to give the appearance of two separate spaces, that is the most creative thing I have done! lol Thanks for the giveaway.

I once took an old desk and turned it into a bathroom sink. I painted it egg shell color and a string of ivy then finger rubbed it’s corners with gold antiquing paint. I installed the sink and piping and used the front 2 doors to store towels and toilet paper in. It came out beautiful and made a great conversational piece. We are currently building a new home ourselves and we used a potato barrel as inspiration for our bathroom this time.

Hi Amy,

To save closet space I bought a tall and narrow bookshelf to dedicate towards my collection of handbags, wallets, and scarves. I organized these shelves by color and it not only saves me space in my closet, the many shelves decrease clutter, on top of it looking visually appealing in the room.

In the kitchen I use fresh fruit to decorate, it brings in such wonderful colors. Also, it helps my kids to be excited about eating fruit everyday.

thanks,
Wendy

Years ago I made three shadow boxes to hang in my kitchen. I painted the background bright red and then hotglued mismatched forks, spoons, and knives in each one. Sadly, that’s probably the last creative thing I’ve done in my house.

Our game room needs the most help. We need a place for our son to hang out with his friends!!

What I’ve done that’s creative is to decorate my house in a beachy theme. I have always wanted to live at the beach and my way is much cheaper. Thanks for the great giveaway!

We use our family photos as the pictures on all our walls – we have collages of every major trip, and it is a great walk down memory lane in our hallway to see all of our family trips through the years!

We made 4 wooden boxes and painted them white to put on the brown walls in our bedroom. They really “pop” and look great with pictures and other special belongings in them.

We take plant pots and paint them. These unique pots line our entry and our back porch with flowers most of the year. This was an inexpensive way to bring color and creativity to small areas that would not otherwise get noticed.

The most creative thing I did was marry my husband whose mother makes draperies for a living. She is my frugal creative decorator.

When I decorated my son’s room, I used a baseball theme. For the curtain rod, my husband took a 6 foot pole, and drilled holes at either end. Then he drilled holes in two baseballs, which we attached at finials. To help hide toys, my son has a twin bed that could fit a trundle. But we use the space to store toys in baskets. I just used the bed skirt, velcro’d to the underside to hide the baskets.

We’ve bought old frames in weird colors from the thrift store and then painted them black. You can’t tell at all and I got awesome frames for $2!

I also buy old knick knacks at the thrift store and repurpose them into Xmas decorations – very easy to do and very pretty.

I love Italy so I painted an Italian Fresco on
my bedroom wall. I was amazed at how well it came out. Now I can wake up every day in Tuscany (sort of). Thanks for the great offer!

I just hand sanded my 100 year old staircase.
Boy was it a job but the beautiful wood now makes it all worth the hard work.

I bought clear outlet covers and put leftover wallpaper boarder in them to match the boarder in the room. Looks nice.

We went and picked grapevine and made grapevine garland to line the top of our kitchen cabinets with. We also added white lights and some red berries, it is so cute and hardly cost us anything, it really brings our kitchen to life.

My boys love to get me flowers from the dollar store. I had too many and they didn’t match my other floral arrangements so I put them on my pens with floral tape and made a pen bouquet for the kitchen counter. Now, the sentimental flowers have a place.

We have small rooms and my kids love chack boards. We used the chackboard paint on there walls and they love it.

I found placemats on clearance at Pier One that I absolutely loved (saw them first on a friend’s table), bought them, and then used them with some wood, wall brackets, and a staple gun to make a valence for our huge living room window. To do something custom would have cost sooo much. The valence has moved through three homes, and I just adjust the size of the wood and how many placemats I use based on how big the window is.

I think it’s all about the frame matching and arrangement-it makes my house blend together from room to room.

We gutted our basement, it needed it. It’s now a great big wide open space. I bought the foam floor pads that you use under heavy gym equipment to cover 1/3 of the floor so my girls had something with cushion to play on. We are also letting our oldest daughter paint murals on the walls to really create a space of their own.

To save old cards from various hoidays/ celebrations,I hang them on the inside door of my armoire so I can feel loved everytime I start my day.

I took down the wallpaper that I had on one wall in my kitchen, and textured all of the walls, which covered some not so even places, and then painted it a warm country yellow, it looks so nice and clean!

I bought a decorative basket to put on the side table in out den to hold all the odds and ends, such as nail files, tv and dvd remotes, fingernail clippers, hand lotion, etc. That way they are hidden, but still within reach!

As I go out the door into the garage I have a black and white photo of my 2 dogs snuggling together. Below that is a key hanger that matches the photo frame – so we always know where our keys are!

Instead of spending forever and lots of money to find decorations for my son’s transportation themed room, I made road signs out of plywood. My hubby cut the wood out and I painted the signs. I used his name in a road sign and did a sign showing how many miles from our house to each of the grandparent’s homes.

I use silk flower garlands to decorate the mirrors over my bathroom sink and bathroom window in master bathroom.

Survived ice storm with no electric for 8 days. Plan to paint and change colors in kids room soon.

Our latest idea was to get rid of all the DVD cases and buy some small storage boxes to put the DVDs in. Looks WAY better than all the plastic cases and takes up lots less room to boot.

I have purachsed old kitchen stuff at yard sales and 2nd hand shops and hung them on the wierd shaped wall of my kitchen. The walls are too small or narrow for regular art but perfect for mini-bread pans or potato mashers

I would like to have a sunroom where I can read and enjoy the beautiful nature.

I use my kids art as art on the walls, there still real young but its adorable

I repurpose my rooms, move furniture, change my duvets and curtains A-L-O-T! I can’t change the paint colors as much so this is the next best thing for me!

We always find something for our living room that will go with any season.

I make collage posters of my daughter to frame and hang all over my house–one collage poster features lots of pictures so I don’t have so many albums or individual pictures cluttering up the place!

I painted one of the walls in my living room blue to make an accent wall. Then I went to the dollar store and got those cute stickers and used them as art. These stickers look like I painted on the words my self and look great against the blue background. I also used the stickers on my bathroom tiles and they look amazing.

my husband photoshopped one photo with four different finishes and placed them in a four opening frame. Very cheap yet personal.

We had this great idea to renovate the kid’s bathroom. Well now it is gutted, the plumbing moved and the bath tub installed and we are stuck financially. I want it finsihed so bad and to get the kids out of the guest bath.

I like to use postcards, matted onto scrapbook paper for quick, easy art!
Thanks for a great giveaway!
lindagregsmith@gmail.com

When finishing a new bedroom in our house for one of our boys we did it in Cubs

I re-did the look of my entire kitchen for very little money by distressing my cabinets. First I sanded them a little so that the paint would stick. Then, I primed them and painted them with three layers of antique white paint. After that, I sanded all the edges down to the wood again and rubbed early american stain over the top. Most people pay thousands of dollars to get these kinds of cabinets and I did mine for around $100!!

I was able to use my free sample green bag at the store , work great. I would love to get another one.

I decorate my house with antiques of the old west, its what I love and looks great.

Used an IKEA curtain wire and hangers to display my sons art work

With the passing of my Mom recently I have put all of the momentos from her services along with the cross from her casket. It all looks very nice and has a very special meaning to me in my home.

I use a bookcase my Dad built by hand to display family photos. The memory of my Dad laboring away reminds me of how much I miss him every day.

We re purposed/repainted an old bulletin board and put in our daughter’s room to host her latest round of paintings, drawings, and favorite pictures. She loves seeing her own art every day, and I love that it didn’t fall to clutter!

Usually cut out quotes from magazines, and place them into a frame.

I just bought a house and the previous owners decorated completely in white – walls, carpet, curtain…everything. Our large living room is also lacking any light fixtures, and outdoor light in the winter is minimal. The hubby and I picked a color – a nice, rich burgandy – and found various lamps in that color to accent the living room. The styles are all different, but it really looks nice.

looks great ty

I love decorating my new little apartment! I didn’t have much money available for decorating after all was said and done, so I used what I had – an abundance of seashells and other cool findings from my family beach trips! After Hurricane Ike wiped out our local beach, I was happy to have the memories of our trips all over my house. It also helps me relax after a long stressful day because I feel like I am “away from it all” – for a few minutes at least.

i used a serving platter we got at our wedding and put 2 wine flutes and used a wine bottles as a vase. it looks greatin our bedroom

Once I bought three frames for really cheap repainted the wood black and strung it together for a ribbon and hung it from the ceiling in a corner to give a dimensional look. really cute!

I painted my wood floors a calm aqua color. Since we live near the beach it makes our home even more beachy!

To reuse old chairs i buy cushion and chair covers to cover the chairs.

I really need a bedroom makeover. Our walls are still white, we have no curtains, no pictures, and it’s the largest room in the house. It’s basically a bare room with a bed and two dressers. We’ve been in our house for 7 years (yikes, that really makes it that much more awful and embarassing)!!!

We used fabric remnants and put them in frames for cheap artwork.

I take flowers that my husband buys me, dry them, and turn them into potpourri. That way, I get to enjoy them even longer!

I need shelving for TV stuff and books. We live in a small condo and didn’t have space for book shelves. I had my husband cute pieces of wood to the length I wanted. They were about 6 inches wide. I painted them the color of the wall and mounted them on hardware that allows you to adjust it based on the distance between each self. (probably doesn’t make sense) but since it was the same color of the wall it kind of blends in and doesn’t make the room look smaller.

We use a old toybox for clutter control by our garage door. Great place to hats, gloves, etc…

I printed some pictures that my daughter took for a photography class and framed them then hung them on my bedroom wall

We decorate our house with toys. LOL

I decorate my apartment with treasures I find at the second hand store. I use old wooden windows to add an outside feeling, makes the room seem larger. My style is eccletic. ( I think)

I took an old, large mirror I found at a garage sale and made a black, sanded, wood frame for it. This way it look more like a piece of art plus it makes our living room appear larger.

This would have to be the Kitchen. It really needs to have more counter space! It is just not as functional as it could be.

I bought some wicker trash cans at the local dollar store, made some liners for them from some older flat sheets and put tags I bought in the scrapbooking section on them to label the contents and used them for organization and decoration in my bedroom.

I bought several plastic bins with lids and store all of holiday decorations in them. When it is time for that special holiday I know that everything is on 1 spot. I store the bins in the garage.

In order to “jazz” up boring old bulletin boards in my child’s room, I glued on large buttons all the way around the border. I have also used large gems to add shine as she grew older. Cheap, easy and really brightens up the room!

I’ve taken my own photos and enlarged them and framed in them in large square frames. The design impact is great…. and for far less than it would cost to buy someone else’s art! Thanks for the chance to win!

I love to scrapbook but have limited space in our office. To add to my maddness I covered one whole wall with pictures! This will hopfully inspire me:)

my son doesnt have any curtin hooks to hold his curtins up so i used his teething links to hjold his curtins up… i love how it looks it gives that funky child like look with all the different colours

I bought unfinished picture frames and painted them black. Then I blew up my favorite pictures of the kids and had them printed in black and white. The pictures look coordinated without looking too formal, which I love.

Thanks for the giveaway.

I want to do my son’s room. I adore accent walls. IN addition, making a headboard with fabric, padding and a piece of wood can lend SO much elegance to a room:D As well as book shelves, you can never have too many of those! I use bookshelves to store my fabric and crafting supplies in so I can see where everything is!

One thing that I’ve done decorating wise in our home was to paint the walls different colors that are all in the same neutral color pallette. It adds some depth and dimension to the rooms.

My husband put lighting under the cabinets in the kitchen!

I made my son’s room into a jungle theme. He has green walls and pictures of monkeys on the wall. He also has little bugs hanging from his window.
mccataquet@comcast.net

I hope I win !!!! i need this stuff. Thanks

I mat and frame my kids art projects and hang them around the house.

We took the wall down between our kitchen and our dining room…..we now have one big kitchen for our growing family. It wasn’t expensive at all since my husband and my family helped him tear it down and patch up the walls…..it was done in one weekend!!

I have a 9 picture frame for both of my kids. I put pictures of them in various poses, all from the same session. I love it! It shows all the differant sides to my kids!

I decorate our halls with my daughters pictures. She loves seeing them as she walks by, and gets excited to show everyone. It’s also nice that they’re not cluttering up my fridge!

We’re expecting our first child in May and really need to put together our nursery for our little girl! So far, our only creative moment has been painting.

while traveling we found some interesting rocks (free) and use them in decorating our shelves along with all other mementos from our travels.

All my furntire in our house are in cherry wood color. I have made the look uniform by also making our kitchen cabinets as well as our blinds in cherry wood color. This is visually appealing in our house

Vidhya
vidhya.kumaran@yahoo.com

We painted our powder room a chocolate color to add depth and accented with tons of prints in tropical colors we picked up on vacation in Key West…it’s like a personal retreat!

On January 1, 2009 the four of us (husband, daughters, and I) pulled out different colored paints and canvases and made hand prints that we framed and hung on the wall! A new tradition we will continue every New Years Day =]

I took down my Christmas decorations (tree & all) last week and WOW! I forgot how big my house really is!!

I used scrapbook paper in spray painted frames for art in the nurseey!

I picked up a couple of “new” pictues at a garage sale. Can’t believe the price I paid. What a bargain and what an eyecatcher for the living room!

I built an entertainment center for our den that covers an entire wall. It is made like 2 corner cabinets with shelving in-between. It is so large that it holds all our books, cd’s, dvd’s, tv and stereo equipment and everything. The best part is that it has cabinet doors, so we can place items out of view. We were able to discard some other pieces of furniture because of the storage capacity of the new piece. My wife absolutely loves it.

In place of closet doors, we hung a curtain rod and two old white flat sheets in my daughter’s room. We stitched on some flowers cut from an old quilt and had beautiful closet curtains.

I use empty diaper/pull-up boxes as “fancy” storage. I cut the flaps off the top, then cover it with either acrylic paint or scrapbook paper, do a little rigging with finishing nails (long thin trim nails) and the flaps and have a custom made, compartmented storage box!

i decorated a wall in my lormal living room with ancestors photos and family paperwork- like my grandmother’s high school diploma and my grandfather’s nave discharge certificate.
I really want to redo my family room or guest bedroom.

I decluttered my house, bought a new (working) vacuum cleaner and got rid of my husband’s bachelor pad (Elvis on velvet) pictures. It looks great!!!! Oh, I also painted the whole house a pretty shade of neutral beige since the house is smallish and this made it appear larger. It also helped make the house seem larger when my two oldest kids grew up and moved away, but this was not so much fun…

We recently replaced a bow window in the living room. Since the dog always jumped up on and scratched the old ones, I made cushions for the new one. I bought the foam and material and they look great!

We actually just bought our first home a couple of monthes ago and didn’t have much money for decorating, so we repainted some of our old furniture to give it a new look and then shopped around at Kohl’s and Hobby Lobby for a lot of cheap art, pictures, frames, rugs and decorating pieces.

That book would be great once we close on our first house!

I used some funky and fun dishtowels as curtains in my kitchen.

I USED OUR “OFFICE” AS A PLAYROOM FOR THE KIDS, AND DECORATED IT WITH REUSABLE STICKERS OF ALL THEIR FAVORITE CHARACTERS. SHOLLAND004@CINCI.RR.COM

paper hearts for my daughter’s room for Valentine’s day

I frame the kids art work for different rooms! So cheap and easy and gives the house a more homey feel!

We just repainted several rooms in our house, one is green…called “jalepeno”, and another one a rich chocolate brown.

I use my china cabinet as a picture gallery of friends and family. It has a lattice like covering over the glass and I use it to put up random pictures of friends, or Christmas Card pictures to show off friends and family!! I can change them out as I get new pictures!

The most creative thing I’ve done so far is to hang my kids’ art work in the hallways. I use frames with spaces for 6-8 pictures and cut out great sections of special art work. It looks so cute!

I used Shabby Chic shower curtains as regular curtains in my daughter’s room.

I don’t have too many creative ideas, but as long as everything is tidy and clean, that’s good to me.

I am the wife of a medical student, so although I assume we will have a decorating budget someday, we do not have one to speak of right now. That being said, I am always looking for ways to have a styligh home on a student budget. I revently redecorated my childrens bunkbeds by cutting in half and re-sewing a queen sized comforter that we no longer used. Thrown in a few homemade pillows and voila, looks like a million bucks but only cost a few!

We are a homeschooling family and sometimes the lines between “home” and “school” get blurred. We find ourselves decorating our home to reflect the topic du jour. For example, our dining room windows are currently graced with currency stickers to teach my daughter about money. My son’s wall are covered with stars and a Milky Way replica of balloons has graced his ceiling (until they all shrank/popped), and our kitchen table placemats feature famous composers, the presidents of the U.S, household measurements, and a world map.

My basement is in need of a makeover bad! My little girl plays on the concrete right now b/c we haven’t put carpet in. I would love to make this a great play area and tv room for our family.

I bought a REALLY cheap mirror – discounted because of its hideous frame – and painted it to match my decor. It looks like the expensive dept store ones now!

I made candy trees for the holidays and decorated my entire house with them.

We bought and spray painted two small collumns from a craft store and then bought a big slab of glass and made it into a coffee table. It looks great.

I based my entire room on some of my husband’s highschool drawings(they are both a bit seductive, Betty Paige, and random bondage chick)…and did it rather cheaply…framed them in red leather frames from Shop*ko where I also got black poster frames for…Victoria Frances postars I got a Spencers and…clearance eyptian cotton sheets and a very modern retro black shelf from Target…I put red candles on…took an iron cross from my kicthen…my mom gave me a black comforter she wasn’t using anymore…my friend Mary bought a fairy throw blanket and couple of fairy nic-nacs…I’m gonna paint the walls gray with black trim, and my stand out closet black this summer.

Paper cuts in China are traditionally taped on doors, walls, etc. when a couple gets married. A friend gave some they had left over from their wedding. It’s the same character (happiness:) over and over again. My mother-in-law backed them with white paper and put them in black frames. We hung them as a set in our living room- they look so cool!

I have a small antique feather tree that I decided to leave up all year and I decorate it according to the season. Right now it has different sizes fabric hearts that I made,,,soon it will have shamrocks.

I made our coffee table into a headboard for my daughter. It has wood carving on the top so we painted it turquoise and glazed it. It is so awesome and everyone loves it.

We painted and painted and painted!!
We had to get away from BLAH white!
Man does it make a difference!

I have a small home. My kitchen, dining and living areas flow into each other, but the furnishings/decor don’t!

My idea hasn’t been completed yet, but here it is: Last year my daughter gave me a calendar that had 13 pictures of my granddaughter. Well, 2008 is over, but I can’t bear to discard the calendar! I asked my daughter (she’s an artist) to make a collage of the pictures. I can’t wait to see it.

We live in the country and have lots of old tack items…spurs, old roping items, metal dinner bell, barbed wire, etc. As items are replaced with new ones, I find a place for the old items on our walls, on bookshelves, cabinets. Even turned an old trunk into a coffee table which serves as storage for our DVD’s. It gives our modern home such an authentic, rustic feel.

I have taken some of my favorite photos from trips I have taken and turned them into the artwork that hangs on my walls. It provides a great accent and lets me tell about my trip to those who inquire about the photos.

I love to dispobuy various decorative, bowls, platters and baskets and use them

I love to collect pretty or funky bowls, platters, baskets etc. They are all so different and are on part of my decor. however, when entertaining they become interesting and useful serving pieces.

One of the most valuable ideas that I have found was a table we saw when we rented a house on the beach in Hilton Head. Take an old table and find an old shutter, can repaint the shutter any color.
I then took the top off of the old table and the shutter was used as the new top, glass was then laid over the top of the shutter. This can be done with an end table or buffet table.
It is very coastal looking and you can add anything “beachy” that you want on top!

One of the most valuable ideas that I have found was a table I saw when my family rented a house on the beach in Hilton Head. Take an old table and find an old shutter, can repaint the shutter any color.
I then took the top off of the old table and the shutter was used as the new top, glass was then laid over the top of the shutter. This can be done with an end table or buffet table.
It is very coastal looking and you can add anything “beachy” that you want on top!

I love my little mud room area where I’ve hung a big decorative magnetic board along with three decorative cork boards right below the magnet board. My kids can easily access both. It’s made a huge difference for controlling paper clutter that at times seemed never ending!

i have been collecting subway maps from big U.S. cities and i spray mount them to large canvases (purchased at big lots, often enough). i then make collages over the subway maps, including different places that i like to visit in that particular visit.

I made framed art using gift cards I’ve received.

I used a one unit of an old stacking bookcase given to by my grandmother, to showcase items that were given to me by my grandparents or things that remind me of them. I flanked the bookcase with a photos of them.
The room needing a makeover the most in my home is a combination kitchen/dining/great room. We knocked down a wall & ever since have had trouble making the flow between the rooms. Help!
Thank you.

I HANG POSTER BOARDS IN THE PLAYROOM THAT THE KIDS CAN DISPLAY STICKERS THAT THEY RECEIVE FOR DOING GOOD DEEDS.

Use bird houses, too nice to go outside, on an open shelf between the sun room and den. I receive many favorable comments.

i have an umbrella basket by my front door i only put 2 walking canes in them. i decorate them with ribbon and a bow for what ever season we are in. in months that we have a birthday in i put birthday ribbon and a bow until the next holiday

MY SON WANTED DALLAS COWBOY CURTAINS FOR HIS ROOM. THEY COST WAY TO MUCH. SO I WENT LOOKING FOR SOME IDEAS. I FOUND DALLAS COWBOYS SHOWER CURTAINS FOR $19 . MORE THAN HALF OFF THE COST OF THE WINDOW CURTAINS. THEY ARE THIN SO HAD TO DOUBLE THEM. BUT HE LOVES THEM . I DID NOT TELL HIM THEY WHERE SHOWER CURTAINS.

Have moved to a retirement, independent living facility. Hard to downsize. Would love my living room to be as warm and inviting as my home was. I did hide the airconditioning unit with a cover that hid the works and looks as though it is abuilt in hutch. Great place for displaying my treasures.

I have a nursery in my home for when my grandchild comes to visit.Every time she expresses an interest in something, it is painted on the wall. We now have balloons(Boons), airplanes, flowers, birds, and ladybugs.

I love the color red and berries, so I gather Christmas items in these themes and hang them up all year long, no one even knows that I got them on discount.

I hung familty pictures in our entry way. Its a welcoming to family when they enter.

We painted my daughters room w/pointe shoes all over the walls to match her bedding!

Yea, the extent of my decorating skills is using old milk crates to divide and organize. That is why I would need your giveaway, I’m not creative enough to organize my poor daughter’s room. She is pre teen and everything I suggest, she laughs at.

We’re very nature oriented and have a strange little ledge along our stairwell so we loaded it up with sea shells and pretty stones we’ve collected on vacations and added some pine cones and quartz crystals. I put a vase of dried wild flowers at the end. It’s unusual, but looks pretty cool.

I have redone my bathroom. I hung a shower curtain rod and put in a nice curtain. I have repainted the bathroom in two tones to go with the curtain. I then put rugs on the floor to go with the bottom of the bottom of the shower curtain. I then hung pictures and artwork above the border to go with the upper part of the shower curtain. It looks really good.

My basement is the pit of despair. We’ve tried to put up shelves, but we need a better organizational system! And some help making it “pretty.” If that’s possible!

Since I travel a lot, I have a special wall to show off photos I have taken on vacations.

i babysit 2 little girls and they like to bring some of their stuff with them so I bought a clear container of drawers and it helps up to stay organized

I created a solar system theme in my son’s bedroom. I used some Wallies decals, used a sponge technique on the walls and hung this neat IKEA swing that he says looks like a rocket.

We have turned our sun porch into the room where all of our rescued dogs stay in their crates at night!! We keep saying how we want to change this room into a place where they can play together and be more dog-friendly!!

I am a recipe queen but they are everywhere and mismatched.. I took a photo album and placed all my recipe cards in it they fit perfectly and they are protected by plastic and you can alsways rearrange them when you receive another recipe.

We repainted our main living area and we put up one of those word saying: Welcoming family and friends. Alot of people have commented on how they like it!

My kitchen needs a makeover. With so few cupboards and a love for baking, I need a little help. I would love to win this giveaway.

My daughter’s room is creatively decorated in a beach theme with items purchased while vacationing near a beach, as well as framed photos taken of her first visit to the ocean at age 2.

I got 12X12 canvases from a craft store and mod podged scrapbook paper to them that coordinated with the bedding in my son’s nursery. I put 3 in a row above his crib. I love it. It looks modern and was super affordable.

Our office really needs a makeover!

I have 12 nieces and nephews so I made a calendar with their pics for each month and a clock with their names for each hour. The only trouble is that my sister is having #13 in September. Guess i will have to get more creative this year!!!

To keep my fireplace mantel from becoming boring, I’ve designed 4 sets of seasonal decorations and placed 3 of the sets in individual boxes so that I can completely change the look as the season changes by rotating everything and replacing it with the next fresh set of decorations. Everything’s pre-planned and I don’t have to think about again!

I love the colors slate blue and choclate brown and silver and i am trying to decorate with them trying to make my bedroom a oasis but my husband says i defintly need help he said it is way too cluttered and not simply enough I would love for someone to come in and help with all my ideas i have he said i have way to much going on in the room….

The home I live in is over 100 years old. So we have the tall rectangle windows that you have to push up to open. So during Christmas: In the middle bars (in the center of the window) I place a thin wooden dowl that has been wrapped in ribbon and drape ribbon off of it to hang down in the bottom parts of the window. I take painted clothes pins and clip them to the ribbon. Then when we get Christmas cards (the ones that don’t have pictures) we clip them onto the ribbon. It looks so great!

I wanted 3 organic prints (ferns, etc.) for my bathroom, but 3 framed prints can get expensive! My friend cut up an old calendar of flower sketchings. I went to Michael’s craft store and found 3 sheets of pretty scrapbooking paper (.59 ea). Michael’s was also having a frame sale, so I bought 3 black frames. I glued the calendar pages to the scrapbooking paper and framed the 3 prints. Gorgeous if I do say so myself! ) I got exactly what I wanted in exactly the colors I wanted for around $20! Great giveaway – thanks for offering!
~Tanya
the4moyers(at)msn(dot)com

I have been doing my own artwork, and I am not artist, to match the rooms decor. I buy the canvas at the craft store and then using acrylics, the cheap ones, I paint. It is what would be considered contemporary, lots of straight lines, for my son’s room I did X’s in different colors.

We have an open floor plan for our living room, dining room, and kitchen, so in order to “separate” the dining area, I painted the wall opposite the living room area a different but complimenting color. The living room walls are a tan color, and the dining area wall is a coral color. I then found an area rug that had both of those colors, as well as the color of the furniture wood, and put it under the table. This allows the spaces to be connected the way they should be, yet separated so they do not seem as one space. The room that needs the most help is our bathroom. We have an out-dated blue bathtub and pink tiles. It’s pretty sad.

i have a project i been wanting to do but funds not allow hope this counts
i have a heavy table that goes in front of couch and its peeling and looks gross but because its so well made i want to keep it has deep grooves around outer edge so i was thinking sand it down stain it a nice cherry maple color and get a piece of glass cut to fit in groove and arrange pics of whole family in it then put glass down and use some kind of gold foil to secure glass in place just need funds to do this

While Im not a great decorator I did my sons new room in a cute pastel green then painted white block letters spelling his name and hung them with black ribbon. I aslo made the curtains!

I found an old slatted chair that someone had put out for trash. It was missing a slat. I added some greenery and put it up on a ledge for decoration. It looks great and fits my style perfectly!

All my rooms! If I had to pick one, our bedroom. It is very sparse and I want it to feel like a haven for the hubbie and I.

I have this couches which i use to love, now they are old and in need of repair but in this economy i cannot afford new ones so i just put on sofa covers.Wonderful!

We needed extra storage that had to be sturdy in the garage but didn’t want to spend the money expensive shelving systems so we built them ourselves. We bought metal brackets and screwed them in on the studs and then bought borads and attached them to the brackets ourselves. Painted all.

A new mantle made it possible to showcase some of our family’s vintage pieces. We really love the look.

i have taken decorations from other rooms and moved them all around to make everything different and new.

When our oldest son moved out, we turned his room into a relaxation/meditation room. Now the problem is just finding time to go in there and relax…it’s hard to do when the rest of the house is in need of help.

When decorating my banister railing with ribbon for the holidays etc, I use blue painters tape. Doesn’t leave a mark and keeps the decorations in place nicely!

I got a free book of last year’s wallpaper samples from a paint store, and used them to decorate boxes to store small things on my bookcases.

Living in apartments make it hard to style to be our own. Especially when everything is mismatched and totally not my style! (I guess that’s what we get for still being college students!)

But, I’ve made a ‘family wall’ with pictures of all of our family members all in black frames of different sizes and some in collage frames. I get compliments a lot so it makes me glad I did it.

The previous owners had cut a big door in the wall of our living room to have better access to the basement. It was a real eyesore. We cover it up with a large decorative tree & a room divider that holds pictures of our family.

Thanks for the opportunity,
Beth

I have found some glow in the dark paint at Wal-mart and I bought and paintbrush then I painted stars on the ceiling on one of the bedrooms on my house.My whole family LOVES the way it looks!!!!

We started decorating our one room around and very old Barber shop chair, I am having so much fun going from there.

In order to fit our new hot tub into the room that it was meant for, we had to knock a door-sized hole in the wall. When the tub was in the room, we closed off the new door with glass blocks. It allows for some nice sunshine to flow between our living room and hot tub room.

In my kitchen, my husband turned an old ironing board closet into a spice rack. It’s the perfect depth for little spice jars.

We just moved so every room needs so work to make it “home”

My house is entirely decorated by my children. Each holiday we make all sorts of decorations. Right now we are all decked out in pink, white and red!

PLEASE, Our tiny dark galley kitchen needs a makeover SO bad… Did I say tiny? It’s so small. Only room for one and no one better open any door or the fridge or forget about it….
AArrrgghhh!!!

I’ve used large framed corkboards as picture frames. I’ve taken my digital shots, blown them up to the a large size to fit my corkboards and then I just thumb tack them there. It makes it easy to quickly interchange the pictures. I get countless compliments on it!

We found 2 old wooden french doors in an old barn,, re-stained them and put them up to separate the Living Room from the bedrooms and bath. Also put X’ed curtains on the doors. Has a very old knob and we even found the key. Looks like they could have been back in the 1920’s. LOOKS GREAT!!!

We found 2 old wooden french doors in an old barn, re-stained them and put them up to separate the Living Room from the bedrooms and bath. Also put X-ed curtains on the doors. Has a very old know and we even found the key. Looks like they could have been back in the 1920’s. Looks Great! Now need to really work on my kitchen!!!

When I posted earlier, my comment went to #242, which has the name Paula posted on 02/07/09 at 8:44 am. I did not mean to erase her post, so I re-typed my post at 5:41 pm.

I got this old ugly piano from a bar. I put all of my baskets on top of it with a pretty lace table clothe. then i put all of my kids trophy’s and pics from school and sports on the part where the piano keys are. It looks really nice. I am running out of room for their trophy’s!

A close friend of the family is an artist and he drew 11×14 B & W pictures of Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, and Elvis. We framed and hung them in the TV room. I hung old movie reels and old cameras on the wall w/ the pics. I also have a pagoda that houses old camera and movie projectors (I collect). The whole room has a great “movie room” feel. We also collect Coca-Cola stuff which looks great in there too! My husband want to get a big popcorn machine to put in there. Thanks for the giveaway.

I have hung a white velvet bell covered with golden beads on the door knob inside my house. My house has a split entry and on climbing the stairs to the main level, this door is one which captures the visitors attention. So, I hung this decorated bell in white which looks great on my white door as well as with the decor of the house. Great for all seasons!

It’s easy to make rustic picture frames by cutting twigs and sticks and nailing them to a wooden frame. Cut pine cones in half and nail them on the corners of the frame for added texture and visual appeal

We take some of my kids art work and frame it in their play room.

My decoratin style isnt real exciting, but I use alot of family pics on the walls. I’d like every year to do a pic at Christmas of my son and get an ornament with the year and hang it on a certain wall.

I turned my drabby garage into a showcasr for my kid’s artwork and craft projects. Each child (3) has one wall to themselves and they tack up their artwork on their “wall of fame” when they come home from preschool. At the end of the school year, I box up the favorite/special artwork, and they take down the rest and have a blank wall to start decorating all over again! They get to see how their skills have developed and matured over the years AND my garage walls are not drabby anymore! It also gives people some thing interesting to look at when they come in thru the garage.

We painted sailboats on our sons wall in his room to match the decor!

Due to remarriage, I have a total of 4 kids. We were running out of space to put all the pictures of them up and I hate storing them in photo albums. My husband is extremely handy so I had him build a photo wall for me. We took one entire wall of our family room and he put frame work up all over the wall. It’s great, like a giant collage of photos of the kids! I was able to fit all the pictures I wanted to share up and it sure makes for an interesting conversation piece when people walk in!

My basement needs a makeover. It’s an uninspired gameroom.

I placed a wrought iron horizontal plate rack about 5 feet above our bedthen draped a long piece of fabric around it framing our headboard for a beautiful effect.

I recently painted some recycled shelf units and installed them into my closet. I have a lot more to do but I have to take it (our projects) one step at a time. Thanks for the giveaway! I can use all the help I can get.
Carrie
carrieduron@yahoo.com

my husband installed one of the old dearborne propane heaters in our living room in November, so I decided to build a fireplace with a mantle to surround the Heater and gave it to my husband for christmas. He was excited about the gift and was shocked that I could build something like that.

Fern

I have started adding family photos around the house.

I took an old shelf, sprayed it white and attached 4 dowels to the underside, and hung it on a wall in my kitchen. I use the dowels to hold wrapping paper rolls and rolls of fabric ribbon, while scissors, pens, and gift tags are stored in flower pots on top of the shelf. I change the paper to match the season: Christmas, Valentines (up now), etc. The colors in the paper and ribbons bring a festive touch and a bit of color to the kitchen, while keeping my wrapping supplies well organized.

I love classical music and I used to play several instruments so I used them to decorate the master bedroom walls along with framed, tea-stained, copies of favorite sheet music.

We blew up 2 pitucres (to 16X20) that we took from our balcony of the ocean on vacation and framed them. We hung them in our living room, so every morning it reminds us of vacation. I think every year we’ll take 2 new ones and replace them!

I like to keep my house minimal but with some choice family pictures placed around. Just makes it feel warm to me

We found a wonderful old oak table for the kitchen and I wanted to keep the old look for the kitchen, so matching chairs would not do! We have 2 newer oak chairs, but the other 3 chairs at the table don’t match. We spent a few days at a cool B&B in Amish Pennsylvania area and they had a neat kitchen like that with every chair in a different style. I loved that look!

We bought an old table at a garage sale and refurbished it and it looks great!

jaimeburgess@hotmail.com

I collected sea glass when I was younger. My family loves to travel, so I had some from every beach we visited! After years of accumulating I tried to figure out a way to display them. So I decided to decorate my widow seat in our entrance way with a mosaic of sea glass. It was the first time I ever tried anything remotely creative in my house, and I am proud to say it turned out great! Now I guess I will have to live here forever…I could not imagine parting with my sea glass :O) thanks for the giveaway!

i finally got around to framing and hanging the special portraits we have of our 2 children. i bought simple black wood frames which give a “professional” feel to the photos. the frames are different sizes and were fairly cheap at k-mart!

We have our kids art everywhere. We put it in nice frames and light it up.

I once put crinkled tissue paper on the walls and then painted over it. It was a wonderful textured look.

We have a lot of youth group kids over and they always love to doodle. Well, we thought that getting a chalkboard would solve that problem, and it did. We got a full-size one from a 1903 schoolhouse and now the kids are able to draw, write, and figure out math problems (we have some smart kids) all on it. And it adds a neat decorative twist to an old house.

We used our kids closet doors as cork boards, no push pin holes in the walls and it gave them freedom to express themselves…

Maybe not creative but helpful. Our bedroom is too small for a dresser so we created a set of drawers that hides in our bedroom closet!

As a decorating idea I have done is used the top of my cabinets to display all the vintage kitchen items I have collected. It fills the space between the cabinets and the ceiling in my kitchen. It adds to the vintage look I wanted.

I cut out the really nice gift bags that I received when I had my son and framed them in his room. For example, I received a beautiful gift bag that had Noah’s Ark.

When my older son was born, I was limited on funds. But i really wanted to spice up his room. I went to a garage sale and bought several kids books (for 10 cents each) and went to our version of the dollar store and framed the pictures from the books. Everyone who saw the room thought i bought them at a kids store.

Michaels sells wired butterflies for putting into silk flower arrangements. I cut the wire off and hung the butterflies at varying heights (via pushpins and fishing line) in my daughters bedroom. Now my budding entymologist has flying butterflies in her room.

I buy(couch)pillow covers at our local Dollar Tree for $1.00 each and change them out each season.

Bought a stylish kitchen cabinet paper with adhesive back. This is much better than my old cover that I have to straighten all the time (like my mom’s)

Our bedroom needs something… tried to do the romantic look myself but it is not quite right, just don’t know what to do. HELP!! We love the tuscan look and feel of the rest of our house but the bedroom lacks the vvvoom!

We put our empty wine bottles around the top ledge of the kitchen cabinets. Although I don’t know if it looks more decorative, or like we’re just winos!

What an awesome giveaway!! My creative decorating idea was to make wall letters for my baby’s nursery. You can see them here: http://www.thetowells.com/2008/10/how-to-make-wall-letters-for-babys-nursery/

I have cut out artwork that I had saved in my kids’ files that I cut out arranged together & framed. Their now in the play room!

I have used scrapbook papers behind photos and put them in frames to set them apart from the rest of the room

We dried a variety of herbs and hung them in the kitchen and eating area.

I have painted old ugly finished tables with exterior latex paint….. it holds up bette with people putting glasses on it without coasters…….

sorry not very creative can use some help lol

We just redecorated our room in Americana and we love it!

lol, took an OLD crib broke it apart and made a shoe rack out of it!!!

Our bedroom needs serious help! The walls have settled and there is a large hideous crack/gap that runs the length of the entire wall. It’s dreary and drab.
Buying new hasn’t been an option for quite a while. In an effort to make use of what I already own, I used a rich dark stain on some picture frames to tie them together. Thanks

I use clear plastic sheets and sharpies to make faux stained glass for my boring windows.

We actually cut part of a wall out to make the house look bigger. My husband did it after I mentioned that it would help. It looks great.

I have broken a couple of pottery dishes. Since they are beautifully colored, and I always miss my Fiesta Ware if damaged, I went and made a mosaic atop a small accent table with cast iron legs. I LOVE it!

I hung a curtain rod all the way across my daughter’s wall from one single window to another and then decorated it with “Hello Kitty” curtains like it was one big window with one panel on the outside of each window and three valances going across to each side. Her dresser is in between with all her “Kitty” keepsakes on top of it – it looks really nice. The rest of the house however…..could use some help.

We decorated our guest bedroom into a Hawaiian Room. thanks for the chance.
Mich_0117(at)yahoo(dot)com

i have turned our dining room wall into a art space decorated with just about everything my two kids have created. we have modified some things and added our own touches but we think it looks really cool!

I shop at flea markets often and love bargins!

My bedroom needs a makeover the most…i took a couple of pieces from a bamboo dinner set and decorated my living room as a collection..its looks so different and cool…

i gave/threw away all the clutter and kept only the things i love! now they are showcased instead of blending in with the rest of the junk!

I’m always saving things my kids make in school for me and using them for storage and what not. We made our own book case from old stuff. I would definitely say I am very resourceful.

umm..well i really cant explain how i use my creative…. lol ..

I made a curtain with used wall calendars. Thanks for the giveaway!

I took all the old cameras from both of our grandparents and displayed them on the mantal alongside all the new pictures of my kids. Old and new mixed. Looks cool.

I enjoy painting in creatative ways and with colors that are either stimulating or claming, depending on the room. If I was to choice a room it would be my craft/ computer room, it really needs help

I’ve repainted old (ugly) wood furniture in funky kid-friendly colors. It makes a huge difference.

I USE OLDER FURNITURE IN THE LIVING SO THE KIDS CAN DRIVE THEIR TRAINS, CARS, ETC. ON THEM AND NOT HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT SCRATCHES. LIFE IS TOO SHORT WHY SWEAT THE LITTLE THINGS. SHOLLAND004@CINCI.RR.COM

I am not sure if this is a decorating idea. We have little space and lots of children (6 total). For the boys, my husband made a triple bunk bed and I made cool camo curtains for each one so its as though they are in a tent.

My family room needs a makeover. Basically it looks like a rainbow got sick in the room. With a 2 year old and triplet 7 month olds, there are toys everywhere.

We re-purposed an old bamboo basket into a frame for a ‘beach’ scene watercolor that is now in our blue bathroom. It looks great!

We received a TON of quilts and blankets when our little girl was born. I used the nicer quilts to hang on the walls of her nursery, they really warmed the look of the room.

We painted my daughters bedroom and used Stencils from Walmart and Stamps from Joanne’s Fabrics with a 50% coupon. I am a scrapbooker and I had my daughter help me with her pictres. We used a fishing line and tied it from one side of the wall to the other. (Very high so she can’t pull it down) Used cloths pins to hang up the scrapbooing pages!!

I have a long hallway in my apartment, and I tacked a beautiful piece of silk to the ceiling (I “caught” it and the ends and in the middle using 3 tacks in a row, letting it droop down slightly in between tack rows). Now my hallway looks a little like something out of “Arabian Nights”.

Elena
elenaamble at yahoo dot com

I bought an armoire at an auction once for $10 – needless to say it was the prettiest thing to look at. Since my daughter didn’t have alot closet space in her room, I had someone paint the entire thing with a folk scene with rabbits, clouds, etc. It turned out to be so cute. We put all her books, toys and even a small 13″ tv in it for her enjoyment!

I would love to re-do my bedroom. Ahhh…that would be so great! I have faux painted an old rocking chair and done some creative wall painting too.

I learned how to cut mats for my photos myself. So now any of the photographs I take can be hung and look stunning on my walls. I plan to just switch out the pictures when I get board.

very nice

My kitchen is the room that needs the most remodeling. I took a picture that my 3 year old grandson finger painted for me and framed it in a black frame. I also took a black and white head shot of him and framed it in a matching frame. I hung them next to each other in my living room and it looks great. Thanks for the great offer.

Thanks for the great giveaway! The room most in need of a makeover in my house is my office! It could use a few things and a little organization. A fun decorating idea I have done is to collect leaves in the fall in a variety of colors. Press them until they are dried, then laminate and cut them out. Then use them to decorate for Thanksgiving. I usually spread them out on the table around a candle. Fun way to decorate for free!

My bathtub/shower has had a slow leak for years. I cant figure out out how to fix it. Also the color doesn’t match anything else in my bathroom. I would love a new one!

I love shopping but on a budget I find items that are usally on clearance that i’m really not looking for. And add it to my home even if its the wrong color it only takes a can of paint to make it work. Its easy to do you just have to look. Good luck

I have a built on room in the back of our house that is like a store room. Anything you want to hide goes back there because we don’t know what to do with it. It would be awesome to know how to organize it..
Thanks..

I was at Blissdom this weekend! Enjoyed your panel discussion. I’d love to win this, as my kitchen needs a little face lift & I’m planning to get new countertops this year. I just finished framing out my bathroom mirrors with molding & that was a fun project that really made a difference!

We decorated our son’s room with maps before he was born. It was a more appealing motif to us than the usual baby fare. Thank you for the giveaway!

It would be the kitchen/dinning room that could use a make over. We have a very small kitchen area if the island was moved two feet that would open the kitchen area with a place to turn around in. It would also allow us to have a larger refrigerator and then we would be able to use the bottom drawer. Right now we can only use one the other one we can not get into as the door hits the island before it is fully opened.

We used silk flowers for our wedding. For our little girl I did a fairy garden theme bedroom including tree and green canopy to extend on the tree. We then used the silk flowers from my wedding in the canopy for added decoration.

I’ve used a thin rug on my wall in the kitchen as decoration.

I use pictures of places we’ve visited and the lovely scenery pictures to decorate my walls!

We had a valve malfunction on our ice maker and water backed up and flooded our kitchen that leaked into our basement. We need to re-do our basement from paint, flooring, window treatments and furniture.

We framed old sheet music that an ancestor was featured on and hung them in floating frames in the room with our piano.

I used herbs to theme my kitchen with lavender and sage fresh herbs and then the same colors for the linens…I could now use the help in decorating for our baby that we are expecting!

I used vintage items in our nursery like a old tin bathroom cabinet (with a towel rack) above the wicker changing table to hold diapers and creams- I folded a old handmade quilt to hang over the towel bar. its very cute.

This summer my daughters an i hit every yard sale that we could walk to and bought all the pictures frame ( ranging from to ugly ugly ugly) then we framed all of the art work that they had created that school year. My husband and i then nailed all the frames together in a mismatch colorful creation and hung it in the entryway/ mud room of our house. Makes me smile no matter how dreary and rainy Portland proves to be.

I took everything that I owned and laid it out on the kitchen table. I then re-decorated my house with stuff that I already had. Used some spray paint here and there, re-arranged, etc. Had a whole new look in almost everyroom of the house without spending a dime. Thanks for the chance.

We have a large dark room in the basement. It is perfect for a play room, but was dull and boring. We rent, so we can’t paint. So, I’ve been hanging all the kids art work up, starting at one corner and going around. We have two walls covered now, and it is so bright and cherry now.

I’m now a single mom and for the first time since I was 5, I have a bedroom to myself. I’ve been trying to make it a peaceful place for me and only including things that I love.

I’m not too creative, but something I did was decorate some walls with with my son’s arts.

martha.deals@gmail.com

We didn’t have money to redo our kitchen so i spent the whole thanksgiving vacation sanding and painting cabinets and then repainting all of the walls. Plus i actually used some colors instead of plain old white and wow. It made a hug difference people now think my 70’s cabinets are more modern.

Seems I am forever renting apartments or homes that don’t allow me to wallpaper or paint. I’ve spent the biggest part of my adult life surrounded by dull ‘eggshell white’ walls. One day I decided, I’d had enough. I’m not artistic, crafty or very creative. However, while in a fabric store I got a brainstorm! FABRIC!!! So…I bought some groovy fabric. Got out my staple gun (in some homes tiny tack nails). No more dull, boring walls for me! Through the years, I’ve gotten creative with it and sometimes I’ll go half way down with one print and the rest with another complimenting pattern. I’ve covered one wall, even a whole room. The possibilites are endless. The best part is when I move I take it down an reuse it or make curtains out of it. It’s easy, fool-proof and no mess. If I can do it, anyone can. For my son’s room I found some great peel-an-stick decorations for walls. The latest is dinosaurs. They press on and peel off. They can be reused. A box containing about 50, only cost me $12.99. Their size is from 6″x4″ to 10″x24″. Both ideas are easy, cheap and make a huge difference. Neither cause damage to the walls when removed. What I need is a Kitchen makeover. Needless to say these ideas won’t be good around gas stoves or the washer/dryer area. My kitchen is outdated and boring me to tears.

We had a wet bar in our living room with ugly mirrors and glass shelves. I took those down, painted the wall a pretty color, and hung up photos with black and silver frames. It looks like a pretty photo gallery now.

We found a great desk for my husband at a yard sale, but since it was glass & metal it didn’t have any great places to stash away office clutter….. So we used some old computer parts to make pencil holders, magnets, and decorations………

Paint. We moved here six years ago and every wall was painted in the first couple of months. I have even repainted some of them. I think that paint can go a long way to really make a home yours without spending a lot of money.

I am a horrible decorator so I really need this book. I wish I had a tip for you!

We received some beautiful, hand-painted pasta bowls as a wedding gift. but they’re hand-wash only — not exactly practical for pasta, imho — and ususally lived in the cupboard. When we moved into our house, I hung them over the bump-out window in the kitchen, so I can see their cheery colors and remember the friends who gave them to us.

My bedroom could really use a makeover. The space is cramped and it is the only room I am trying to keep baby toy free. Thanks for the chance to win!

I use tall slender galvanized vases in place of bathroom trashcans. I hated looking at the old ugly plastic cans so this is a much needed change!

I have a gorgeous red and white quilt that I use for a table topper at Christmas and Valentine’s Day. The red adds a splash of color to the dining room, and the quilt makes the dinner table look posh!

I love photography, so I take a lot of pictures of flowers, trees, buildings – then order free 8×10 prints with all those promos going around, frame them, and hang them up. My own form of art!

i just used one idea from your notebook to make a name banner out of fabric…it looks cute in our nursery!

I recycle my canvas’s. Whenever I get tired of the art on the wall I just paint something new!

I was able to use the base stand from my Mother’s Singer Treadle Sewing Machine as a base stand to display pictures.

For my nursery we wanted to have an ocean theme without being too “babyish” or spending too much money. My hubby and his very artistic friend created the ocean on the walls of the room, complete with assorted sea life both realistic and imaginary. My kids love it and it only cost the amount of some colorful paint and sealer.

I use homemade painted vases to hold some of my kitchen gadgets. When I need a unique vase for flowers, I simply store the utensils in the pantry or free drawer. This allows for color to always be present in the kitchen.

We couldn’t afford to replace the beat up old metal closet doors in our son’s nursery so we took them off and hung a plain white curtain inside the closet instead, using a shower rod to hold it up (works great!). I also drew classic Pooh characters and framed them in dollar store frames instead of buying expensive artwork for his nursery.

I use bathroom shower hooks in my laundry room with old wicker baskets for storage. They added storage plus they look cute. They can be moved easily if needed. I finally found good use for the baskets I just had lying around. @independentmami

I use clear thumb tacks to hang EVERYTHING!

Tricia

One wall in our formal living room is dedicated to my son’s Special Olympic abilities. All his medals & ribbons are framed & below each set of medals are a collage of pictures & sayings to go along with each event.

I have brightly colored wool rugs in my living room and bedroom. They are a great accent and help bring everything together!

When we were first married we took 4 proofs (5″x5″) from our wedding pictures, bought inexpensive gold frames and glass from a local craft shop. Even though we can afford larger pictures now, I still display all 4 together in a group. They look great!

My sons room is airplanes because his dad works on them so I thought it would be cool to have an airplane room. So we found airplane decals and painted clouds on the wall it came out great!

Well, we have limited space in our house- especially now that we have our son. We have our file cabinet in the living room being used as a side table, but it is covered with a pretty safari print throw to match our living room, so it looks neat and funky And we keep the babies toys in a dark wicker basket sitting in the living room to have close at hand.