Clean your home. I don't mean the standard scrub the floors and dust the pictures frames; I mean really do any overhaul. Eliminate and minimize. Concentrate on stacks of clutter such as papers, books, and odds and ends. If you haven't used something in 6 months (unless it is a seasonal item) chances are you will not use it in the future. If something does not match the decor you are trying to achieve, you may want to remove it from your home. Cleaning out is the single most effective way to change the look of your home. This is especially true for people in small spaces. Small spaces look cluttered much faster than larger spaces. Imaging what your living room would look like without that stack of magazines by the couch and the overflowing knick-knack shelves.

Designate a spot in your home as a temporary yard sale haven. Usually the garage or attic works well. People in small homes or apartments may want to consider using the spaces under beds, sofas, etc. Place anything that you have not used in 6 months in this designated spot. Then on the first warm Saturday in spring hold a yard sale. Anything that does not sell should be donated to Goodwill. If you do not want to donate to Goodwill, let your friends know that you have surplus "stuff" and offer it to them for free. You can also donate your discarded treasures to your local women's shelter, or youth shelter. What is not new to you is new to someone else, and these facilities are always in need of items to make their spaces feel more like home.

Once you have cleaned up and cleared out the items that no longer work in your home, focus on rearranging what is in your home. Sometimes moving one or two items can make all the difference. We were having a terrible time deciding where to put a beautiful toy box made for our children by my father-in-law. We finally decided on a spot in the living room, however, an old child size recliner chair that our children love took up the spot we wanted to use. We decided to move the recliner into our daughter's room. We positioned the recliner next to her bookcase and added a small table that we had previously used in the bathroom. By simply rearranging three pieces of furniture, we changed the look and functionality of two rooms. Our living room now has a place to store toys and extra seating (the toy box can hold the weight of two people), while our daughter's room has a functional space for her to read, relax, and have a little privacy.

Take an inventory of what you have and what you need. You may be surprised to find that you already own something that you need. Before you run to the store to purchase a new photo frame or an area rug, take a look at what you already have in your home. You may have an awful photo in a wonderful frame. Remove the old photo and add a new one. Try adding a bathroom rug in the kitchen or a kitchen rug in the bathroom. Not only will this provide a bit of unique charm to your room, it will also allow you to reuse a perfectly good item. Never purchase an item unless you are sure you do not have a similar item already in your home.

Now your home should be de-cluttered, cleaned, and rearranged. We will now discuss how to paint and wallpaper your home for pennies.

Painting and Wallpapering your Home for Pennies

Who hasn't looked at the latest issue of the latest home magazine and wished they could afford to completely re-paint their home or wallpaper their favorite room? For most families painting and wallpapering is simply not in the budget and is often considered a luxury, hardily attested to by all those white walls out there. There are ways though to paint and wallpaper without breaking the bank. Ingenuity and perseverance is usually the key.

Ask your friends and family if they have any leftover paint or wallpaper from their last home improvement project. This method really does work. When we needed to repaint the hallways in our home, we put the word out. Within a day, my mother-in-law called and to say there were 5 gallon-size cans of cream-colored paint which were ours for the taking.

Consider painting or wallpapering only one wall in a room. This seems to be one of the latest trends in home decorating and with the right color and the right room, it works. This method is wonderful when your friends and family can give you only one leftover gallon of paint or roll of wallpaper.

Check out the clearance racks at home improvement stores. Almost every Home Depot and Home Base in the country has a rack of "Oops" paint. This is a great way to get gallons of paint for $2, quarts for $1 and 5-gallon buckets for $5. "Oops" paint is paint that has been returned by other customers. It is tinted a shade darker or lighter than the returned color (to prevent fraud) and is then sold to the public for next-to-nothing. The colors might not always be what you are looking for, but if you persistently take a look at the "Oops" shelf every time you are in the store, you are bound to find the perfect color.

This method also works at discount stores. The kid's department, furniture, or hardware department is usually a great place to find discounted paint or wallpaper. You may also want to check the home-decorating section. Generally you can find heavily discounted wallpaper, wall boarders, room stickers, and specialty paints. I was able to purchase 2 quarts of glitter paint and 2 quarts of glow-in-the-dark paint (both by Crayola) at a local higher- end discount store for less than $5. I then used both paints together to give my daughter's room the "cool" Space theme she wanted. Now her rooms glows and glitters all for $5 and about 6 hours worth of work.

Call your local recycling center. Disposing of paint is environmentally hazardous, so all discarded paint is supposed to be turned into your cities recycling center or hazardous material center. Often these facilities are willing to give discarded paint away for free, or for a small donation.

Your home has been cleaned, painted, and wallpapered. Now all that's missing are a few pieces of trash-to-treasure furniture. Now we will cover how to spot a wonderful piece of furniture and what to do with it once you get it home!

Trash to Treasure Furniture

Furniture, along with major appliances, is usually the biggest "ticket" item purchased for a home. Although many people would love to live in a home as opulently furnished as that of a movie star, tight budgets and small wallets are always obstacles. Pseudo-opulence can be had, but it does come with a price. If you are willing to put in a major amount of elbow grease, hard work, creativity and effort, you can create a lovely living space on a tight, tight budget. Try out tricks and tips below to find furniture worth turning from trash to treasure!

Ask around. Put the word out and let friends and family know that you are looking for a certain piece of furniture. You may be surprised by all the responses you receive.

Shop garage and tag sales. These are always preferable to thrift stores, because you can haggle and bargain at a private sale.

Drive through upscale neighborhoods on trash day. This suggestion is always a touchy one, but I always include it because I do it. You should make sure that "trash picking" is legal in your area. You should also make an attempt to verify with the property owner that the item really is "garbage". This holds true especially if the item is something like a chair or a folding table that may have been left by a child. In recent months I have picked up a knick-knack shelf for my daughter's room, a name brand bag less vacuum cleaner in need of a $2 belt, and a new Christmas tree stand which was still attached to the tree.

If all else fails, shop thrift stores. Shop on dollar off or percentage off days and buy only if you find what you are truly looking for. If you do find what you're in search of, you can try to bargain.

Be prepared to buy the piece on the day you find it. Garage and tag sales and thrift stores never have the same items twice, so be prepared to lay down your money then and there.

When looking for furniture remember that there are some things that can easily be changed and there are some things that cannot easily be changed. Size, shape, and the material that the item is made of can generally not be easily changed. There are some exceptions, but in general, if you do not love the look of the item, don't pick it up. Things like colors, fabrics, patinas, etc, can be fairly easily changed and should not entirely influence your decision to purchase an item.

Feel free to use paint, contact paper, spray paint, faux finishes, fabric, and any other medium to spruce up your thrifty find. Just be sure to use thrift when obtain your makeover materials. A 1970's bed can easily become a farmhouse treasure with a little touch of yellow paint and some sand paper. An art deco chair can be re-upholstered to fit into your country home.

You can easily make a new dining table with purchased legs and old planks of wood. If you are a handy woodworker, you could even turn the wooden legs yourself. My husband built all three tables in my sewing room using old 6 foot laboratory tables from a local school and scrap wood.

Let magazines be your inspiration, not your guide. Determine what look you would like to achieve in your home and scour magazines to learn all you can about how to achieve that look. Then begin your search. Do not expect immediate gratification. You may have to spend years completing your home's décor, but in the end, the money saved will be well worth it.

Know what things are worth. Although it is a better immediate bargain to buy a $10 plywood cabinet now, in the long run the $75 haggled-over antique cherry armoire will provide you with the best monetary and functionality return. My husband and I choose to hold out for the best quality antiques we can afford. We believe that antique furniture is built more sturdily than modern furniture and will therefore last our entire lifetime instead of 5 to 10 years. We have made several antique collector friends who are always on the lookout for items we have requested. We are not afraid to haggle with them, but we always threat our friends with respect and appreciation for their efforts.