Originally published 2/18/2019; updated 8/8/2023
Yes, it can be done and I’ve been doing it for years. You 100% can update your space without buying anything. Today I want to share some tricks of the trade that take minimal effort but give maximum results. I’ve perfected these techniques over the years in my own home and in clients’ homes. Everyone’s happy and everyone’s wallets remain full.
5 FREE Home Decor Ideas (easy DIYs)
I love instant gratification and changing things as quickly, easily, and affordably as possible. These free home decor ideas are creative, accessible, and require just a tiny bit of DIY effort in order to save yourself hundreds or thousands of dollars. Let’s jump in!
1. Paint it!
If you’re reading about free home decor ideas, I’m willing to bet you do DIYs and therefore have many a paint can leftover from house projects. I have a leftover paint can graveyard in my closet too. So let’s use them! You already know you like the color because you bought it for something else, so it’s basically free paint. Use this paint on a table, lamp, frame, etc etc.
Bored with your colors? Why not ask a friend, neighbor, or family member if you can take a look at their paint can graveyard and use some? Maybe even do a paint graveyard swap?
Pro tip: consider mixing paint colors to create something new! Only mix paints that are the same kind with the same finish.
Don’t limit yourself to just cans of paint either! If you’re a thrifter, you probably know the trick to buy the bad art just for the frame (the frame is usually really good, especially if vintage). You can paint or spray paint it any color and if it’s an ornate frame, you can return it to its former glory with gold.
Budget hack: If you truly don’t like any of the paint colors you have, you can get a sample can of paint for like $15 and give your end tables, lamps, or pottery a face lift.
2. Change the stain
Also just sitting in your garage? Probably wood stains! I had both a walnut stained dining table and architectural coffee table that I wanted to lighten up. I used my favorite non-toxic paint stripper and stripped that baby down to a gorgeous light oak in a matter of hours. If you are looking for a non-toxic paint stripper to use indoors without the fumes, I love Citristrip and have used it for years with amazing results.
Pro tip: If you have something that is a dark stain (or you find one while thrifting), but aren’t sure what’s underneath, it’s most likely a white oak. So if you see something secondhand that’s crazy affordable, but don’t like the stain, you no longer have to pass on it because you know what to do!
Stain idea: strip it and then whitewash it using paint mixed with water! Let that wood grain shine through and give it a little Scandi refresh.
3. Use your fabric
Do you have any extra fabric lying around? Make a pillow cover, dining chair covers, curtains, a faux roman shade, etc. You don’t even have to sew; just get some iron on tape! I even reupholstered vintage bamboo chairs in a matter of hours with little to no experience. There is so much free information out there teaching you how to DIY virtually anything. You CAN do it! Just Youtube it.
We are so quick to cast something off if we no longer like it, but what we need to do is just see it with new eyes and then give it a face lift.
My friend from across the pond is currently updating her English farmhouse and recently took a shabby thrift find that nobody wanted and refinished and reupholstered it herself. It’s now living a fabulous life.
4.Shop your home
This is actually a trade secret of interior design photoshoots. Designers are constantly borrowing items from different rooms of the home to add to the space they are photographing. They even style for shoots using accessories from their own homes! If the pros can do it, so can you. Above, Emily Henderson took that copper end table from inside and also used floral wire and faux florals to make those climbing roses stay upright. See, you just have to be scrappy.
After all, you have pretty great taste, right? So chances are, even if you’re bummed about one room, you nailed it in another room. Hunt around your home and shop. Move things from room to room and don’t be afraid to transform what you have with a tiny little DIY.
And don’t forget to shop your outdoors too! Let me tell you a secret about this innocent looking tree above. For the photoshoot, this tree was plucked from the backyard. Seriously, free tree! So don’t be afraid to forage (with permission) because if you’ve tried to buy branches you know 1) they are pricey and 2) shipping is expensive because it’s such a large oddly shaped item. So get outdoors and get creative! Do you know who else forages with abandon? Athena Calderon aka Eyeswoon. THE tastemaker.
5. MAKE art
I know not everyone would claim having artistic ability, but you do! And you can make some art. We aren’t talking Van Gogh here; we’re talking about using easy and loose references and interpreting them into your own abstract piece. Emphasis on abstract.
See Brady’s caned console above? Look at how simple the art is–very Franz Kline. Get some inspo and recreate it. You can pay homage without copying:-) Making art is the easiest way to update your home. You already own the frames right? So why not just swap out what’s in them with something you made yourself?
Not convinced? Ever heard of famous artists Piet Mondrian, Franz Kline, or Josef Albers? These artists all created works that were very simple. Franz Kline even used house paint as his medium to ground the works and make them more approachable!
Pro tip: I often suggest this to clients as a really fun interactive family activity. Buy a giant canvas at the craft store, grab your family, and your house paint (like Franz Kline did), and make art! Just be mindful of color choices as opposites on the color wheel turn brown when mixed.
Another idea: Did you know you can also make faux ceramics? Take the chain ceramic above for example: you can make this with air dry clay and a wire clothes hanger bent into a shape–I’ve done it.
Shopping your home and then DIY-ing your own stuff is the best and most affordable way to get the custom home you love.
Unfortunately, we live in a society that is always selling to us. Which could leave us feeling like our homes are less than. The need for more drives us to anxiety and away from happiness. But it doesn’t have to.
What if you just embraced what you had, the Wabi Sabi way? What if you looked around, realized the truth about your space, and then worked with the great things you already picked out for yourself?
You gain joy through a creative activity, you save money, and you are preventing perfectly good furnishings from hitting the landfill prematurely. So, go ahead, update your home for free. And just be so proud. Because you did it!!
