Whether you need some art for the blank wall in your daughter’s bedroom or a pair of curtains to brighten a living room picture window, some ingenious crafter has likely tackled a similar project on a tiny budget and written about it on his or her blog.
Following are some blogs and other regularly updated websites that offer cheap design tips and project tutorials (also known as “tutes” among in-the-know crafters).
Dollar Store Crafts
Thrifty to the core, Dollar Store Crafts has featured scores of projects produced from $1 items since founder Heather Mann started the site in 2008. Check out projects from Heather and the site’s contributors as well as submissions gleaned from other craft sites. Popular posts: "How to Have a Dollar Store Wedding" and "Make a Stunning Origami Wreath". Click on the “Décor” link for Dollar Store projects for the home.
Thrifty Décor Chick
With a breezy, irreverent decorating and writing style, Thrifty Décor Chick (real name, “Sarah”) charms readers with her chronicles of home improvement and decorating projects and tips. Sarah has a fun design sense and an affinity for wood moulding and jute and has no fear of power tools. The “Closet Turned Book Nook” post and tutorial takes readers through a project that turned a tiny closet into an adorable pint-sized reading room.
IKEA Hackers
Computer programmers aren’t the only ones who “hack.” Ingenious and thrifty home and apartment dwellers take the inexpensive, Scandinavian-inspired furniture and home accessories from IKEA and hack them for another use. The IKEA Hackers blog chronicles their project and adventures. Search the site by category or by those funky IKEA product names. The FNISS wastepaper basket can double as a pendant lamp or toy display; the EDLAND dresser makes a great bathroom vanity.
Beyond the Blogs: Design Magazine Websites, Instructables
The Instructables how-to website posts photo-heavy instructions on various home décor projects, many of which use recycled materials, such as the cardboard room divider. Other websites with frugal home décor projects include the online versions of print magazines, particularly Family Fun, Better Homes and Gardens, and Martha Stewart Living. While pop-up ads on some of these sites may frustrate readers, the projects are well-documented with descriptions and professional photographs. Family Fun’s hidden-storage vanity, for instance, uses a pizza box and recycled plastic bottles and is a neat, low-cost, and functional addition to a girl's room.
Look for Thrifty Design Ideas Using Google Blog Search
Bypass websites that aren’t classified as blogs by using Google’s Blog Search when looking for tips on a frugal home decorations or craft projects. Your search will return only blog posts, and not just from Google’s own Blogger site.
Judith Zwolak - Judy is a mother of two and a freelance writer living in South Dakota. Raised by notoriously frugal parents, she comes by her family ...
