Mary Beth Breckenridge/Akron Beacon Journal
Monday, January 28, 2008

AKRON, Ohio - When the Christmas decorations come down, your house can seem as blah as the winter landscape.

Pick up an inexpensive bouquet every week at the grocer, and you'll have a colorful accent to your home this winter.

Pick up an inexpensive bouquet every week at the grocer, and you'll have a colorful accent to your home this winter.

Now would be the perfect time for a decorative makeover - perfect, that is, if holiday bills weren't threatening to make off with what's left of your bank account.

Take heart. We'll help you give your surroundings a little cheer on the cheap.

We asked interior designers for their suggestions on giving a home a decorative boost for $100 or less. They came through not only with ideas, but often with money to spare.

The best place to start is with what you already own, several designers suggested. And that won't cost you a dime.

Chances are, you moved your furniture to make room for a Christmas tree or other decorations. So when you take those holiday decorations down, resist the urge to put things back where they were, designer Robin Brechbuhler said. Just rearranging a room can give it a new look, she said.

While you're at it, change the artwork around, too. When art is positioned in a different place, you start noticing it anew, Brechbuhler said. "It's amazing how it just refreshes the room."

Even your holiday decorations might be fodder for some longer-lasting decorative oomph.

"See what doesn't scream holiday," designer Pamela Bayer suggested, and consider giving those items an extended life in your home. A jewel-toned runner can look appropriate throughout the winter, for example, and a topiary can outlive the holidays if bows or other seasonal accents are removed.

Use your gold or silver candles with other decorative items with cross-seasonal appeal to add sparkle to the winter months.

Use your gold or silver candles with other decorative items with cross-seasonal appeal to add sparkle to the winter months.

Metallics are hot now, Bayer said, so use your gold or silver candles to add sparkle to the winter months. You might even comb the after-Christmas sales for metallic candles and other decorative items with cross-seasonal appeal, she said.

Paint is an affordable tool for making a big decorative difference, but if you balk at the work involved in painting an entire room, focus on just one accent wall, said Suzanne Catlette of Flickinger Interiors. It doesn't involve a big commitment of time or energy, she said. And for the risk-averse, it's less scary than changing the color of an entire room.

Investing in a few brightly hued glass pieces such as bowls, vases or candy dishes is a way to brighten your home during the winter months.

Investing in a few brightly hued glass pieces such as bowls, vases or candy dishes is another simple way to brighten things, Catlette said. They add both color and sparkle at a dreary time of year, and they can often be found inexpensively at places such as import and discount stores.

Catlette and Brechbuhler are both fans of fresh flowers, which provide an emotional lift along with their decorative appeal. Pick up an inexpensive bouquet every week when you do your grocery shopping, and you'll have a colorful, constantly changing accent until it's time for Mother Nature to take over outside. Think of using bowls, bottles or other containers you already own as vases, Brechbuhler said.

Small fabric items are an inexpensive way to introduce color or texture, the designers said. Invest in a few new toss pillows or a chenille throw to enhance a sofa, or make covers for your existing pillows, perhaps with place mats or runners purchased on sale, Pesce said.

Place mats, napkins, a tablecloth or chair covers give your dining room furniture new interest, Pesce and Bayer said. In the bathroom, spring for towels or a new shower curtain, maybe in an iridescent copper tone or an interesting texture, Bayer said. Even pretty paper fingertip towels can give the bathroom a boost, and they won't so much as bend your budget, she said.

Just tying back your curtains with a bit of wide wired ribbon adds interest, Pesce said. Or consider using a tension rod to mount your curtains partway down your window frame, so the top part of the window is left uncovered. The effect is almost like a transom, Pesce said, and it lets in more of the light we crave this time of year.

Speaking of light, buy yourself some new candles, and burn them to bring warmth and shimmer to this season of darkness, said Donna Horst of Cynthia J. Hoffman Interior Design. The light of candles symbolizes promise, she said, so their impact is emotional as well as visual.

And don't ignore the power of scent, Horst said. An aromatherapy diffuser might not add a lot to your decor, but it could lift your spirits as much as a new rug or lamp.