Top ten ways to decorate on the cheap

10 - for fabric, look for thrift or sale curtians/shower curtains. We have a chair covered in a khaki and white awning stripe shower curtian and it looks great. Two other chairs have the cushions wrapped each in one piece of a pair of curtains that are taupe on taupe.
9 - for our actual curtains though, we have clearance sale buffet tablecloths. Our old house has large odd sized windows, so this works great.
8 - our love seat is covered in a mattelaise bedspread found on clearance
7 - the husband God gave me collects wooden boxes, benches and foot stools. For an end table next to the couch, we have a stack of wooden boxes with a bench on top. Looks pretty cute.
6 - both chairs, both rockers and the love seat and couch are all thrift store finds. Everything added up would come to less than $150 dollars. Yes, it is a teeny bit tacky, but that's what we are going for - that shabby-chic, chippy white paint look.
5 - the color scheme around the fire place is pink, white and pale green. We never would have chosen pink carpet...but it is what was already here. Many of the green accents come from scattered piles of green hardcover books. All old, all books I really really like, all green. Over the fire place hangs a large Mary Cassat print of two little girls on the beach. THGGM gave it to me for our 15th anniversary, eleven years ago. Sitting below the print are elements from the picture...a straw hat, a galvanized bucket with a shovel, and a pair 1900's children's shoes that belonged to my great aunt. All along the mantle, which stretches the length of the room are white swan planters arranged amongst family pictures, old and new.
4 - the dining room has an old dining table that we picked up at Goodwill. My husband's grandmother's lace tablecloth is on it. On the deep windowsill sits my collection of cake plates, stacked up and catching the light. Two buffets hold our collection of odd pieces of china and linens. One the fourth wall, on either side of the doorway to the living room sits my grandmother's sewing machine on one side, and a white chimney cupboard full of stoneware on the other. There used to be French doors, but they 'went missing' before we moved in. I'm always looking for them in local antique shops.
3 - my favorite piece of furniture in the living room is a writing desk/book shelf THGGM bought for me at a flea market. It was a horrid dark green, but he spray painted it white for me. This holds more books, and a few of my favorite things. More books are in a bookcase next to this desk. Someday I'm planning to turn this bookcase into a three story dollhouse for some eventual grandchilden.
2 - we also collect old leather suit cases. A stack of three in the den serves as a side table, and matches the sleepy hollow chair and foot stool THGGM found at a local thrift store. He had been searching for one for decades. Another wood box, an old blanket box, serves as a coffee table.
1 - every room should have something totally kitschy. In our den, it's a wooden bowl full of pool balls. In the living room, it's individual jello molds in the shape of stars, with glass half-marbles surrounding votive candles. In the dining room, it WAS the head of a china doll under glass. But, no one except me appreciated it, so I removed it. I haven't found a replacement yet...but...tomorrow is Saturday, Ah...Saturday...and I will look for something then...