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a home + living guide for the post-college, pre-parenthood, quasi-adult generation

11.05.2001

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big decorating dreams. tiny little budget. don't be a wallflower! jump on over to the discussion boards and get decorating help.
 
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other recent LOUNGE articles:
o Home sweet homes
o
Minor Makeover Miracles: Kitchen
o
CD decor
o
Home/work
o Say it with Spraypaint
o
Painting 101
o
Make it Mosaic!
o
Estate Sales 
o
Open House 
o
Hammock Heaven 
o
Makeshift Vases 
o Newlyweds' Nest 
o Variations on a Theme 
o Hanging by a Wire
o
travel decorating on the cheap 
o
what goes where?  
furniture arranging 101 

copyright ©1999-2001
DigsMagazine.com.

the lazy 
d
ecorator's bag of tricks |
1 2 3

Sure, the perfectionist in me is always chiding that if you’re going to do something at all, do it well. But doing it well frequently translates into a huge time and energy investment, and when it comes to decorating your cozy little nest, a fair amount of monetary investment as well. The reality of the situation for most of is that we occasionally have to just make do … and there are certainly times when those quick, easy, somewhat temporary fixes just make more sense. What’s the point of buying that perfect, brand-new, very expensive, L-shaped sofa when you know you’re going to be moving cross-country, to a much smaller apartment, within a year? Why bother sanding, staining and re-finishing that hand-me-down dining table set when you’re just using it until you’ve saved up enough to buy a nice replacement? Why undertake a full-scale paint-job for the walls of a place you don't even own? Still, making do should never have to mean sacrificing style, and with the right tools and materials, no one will even suspect you took the lazy way out …

1. Shoot ‘em up … with a staple gun.
Need a quick facelift for that truly grotesque set of free dining chairs you inherited from your aunt – you know, the ones with the oh-so-classy horse-motif upholstery? Have a great, big piece of so-hideous-it’s-cool 70s-era fabric that you’re just dying to attach to a wooden frame to use as a wall-hanging? Want to cover your dull white walls in floor-to-ceiling burlap, but can’t for the life of you figure out how to attach it? Then these simple words of advice for you, my friend: get yourself a staple gun. Manual staple guns of the squeeze-trigger sort are available at both craft stores and hardware stores, in both light-duty (fine for most craft projects and light upholstery projects) and heavy-duty versions (essential for serious re-upholstering and home repairs).

2. Forget zippers and buttons; go with velcro.
Buttons and buttonholes take forever because they have to be hand-sewn, and I still can’t for the life of me figure out how to sew in a zipper properly. So when it comes to choosing a way to fasten those duvet covers, throw pillow covers and futon covers – my favorite, low-fuss, low-budget way to give a room a color makeover – velcro is the big winner in that competition for fastener of choice. For situations like these, sew-on velcro comes in mighty handy, since it can easily go through the laundry machine. Peel-and-stick velcro, on the other hand, is a good solution for attaching wall hangings when you can’t drill holes (or for any other project where you don’t have to worry about washability/water issues).

keep wandering this way!

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