Budget-Friendly Home Styling: 11 Genius Decor Hacks That Look Expensive

Want to give your home a stylish update without draining your bank account? These clever decor tricks make it possible.

Looking for simple home decor hacks? Decorating doesn’t have to be expensive. Here are some easy shortcuts that will save you time and money.

How to make your own whiteware and cover a damaged desktop and how to make your kitchen cabinets look custom and so much more. 

I went down a rabbit hole this week and started watching fashion hacks on YouTube.

They showed me how to fake hem a jacket and turn a sweater around for a new look and tie a shirt in new ways.

And all that watching made me think of the hacks I use all the time.

Not fashion hacks, but home decor hacks instead.

And I decided I needed to share.

After all, we are friends, right?

I mean, we talk almost every day and drink coffee together and talk about words and Venn diagrams and blinking and missing french fries and why I’m never going to be like Emily Gilmore.

And friends show the easiest way to do everything.

So today?

I want to share more of my favorite home decor hacks.

Here are 11 simple, easy, inexpensive ideas to help your home live large.

 

11 Simple Home Decor Hacks That Will Save You Money

1. How to extend your kitchen cabinet

This is the hack to make your builder’s grade cabinets look custom.

You know that space that’s above the cabinet?

It’s so easy to extend it all the way to the ceiling to make the cabinets look built in.

You can see the DIY here.

2. Add a cork top to a desk

Do NOT overthink your damaged table or desk top.

Trust me.

This is so much easier.

All you need are cork squares and this post on how to cover a desk with cork to hide the damage.

2. How to make your own white pitchers

These pitchers didn’t always look like this.

Not even close.

I think one of them started with a bear face.

Here’s the easiest way to make your own whiteware from thrift store finds.

3. Make your baskets look old (or older)

I saw these vintage baskets with numbers and wanted to recreate them.

This is such an easy hack to do with thrift store baskets.

See how to spray paint baskets here.

4. Transform builder-grade windows

This is still one of my favorite home decor hacks ever.

It’s as simple as plywood and crown molding.

When we moved into the farmhouse, there were all these windows without molding on top of them.

Plain ordinary windows without much drama or character.

Until we did this.

5. Spray paint curtain rods

If you have ever priced brass (or gold) curtain rods then you understand you might need to take out a loan for window treatments.

Gold curtain rods like these are so on trend right now.

But the price tag? YIKES. Whhhhhhhy gold curtain rod people? Why the cost? We have children to take through the McDonald’s drive-through and put through college.

So I bought these curtain rods in the scratch and dent section of the store and spray painted them gold.

You can see them in the room here.

7. Turn paint sticks into a tabletop

This tabletop was pitiful.

It was covered with splattered paint and rings where the spray paint can used to be and scratches and big chips in the veneer.  Wobbly and woebegone and just waiting for a make-over.

Nothing is better than a before and after.

Or one of my favorite home decor hacks.

Like this one.

Here’s how I used paint sticks to completely transform this tabletop.

7. Make anything look like metal

Did you know that you can make anything look like metal.

Anything?

All you need is this product and this home decor hack.

8. Clean outdoor cushions with this simple tip

Do you have cushions that look like this?

Yikes.

Can we still be friends if I tell you I do?

Here are my outdoor cushions and how I cleaned them.

9.Creating a faux wood tabletop

I had this plain white table and wanted something a little different. So I used painter’s tape and a wood graining tool to create another of my favorite home decor hacks.

Here’s the finished table.

See how the top looks like wood? You can recreate this on any flat surface with yard sale or thrift store finds.

Here’s the step-by-step on how I transformed this tabletop to look like this.

10. Transform a builders grade door with paint

How do you transform a hollow core builder-grade door when you’re budget has already been spent on the ceiling and the floors and the walls and cute nail polish?

The answer?

Meet a door’s best friend—paint.

Paint can help us pop out those panels and give the door visual interest and make it shine and look high-end and make the neighbors sit up and take notice and say, “That is some door.”

And the best part?

All you need is painter’s tape and paint.

Here’s how we transformed this door from ordinary to amazing with paint.

Even if you never make a single one of these projects, I want you to leave today with this.

Decorating doesn’t have to be fancy.

Decorating doesn’t have to be expensive.

Decorating isn’t all about spending a fortune.

A beautiful home can be yours with a few home decor hacks, a little imagination, some yard sale finds, some paint sticks, a few pieces of cork and a little paint.

PS Looking for more projects? Added all my favorite projects here.

Start with just one or two of these hacks and watch your space transform—your wallet will thank you