Double D's - Decorating and Downsizing

Are you marketing a vacant home - or perhaps you have a large blank wall and a small budget?

Here's a couple inexpensive and unique ideas for adding some wall decor:

1.  Poster Art has graduated from the teen bedroom and college dorm.  You can order some great vintage posters at www.internationalposter.com or some really bright art prints at www.powerslidedesign.com.  You can either mount them or frame them cheaply and they can add a lot of color and design to a room.

2.Back when I had a roommate and no money - we were looking for a way to decorate some large open walls to warm up our apartment.  It happened to be summer time, and we were in a large department store and walked by their beach towels.  They had a NY ballet beach towel in black and white and this great mural type print of faces.  We bought the two beach towels, then went to a craft store and bought 2 large stretcher frames.  We used a staple gun to mount the towels on the frames and hung them on the walls.  We got more compliments on those "pictures" than on anything else in the apartment.

Have you ever wanted to add some color to a room - but didn't want to commit to painting or wallpaper?

You can find Roman blinds/shades in all sorts of technicolors that will really add a pop to a room.  Put your color in your accessories and decor and not in the carpet or paint.

Need to replace some flooring - but there are too many choices?

Hardwood - high demand, great resale, easy to maintain and can last 100 years. It is one of the pricist options, can be loud, can scuff or scratch

Laminate - affordable, do-it-yourself, low maintenance, not a prestige material - so resale value is very low, can not be repaired/refinished - only replaced

Carpet - affordable, cozy, insulating, professional install needed, can stain and harbor allergies

Cork - environmentally friendly, insulates, absorbs shocks and sound, can stain, scratch and fade

Bamboo - renewable material, easy to maintain, can be diy, less available

Tile - large array of size, material, color, finish, unforgiving, grout can stain

Downsizing for self or selling?

Give yourself a month to go through everything so you don't get overwhelmed or toss something valuable.

Designate four categories: donate, keep, sell and toss

Buy rubber bins to store things you'll be keeping or selling

There is a collector for almost anything - so do some research online first before selling or donating or throwing away

Watch out for vintage ads, vintage childhood toys, china and silver sets, first-edition books and anything mid-century modern