Decorating on a Dime

My sister, Jane, turned me on to HGTV. Now I'm addicted! As Jane says, "There's always a happy ending." She's right. And gosh, watching it sure gets your creative juices flowing.

My favorite program is the High Low Project. Sabrina Soto designs a jaw-dropping room for a lucky couple or person. Then she reveals the equally jaw-dropping cost. Next, she goes out and replicates that expensive decor for a fraction of the cost.

What have I learned by watching the show?

* Mix expensive items with cheap ones. No one will know, and you'll save buckets of cash.

* Shop around. You can find a cheaper copy of almost anything.

* Make it work. Repurpose things so that they serve your purpose, not the original one.

* Cover it with paint and no one will know. You can paint almost anything. Metal, glass, etc.

This empty bottle washed up on my beach. I added a smooth sea pebble, string, and a slipper shell. If you could see it in "real life," you'd see the wonderful pitted surface of the glass that makes the bottle very interesting.

* Study the high-price objects and copy them. I watched Sabrina and a co-worker replicate an expensive piece of art that looked like an empty wine bottle with a starfish stuck on it. That tickled me because I'd done a similar job on a bottle I found on the beach. (See above.) I felt great about recycling these found objects!

* Whip out that sewing machine and hop to it! The fabric portions of any room can easily be the most costly.

* Shop a variety of stores. My favorites are HomeGoods, Target, TJ Maxx, and Bed, Bath and Beyond. (Love their coupons.)

The second show I watch regularly is Secrets from a Stylist. Emily Henderson pinpoints clients' design style by observing what they like, listening to them, and asking them to choose one item from an array of things.

I looked in my husband's dresser drawer and saw all tailored clothes in khaki, white and navy. He sent down a model ship that he loved. He collects books about maritime antiques.

So this weekend I set to work. I knew our bedroom was a bit too fussy for my husband's taste. I admit it was bit too twee for mine. The bed was covered with a busy patterned dust ruffle, a white coverlet, and pillow shams that were too frou-frou. Instead of being soothing, the effect was tiring.

I found a Ralph Lauren coverlet at HomeGoods for only $40. I added a tailored bed skirt and shams that I bought at Bed, Bath and Beyond with my coupons for 20 percent off. Around the flange of the shams, I added a navy grosgrain ribbon. I moved pillows from the livingroom into the bedroom, which was a good repurposing because there were too many pillows on sofa. It had become annoying to move them each time I wanted to sit there. I found an ivory throw at Target, along with a wonderful lamp that looks like a surveyor's instrument. The brass trim on the stunning wood is reminiscent of sailing devices. You can barely see my recycled glass bottle on the side table.

I think the finished look is much more tailored, sophisticated and...nautical. I hope David likes it! I find it much more restful and soothing.

See the surveyor-ish lamp? Next to it is the salvaged bottle. The trim on the ivory pillows is ribbon hand-sewn on and also adhered with "magic" hem tape.