Design Trends on a Budget

Redecorating is one of Britain’s favourite past times, and it’s no wonder. After all, there are few places we spend more time in than our own homes, and there are few ways to make our homes feel cheerful and inviting than a new look for the rooms.

But it’s not like the economy has recovered completely, so most of us are still watching our money. Luckily, most of the interior design trends that are big for 2013 can be done on a budget. We’ll show you how.

Pastel colours

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A pastel colour palette instantly makes a room feel relaxed, with a touch of femininity. If you’re worried about it becoming too sweet, you can use a palette that is mostly made of neutrals like mink and putty, with a few candy-coloured accents.

Doing it on a budget

This is all about colour, so if your furniture is already light or made of natural materials, you can just paint the walls and invest in a couple of eye-catching accessories. Matalan has a lot of cute pastel kitchen and living room accessories in blues, greens and pinks, and eBay is a great source for unique home décor.

Monochrome

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Monochrome creates instant impact. No matter the size of the room or the amount of light it gets, a monochromatic design theme will always look great. It looks even better when you add in an accent colour. Which accent colour? Whichever one you like. Monochrome looks great with just about every colour out there.

Doing it on a budget

Monochrome design as shown in the magazines does require commitment. Everything needs to be black, white, both or the accent colour. You can bring the idea into your house with big accents, like a rug or wallpaper. Whatever you get, it should fit in nicely, since black and white look good with all sorts of colours. Try B&Q for a great selection of wallpapers, and check out the rugs at Argos and IKEA for some great monochrome options.

Stripes

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Stripes are a great way to inject colour, create a sense of drama and movement and fool the eye, all in one go. They do the same thing for rooms that they do for clothes: horizontal strips make a room look wider, and vertical stripes make the room look longer. Best of all, if you choose black and white stripes, you get two trends for the price of one.

Doing it on a budget

Luckily for those of us on a budget, stripes are best used as accents, so you don’t have to redecorate an entire room. If you’re used to doing your own DIY, you can reupholster a piece of furniture in striped fabric. Check online for tutorials, or find a cheap upholsterer in your area. You can even use a contrasting striped fabric for the cushions. JustFabrics.co.uk has a large selection of striped upholstery fabric, and you can find reasonably priced throw cushions from Etsy.

Natural materials

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Natural materials don’t exactly go out of style, but this year they are done a bit differently. Many furniture pieces and accessories are utilising unfinished materials like wood with raw lines and unpolished stone to really bring nature indoors.

Doing it on a budget

If you’re lucky, you live next to unprotected wilderness, so you can scavenge for wood to use to build your own table. That’s highly unlikely, though, so you’ll just have to make do with stuff you can buy. Next has a lot of frames, clocks and wall art made from what looks like reclaimed wood and which fit in this trend perfectly. Otherwise, you can always gather a bunch of sticks from your garden and create a minimalist arrangement in your favourite vase.

Graphic florals

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Graphic florals are appearing on wallpaper, wall art, cushions, fabrics and just about everywhere else. These are usually retro-styled prints, and they usually come in bright colours.

Doing it on a budget

This trend is everywhere, so it is easy to work into a design theme easily and on a budget. Like the stripes trend, this works best as an accent, so you won’t have to buy a whole lot of new things. Most designers seem to incorporate this trend almost exclusively using wallpaper. Homebase has loads of graphic florals to choose from, suiting all kinds of colour palettes and tastes.

These trends show that you don’t have to spend loads to get a great-looking room. Which look do you want to have, and what room will you redecorate? Do you have any other great, budget-friendly tips for interior decorating?