June 3, 1997 

FIXING UP THAT FIRST HOME ...WITHOUT BREAKING THE BANK

That magic day has finally arrived ...you've moved into your very first home, a home of your own. It doesn't matter if you're a recent graduate making that important transition from your parents' home, or a newlywed just starting out, or a newly-single person taking a first step into a new life, your home reflects your sense of independence and even your self-esteem.

But something is amiss in your manse. The first sight that greets you when you open the front door features a bare bulb blaring down from the ceiling, a barren window yawning from a chalky wall, and a stark expanse of linoleum stretching beneath your feet. Your new home needs sprucing, but what if your wallet isn't as hefty as your dreams?

Don't worry. You can turn your new house or apartment into a comfortable, attractive home at a very reasonable cost. All it takes is imagination, information and a little jar of "elbow grease."

"The more you make your new home say ‘you,' the more relaxed and secure you'll feel," says Dr. Wilma Hammett, a home furnishing specialist at North Carolina State University. "An attractive, comfortable home environment can do much to ease the stress of new transitions -- new job, new marriage, new living quarters. Some people assume that decorating a new home requires a lot of money, a lot of time, or a lot of both, but it's simply not true. You can make vast improvements with a little time, a little imagination, a little know-how and a little money."

Hammett, who is a specialist in the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service, says that estate sales and flea markets are excellent sources of unusual pieces of furniture and artwork that can be yours for very little money. This does not mean that you have to settle for "junk,' though. A bit of sanding, painting, fabric and a glue gun can transform a cast-off into a knock-out that livens your living area.

"You can pick up a dining room table -- or a facsimile -- at very little cost," says Hammett. "Then, you can buy odd, mis-matched chairs that you find advertised in the newspaper, or at yard and estate sales. If you paint [the chairs] the same color as the table and re-cushion the seats in the same fabric all around, it doesn't matter that the chairs began life as complete strangers. They'll look like ‘siblings' when you're through."

Hammett says that if your bed isn't much more than a mattress and box springs on the floor, you can paint a simple "headboard"-- created from stripes, circles and flowers -- -- on the wall behind the bed. You can add trim and ribbons to pillow cases, custom-design pillow shams to match or accent bedspreads or coverlets, thus creating a pulled-together designer look for your bedroom.

Here are some other ideas that can add some dazzle to your digs:

Furniture:

• A flat-top trunk can become an excellent coffee table. It can also store blankets, sheets, out-of-season clothes, books, etc.
• You can turn an old door into a dining room table; place it on sawhorses and cover it with a tablecloth whose pattern matches other colors in the room.
• To rejuvenate an elderly sofa, you can create an instant "slip cover" using brightly-colored bed sheets wrapped around the sofa and tucked into seat cushions. Add colorful pillows to complete the look.

Window Treatments:

• Patterned bed sheets come to the rescue again! Use them to "frame" a window, and hang sheer curtains on the inside for a "layered" affect. You can plait colorful scarves as a tie-back for your new curtains. Matching pillow cases can form "cafe curtains" if they're attached to rods and hung at the middle of the windows.
• Install vinyl mini blinds in a color that matches a color in the room. Silk flowers can be entwined around curtain rods to soften the blinds' effect.
• Use coat hooks, cup hooks or bathroom towel rings as tie backs for curtains or drapery swags.

Accessories:

• Enhance family and vacation photographs with inexpensive, do-it-yourself picture frames; hang the framed photographs in a cluster to brighten a bare wall or corner.
• Frame pretty cards, stamps or posters to hang in the kitchen and bathroom.
• Pretty fabric or a quilt can be mounted on a frame and hung in a hallway or living room.
• If you fall in love with an expensive fabric, buy a small amount and use it to cover pillows or as a wall hanging. It's better to spend money on something to look at rather than something to sit on. Besides, you get to enjoy it longer without the expense.
• Use border wallpaper to liven up a room; it's easy to hang, inexpensive and easy to change to suit new tastes, fancies or seasons.
• Buy used lamp shades and spice them up with sewn-on lace, satin ribbons or other accessories.
• Use a decorative Chinese lantern or other shade to soften the glare of overhead lights.
• Paint inexpensive, braid-type rugs to match patterns of your decor.

"You can get many more ideas and illustrations from how-to books or magazines in your public library," says Hammett. "You can to a little or a lot, depending on your time or inclination. The important thing to remember is that your home can give you self-confidence and a sense of who you are. Don't let lack of funds keep your new home from becoming a reflection of you and your ideals. Later on, when your career or life circumstances allow you to become more elaborate in your decorating, you'll always remember that first ‘on-my-own' apartment fondly and use some of the same techniques again. That's why it's important to take the care now to make your home an inviting place to be."

For more information, please contact a family and consumer education agent in your county center of the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service.