A brightly colored runner made of squares of patterned Kaffe Fassett fabric designs rests on a wooden coffee table in fa family room. A plate with a potted plant sits on the runner. Behind the table is a teal sofa with a bright patchwork pillow in similar colors (teal, orange, purple, turquoise). Another large plant sits next to the sofa in front of a window.

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Shop Your Home for Fresh Decor

June 30, 2023July 5, 2023 by Laura Grey No Comments

Looking for exciting free decorating ideas? Want accessories or furnishings that match your style and palette, but won’t cost you anything? If you need fresh ideas and want a new look instantly, just shop your home. You probably already have some great pieces sitting in a cupboard, hiding on a shelf, or shoved in a corner. Let’s look around your place together and find some home furnishings that would look great displayed in a new way, or in a different part of your home.

Everything but the Kitchen Sink

Obviously, the cooking and serving items you keep in your kitchen don’t belong elsewhere in your house, right? Wrong. Most kitchens provide a trove of beautiful pieces that can brighten up bedrooms, bathrooms, living rooms, patios, or entryways. You can shop your home and repurpose and refresh your place today using common kitchen items.

In the bathroom

A glass plate on a pedestal holds two Waterford crystal pieces—a small jam jar without a lid and an open small bowl—and a Victorian cut crystal cruet. Next to that pedestal is a smaller Waterford cut crystal pedestal that holds a white bar of soap. In front of the Waterford pedestal is a small urn-shaped glass candle holder in which are a lipliner pencil, mascara, and a stick eyeshadow. In front of that is a medium-sized Waterford jam jar with a lit white candle in it. At left are three small glossy luxury cosmetic jars. All items are sitting on a heavily patterned brown and cream granite counter in front of a mirror. — Crystal snagged at estate sales holds cosmetics, brushes, soap, and candles. Bubble bath in a Victorian cruet? Sure! Each piece cost me what I’d pay for a plastic cup at Target. If one gets chipped, so what? *| Laura Grey*

Use drinking glasses, mugs, or smaller pitchers to hold make-up brushes.
Porcelain, glass, ceramic, or crystal sugar and creamer sets hold cotton balls, Q-tips, or lip gloss.
Did you break a favorite teacup? Use its saucer as a soap dish by the sink.
Keep bubble bath in a vintage crystal decanter or salad dressing cruet .
You don’t have to use “bathroom rugs” in the bathroom. If you have room, a plush and pretty 3′ x 5′ wool area rug packs a beautiful punch, and feels so good on your feet as you stand in front of your sink. I especially love patterned rugs by Rifle Paper Co., Anthropologie, and Pottery Barn Kids (which aren’t just for children).
A ceramic, painted wood, glass, or metal tray looks pretty on a bathroom counter—use it to display flowers, creams, lotions, perfume bottles, and toothbrush holders.
Use ring clips to turn dish towels into bistro curtains for bathrooms or your kitchen.

A small round wood-topped table with black hairpin metal legs sits in front of a beige wall. On top of the table is a clear glass pedestal dish. It holds a silver glass candleholder, a pale grey highball glass with makeup brushes sticking out of the top and silver drop earrings hooked over the rim, a gold cosmetic jar and a rhinestone-encrusted barrett. Below the pedestal on the table top sit a pair of sunglasses with tortoiseshell frames and a low rectangular perfume bottle. The overall effect of wood, black, and reflective silver items gives a slightly midcentury modern feel. — No room for a vanity table? Top a small side table with a pedestal

A beautiful Fostoria coupe (champagne glass) from the 1920s sits on a wooden surface. The clear glass has a flat bottom that curves upward at the sides and creates nearly straight sides. From the rim of the glass hang two drop earrings on gold wires. Each one has a cluster of tiny white seed pearls above a single tear-shaped blue-green stone — No room for a vanity table? Top a small side table with a pedestal

In the dining room

*Kettles, teapots, coffee pots, or creamers make delightful planters or vases | Melanie Oliver for Pexels*

Small ramekins, footed dessert bowls, colored wine glasses, or tin tartlet pans make pretty tealight candle holders.
Flowers look great displayed in a teapot or coffee pot (metal, ceramic, or porcelain).
Use an oblong scarf as a runner on the top of your buffet or sideboard, and then:
- Pop a plain or coordinating large round or oval tray or serving platter in the center.
- Top with three empty glass pitchers of different heights with all handles pointing the same way.
- Arrange pitchers in a triangle with the tallest pitcher in the back and smaller ones in front.
- If you want, use the pitchers as vases for cut flowers or branches cut from shrubs or trees in your garden.

In the family room

Four photos of candles poured into reused vintage glassware and china are combined into a single image. At left is a NY World's Fair glass from 1964. At right are a 1940s juice glass with animals painted on it and two teacups and saucers. All cups and glasses are candles. — *A vessel can hold whatever you want. I make clean-burning soy wax candles in old glasses and teacups—they’re unique, practical, and reusable | Laura Grey*

Put a decorative rectangular casserole dish on the coffee table and use it to hold TV remotes or books.
A pedestal plate looks terrific as a candleholder—cluster three to five white votives and pillar candles of varying heights together on one.
There’s no rule against using outdoor furniture indoors. You can bring your outdoor bench or sofa inside. Just clean it well (especially the legs and underneath the seat). You might want to spring for fresh cushions. (You’ll find great deals on outdoor cushions at Ocean State Job Lot stores during spring and summer.)
Trays corral clutter and look great doing it. I use metal, rustic wood, and high-gloss lacquered trays in my family and living rooms. You can easily set a tray aside to make room for snacks or games, then pop it back into place afterwards.

In the office

When your favorite mug gets chipped, use it as a pen and pencil holder. (Vintage highball glasses make great pen cups, too).
Lacquered trays make such chic inboxes.
Vintage teacups or mugs make great holders for Post-It notes, rubber bands, and paper clips.

In the bedroom

Place a fabric table runner over your dresser to add color, or to keep from scratching the wood with keys, your TV, etc.
Put a few wine or champagne glasses of different sizes and heights on your dresser and hook dangling earrings around the rim.
Use vintage teacups and saucers as ring and bracelet holders.

Anywhere in the house

The stylish Isa Gropius, wife of Bauhaus founder Walter Gropius, made chic earrings from metal washers. She displayed them in a dish in her dressing room *at what is now the Gropius House Museum*. You can use any small saucers, cups, or other shallow vessels as chic jewelry trays | Laura Grey

A small bouquet of flowers looks charming in a juice glass, creamer, antique bottle, teacup, or an old silver cream and sugar set.
Old plates with minor cracks or crazing make handy saucers under houseplants.
Out of planters? Use a vintage sugar, coffee , or flour canister as a vase or a cachepot—a decorative planter without a drain hole into which you can pop a potted plant.

Scour Your Clothes Closet

A square scarf or shawl makes a beautiful tablecloth for a small round table—top with a pile of pretty books, a lamp, or two or three candles clustered together on a tray.
Hanging shoe organizers are great for storing garden tools and sewing notions.
Recover a throw pillow with a scarf.

Steal from Your Bedroom

Use a patchwork quilt as decor—hang it over a rod to display it on a wall, use a small quilt as a decorative tablecloth over a bedside table, or, if it’s fragile, display it on a quilt rack.
Nightstands don’t have to stay in the bedroom—store fabric and sewing supplies or hide art supplies in a sewing or craft room, or use them as end tables in the family room.
A wide, low dresser or chest of drawers can hold outdoor winter clothes in a mudroom or entryway.
Store extra blankets or board games in a living room chest.
Keep table linens, the family silver, and home decor items in a dresser used like a credenza in the dining room.

Raid Your Linen Closet

Flat sheets make easy and attractive curtains.
Fashion a cat hammock out of an old towel.

Got a Few Bucks to Spare?

A tall built-in bookcase with hidden uplights on each shelf is painted white. It's filled with white porcelain dishes and serveware, as well as occasional cookbooks, small plants, toy cars, and glass jars of red Christmas ornaments. — *Everyday household items make practical containers and beautiful decor | Jason Leung for Unsplash*

If you can’t find just want you’re looking for at home for free, take a gander at thrift shops, yard sales, or estate sales. Look for things you can repurpose in a fun and original way. Or try my favorite source of bargain home furnishings—local online auctions. You can check out all the offerings at these local estate or downsizing sales online, right from the privacy of your own home. The bargains can be splendid. To learn about these great sources of beautiful home furnishings, check out my article Local Online Auctions.

At top:

You can use potted plants as centerpieces—just place them on pretty trays or plates to keep moisture from damaging what’s below them. A simple patchwork runner is easy to sew and makes a great spot of color for dressers, chests, or dining and coffee tables—it saves wood from scratches, too. Don’t sew? Use scarves or even pretty tea towels as runners on tables and dressers instead | Laura Grey

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