Homemade Living Room Decorations

Art

• Decorating your walls with homemade art is a creative way to express yourself and save tons of money in the process. No matter your decorating style, you can enhance it with homemade art.

  A rustic home is the perfect backdrop for a homemade tree-branch wall hanging. Collect the branches from your yard or park, then tie them together into a frame. Tie additional branches onto the frame for added depth and interest. A useful way to dress a large, blank wall, a tree-branch art display is eye-catching day or night.

  A more modern space will use "homemade" splashes of color reminiscent of great artists like Pollack or Rothko. A blank canvas and acrylic paints are all you need to get started, and when you paint abstractly with the dominant colors in the room, the art fits seamlessly in the room.

Textiles

• Whether you are an accomplished knitter or a novice, you can make homemade accents for your living room in an afternoon or less.

  Use pillow forms and a brightly colored, richly textured fabric to add interest to a sofa or chair. Use your leftover yarns to make a shabby-chic knitted or crocheted throw for the room. Rustic roping or braided leftover fabric scraps turn into one-of-a-kind bottle covers that can then shelter fresh flowers or cover lampshades for a side table. A hot glue gun makes nearly anything possible.

Accessories

• Give a clear glass vase new life as a stylish homemade décor element. Fill the bottom with sand then roll a black and white photograph and slip it into the vase's opening. The picture will unroll once in the vase and can be pushed down into the sand as a unique way to display a family photo. A glass-etching compound can also be used to dress up a clear, glass vase. Use a stencil for a planned design or simply apply the compound with a paintbrush in an organic and unplanned way.

  A mirror is another useful accessory for a living space that can either be hung on the wall or displayed on a side table. Take an existing hand-mirror and use old jewelry and hot glue to cover the back of the mirror to add glitz and glamor. Frame a mirror with a fabric-covered or decoupaged wood picture frame and hang on a wall. A larger mirror can be used as a serving tray on a coffee table.

Furniture Embellishments

• Decorate your living room by adding decorative features to your existing, lackluster furniture. Place vintage illustrated book pages under glass on top of an end table to instantly update and add interest to the piece. Use a decoupage technique to cover the top or front of a coffee table or side table. Use old book pages, aged maps or a collection of copied black and white family photos to make the project a personal expression of your interests.