Decorating on a Dime

 By Katy Gurley

I just bought the greatest drapes for my dining room. They are sage-colored with small white dots. OK, they’re polka-dotted, I admit, but the dots are well-spaced, skirting the cutsie factor. I love them. I got them at Wal-Mart’s in Brentwood, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis,  for $13 a panel. The label said they were for children’s rooms, but I rarely pay attention to such things.  The great thing about these curtains is they the blend in nicely with my blues-and-greens color scheme. They look expensive and I’m all for whatever works in decorating on a dime.

 Welcome to my world.  I am not a professional decorator or anything like an interior designer. I am a writer and editor who loves interior design, decorating and hunting down bargains. (Quick, what’s the difference between decorating and interior design?  Interior design is decorating that knows somebody.)  I’ve been hunting for decorating bargains for about as long as I’ve been a writer, since I was… well, a kid out of college.  I started my writing career at the old St. Louis Globe-Democrat, where I was a news reporter, feature writer and some-time editor.  Since then, I’ve done a lot of editorial things and I have decorated my own houses and apartments in the great places I’ve lived, from Massachusetts and New York to California and Missouri.

I’ve always said there are four things that make me high: Editing, writing, shopping and decorating. Love what your do, they say, and the money will follow.  The money part of that doesn’t always hold true for me, which is why I shop for home goods that don’t cost much. But I have fun and living a life abundant with fun is crucial to my mental health.

I love antiques and collectibles, but also love modern design, which I plan to learn more about through writing this column.

I learned about decorating first from my mother, who was a traditionalist with slightly bohemian leanings. Our wonderful old brick house was on the Clayton/University City line in St. Louis. Developers tore the house down in the 70s to make way for some seriously expensive new townhouses. Our house, surrounded by towering oak trees, was an eclectic mixture of antiques and new furniture and great artwork. My father, who was also a writer, had a great eye and collected the art, most of which he bought for very little money. He did that by patronizing local artists and hunting down original classic paintings and sculptures. I’ll never forget the blue and gray portrait of Bob Dylan in our den.

I also learned budget-y decorating from my dear friend, the artist Mary Engelbreit, who despite her success, still hunts for cheap and unusual stuff for her house. Mary is a heavy-metal bargain shopper. We met in the early 70s at Llewellyn’s Pub in the Central West End in St. Louis, where we used to play hard and hang out with a lot of great people. We still like nothing better than to spend an afternoon peering into corners at Treasure Isle Antique Mall, on Big Bend in Richmond Heights.

But enough about me. Let me leave you with what I plan to write about in this space and a few tips on hunting down cheap-but-good stuff for your home.

Here’s what I plan to write about:

–my own fabulous finds;

–great places to shop for home bargains;

–people who are doing innovative interior designing on their own and not spending a lot       of money doing it;

–linterior designers

–decorating with low-cost indoor plants and flowers;

–choosing art for your walls; and

–other slim-budget decorating ideas suggested by you, dear reader.

Here are some tips:

–Never buy something just because it’s a bargain.  You’ll wind up a hoarder or a compulsive somebody or other, so don’t do it.

–Buy only what you love at the very best price. Even little things. Right after Christmas, I bought a bunch of gold and silver tapered candles for a buck each at Schnucks. I use them now and plan to use them all year long. Why settle for ivory or green?

–Be bold and buy hot finds that are unusual or different, rather than the same-old mass-produced items.  In the 90s, I bought a slightly weird lamp with a 40s flair for $25. It has a rattan stand and a green leafy drum lampshade. I’ve used it in every one of my places. It always seemed to fit in, although it once contributed to a break-up. I hung onto my ugly-but-cool lamp and left him in the dust.

By the way, those drapes I bought are made by Eclipse, dubbed “eclipse kids” in lower case on the package. I bought them for $12.97 each, but could not find them on the Wal-Mart website, although they had other drapes available in that brand. Target, J.C. Penney’s and K-Mart also carry the brand.

Next: New kitchen or new look? Save money by updating.  Also: More on the curtains saga. The project turned expensive after I hunted down the right rod. Sigh.

Katy Gurley is a free-lance writer and editor, based in Richmond Heights.