Walls

• One of the cheapest ways to decorate your home is to start with painting your walls. Giving your walls a fresh coat of paint can change the entire look and feel of your room. Compared to wallpaper, paint is inexpensive. In 2011, you'll be able to find a gallon of paint, which covers about about 350 square feet, for as little as $10 in most hardware stores. Paint comes in a wide range of colors to choose from and can add a whole new mood to your room.
  
  If you want to add color without a lot of money or work, consider just painting one wall in your room as an accent wall.
  
  

Furniture

• Decorating your home doesn't mean having to buy new furniture. If you have the time and a little patience, refurbish your old furniture to make it look new again. You can do this by painting or staining wooden furniture or using chrome spray paint to retouch chrome-finished furniture. A gallon of wood stain, which comes in different wood-tone colors and can cover at least 200 square feet. You may need to purchase other materials for staining, such as sandpaper and a paintbrush, but those are also acquired inexpensively.
  
  If you don't have the time to refurbish your old furniture, buy second-hand furniture from yard sales, flea markets or thrift shops. Or use slipcovers to cover an older sofa or loveseat.
  
  

Window Treatments

• For a frugal way to cover your windows, make your own window treatments. Fabric can be inexpensive, especially if you buy clearance or sale fabric. If you can't sew, use fusible tape. Or, for another look, use bedsheets you may already have on hand to make your curtains.
  
  Another inexpensive approach is to use tinted window film. Window film that can cover two 36-inch-by-38-inch windows. Or consider using paper window shades, which you'll find for less than $5 in most home improvement stores as of 2011.
  
  

Accessories

• Look for items that you may already have around the house that can double as art work. Empty picture frames, in varying sizes and colors can work as modern, funky wall art.
  
  Shoe boxes covered with wrapping paper can be used not just as decoration, but storage as well. Cut flowers from your yard and place them in glass bottles. Stand binder clips on their flat ends, to be used to display photographs or postcards instead of picture frames. If you have lemons in your backyard, grab a few and fill a bowl with them and use it a centerpiece for a table.