Modern decor styles are quickly falling out of fashion. Go to any new bar or restaurant and you’ll find a rustic look with exposed brick and thrift store furniture everywhere. It looks as though it’s all just been thrown together but in reality, it still takes a lot of planning. It can be quite expensive, even though it looks like everything has been found on the street. If you think that rustic decor would work in your house but you don’t want to spend loads of money on it, then DIY is the way to go. There are countless ways that you can make your own furniture and fixtures to give you that great rustic look, but you need to be careful about how you use them. Here are a few tips to help you get started.
Spend Money Where You Need To
Although you can cut costs in a lot of places, you still need to spend money on a few select things to complete the look. Fitting all of your lights with edison bulbs is a brilliant way to make your rustic decor look professional and tie the whole thing together. They aren’t expensive so it’s worth buying some. A traditional light bulb will take away from the aesthetic and, even though it’s only a small thing, it can ruin the picture as a whole. You should also invest a little bit of money in a few key pieces of furniture. Repurposing stuff from the charity shop is a great way to get cheap furniture that looks great.
Exposed Brick
Creating an exposed brick wall requires a bit of hard work, but it doesn’t cost that much money. It’s going to be a messy job and it’ll take a lot longer than you think so be prepared. The first thing to do is choose a wall. It needs to be an exterior wall. Next, drill a small wall to check that there is actually some brick behind the plaster, you don’t want to start taking chunks out only to find that you aren’t exposing anything. Once you’ve found your wall and checked that there’s brick behind it, you might be tempted to grab a crowbar and start pounding away. That’s the wrong way to go about it. It might not seem like it, but this needs to be a precise job. Start with small areas and work out slowly, taking extra care when you come to the edges otherwise you’ll spill out onto the surrounding wall. Once it’s all off, you need to scrub the entire wall with a wire brush. This is going to create a lot of dust so make sure the room is well ventilated. After that, clean it down with a sponge to get rid of any excess dust and give the room a good vacuum. The final and most important stage is putting the sealant on. Don’t rush this part because if you get it wrong, the wall won’t last.
Pallets
The best way to get cheap, rustic looking furniture is to make it out of old pallets. There are so many easy ways to make furniture out of pallets so the possibilities are endless. You can find pallets for free in lots of places. Businesses tend to leave them out after deliveries, but check with them before you take it because some people reuse them.
These simple DIY projects can give your modern home a rustic makeover for next to no money.
Good ideas! I love pallets 🙂