10 No-Cost Home Decor Ideas You Can Create Right Now

You’re looking around your home, and all you see are the bare walls, the empty surfaces, and the stale decor. When you get that itch to refresh your home’s nooks and crannies, it often is accompanied by pangs of guilt when you impulsively splurge on some decorations online. But you can create a home full of decor that is both attractive and meaningful just by turning to items you already have on hand. Get inspired by these 10 no-cost home decor ideas.

1. Stack Up Books

Books are one of the easiest, most impactful ways to decorate your home. You likely already have an abundance on your nightstand in the infamous ‘to be read’ pile, or maybe you have some older inherited books stashed away in the attic. Place them in stacks on your console table or coffee table. Feel free to top them off with a vase of flowers, a candle, or a photo frame to complete the look. Here, Lisa Silfwerbrand of Recreated Designs uses old books topped with a seasonal spring display.

2. Display Your Hobbies

Are you an avid knitter, a painter, or a film photographer? Yarn spilling artfully out of a decorative basket, paint brushes in a rustic mug, vintage cameras on a shelf, or your own photography hung up on the wall show your passion in a stylish way. 

If you enjoy embroidery, create a gallery wall of handmade art inside embroidery hoops. Love to cook? Frame your family’s handwritten recipes or style your wood cutting boards on the counter next to a plant or bowl of fruit.

3. Upcycle Old Windows

It’s hard not to “ooh” and “ahh” over this stunning window from Cathy Fay at Forever and Always Vintage. If you’ve recently replaced your home or garage windows, take one of the old windows and make it into a sentimental piece by painting or découpaging it. You’ll make the biggest impact by using a multi-pane window with your art stretching across each panel of glass.

4. Make a Wreath

Wreaths are inviting when added to a front door, but store-bought options can be pricey (and full of plastic!). Lilly Allen of Thrifty Lil Thing has perfected the art of making wreaths using natural materials. Young twigs woven into a circle serve as the base, and evergreen leaves and small pine cones sourced from the neighborhood serve as decorative pieces. Consider swapping the greenery and decorative items each season.

5. Show Off Your Treasures

If you always have to make space in your carry-on for all your beachcombing finds, this one’s for you. Sparkling rocks from your weekend hikes, pine cones from the park, and seashells washed ashore on the beach all make for interesting decor when placed in a decorative bowl or tray. It’ll certainly take you back to those quiet moments, too—even Tavola Fiji, a luxury private villa in Fiji, uses this trick for decorating, as shown above.

6. Use Up Leftover Paint

You painted your bedroom, but now you’re left with a half-empty can of paint to stash in the garage. Sure, this can come in handy if you need to touch up spots in the future, but you can also use it for other projects. Nicole Wiegelmann of NK AT HOME makes use of leftover paint and paint samples in many ways, with DIY wall patterns in the living areas, bedrooms, and even bathrooms of home interiors she and her husband, Alex, design. Paint any pattern you like—stripes, arches, spots, etc.—to liven up a room.

7. Play With Your Food

You’ve always been told not to play with your food, but we’re giving you full permission to start experimenting. A wood bowl of fresh fruit becomes a work of art on the dining room table. Squash and gourds are popular choices to adorn coffee tables, sideboards, and front porches for fall, string up dried citrus to hang above the fireplace in winter, or fill glass vases with lemons and limes in the summer.

8. Craft a Blanket Ladder With Wood Scraps

Rustic blanket ladders are a trendy decor item—used in Scandi and Japandi design—that doubles as storage for all of your throw blankets. You don’t need to run and purchase one from a big box store, though. Instead, gather scrap wood from your own projects or ask friends and neighbors to take extras off their hands. This is a simple DIY project you can complete with some wood glue or a drill. Then, if you want, you can sand, stain, or paint the wood to suit your style.

9. Put Plants In Unconventional Planters

Mismatched bowls, teacups, mugs, or even old boots can become quirky planters for your cacti, succulents, and other leafy friends. If the material allows, you may want to drill a hole at the base to allow for drainage. Otherwise, you could also use these unconventional planters for starting plants—like herbs, tomatoes, or garlic—and temporary decor before moving them to the garden.

10. Sew Up Throw Pillow Covers With Sweaters

Feeling bored with the throw pillows on your couch and bed? If you’re handy at sewing, you can turn old, worn-out sweaters into cozy throw pillow covers. You can also use old button-down flannel shirts. Either way, you’ll end up with soft, cuddly throw pillows for every room in your home.