Design on a dime

College students.
You’re broke. You’re busy. And you might just be a little bit lazy. But just because you’ve succumbed to the college lifestyle doesn’t mean your apartment or house has to look like it.
Yes, the row of brightly colored Smirnoff bottles is cute.
But with just a few dollars and a little creativity, you can do much more to make your home feel, well, home-y.

Under $5
Flower power
1. Buy inexpensive faux flowers at Walmart (cheapest) or Hobby Lobby (nicest).
2. Soak a beer or wine bottle in hot soapy water to remove the label.
3. Put flowers in the bottle and voila! There’s natural beauty in your home.

Patterned fabric wall art
1. Find shoeboxes and fabric you like.
2. Staple the fabric to the shoebox lids.
3. Assemble on your wall for pops of color.

Fridge decor
1. Glue small round magnets to an assortment of bottle caps (or wine corks, buttons or marbles.)
2. Display all those As, just like your mom did in elementary school.

Under $10
Inspiration board
1. Place a piece of colored paper in a frame of your choice.
2. Remove the frame’s glass.
2. Use hot glue to attach binder clips to the paper.
3. Hang.
4. Use the binder clips to hang photos, magazine cutouts or anything else that inspires you.

Reminder board
1. Frame a piece of scrapbook paper.
2. Hang and write on the glass with whiteboard markers.

Under $20
Wine cork board
1. Collect wine corks — a lot of them.
2. Find a frame you fancy.
3. Remove the glass, but leave the backing on.
3. Line up the corks and glue them directly to the backing.
4. Cut corks down the middle to align them with the frame’s edges.
5. Use push pins and treat it like a regular (but so much more awesome) cork board.

Personal posters
1. Find a favorite photo (if you want it to look more artsy, manipulate it in a free photo-editing tool like picnik.com)
2. Go to a copy store and blow it up as big as you want it.
3. Frame it or use spray adhesive to attach it to a canvas.

String chandeliers for your ceiling
1. Get balloons, yarn and glue.
2. Blow up a balloon.
3. Mix glue with water.
4. Dip yarn in glue mix and wrap around balloon.
5. Pop balloon when glue has dried.
6. Use more yarn to hang from ceiling.

Paint it like a pro
1. Find a hard surface that needs some spunk, such as a table top, bookshelf or even your fridge.
2. Buy chalkboard paint or magnetic paint at a craft or hardware store. The kind you paint with a brush (not spray) works best.
3. Paint it up, and when you’re done it will look and feel like an entirely new addition to your home.