Amazing Budget Conscious Ideas from High-Dollar Pictures!

They say that people learn in different ways. Some are kinetic and like to touch things, others do better with the spoken word, and still others like to see things with their eyes. Visual.

That’s me. I’m visual. I like to see things. Unlike some people who just think things up out of the blue, I invariably am inspired by something I see. It could be a road sign, a house, or a mountain sunrise. But more often than not, when it comes to remodeling, my inspiration comes from pictures.

That’s why one of my first posts and my very best remodeling advice is to “get hooked on magazines“. And that’s why I’m always posting pictures I love and pointing to places where you can find more. One of my favorite places is Houzz.com. The pictures are inspiring, plain and simple.

But they’re also a bit high-minded for many budgets. The pictures I see there are very upscale and, well, the majority of folks aren’t trying to decide between the $300K and the $500K options.

Most people are trying to figure out a way to get it done for as close to free as possible!

But the pictures are still of great value! It just takes a sharp eye to look closely and see ideas that you can use in your house, regardless of budget. Here are a few examples of what I mean:

Photo #1

This bright and airy kitchen includes some great details. A couple inexpensive ideas I see:

• Shelf On Windows – this isn’t something I’ve seen before but it works! Easy to do and very low cost. If you have the right spot for it, the idea is great.
• Dutch Door – I love Dutch Doors (top half and bottom half work independently) and I rarely see them. This picture reminds me of how easy they are to do and how, when the weather is nice, great it can be to open up that top half!

Photo #2

The above photo catches my eye in three places, no four.

1. Siding on the wall – I’m seeing this more and more. It’s not expensive, you don’t have to learn to finish drywall to do it, it’s easy to hang pictures and do patches, and it looks great!
2. Wall Mounted Light Fixture – See how there isn’t enough room between the doorway and the corner for a table or lamp? A wall mounted fixture there for reading is a great idea! Looks cool too.
3. Bump Out Window Area – I love little bump-outs like this because you can get light from three sides, and they create a little niche space. I wrote a post just about these: Bump-Out Additions – Small Spaces, Big Impact
4. Really AWESOME TABLE – I want to make the table right now. Give me some wood, a table saw, a nail gun, and a little glue… and I’m there!

Photo #3

Oh. (breathe, Tim) This room looks like a place I’d like to hang out. While this is clearly in a very fine home, I still see some ideas that I could use on a very finite budget. Such as:

• Custom Wall Finish – It’s hard to see exactly what they’ve done, but it’s clear that the wall has a faux finish and I’m fairly sure there is a custom texture there. A little (or a lot) trial and error and you can do that.
• Stained Wood Crown – The ceiling in this room is outstanding! I’m a ceiling fan myself. I love a room with a great ceiling. While the whole beamwork scenario may not be inexpensive, you can do a simple crown molding around the perimeter like what you see here. The colors work together great. Even that is inspiration enough.
• Texture On The Ceiling – The other great ceiling detail here is the bamboo, or grasscloth, material they have on the flat portions. The just looks outstanding and it’s very inspiring. You can use grasscloth from a wallpaper store, regular wallpaper, or even bamboo fencing that comes in rolls from Home Depot.

The whole idea is that pictures, pictures, pictures, and more pictures build-up a level of stored inspiration that will just “pop” into your head when you need it and you can use it! So be sure to check it out!

Houzz.com also has some great blog posts on the front page. When I went over there today, my attention was drawn to a post about making great use of small spaces. I wrote a post about living in a small house earlier this year.

Here is the great post at Houzz about small spaces.

Here is my post from earlier this year about living in a small house.

So, what did I miss? Do you see some ideas in these pictures you would like to use one day?

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Photo#1 http://www.houzz.com/photos/25157/Mt–Baker-traditional-kitchen-seattle Photo#2 http://www.houzz.com/photos/28327/Living-Room-contemporary-living-room-seattle Photo #3 http://www.houzz.com/photos/26908/Elegant-Living-Spaces-mediterranean-living-room-san-francisco