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As a young girl, I rearranged furniture in my dollhouse and moved around what I could in my bedroom. In my teen years, I took creative measures to rearrange furniture and photos in my family home. I envisioned tablecloths and dresser scarves flowing gracefully from mantles and tables and created them using pieces of my mom's leftover material and an old Singer sewing machine. What fun!

A passion to decorate continues to course through my veins. However, now I have to pay for my decorating addiction out of my own pocket (or my husband's). As a stay-at-home mom for ten years, I've taken my passion for creating the sanctuary I call home to another level. My creativity hinges on two words: reinvention and inexpensive.

Recently I wanted a headboard for our bed but couldn't afford to purchase a new one. How can I have a headboard without spending money? I went to our garage and looked over our many pieces of junk. Aha! I spotted an old mahogany door. My creative wheels began to turn. I hauled the door inside. What could I cover this with? I remembered a curtain I'd picked up at a yard sale. The color was perfect. Next I found a piece of foam we'd used for sleepovers on the floor. I stretched the piece of one-inch foam over the door and attached it. I laid the curtain over the foam, then stapled the curtain to the door. The end result—a beautifully padded headboard that cost me $1 (for the curtain).

Be encouraged. Walk around your home and look at your belongings. Whether you have furniture, glass, textiles or doors, re-purposing them for another use breathes fresh life into your home. Here are some of the reinventions in my home:

• Remember those crystal bowls you received for wedding gifts and don't know what to do with? Plant flowers in them. Put potpourri in them. Put your fruit in them on your counter. Use them in the bathroom to hold soaps. Roll up nice towels in them and set the bowl on the back of the toilet.

• Do you have some outdated throw cushions? Check the local dollar store and pick up some pretty cloth napkins. Sew two together to form a pillow cover. Often the cloth napkin is the perfect size. I've also used cloth placemats.

• Do you have ugly colored candlesticks you can't part with because Aunt Martha gave them to you? Acrylic paint does wonders!

• A panel curtain makes a great tablecloth or runner.

• Look for 60-inch-wide fabric found in fabric store clearance bins and make a throw for the sofa. If you can't sew, fabric glue works great.

• Take an old denim shirt or patterned skirt that has "shrunk in your closet" and use the fabric to make cushion covers. Denim looks great in a child's room.

• Use a tablecloth to swag across the top of a window for a swag curtain.

• Recycle old frames for your child's artwork.

• Heavy round candles make great bookends.

• An old lamp is revived with a new shade and spray paint.

• Do you have a special quilt that's packed away? Display it on a wall to add texture and warmth to a room.

When you achieve success decorating without breaking the bank, you'll feel pride in your accomplishments. There's great satisfaction in having a story to tell when someone compliments you on your gorgeous newly covered throw cushions. M

Sandra Walker-Mastin and her husband just completed renovating and decorating their 100-year-old farmhouse — a work in progress for five years. They have four children ages 10, 8, 7 and 19 months. Sandra is the Creative Activities Co-Coordinator at Roblin Wesleyan MOPS group in Roblin, Ontario, Canada.

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