I can never stay focused on one thing for too long: movies, books, works of art, writing these blogs…. and my décor is no different.  I forever want to re-decorate and re-arrange my living space which can become quite cost-consuming if you’re like me and want to live like a queen on a paupers’ budget.  In my endless quest to express myself AND stay within my confined allowance, I turn to a few tried and true life-hacks.  My favorite [redecorating] life-hack is (drum roll, please…) REPURPOSING!  I try my best to throw things away, I really do, but a lot of times I can’t bring myself to because I feel as though the “thing” still has life in it OR I have some weird emotional connection to it.  This inability to throw things away really helps when I get the urge to add something “new” to my room. **EDITOR NOTE:  “New” does not equal new, don’t get the two confused – new means newly purchased, “new” means new to you, new to that space, new to that function, etc. This brings us to our first “hack”: turning an old rug in to a new work of art!

People hang an assortment of things on their walls and call it art, from pictures and paintings to taxidermy animals…so, why NOT hang a rug on the wall?!  There are a few ways you can go about this hack.  You can take a whole rug and hang it on the wall as-is to display its beauty and craftsmanship.  If the rug is too big, or parts of it are too worn down to show off you can cut it in to pieces and hang them in a cluster on the wall.  You can also cut a single square (or several) and use frames to showcase the areas of the rug you want to show off.

Walls too full of art but still want to keep the rug in your bedroom?  Turn it in to a headboard!  This is much easier than you think… Start with a sturdy piece of wood in a shape of your choice, add batting, the rug and some accents (such as buttons) and staple it all down.  VIOLA – new head board, new room, new you!

Not too keen on having a rug by your head?  I’m sure the pets in your life wouldn’t mind some new stuff!  You can turn that old rug in to a scratching post for those cute kitties in your life that LOVE to claw at everything, or create a new bed for the precious pups in your life that love to lounge out (and shed) on your carpet right after you vacuum it.

If you don’t have pets, but have children who love to throw themselves on the ground at a moments’ notice to play or watch a movie, consider creating pillows out of those super plush rugs.  You can find patterns for small throw pillows to decorate a couch, or you can make super-sized ones perfect for floor play (think beanbag chairs!)

With all the excuses to re-use old area and accent rugs, why not spoil yourself and buy a new one?!