One's trash, another's decoration

College isn’t cheap, which means decorating your space on a budget can seem more like a hassle than a creative way to express yourself.

Lucky for you, though, being a broke college student doesn’t mean creating a unique décor is out of the question. Following some simple guidelines can get you not only a chic layout, but some extra spending money to boot.

First thing’s first: Don’t throw away anything that can be reused. Things deemed as “garbage” can easily be restored into new, creative pieces, Liz Stein, an interdisciplinary humanities junior said. Slap some new paint or funky wallpaper on an old picture frame, and you’ve got yourself a brand new accessory for your room.

“I usually just reuse old things,” Stein said . “I don’t ever buy anything — unless it’s cheap.”

If you don’t have any old frames, you can simply mount pictures onto a cut piece of cardboard and then add some odds and ends picked up from any craft store.

If you don’t have any photos to put in your new frames, posters and miscellaneous pictures can do the trick, Megan Peters, an English junior said.

“I took some random, funny pictures and just put those on my wall,” she said. “I also put up this gumball picture frame that was my sister’s when she was little.”

Things you’ve collected over time make good additions, too, since you don’t have to purchase anything new, Stein said.

“I went to Egypt for study abroad and collected a bunch of postcards from everywhere I went,” she said.

Old vinyl records also can be a snazzy way to spruce up a boring room. Flat, Black & Circular, 541 E. Grand River Ave., has a wide variety of old records for free so grab a few and mount them on your wall. You can purchase wooden frames for cheap and paint lyrics around the border, or decorate however else you like, and presto — your room will have an instant, indie feel.

A little sewing can come in handier than for just sewing on buttons. According to www.essortment.com, if you can sew in a straight line, then you could make your own throw pillows. Arts and crafts stores like Jo-Ann Fabrics, 533 Mall Court, and Michaels, 540 Frandor Ave., often have huge sales on fabric. Find a pattern you dig and maybe pick up some decorative braiding to make into a border on the pillow. Old clothing also makes great material for converting into pillows.

Stephany Chen, a hospitality business junior, found making curtains out of cheap fabric is another simple way to spruce up your space.

“I used tapestries as curtains because they’re cheaper,” she said. “Not only were they cheaper, but they were on sale, too.”

Garage sales and thrift stores will be . your best friend when you’re in the decorating process. Often, you can find gently used items such as dressers, chairs and table for a fraction of the price that you would pay rom a store.

“Garage sales are awesome,” Chen said. “We found our kitchen island at one for so cheap. And I got a desk for less than $10.”

Turning these pieces into your own personal style is as simple as brushing on a new coat of paint. To make things even more creative, buy some stencils from a craft store and paint some designs onto it to give it some extra flair.

If creativity seems to evade you , the Internet is a very useful tool in finding fun ways to decorate. Craft stores also carry a wide variety of different patterns and designs that you can find and make into your own.