Jonathan Fong updated his kitchen cabinets and drawers using familiar posters by Andy Warhol. It was not an expensive project, but it provides a high-impact look.

Jonathan Fong poses at his house in Santa Monica, Calif. A table made with a mirror and a wall of metal provide a unique look.

Designer Peggy Sellwood recommends decorating with intimate furniture arrangements, old furniture and personal collections.

Date published: 4/30/2006

By CHRISTINE ELLIOTT

For THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

When Jonathan Fong decided it was time for a new end table, he skipped the furniture store and went instead to his storage closet. There he found an old mirror and a plant stand, glued them together, and within minutes a one-of-a-kind accent piece was born.

"I just love reinventing what you have," says Fong, a Los Angeles-based interior designer.

Reinventing is the key to updating a room when money is tight, Fong says. A budget of $250 won't get you much in the way of new furniture, flooring or window treatments, but you can still come up with a dramatic new look for that amount or less.

"When you're on a low budget, that's when you get to be creative, and that's when it's the most fun," Fong says. "You don't have to start from scratch, and you shouldn't."

Here are 10 tips from Fong and other experts for rejuvenating a room on limited funds:

1. Eliminate those white walls.

Painting is one of the simplest tasks for the do-it-yourselfer and has the most impact. The bolder the better, say the experts. Paint manufacturer Benjamin Moore & Co. predicts the hot color for 2006 will be Queen's Wreath, "a chameleonlike purple," says Eileen McComb, the company's director of communications.

But subtle shades work, too. "It's a very personal choice," McComb says. "It has to resonate in the environment you want to create."

If you're not picky, check out the "oops paint" colors that have been mistinted or returned, and are available at most paint and home improvement stores at a reduced price.

Whatever you choose, make sure the color gives new life to your furniture and accessories, says Diane Boyer, an interior designer in Verona, N.J.

And don't forget to paint the ceiling. "When you carry it through, it actually makes the room look bigger," she says.

2. Go for the "wow factor."

Paint isn't the only way to spruce up walls, says Fong, whose book, "Walls That Wow" (Watson-Guptill Publications, 2005), gives step- by step instructions for wall treatments made of fabric, metal and paper, among other things. They can provide patterns and textures you can't get with paint, he notes.

Date published: 4/30/2006