By Gisel Licciardello.

Realtor (r) in Staten Island RealEstateSINY.comI bought a very old home in 2002 which was built in stages by a homeowner who did not have much carpentry skills.  My husband and I used a majority of our money to buy our first home and had very little to fix and decorate it.  I knew that the home needed a lot of work but I also knew that the home had a lot of potential. The home was in a great neighborhood, it is fully detached with a detached garage, has a spacious backyard, and large front yard. However, every room in the house needed work and each room was small and oddly shaped. 
I found that it was very hard to get ideas on decorating and remodeling your home unless you can invest a lot of time researching.  So, below are my tips to help you get free advice, and most of all, save you money.
 
How my first tip came about…pick the brains of pros.

My kitchen was oddly shaped and is on one side of the first floor of my home which the previous owner had made the other half of that one side their living room.  I found that so odd because on the opposite side of the kitchen, which had a full wall was a room on its own which is viewed as soon as you open the front door.   The first thing I did was switch the dining room and the living room.  The entire kitchen was a small L shape which was only 10 feet wide and it was basically a refrigerator, dishwasher and sink.  The other side was about 8 feet which had the stove.  I had no counter space to work with and couldn’t make the kitchen an eaten kitchen because 3 feet after that table you would be in the dining room.  I didn’t know what to do.  So, I decided to call a kitchen company who provided free estimates and provided me a layout of the best solution for the room.  One installer made the best suggestion, now I have a lot of counter space and more storage space with a way for two people to sit and have a bite to eat.  I never went the with kitchen place because it was very expensive, but I was able to take that design and go to someone more affordable and make the kitchen work for me.  The professional made me add another countertop and close off the kitchen into a U which left enough space to get the room next to the kitchen that leads you outside. 

So ,my tip to you is pick the brains of a professional, have them give an opinion, and choose the best for the job. Believe me, price is only one consideration in choosing a contractor. A small point of note; All home improvement contractors in New York City are required by law to be licensed with the NYC Department of Consumer Affairs. You can see if a contractor is licensed here.
 
Magazines.
  
Subscribe to magazines and order furniture catalogs.  You may have to pay for some furniture catalogs but you will definitely save if you find what you like.  Most of my decorating ideas have come out these things and I have a folder that I keep all of my selections in.
 
Seek an open house or two.

One of my favorite rooms in my house came from going to see an open house new model home.  Most new construction homes have a model that they use to show you what your house will look like.  They normally hire decorators to decorate the model to provide you a better idea of what it would look like when you move in.  I got great color ideas for rooms, curtain ideas, and was able to decide on how to remodel the mud room of the side of the kitchen.  This model home had a beautiful small room off the kitchen that had tall windows and a fully glass door.  The room provided a beautiful amount of sunlight and built in the wall of the room was a desk table and two glass cabinets what could hold books. I sketched the idea had a couple of contractors bid on the job and it was done and it is one of my favorite rooms.

When all else fails Google it.
 
Remember, if you don’t want your home to look like everyone else’s, but you don’t want to spend the pay big bucks to hire a professional decorator, use my tips as a starting point.