DIY: Decorating on a budget

YAKIMA, WASH. -- Lisa Ching never throws away old socks. They helped her create new walls -- and a new mood -- in her Terrace Heights home.

On the advice of a friend who's a painter, Ching used socks as paintbrushes to color and add texture to the drab walls in her dining and family rooms. The paint came cheap, too: Ching stocks up whenever there's a sale at local craft stores for as little as 50 cents a pop.

One wall is a calming blend of beige, cream and gray that cost only $5 compared to the $28 to $38 per gallon range of standard paint.

In fact, since moving in about a year ago with little but hand-me-downs, Ching, 36, a married, stay-at-home mother of three, has furnished and decorated her family's home for under $1,000 by picking up other people's castaways and adding her own touch of class.

"I just try things. If I have to do it over, I do it over," says Ching, who scouts for treasures at yard sales and thrift stores. She's gotten so good that friends are now asking her to redo their tired old furnishings.

Sprucing up the home or apartment on a budget is a growing movement loosely called "DIY" for do-it-yourself.

There are serious DIYers -- crafts people who have combined attitude with creativity into a movement that's been documented in a film titled "Handmade Nation."

And then there are most of the rest of us, like Ching, who discovered her inner artist based on a need for thrift, and Robin Kisala of Yakima, who saved a bundle on a full-house remodel by doing a lot of the painting herself because she likes to paint.

"And I'm good at it," Kisala says.

Kisala went to interior designer Sandra Bourgeois with a budget for updating a 1990s home off Englewood Drive. She hired a contractor for some of the work, but she and her husband tackled other aspects of the job.

Bourgeois helped by identifying how old oak built-in cabinets could be updated instead of removed.

"We were watching every penny and there are many ways to do that," Bourgeois said.

Experts say the best way to liven up a room is to start with paint.

Patty Prediletto is an interior designer who specializes in colors and also owns the new Quality Consignment Furniture store at 417 N. 20th Ave.

"A fresh paint color can really make a difference," says Prediletto.

Choosing a color is intensely personal, she adds. But a few general rules apply. Red, for instance, stimulates the appetite, so it can be a great color for the dining room.

"But it also evokes anger, so you wouldn't want it in an office."

With paint, it doesn't pay to skimp too much.

"If you go too cheap, you're just going to put on more layers," she says.

Kisala agrees. She advises paying a few pennies more for a quality brand; her preference is Benjamin Moore.

"It doesn't drip, it covers well and it washes well," she says.

Ching has a slightly different approach to paint. It's expensive, so she buys whatever she happens to see on sale, whether she has a project for the color or not.

Much the same philosophy holds true on furnishings. Anything made of wood, Ching wants. She's rescued an old piano with intricate carving that nobody wanted and removed all the accumulated black paint and dirt to produce an antiqued living-room piece.

On craigslist, she found a free dresser that a guy in the West Valley "just wanted out of his house." She sanded it down and now has a rustic chest of drawers for her son's bedroom.

Awaiting her in her work space outside is an old roll-top desk that was slightly burned in a fire. Ching will tackle that in the next few weeks.

"People throw away things made of wood you wouldn't believe. But wood can last a long time, and a little TLC will fix anything."

Ching also advises experimentation. When the experts said there was nothing she could do about all the way-too-shiny brass fixtures in her new home, she refused to believe and dabbed out the brashness with an earthy brown metallic paint.

Her entire home has a rustic feel, from the warm brown tones of rescued and refinished old trunks to the dining room table.

"It's become my hobby," Ching says. "I love it."

* Leah Beth Ward can be reached at 577-7626 or lward@yakima-herald.com.

Here are some great Web sites for do-it-yourselfers:

* Find amazing before and after photos of projects at www.designspongeonline.com.

* Learn about affordable, well-designed projects at www.readymade.com.

* Blogs, projects and forums at http://craftzine.com.

* The creators of "Handmade Nation," a documentary on the rise of the DIY-crafting movement, are at indiecraftdocumentary.blogspot.com.

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