Every time you walk into a home decorative store or the furniture section of a department store, you begin to add up the prices of the accessories you'd like to put in your home and leave with sticker shock. If that sounds like you, it's no wonder you haven't yet personalized a single room in that house, even months and years after settling in. It is possible to decorate your home on a budget, if you know the places to look. How can you possibly come up with a budget design that stays within a specified amount of cash while allowing you to be freely creative in your home?

You've seen it on television, in all of the shows that allow designers to do as they please with an area of a person's home, as long as they stick to a budget. They shop for discount furnishings and affordable décor, but for the most part, they do it all themselves from scratch. Of course, hiring a carpenter to build bookshelves and a couch could cost even more than buying them outright. However, there are other ways to redecorate without spending a fortune.

Do you hate the tile in your kitchen or bathroom but just don't see paying hundreds of dollars to replace it? Look up a seconds and surplus warehouse in your area, where they stock leftovers of last year's designs or excess product from discontinued styles. Here, you can weigh in with a far smaller budget and buy all the tile you need to relay the floor of your kitchen. Perhaps you like the old couch in your living room because it's comfortable, but the material is worn or looks like something off the oldies channel. Affordable décor here could come in the form of some simple, inexpensive material that you can use to either recover the couch and cushions separately, creating an whole new couch, or to make a slip cover, which can be removed and washed to keep it fresh and new. Don't underestimate the power of paint in making any area of your home seem like new, either.

Don't forget about small antique stores in your area. Often, if you have a soft spot for antiques, you can find some unique items at low prices in these small mom and pop shops in your area. Most are not authentic pieces or are simply not from a well known manufacturer, so the prices are very affordable.

So, now that you have somewhere to start, pull together a few ideas and a buck or two and get started. Don't spend a fortune on prefabricated items that aren't unique to your taste anyway. Start from the ground up and build yourself a home you can enjoy.