Is your front room stuck in the '80s? Does your house beg for a make-over? Here are some tips on how to save money and still get the look that you've always wanted.
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Choose a style that you like (contemporary/modern, country, french country, victorian etc.). Decide on a wall color to fit the whole look of the room. For victorian, a rosy pink, or an off-white, country can be anywhere from blue and yellow, to pink and white. Select furniture. If your furniture already matches your style, then consider yourself lucky. If your furniture looks unpleasant, purchase some slip covers, they come in all different styles and patterns. Buy cheap rugs and draperies. You can save a lot of money by purchasing solid color rugs and draperies that are in your colors, and places like Wal-Mart carry them.

Find artwork. It isn't as expensive as you may think. You can buy from a retail or craft store, or photocopy images from a book, and frame them.Alter the things you already have. A black lamp may not go with a nautical theme, so what do you do? Paint it, using spray paint or textured paints, found in arts and crafts stores. Clocks, coat racks, vases(using glass paint) shelves, bookends, even baskets and furniture can be transformed by paint.

Toss some pillows and a blanket on your couch, to give your guests a comfortable feeling when they walk through your door. Want to paint a design, but don't have the painting genie? Use stencils and stamps instead. Choose lighting in harmony with the mood. Bright for modern and dim for classic.Use a higher number of weak light sources instead of a lesser number of strong light sources.

Fuel prices have gone up and down like a yo yo in recent years, with the going up being the more common state of affairs. Although dips in fuel prices are a welcome relief, this is no reason to be complacent about fuel conservation and finding alternatives to fuel usage. The trend in the long-run points to increasing fuel prices, so it pays to use the times of dips in price to shore up your household's wealth.

Continue to act as if fuel prices are too high. All the things that you do when fuel prices skyrocket should continue as your regular habit. This is good for your budget, good for your health, and good for the environment. Most of all, it means you are continuing to shape the habit of less reliance on fuel. So, keep:
* Leaving the car at home unless you really need to use it
* Walking to the local stores, clubs, sports activities etc. that are within walking distance
* Preferring public transportation over your own car use
* Cycling to and from work, school, studies, activities

Put the savings in the bank. You will know how much extra your fuel cost you during a rise in prices. Try to put that difference into the bank account. Of course, if you were barely making ends meet during a price rise, you will need to focus on bill payments and grocery shopping but try to put aside any savings possible. This will become a form of future-proofing against the next round of fuel price rises. Avoid buying gas-guzzling cars. Keep on the plan to reduce the amount of cars in your household and trading gas-guzzlers for smaller models, or even for a hybrid. Think long-term rather than about the short-term benefits of a dip in fuel prices.

Continue to learn as much as possible about the depletion of the world's fossil fuels. This will be the ultimate price-driver as new fuels are barely in testing mode and are totally inadequate at this stage to take the place of oil derived fuels. Lobby your local representatives for helping and funding research and development of alternative fuels. A dip in prices can mean a boost in research money for the future. Encourage friends, family, neighbors and communities to demand wider availability and usage of alternative fuels. It is important not to become complacent and feel seduced by lower fuel prices - we need to be planning now to improve the viability of alternative fuels.

Keep your car in good shape so that it uses less fuel.Leave messages when you travel asking bus, rail, and aviation companies to let you know what they are doing to find alternative fuel solutions for their transport fleets. You opportunities to get around, to vacation elsewhere, and to receive reasonably priced goods in the store are all reduced as the fuel prices continue to rise.