$300 makeovers from The New York Times

Don't you just love a good cheap makeover? The New York Times corraled five designers to redo rooms of recently unemployed New Yorkers for $300 or less - the premise being that if you are out of work, you're going to be spending more time at home and your unfinished business there will drive you nuts pretty quickly.

The lesson of the makeovers seemed to be that $300 doesn't go very far when placed in the hands of a New York designer. A little paint, some duct tape, and - boom - the money was gone. The most dramatic makeover, the bedroom below, went $200 over budget. The decorators were not able to take advantage of my favorite home design tools - time. It takes forever to gather up stuff on the cheap (or, better yet, free) or make stuff yourself. But if you're willing to go slo-mo, the same look is attainable for a lot less than 300 bucks.

Bedroom before and after
Living room before and after

Here are a few frugal home decor pointers from the designers:

• Clean up. Tidiness costs nothing but was the single biggest improvement in all the spaces.
• Fix broken things.
• Use paint creatively.
• Let objects stand alone or group similar objects.
• Move your furniture around.