How To Add A Powerful Pop Of Color To Your Home On The Cheap
Color is everything. Even in the simplest of homes, a subtle pop of color can define a space, demand authority, or put a room at ease. Color gives us what we crave; it showcases character, facilities our mood and offers new ways to create.
Incorporating color into a room doesn’t have to be dramatic or big; it can be simple, subtle and totally cheap. Forget the wallpaper or bold accent walls. Forget dramatic curtains or changing out sheets. There’s an easy, quick way to add a powerful pop of color to your home and it may not cost a thing!

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How To Add A Powerful Pop Of Color To Your Home On The Cheap

Scarves. Yes, scarves, cloth napkins, and leftover textiles are a perfect cheap way to add new pops of color to your home.

Your great-grandmother’s retro neckerchief makes THE BEST and most personal accent to a boring flower vase.

That buffalo check set of napkins wrapped around your candles takes the feel from generic to log cabin in the woods.
Your winter blanket scarves (that you bought to wear but actually gave you the feeling of being choked alive!) make a great runner to add some holiday flair.

Hair wraps become focal point decor. Bold pops in a simple setting— bright and refreshing, you’ll want more!

Where To Start
Explore the inventory in your home. (And your parent’s home!) Meaningful mementos make great talking points and often prompt stories passed down for generations. Old scarves, family napkin sets, passed down clothing, and more. The floral handkerchief you had as you walked down the aisle. The red fabric from your favorite old (and too small!) dress.
Expand Your Inventory
Build variety over time. Keep your eyes out for inexpensive pops of color when you shop. I peruse the accessory aisle everywhere I go, always on a mission to find something fun and new! Good Will and other vintage or hand-me-down shops are the best to find hidden treasures.
Create
The beauty and ease of making these small pops of color a way to define a room is that you can make changes as often or as little as you’d like. I LOVE CHANGE but my budget doesn’t have the same level of flexibility as my need to make a change does. I shift decor like most people change their shoes, and because I’ve built a small but beautiful array of inventory— it most often doesn’t cost a thing.
Some Fun Finds For You
Now that I’ve shared a few ideas to I use in my home, I’ve found something to get you started. From neckerchiefs to retro hair ribbons, to a variety of jars and sizes, you’ll be well on your way to added color and flair to your home— make a BIG impact for a small price.
This set of 4 offers a little bit of everything. Soft and simple, bright and bold.
These set-of-3 long hair scarves are perfect for flowers, candle, and hair! Because they are long and thin like an actual ribbon, they can nicely cover both smaller containers and are long enough to tie in a cute bow.
I’m not sure there’s anything cuter, more summery than this turquoise and lemon scarf! I can envision myself hair wrapped, big, bold glasses and the tunes turned up as I cruise in my mythical convertible vintage bug… a girl can dream. For now, it will add some flair to my freshly picked garden flowers.
This Navy, Green & white retro leaf print scarf is a great find and fits well on small mason jars.
This adorable yellow lemon scarf has me screaming for spring and it’s for sure the one I’ll be adding to my collection.
This pretty cherry blossom hair scarf is just darling and comes in several different pastel colors. I want all of them!
Here’s where I really get excited! I LOVE jars— mason and jelly! I use them from everything from flower vases to super-sturdy drinking glasses. I fill them with soup to deliver to friends and use them as Tupperware when I’m inevitably all out, again. I do buy jars by the case and always have them around. This set is great for its variety of sizes.
This is a simple, inexpensive set that’s good for all occasions. There’s no style or flair but you’ve got that part covered!
This buffalo plaid blanket scarf makes a great runner or throw in the fall and wintertime.
I’m excited to see what kind of creations (and stories!) that will come from your home. Please be sure to share them with me!
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Ashley Cooper
These are some great ideas! I’m definitely going to try to spice up my vases .
Brandy Wilcoxen
Very beautiful and so simple. Plus I have so many pretty scarves that I never wear.
Elease Colcord
Perfect!
The JOYOUS Living (@thejoyousliving)
i love dried hydrangeas throughout the house.
Joy at The Joyous Living
Elease Colcord
So pretty, right?!
D. Allyson Howlett
Such a great idea! It’s crazy how things we wouldn’t even consider decorative outside of their intended purpose can really change up a space. Thanks for sharing!
Amanda Krieger
Lovely ideas! I am oddly drawn to neutrals when designing, so I love adding pops of color with accessories!
suburbangoddessmom
Love these ideas. A super cute pop color. Inexpensive and easy to change.
Ashley @ A Sweet Life with Style
I love these ideas and the way your blog is set up is superb! Nice work lady!
Elease Colcord
Oh, thank you!
Katja
Great post!
Scott J DeNicola
These are such great and cheap ways to add color to the home! My wife is big into color so we have yellow and green in many rooms in our home and on the walls in the form of paint. I would have never thought to add things like scarves to add a pop of color. Adding color in the way you describe also allows for a change of color for each season which is nice as well. We tend to decorate for the time of year so this is perfect. Your blog always makes me fell happy so mission accomplished.
megan beaver
I love these tips. I cannot wait to implement them. My home really needs some color.
tcleland88
How simple and easy! I really like the cozy warmth of the plaid woolen scarves—perfect for fall or winter decor! And, using heirloom textiles is genius—so much better than storing them away in a closet or drawer.
Jennifer McCormick
I’ll be raiding my closet tonight! Adding pops of color with scarves is a simple and inexpensive way to use what I already own to bring Spring color to my house. Thanks for the tips!
Trish
I’m a colour-holic in my home and the more red I can get the better.These are such simple but inspired ideas for injecting even more colour. That bundle of scarves in my wardrobe now has new purpose!
Nicole Anderson
For decor within my home, I always ensure that the walls are a neutral color so that splashes of color can be easily added to different rooms without clashing. I never thought of using scarves though – that is a neat, effective and non-costly idea and tying that into pieces which have a history is even better. Having something look nice and creating a talking point with something significant is a double win!
Ashley | One Journey Away
Great ideas for adding colour! I try not to buy new things too often so I love that you mention using items that you already have.
Grace Esedeke | Today Was Fab
I would never have thought of these. And that’s fine because my brain doesn’t understand colors. It’s either black or white for me. Whenever I try to mix color for any purpose they always go awry and sort beg me to get back to my default setting. To think I’m a baker makes it funny and unbelievable.
I do have younger siblings who helps fix my color problems.
I would love to try these decor tips and I’m sure they’ll love it too.
Elease Colcord
Baking may be perfect for you because it can be black and white! I’m a terrible baker but cooking is my jam– because in cooking a shift of ingredients means a new recipe. In baking, that can be a disaster!
KA Inspired
I love the idea of adding a scarf to a vase or jar. I’ve never thought about doing that before but you are right, such an easy way to change up the room and add some color. We are in the process of renovating so I’ll keep that tip in mind when it comes time to decorate.
Star
I love this idea. I have many scarves and different fabric items from my mom and my grandmothers. Even some from my great grandmother. Bringing in some of my heritage things in a very casual natural way is inspired. I’ve been collecting them and have them stored because I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with them. Thanks for addressing this puzzle.
Snehal
If you ever visit our home it definitely looks like a blah…well will follow your tips of adding some colorful flowers! 😀
Livelearnbetter (@livelearnbetter)
These are great hacks to decorate the house on a very cheap budget. Thank you for sharing
honeybunnytwee
I’m going to be moving in with my bf in June and I’m excited to decorate! I love bold accent pieces and will definitely be raiding my parents’ house for colorful, meaningful decor
Elease Colcord
Perfect idea!
travelwisesr
This is such a cool inexpensive way to add colors to our home. Never occurred to me before. I am going to start using your ideas right away.
Erica (The Prepping Wife)
Ok, now I need to go through all of my scarves and see where I can use them to add color in my rooms! I knew there was a reason I’d kept them all. Lol. My husband always tries to tell me I have too many. Now I can tell him they’re for decoration.
In The Pastel Bag - by Joanna
I find this very creative. I wouldn’t have thought of a scarf as part of home decoration. I like how you have used jars, dressing them in colour, adding a personal touch to your home decoration.
Debra Roberts (Run Wyld)
I’m getting ready to stage our home to sell and am totally borrowing these ideas! I have a slew of mason jars lying around and these are wonderful ideas! We have four Savannah cats, so I will have to velcro it all down!
Blairvillanueva
Using the scarves for decor is a genius idea. You don’t need to spend for new decor, just be creative!
Jennifer @coffeeandcreativity
Our entire house is gray! I use accents to add color with blankets, pillows, kitchen accessories, and flowers!
kutercarol
I love these ideas. Simple, easy and inexpensive! I go to Goodwill frequently looking for treasures.