Outside the box

LeeAnn Yare. Photo / Jason Dorday.

The Yellow Auckland Home Show kicks off today - five days of information overload for those looking for inspiration and practical ways to improve their home environment. One of the highlights of this year's show is the five Designer Feature Rooms, where five leading interior designers were given the brief "Quirk it up" and "create a home environment that inspires the average Kiwi into thinking outside the box". Viva is delighted to give you an exclusive sneak look at what Your Home & Garden stylist and TV2's Trading Houses resident designer LeeAnn Yare has created.

"It's not essential to spend a fortune updating your decor," says LeeAnn, who is renowned for her style-on-a-budget mantra. "It's fashionable to be frugal. You can revamp, reuse, and recycle what you've already got to create a whole new look."

Be inspired by the clever, budget tricks LeeAnn has used to create her room for the Home Show, and reinvigorate your house with fun and personality.

Antlers
Probably the weirdest thing in the room, I took Grandpa's old trophy out of the shed and brought it into 2009 with a coat of paint and some funky Florence Broadhurst fabric leftovers from recovering a chair. Topped off with a frame painted canary yellow, it makes an eye-catching sculpture. The hot pink chair back is actually a wall sticker, box

creating the illusion of more furniture in the room but actually saving space and money.

Frames on wallpaper
Spray paint is my friend. And even though my husband had a mental at me spraying in such close proximity to our house, and then using the dining table as a drying rack, it was worth it for the end result. One of the cheapest things in my room, these frames were around 50c each from garage sales, I just ripped out the ugly artwork and went to work with the spray cans. A word of advice, invest in a box of disposable gloves for this dirty work! The pretty floral wallpaper now becomes an entire wall of art.

Vases
Even the most inexpensive glass vases look gorgeous displayed en masse, from recycled glass jars to these pretty pink vases, at $9.80 each from The Warehouse they are a steal! Sitting in a rustic tool box adds a bit of charm and the level of girliness is lowered to a more acceptable level.

Swan
Crown Lynn and other vintage and retro ceramics have become hot property, but don't cast pieces aside just because they have a crack or chip. With a new coat of glossy teal blue paint the imperfections are forgotten and the ugly duckling is now a beautiful swan, again! This is a great option for those of you who feel you have to hide your most precious things away from the pitter patter of tiny feet. Get creative by raiding plants and flowers from your own garden for an inexpensive but eye-catching and unique display.