A Formal Dining Room for Less

If you want to upgrade your dining room and the sky is not the limit, consider these redecorating tips.

1. Be willing to paint your own walls, which allows you to play with colors and decorative treatments such as scrolls and stenciling.
   
   
2. Emulate the look of a china cabinet by coordinating mismatched top and bottom pieces, which you can find at hotel liquidation sales, consignment stores and almost any furniture showroom. Make sure the wood finishes are compatible, although it doesn't matter if the colors aren't exact. Formal styles typically dictate dark woods such as mahogany and cherry; country looks use lighter woods.
   
   
3. Group china pieces of similar colors and varied shapes, or arrange many different pieces for more eclectic appeal.
   
   
4. Save a lot on a high-quality chandelier by buying a nonfunctioning one from an antique store, flea market or estate sale. As long as the fixture was once electrical, you can rewire it for relatively little cost using a kit available at home centers.