We get bored. We look at the four walls surrounding us and all of the stuff we've accumulated and we're just, unimpressed. Maybe we need some serious organization solutions or to update the design scheme we had ten years ago, when we were twenty years old. Whatever your reasoning, it's possible to completely renew your space on a tiny budget.

The first thing you need to figure out is what you would love to see around you. Are you a fan of impressionism? How about dark, moody colours and middle-eastern rugs? Do you just want a more open, airy living room? Figure that out via brainstorming and even by looking through some interior design and home magazines. The home and garden type shows will give you lots of ideas - and a reasoning behind them, too. Heck, even the Ikea catalogue that you get started!

And also, you need to decide just how much you want to change, in what rooms. When we go through a change of life, we typically change a little bit (or a lot) of everything: a marriage brings new furniture and accessories; a baby, furniture and toys; a separation, the will to get rid of a lot of baggage. Whatever your reasoning, the background will tell you how much is enough.

Colour is basic.

No matter the room, it's size, or it's belongings, paint and wall fashions can do a world of wonders - and it's one of the least expensive, revitalizing things that you can do. Plain white walls can be restrictive to those creative individuals. Dark colours can make a small room seem smaller. Lots of light, pastels can lend a space an air of immaturity. Change the colour scheme and you'll find everything that used to live there looks different, the size has been affected and light travels differently.

A darker theme can instigate sleepiness so bedrooms and living rooms with lots of light and air circulation are required - alternatively, a library area or games room would fit a moody theme well. Pastel colours are best saved for kids' rooms, bathrooms and kitchens - smaller areas where light, carefree attitudes are okay and the size of them makes it easy to repaint when you tire of sky blue. Basic earth tones and off-whites may be the standard for common areas such as living and family rooms, but do you want to go with the standard - it's fine if you do, just know that you might be signing up for a carbon copy of another room in someone else's house.

Wallpaper and trim can add accent to a boring coloured wall. It can also put other elements of the room together - a valuable thing for those of us with lots of hand-me-downs or unmatched belongings. You can even paint existing ceiling trim and baseboards to achieve a different affect.

Another idea to consider is faux finishes and patterns. A lot of people are most comfortable with solid coloured walls because they're safer. But there's a whole host of options such as sponge painting, faux marbling, striping, stencilling, etc. If you can use a design to further pull together your unmatched belongings, why not go for it?

Now, the Big Stuff.

Furniture. We need it but sometimes, it's just ugly, old or doesn't match anything. Maybe we want an all-new leather sitting area, but we have a couch in corduroy and an armchair in flowery damask - and they don't match each other, never mind our ideal.

Consider slipcovers or reupholstering if the structure is sound. If you're really intent on getting something new to you, consider checking out sales at furniture stores when they are clearing out their old stock. Check out the Internet's options, like on craigslist. Cruise the garage sales or trade wit someone who's feeling like you are but just as broke.

Tables, entertainment centres, and the other stuff we don't sit or sleep on can be revitalized with, you guessed it, paint. Take an old wooden coffee table and sand it down to the wood. Paint it a colour to match the tiny accents in your couch's fabric and you've just created an ensemble. Another option is to paint everything that will be wall-bound the same colour as the walls. This creates a more open-looking space, and your bookshelf may end up looking like it was built right into the wall.

The not-so-Big Stuff.

Look around at what you have to work with. You've got a newly covered chair and matching couch in one motif, newly painted or stained furniture resting against your revamped walls and a lot of other, well, crap, that you have to fit into the area. This is where accent items and colours will be your best friend.

Toss cushions and a new lampshade can tie everything together. Especially if you add in some art with the same theme. Look to coordinating curtains in bedrooms and living rooms. Use coordinated organization solutions such as stacking shelves, wardrobes and wall boxes to add to the colour coordination effort, while also giving you a place to put stuff. Especially in bedrooms and bathrooms, the careful matching of linens can make a world of difference.

Here's a picture of what could be yours, so start planning, sketching, ripping pages out of magazines (that you've paid for, of course) and picking at paint sample cards.

From fantasy to reality.

Imagine how peaceful you'd feel taking a leisurely bath in your fresh avocado-painted bathroom, with bright white trim to match the white enamelled tub. You blow out the mint-scented candles that you've set up around the tub's rim in stainless steel holders and bowls; they match your stainless steel bathroom accessories, right down to your toothbrush holder.

Now you get out of the tub to wrap yourself in one of the seafoam green bath sheets you've rolled and stored in a large bright white wicker basket next to the tub, letting your toes wiggle into the thick avocado mat you've bought. Wrapping yourself in a matching robe, you go through the usual motions, admiring the way the light filters through the window and bounces off of the mirrors you've installed on it's opposing wall. The ivy you've left by the window adds a warmer glow and you find that you're breathing a little fresher than you're used to.

You see you stainless steel scale, but you're so content right now, you push it back underneath the white cabinet that houses your toiletries. Then you leave the bathroom, intent on a cup of tea in your newly decorated breakfast nook.