This post’s idea comes from my brother Jonathan, who recently moved, and has been on a mission to decorate at little to no cost ever since. The best way to do this, he has found, is to use his creativity to make or repurpose items that are both artistic, but also functional. As you can see, no detail proved too small. He even made his own coasters.

To make his coasters Jonathan went to a big box hardware store and picked up a few of those floor samples. He painted his design on one side of the sample, and then glued a piece of felt fabric on the other side for padding.  The last step was to seal the design with a clear stain. I think the result is a nice coffee table fixture, as well a conversation piece.

If making your own design is not your thing, thrift stores and estate sales usually offer a variety of fun and even educational coasters. Some of my favorites from my personal collection are some bright pictures of cats, and a series of coasters depicting Historic Williamsburg.