Design Hints

Organize Your Ideas. See something you love in a magazine or a newspaper? Clip it out and save it in an "ideas" file. The next time you head out on a decor-shopping mission, take the file with you. If a store doesn't have quite what you're looking for, ask a sales associate to point you in the right direction to find something similar to the item(s) featured in your favorite photo.

Don't Go It Alone: Knowing Debbie's passion for primitives (and her affinity for online shopping), Debbie's husband and children bought her a $600 eBay gift card for her birthday. And if anyone in the extended Campbell family knows someone who knows where to get barnwood, the word gets passed along to Debbie. Share your passion -- you never know what good stuff may come of it.

Give in to Garage Sales: "Don't pass things up, especially at garage sales," Debbie advises. "If it's something you can't get out of your head, it was meant to be." And on the off-chance that your purchase doesn't work as well as you thought it would, you can resell it -- buying used means you're more likely to get more of your money back in resale.

Play Detective: Say you're looking for a prim-perfect little candle lamp: Don't just make a beeline for the lighting section at your favorite craft or antiques store -- look all over the store. "You just have to check out every niche and every corner," Debbie says. "You might find a prize pantry box in the midst of an antique-glass display." Maybe an amazing bench is being used as a display piece for old dolls -- it never hurts to ask the owner if he or she would be willing to sell the piece.