Decorating your first digs or updating a room or two on a tight budget can be a challenge. Not for While You Were Out TV star and Dollar Store Décor author Mark Montano. This sassy New York fashion and interior designer shops for home decor steals as he strolls the aisles of discount stores such as Dollar Tree, Dollar General and the 99 Cent Store. Ready to give your home a cheap-chic face-lift? Here, Mark shares some of his favorite decorating-on-a-dime ideas.

Pizzazz in the Pantry
If you have some light pouring into your pantry, add some life by creating a hanging window garden. Fill tapered drinking glasses or small clay pots with soil and your favorite herb seeds. Twist wire around the rim of each glass or pot, creating a loop on each side of the glass as you do. Attach a small chain to the loops. Screw small cup hooks into the ceiling or the top of the window frame and hang your glasses from the hooks, varying the height of each glass pot. Finish off the garden by punching holes in the bottom of a loaf pan or two, filling the pans with potting soil and grass seeds and setting them on your windowsill to bring the outside in.