Wanted: A sense of decorating style

We had a great garage sale early this summer, and we've decided to throw together another impromptu sale to help a friend get rid of some of her stuff! As I've been cleaning out the drawers and closets, I've decided that my "style" has changed and I'm between styles right now. The style of our old house was quaint and "cottage-y", and this house doesn't have a style yet. I suppose it would be a "builder's-white-walls-with-nothing-on-them-boooooooring" style.

I feel a challenge coming on... Since we're living this Dave Ramsey shoestring-budget lifestyle, my decorating budget will literally be almost $0. I need to find ways to either re-utilize something I already have or find somewhere super cheap to barter or buy some great stuff. I have the tendency to look at the "big picture" and see a house with a completely blank canvas. I need to break it down into teeny tiny bits and start small. Hmmmmm....like I said, I feel a challenge coming on. I'm guessing it will be the little breakfast nook first, because I need to get some super-scrubbable paint on the walls in there. I'm tired of unsuccessfully trying to scrub ravioli and oatmeal off of low-grade builder's white paint in there. Sooooo....let's think this out. I'll need:

1. Paint (2 shades--one for the small window area and one for the main walls...there's no good stopping point, so the color will have to flow into the living room)
2. 3 mini-blinds (ours have entire slats missing from 3 tazmanian devils)
3. Curtains or valances

Any thoughts on where to get paint inexpensively? I could totally make my own valances...I need to find a fun fabric to add some pizazz. I'd love to find some fabric on clearance or at a garage sale...but it has to be something fairly "busy" to hide the ravioli splatters. Ick.

Now I'm getting excited!! After next week's garage sale, I'm tackling this project! Thanks for letting me talk it out with you... :-) I'll post "before" pictures soon so you can help keep me motivated.