When I moved into my apartment, it had a really boring, cheap, black metal chandelier in the dining room.  I wanted to make it more interesting without investing too much money, or making any permanent changes.  So, I made a bunch of little strings of beads and hung them from the arms of the chandelier.  Here's how it looks now:
http://psycserv.mcmaster.ca/~domingm/craft_pics/chandelier.jpg