I found my love for decorating back when my son was a baby (almost 10 years ago) and I was at home alone with him 95% of the time. Although I knew staying at home was the right thing for our family, it was extremely hard for me because 1.) I wasn’t a home body, and 2.) I had always imagined working after college. Talk about a shift in direction!
Needless to say, I didn’t really know what to do with myself for the first several months, until I realized something about myself: a change of scenery always does my heart good. I also realized that I needed to find a healthy way to cope with the fact that I couldn’t just leave whenever I wanted to get out of the house (which would have been all the time back then).
Because I got bored and uninspired looking at the same spaces decorated in the same ways for too long, decorating our home gave me an outlet for changing things up as often as I wanted…or so I thought.
The down side to having a love for decorating was that it wasn’t practical to purchase more decor every time the trends changed. My husband was not a huge fan of the cost involved in decorating, either.
Over the years, I have learned how to implement “innovative decorating” using what I already have, and now it’s my favorite way to decorate! I want to share some practical tips with you about how to make the most of your decor, and how to avoid getting bored with what you have.
Here are 5 ways I make the most of my decor:
1. Refinish décor/ furniture
You would be shocked at how moving objects to a different room can freshen up a space with little effort! I have been known to spray paint photo frames, candle sticks, and metal art to in order to produce the look I want.
Take my daughter’s room, for example. We were fortunate enough to come into an antique iron bed frame for free (it belonged to my great-grandparents), but it needed a new coat of paint. Enter two cans of teal spray paint for $10. That was more than enough to give a treasured piece of furniture a face lift. I even had enough left to spray paint a candle stick to match!
Also, the metal art above her bed used to hang in our breakfast room. When I redecorated her room we didn’t have funds for new decor, so I used what we had and, yes, another can of spray paint ($5). Easy, right?
When it comes to refinishing wooden furniture, you can purchase furniture paint or chalk paint from Lowe’s for about $25 and bring an old, drab piece of furniture back to life! It’s pretty amazing what a coat of paint can do for an ugly or outdated piece of furniture or decor, and purchasing paint is far less expensive than buying new furniture.
2. Repurpose decor/furniture
I enjoy the challenge of repurposing decor and furniture pieces for unconventional uses. Like the iron art I mentioned earlier, I like taking something that is typically used for one thing and giving it new purpose. I have come up with some of my best ideas this way.
For instance, early in our marriage, we inherited Michael’s grandmother’s wooden hutch. After years of having it in several rooms serving several different purposes, we have determined that it serves our family best as an entertainment center (minus the top piece). I recently painted it to match the new color scheme of our home and it’s perfect now! I didn’t even change the hardware (I did that the first time I refinished it 8 years ago).
Just painted. I even let the kids help!
I also currently use an antique tiger wood sideboard for my kids’ art storage. This gives me the “grown up” look I want in my dining room, but allows my kids a place to keep their markers, paper, and junk artwork and treasures. Everybody wins!
I have also been known to use seagrass laundry hampers as side tables and blanket storage in the living room, and my sugar moulds have held everything from candles to markers to succulents.
My point here is that there is no rule that says you can only use your decor for one thing. As I tell my husband, I’m the queen. I can do whatever I want. This applies to you as well, friend.
3. Rotate old decor
Several years ago one of my close friends and I found ourselves in a similar situation: stay at home moms with little ones, one income families, and no extra money. We both love to decorate so we decided to trade decor for a while. I don’t remember which one of us came up with the idea, but it was GENIUS!
We each picked out things at each others’ houses and used them in our own homes. It was like shopping without spending any money. So fun! Of course we each had items that were off limits to trading. After about 6 months we traded back, no big deal.
It was a great experience, and I would totally do it again. Think about someone you would be willing to switch decor with, and make plans to swap. Why spend money on something you can *temporarily* trade for?!
4. Print your own art
Etsy has an incredible selection of digital artwork you can purchase for as little as $5, download to your computer, and print on whatever paper you want as many times as you want! I have printed cute sayings for my kids’ bathrooms, and scripture graphics for other parts of my house on card stock paper.
You can also print that image on canvas at websites like easycanvasprints.com or at a printing store like Staples. I have done this many times as well, and used a frame I already had. (Don’t like any of your current frames? Refer to #1 on this list).
5. Be Yourself
At the end of the day, our homes should be a reflection of who we are and what/who we love. As we all strive to fill our homes with items that make them warm and inviting, let’s remember that having a few meaningful things is better than having a bunch of stuff we don’t care about aside from its decorative purposes.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s fun to chase the trends sometimes – and I will be the first to admit that I get giddy about trending paint colors, furniture design, and vignettes – but using items that are meaningful to you personally will warm your home far more than random trinkets from page 8 of the Potterybarn catalog (no offense to PB though).
When you approach decorating from this perspective, you will feel less pressured to buy new decor every season. You will be more content with what you have because it’s special to you. When you aren’t trying to keep up with the homes of Instagram, you learn how express your personal style and taste through items that tell your story.
At the end of the day, you do you. Don’t think that to have a beautiful, inviting home you have to do what someone else is doing. You might actually realize your own style if you stop imitating others and do what you like.
Have some fun this week moving decor, giving an old piece new life, or adding printed art that livens up your favorite spaces and tells your story!
What are your go-to tricks for freshening up your home without spending much (or any) money? How do you make the most of your decor? Tell me in the comments!
Craigslist is my go to for big ticket items I can’t afford. Living in a city there are so many people moving and selling items that are practically new. I found a cool buffet for my breakfast room for 15% if it’s retail cost and it looks new.