We all want a beautiful home and think we have to spend a fortune to achieve that goal. Pinterest is filled with thousands and thousands of beautiful images of rooms that make us drool. Sometimes I wish I could press a button and just order the entire room right down to all the accessories and have it all delivered right to my front door.
We see an ad or come across a living room set, or bedroom set on sale for a ridiculously low price and I am tempted to purchase the whole thing, and just be done with it already. Actually, it really is better to purchase and aquire items one at a time, and curate your look over time, rather than purchase sets and fill a room with a matchy- matchy furniture set. Living room in a box…so dull and uninspired.
Yes, purchasing all new furniture and marvelous new accessories would certainly make our homes fabulous! Reality check; most of us cannot afford to purchase all new items for our homes, at least not all at once. Most of us have to save up and purchase items one at time, after we pay the mortgage and all the other expenses of daily life. We have to be creative and repurpose items we already have and give them new life.
So what can you do that’s affordable and easy to do?
#1 CLEAR OUT THE CLUTTER
If you do nothing else, except for this one thing, clearing out the clutter from your home will instantly un-frump it! Let’s face it, we all have clutter in our homes, some of us more than others, but we all have it. Do whatever it takes to go through your home and get rid of those things that do not bring you any joy.
I encourage you to tackle this first step. Removing the clutter from your home will change the energy. It will lighten it up and the frump will go out along with the clutter you are getting rid of.
You can’t see the beauty of your home if it’s filled with clutter. Clear off the horizontal surfaces in your home and give it a clean open, airy feel. You won’t be increasing the square footage but it will feel larger when you have open uncluttered space in you home.
There are some wonderful resources online to help you do this. Marie Kondo has taken the internet by storm lately with her organizing advice. You can check out her website here for ideas and inspiration for organizing and decluttering your home.
Years ago I stumbled upon FlyLady. She has a wonderful website FlyLady with tons of information that will help you get your home organized and teach you simple steps to eliminate clutter from your home and establish simple routines for getting your home clean and keeping it that way. I am a graduate of FlyLady, her system resonated with me and continues to work for me to this day.
#2 EDIT YOUR COLLECTIONS
Do you like to collect things? Years ago my best friend Michelle happened to mention in passing that she liked pigs. For years after that friends would buy her pig related items for her birthday, Christmas, anniversary, any occasion that called for a gift, she received something pig related. After about 10 years she finally told us all that she really wasn’t all that into pigs and could we please stop giving her pig stuff! She had quite a collection going at that point. LOL.
Whether is pigs, or Hummels, Precious Moments figurines, or Beanie Babies; whatever it is, at some point it just becomes too much! Dozens and dozens of figurines all the same size and all displayed on the same plane just doesn’t work, it becomes too much of good thing. There are so many that you can’t appreciate each one individually. You are better off selecting just a few of your favorites and displaying them in a small grouping than all of them all at once.
Or use your favorite in a vignette to showcase it’s beauty. Sometimes highlighting just one makes it really stand out!
#3 TAKE DOWN AND REMOVE HEAVY DRAPERIES
Not that long ago the trend was to adorn our windows with ornate draperies in heavy fabrics with tassels and elaborate edging and ornate tiebacks. Layering window coverings, shades and drapes, or blinds with drapes. We recently moved into a new home and there are no window coverings on any of the windows, except for a couple of the bedrooms, which have plantation shutters. Very simple, clean lines.
My first instinct was to measure the windows and start thinking about window treatments, but my husband said he didn’t want anything on the windows. This is one thing he is adamant about! Wait…what? Nothing on the windows? Just leave them bare? But, but…
Now that we have been in the house for a few weeks, I am starting to have second thoughts. Maybe he was right. Privacy is not an issue; we don’t have anyone that can look into our windows from the outside. I have to admit, I really like how open it feels without any window coverings. I love how we have so much more natural light flooding the interior that I may not actually put up anything.
Depending on how close your neighbors are, this may or may not work for you, but at least consider it. I think you will like the additional natural light coming into your home if you decide to not put up any window coverings.
#4 ROTATE YOUR DÉCOR ITEMS
This is probably the most fun out of all the tips today. Move around what you already have in your home. This is such an easy thing to do. If your home is small and the furniture must stay where it’s at, then move around your accessories and decorative items. Become a serial rotator. You can read all about what a serial rotator is here.
Just because you’ve always had that lamp in a particular spot doesn’t mean that it has to stay there. Get out of your rut and move it to the other side of the room or move it into another room of your house. Change things up a little using what you already have.
Your home will look totally updated and you didn’t have to spend a single cent! I love to do this! I spend more time puttering around the house moving things here and there until I like what I have created. For me this is so much fun!!!
#5 UPCYCLE WHAT YOU ALREADY HAVE WITH PAINT
Ok, this might cost you a can of paint, but if you are like me, you may already have several half-used cans of paint stored in your garage. Paint something to give it new life. Need some inspiration? Check out a few blog posts I wrote on the transformational power of paint with easy step-by-step instructions to get a professional looking finish.
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How to Paint Furniture like a Professional
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Refinishing Outdoor Wood Furniture
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Trust me on this, a coat of paint will make a huge difference! It will update something you have that looks frumpy and dated and give it a fresh updated new life!
Use your creativity to update your home and get rid for the frumpies in your home. It doesn’t have to cost you a cent to do it either. Declutter, move items around in your home, repurpose and refinish existing items to give them new life. It really is that simple to breath new life into your home.
Please share your photos in the comments; I would love to see what you are creating in your home!!!
What a great read and just as me and stew we about to figure out how to paint our dining room table white and then sand it a bit to make it rustic. Great tips!!