things i've learned: decorating on a budget
This weekend was amazing. Drew and I traveled up to Berry College on Friday night to spend some quality time with old friends at our alma mater's yearly reunion. We came back home Saturday night and camped out in the living room, ate yummy snacks, and watched movies. We then spent Sunday resting and rejuvenating. I thought a lot this weekend about how much I take for granted this time of our life, family, friends, health, and having each other. I spent Sunday night falling asleep, cherishing all the blessings we have, and thanking God for each of them. I never want to forget.
I wanted to share with you some tips I've found helpful when decorating on a budget. Apparently (so my friends tell me), I'm good at making a space cozy and attractive very quickly and at a low cost. So I've sat down and mapped out what goes on in my head when confronting an empty space.
I wanted to share with you some tips I've found helpful when decorating on a budget. Apparently (so my friends tell me), I'm good at making a space cozy and attractive very quickly and at a low cost. So I've sat down and mapped out what goes on in my head when confronting an empty space.
TIPS FOR DECORATING ON A BUDGET
1. Furniture First - - - When decorating a space, I always tell friends to look first at what furniture you have available. Many people want to decide a color scheme, look through paint options, pick out decorative accents, or decide on wall decor before deciding their furniture choices. The truth is - it is much easier to rearrange or add accent pieces, to decide on paint color, and to choose your color scheme than it is to replace or choose a piece of furniture. If you choose a color scheme and then realize that the couch you have doesn't work with those colors, you're going to be out some money and have to retrace your steps. So, first find out what furniture you have available to you. Then, of that furniture, what looks best in the space? Is there something you can do to make it work - paint, recover, refashion? Choose the large pieces that you LOVE - then, based on those pieces, decide your color scheme, decorative accents, etc.
2. Make Out a Wish List - - - This is easy to do on Pinterest by creating a board for every room in your house. Put everything on your wish list that you are dreaming of for that room. After you feel like you have a good amount of ideas, sort through them and decide a few things: 1) What is really important to you to have in this room? 2) From the picture you picked out, what is the look & feel you are drawn to for this room? 3) Narrow down the pictures that don't fit that look & feel. 4) Decide what items you could look for at thrift stores and//or if you could create something similar for less.
3. Thrift // Reuse // Create - - - If at all possible, find your furniture at a bargain. Get creative. You don't have to pay $2000 for a couch. Borrow one from your family's basement and recover it. Paint an old dresser and reuse as a media stand. Or add some sturdy legs to an old door for a table. We have so much available to us for inspiration - use it! You will save so much money and it will also make your house look more unique and personal.
4. Paint Last & Don't Rush - - - I highly suggest bringing home all of your paint samples and taping them to the wall(s) you plan on painting. It takes more patience, but it is well worth it. Believe me, I used to be the girl who loved to spontaneously buy paint without checking it out first and I learned my lesson the hard way - and it's called repainting. Leave the samples up all day so you can see how the color looks in the morning, in daylight, and in the evening. Paint color looks WAY different in the bright fluorescent lights of Home Depot than in your house. Typically, I pick out a color I like in the store and then move 2-3 shades lighter.
For those who are not very good at decorating or who have a really tight budget for decorations, I almost always suggest to paint the room last. Why? Because paint is one of the least expensive things to change and most of the time, because you are searching for decorations on a budget, the decorations you find change what color the walls should be. (You find awesome antique curtains that don't look good with the color you first imagined for the walls, but look awesome with everything else in the room) Unless you already have all of your decorations picked out, I suggest waiting on paint.
5. Spend Your Cash on Decorative Accents - - - In my own home, I've found that adding beautiful decorative accents to thrifted, handmade, and re-purposed furniture makes the difference. If you decide to slipcover an old couch, add some beautiful pillows. If you repaint an old piece of furniture, decorate it with beautiful pottery, antique dishes, or rare collectibles. You will still spend way less than if you bought brand new furniture!
6. Have No Fear - - - Be true to yourself. If you try to decorate based on someone else's expectations or desires, the entire process will be confusing and you will have a really hard time. Don't fret! You can do this! Go into the dreaming//planning phase with confidence.
7. Eliminate Stress - - - Stress is a killer of fun and happiness. Find out what part of the decorating process stresses you out most and make sure to add in things that are fun for you. 1) Break up the process into smaller parts. If you are an overachiever like myself, don't try to do it all in one day. You will be exhausted and feel like a failure because you set your expectations too high. Give yourself some room to work. If you have a hard time getting things done, breaking it up into smaller tasks will help you feel more motivated. 2) Complete those parts at a location that makes you feel relaxed. For example, I used to hate brainstorming until I started doing it at a coffee shop. Now I love it because I associate it with something I love :) - coffee. 3) Put on fun, happy music. There are few people who enjoy painting a room. Whenever it is time to paint, I try to gather friends to help and turn on some upbeat tunes or a TV show we like.
8. Make Room For Error - - - Expect to mess up. Because you will. And when you do, have grace with yourself. Take down the fluorescent purple bird chandelier or puke green and pink comforter and start over. Laugh about it. We all make mistakes.
I hope this helps you in your decorating adventures! I would love to talk with you about your design process and hear any tips you have. Please leave them in the comments below!