As I've mentioned before, we moved a few months ago and are currently living in a really cute, but very small rent house. This house is less than half the size of our last house and consequently, most of our things are in storage, including all of our home decor items. Since we were planning to only stay here for a short time, we brought only the bare necessities and it almost felt like we were camping - really (check out the chairs in the living room to see what I mean)! Especially since we did not decorate with curtains or table decor when we moved in.
Over the last few months, this has begun to bother me - I needed this house to feel like home, but didn't want to waste money on decorating a place we would not stay in for more than a year or so. Since we left all of the curtains for the new owner of our last home we didn't have any of that in storage. I made it a mission to make the house feel like home while spending less than $100. I found most of the items at Big Lots. I got window sheers for $5 each, tension rods for $1 each, a table cloth and place mats for less than $14, a throw pillow for $8 and a mantle decoration that says "Home" for $10. I used other things that we already had, like a lamp, pictures and such to fill around the edges. So for about $60 (which I know I could have spent elsewhere - decorating was NOT necessary, but it has been good for my state of mind) we made this place feel like home and not just a some place to sleep. Worth it to me! Here are some pictures:
You can see the "home' decoration, the sheers and the throw pillow in this shot.
The sitting/ reading area (magazines in the basket).
Close up of the mantle.
Dining area, complete with homeschooling stuff everywhere, which adds to the "home" feeling.
It is definitely not completely decorated, by any means, but it is good enough for us and gives the place a soft, homey feeling which is what we were after. And the best part, I think, is that the items we bought will most likely be able to be incorporated to the decor of any house we end up buying and if not, can be sold at a garage sale for close to what we paid for it. We are planning to stay here for at least 6 months, maybe longer, so I will probably add little bits here and there and maybe add things to the walls (besides just the world map for school, lol). In fact, I love this idea and think that maybe even I could make it.
This post is my contribution this week to Works For Me Wednesday.
This post is my contribution this week to Works For Me Wednesday.
4 comments:
Your home looks lovely! I think it was $60 very well spent :)
You've done a wonderful job at making your house look like a home!
I can relate to your post! The year that my husband went to test pilot school, we "camped" in a small house. We lived on Mayflower Dr., so my kids called the house The Pinta. (Only a hser will get that joke!) I thought I could handle the plainness (verbogeneration?) of the house, but after a couple of months I broke down and did some frugal decorating. The funny thing is, if you ask any of us, we would describe that year as the best year of our lives.
Thanks, Melanie :o)
Alea - your husband is a test pilot? My hubby will be so jealous - he's a private pilot, but never pursued a military career.
He's old, so he only flies a desk now. :-)I should add that he does love his current job and when he was a young Lt., it was on his list of dream jobs.
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