Saturday, March 24, 2012

Series: How I Decorate Without Debt

I am starting a series today on how I decorate without debt. I’ve never done a series before, but that’s the only way I can think to both show you everything going on in my living room and also share with you the process (informal as it is) that I go through in completing a room.


The first thing I want to share with you in this series is my philosophy of decorating. I believe that every woman out there, no matter what age, race, or economic place in life they are, wants to have a beautiful home. That’s the way God made us. If that is true, and I believe it is, then that means that decorating does not mean that a house is decorated when a set of rules like this year’s color or that brand of pillow is found in your home.

Decorating, to me, is whatever you do with your home to create the atmosphere that you want your family and friends to experience. This can be achieved with or without spending a lot of money. It’s also different from family to family. Some families value peace and calm, while others want a fun-filled experience. Some women want warm, rich rooms and others want bright and simple. Trends come and go, but the feelings evoked from a loving home when a woman puts her hands and mind to work on her home never do.

I’m sort of a math person—not because I’m great at it but because I just happen to like it. So, to the annoyance of some, I like to make up statistics. So this is my quirky, not-so-scientific decorating math:


Taking that into consideration, things like decluttering your home, learning to clean a toilet, and rearranging your furniture, come before picking the greatest pillow in priority. That also means that those who are struggling to pay for diapers can still do a lot right now to improve their homes. Whether you're scraping the bottom of the pot of porridge or you're able to easily afford a professional decorator to redo your entire home--You, beautiful woman, are not selfish for wanting this!

Decorating is not just for the wealthy. Although, a little money does make it go a little quicker.

So, I learn by teaching (I always have), but I also learn by reading and listening to others. I want to know your opinion! What is your decorating philosophy? What do you believe is the most important thing in decorating a space/room? And how have you done things while going through those tight years to improve the beauty of your home? Please feel free to post a link to your own blog in your comment so that people will have access to as many resources as possible.

Next in series: The Wait

I am linking to these fabulous blogs:
Get Outta My Head Please
Ask Anna
DIY Home Sweet Home
The Southern Institute
Between Naps On The Porch
Under the Table and Dreaming
Coastal Charm
Cowgirl Up
A Bowl Full of Lemons
Home Stories A2Z
House of Grace
Organize and Decorate Everything










8 comments:

  1. What a great idea for a series! With so many people on a limited budget and little or no money to decorate, this will be great!

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  2. Thanks! I just think our homes and our finances are so much a part of what makes us feel good or bad about ourselves as women. I want to help as much as i can to build confidence in these areas.

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  3. I am a very frugal decorator, yet find my home to be comfortable and inviting. I've always believed that pretty does not need to cost lost of money, this includes wardrobe too! Great series! Off to become a follower!
    dee dee

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  4. I will be back to check out the rest...it's a bit of a lesson I need! I have been struggling lately, seeing all these fab makeovers in blog land and feeling a bit sorry for myself that I can't do everything all at once. I think this was a message I needed to hear today, a little reminder to stop and actually be grateful for what we do have! So, thanks;)

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  5. Thank you so much! I peeked in on your blog, even though I couldn't stay for long since it's still during school right now. I really liked the look of it. I'll be back to read it.

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  6. Scrapmebaby--I totally understand!! If looking at all that other people have is a struggle for you, then maybe you need to look the other direction. Look at homes from other places (like people who live in boat houses, cabins in the mountains, or grass huts). I used to do this a lot! What really made the switch for me was when I looked on websites that were putting town homes up for sale in some VERY expensive parts of the country. I had always thought of my 1100sqft home as small. Then I saw the ones the same size being sold for 1/2 a million!! Wow. That really changed my perspective. I no longer had a lower class home in my own mind. I now had a 1/2 a million dollar home that happened to be in a cheaper state. Or look at the grass huts. Some of them are really quite pleasant. Why? Because they make them beautiful with what they have. Find a way to teach yourself contentedness and it will go a long, long way in making your like happier. Would love to see you back here! Thank you for commenting.

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  7. Hi,

    I enjoyed reading your blog on how to decorate a house even when you have very little or no budget.Initially when I started off my married life,I and my husband had very little or no money to decorate our house.Often we see a lot of old unused stuff in our homes which we can put to use to get a nice decorative thing out of it. For instance,I had an old wooden table which was acquiring a lot of space and I did not feel like placing it in the living room.So,I actually re-modelled it to make a small chair for the study table.My friends kept on asking me as to where did I fetched it from as it was adding on to the glamour of my study room.So it is not always necessary to have loads of money to get your house decorated. But what matters is just an out of the box thought to make things happen.Even today with God's grace, when I have so much around, I still have not given up the habit of thinking out of the way to get my home decorated and make it look even better.Also I personally believe that apart from all the other things that makes a home look even warmer and cozier is the love factor prevalent amongst the members of the family.I would look forward to more writings from your end.Rest assured, I would visit this blog very often to get more tips.

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    1. Thanks so much Suzana! Sounds like you have a beautiful home. I wish I had the skills (or the time, lol) to remake things into new uses. I hope to get back to blogging soon, but this move is sucking up any spare time I *didn't* have right now. I so appreciate all of you out there reading, though. It's so nice to hear there's interest in what I'm writing! Thanks. -Tabitha

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