As a woman, we feel our home to be a reflection of us.  Women make the home. Your home has a feeling, a smell and an appearance that will evoke certain feelings for others.  

Some of us want a cozy home, while others want a light and airy feeling home.  There are so many elements to what makes up a home, but the major thing that can change the feeling in a house are the decorations.

I have moved a few times in the past three years, and each time, I put lots of effort into making our house feel like a home.  

When you are living on a budget, this can feel like an impossible task.  How can you transform your home into a cohesive feeling when you have zero dollars to spend?  

You can scour Pinterest for all kinds of inspiration and ideas.  There is always a desire to just turn your home into one of those magazine homes that look so perfect and inviting.  

When you are broke, in debt or just don’t have the funds for decorations, it is important to keep in mind that your expectations should align with your wallet.  You are going to get creative, but you are not going to turn your home into a Pottery Barn catalog without money.

So, is it still possible to make your home cute if you don’t have a lot of money??  Absolutely!

 

Once you know what the overall feel is you are going for in your home, look for inspiration (ie. Pinterest) to get an idea of what you would need to add to your house to create the look you want.

Figure out your color palette and the textures you want in your home.  Then, keep pictures, paint samples and any other inspiration on hand for reference.

Then, it’s time to get started!

 

6 Easy Changes You Can Make to Decorate Your Home When You’re Broke:

 

Plants

Plants are such an easy add-on to your home.  They create a sense of calm, improve your air quality and add life to a home.  The presence of plants can be extremely peaceful and welcoming.

You don’t have to have any crazy plants that will be impossible to care for.  Here is a Pin for inspiration for you for hardy indoor plants.  If you have pets, here is a list of pet-friendly plants for you.

If you are interested in getting plants, shop around at garage sales, flea markets, and second-hand stores for old flower pots and hanging baskets.  You can definitely find them for cheap. Then, if you have any friends who have plants already, you can ask them to share with you!

Here is a great article on how to successfully divide and transplant plants.  If you can find a friend to share with you, your plants could be virtually free!

 

Paint

Paint is by far the biggest transformation you can make to your home to completely change it.  Paint is like the foundation for creating the feeling you want in your house.

This isn’t the cheapest thing you can do to your home, but if we are basing things on cost per impact, paint wins.  You will get the biggest change for your buck by painting. Not only can you paint your walls, but you can also paint trim, doors, fixtures, hardware, furniture, floors, the list goes on and on.

Anything can be transformed with some paint.  Before you start to purchase all of your paint, take measurements of every room, get a plan for your colors (every room the same color, colors that flow room to room, colors for each individual room) and talk to a paint specialist to estimate how much everything will cost.

In our current home, I painted the trim white, painted kitchen cabinets and painted every wall.  It completely changed the feel of our home from 90’s to cozy and calm.

This is my favorite paint.

 

Photos

Use photos for decoration.  Photos are amazing because they are personal, inspire great memories, can be made to match any decor and can be changed regularly.  With all of the available tools today you can focus on certain colors in photos to match a room. You can have pictures printed on different textured surfaces (wood, plastic, metal, paper, canvas).  

You can create displays using your own photos, or gallery walls that will be better than any piece of artwork you could buy.

My home is full of vacation photos from when my husband and I went backpacking through Europe.  Every room is full of memories. We have some printed on canvases, some in black and white, some color-focused and they are in all different sizes.  

Each room is a reminder of our travels together.  As our life continues to change, we can change our photos as needed to include some of our more recent memories.  The opportunities are endless and photos only bring joy!

 

Frames

Picture frames can be very expensive depending on where you buy them.  So, you can try to time it right and hit an awesome sale at Home Goods or Hobby Lobby.  Or, an even cheaper option is to shop at Goodwill. Goodwill or places like that will have old frames people no longer wanted.

These can then be painted to match your aesthetics or left as is.  The possibilities are endless and you will find so many frames for cheap!

There is even the option to have a wall just of frames as a display.  You can really get creative with this. 

Frames can be used in so many different ways.  You can display all of your photos in them, paint them to fit with your home, or just use them as decoration by themselves.

 

Rugs

If you have existing rugs, think about how you can use them in a different way.  If you have a kitchen rug, think about how you could move it to another room to give it a different purpose.  You can buy new rugs if you want, but a super cheap option is to just move around the rugs you currently have.

It’s amazing how different your home can look just by shifting around your existing rugs.

 

Pro-tip:  This also applies to your furniture.  You can change up your rooms by swapping out pieces of furniture you already have.

 

Pillows

Pillows are like the sprinkles on a donut.  They can be changed out with the seasons and new pillows can give your home a completely different look!  Instead of focusing on matching pillows for every room, in excess; keep it simple.

Try just adding one pillow to each room.  Something decorative, but also cohesive. Select pillows that can work in multiple rooms at different times.  You can wait until there is an awesome pillow sale or just put one in your budget every couple of months.

Don’t go crazy here, just one decorative pillow for each room that has a place for it.  Once you have 4-6 pillows, you can change them out and make different combinations pending the season to completely change the feel of your home.

Pillows are super cheap and can be used in so many ways.

 

If you have a new home or a home you want to spruce up, don’t stress out!!  You can easily decorate your home without spending tons of money. There are lots of little changes you can make that can have a huge impact.  

You can get as creative as you want, but with a little bit of planning with paint colors and decorating with stuff you already have, adding plants, pillows, and pictures with frames, your home will be totally different!  

 

Do you have any other awesome and cheap ideas for decorating??

PIN FOR LATER!