Episode 25: Innovative Ways to Redecorate Your Home for Free

In today’s episode we are looking at creative ways you can use everyday items that you already have at home to either decorate or redecorate without needing to go shopping or spend much money.

I don’t know about you, but the current situation with the Coronavirus has really cut down on my shopping. Of course, most of the retail stores near me (I live in southern California) are closed so that’s a given, but I’ve also cut down on my online shopping. Part of this is out of concern for my family and part of it is out of concern for the people delivering packages.

And just a little secret between you and me, I was never a big online shopper anyway - browser, yes…shopper, no.

But, that has left us making do with a lot of things. And with extra time on our hands and a first grader to teach and occupy ALL DAY, EVERYDAY we’ve needed a few projects to keep us busy.

One of these projects was updating the decor in our home, adding art to our walls, and organizing while on lockdown.

The problem was I couldn’t just pop out to the store to pick up a bin for organization, print off some artwork, or get a bunch of craft supplies. So we had to get creative with what we had on hand and I want to help you do the same.

A lot of these tips I have incorporated into my own home so you’ll see pictures of what we did. It has been so fulfilling to get back to my crafty roots. Backstory…we used to make a lot of our own furniture. We’ve made desks, a dining table, a coffee table, a bench, and even a couch. I used to make lots of things for my daughter like a DIY reading canopy. In a previous home we owned, my husband and I gutted the kitchen, made new base cabinets and rearranged the floor plan.

But, over the last few years I have gotten away from my DIY roots. It was so fun to have some crafty time over the last few weeks and tap into that energy again. I didn’t realize how much I missed it. You’re going to be seeing more of these home projects on the blog so if that interests you, be sure to subscribe so that you don’t miss out.

Okay, let’s get back to today’s topic and discuss how you can decorate your home with things you already own and not spend any money.

Set Your Intention

With any and every project, I like to start with the end in mind. This will help you know what steps to take, what items to keep, and when you’ll feel like you accomplished your goal.

Take a few minutes to think about what activities will take place in the room you want to redecorate. Another way to look at this is to decide what you want to feel when you are in the room.

List the top 3 emotions you want to feel when you are in the room or words you want to use to describe it. For example:

the emotions you want to evoke in your master bedroom may be relaxing, sexy, and peaceful
the emotions or words you want to describe your kitchen may be gather, fun, nourish

Do this for any room you want to makeover

Declutter

What kind of wannabe minimalist would I be if I did not ask you to declutter your unnecessary things when redecorating? Not a very good one. But honestly, look back at the intention you set for the space you are organizing and evaluate all of the items you have put there. If it does not fit the intention or purpose of the room, is there somewhere else you can put it?

Remember back to my last show. Episode 24 discussed why it is super important to give every thing a home. If you don't you will just continue to move clutter from one space to another. If you love something enough, you will be able to find a home for it.

Start with as Blank a Canvas as Possible

Remove as much furniture and as many things as you can from the area you are redecorating. It’s incredibly helpful to start with a clean room and the less stuff you’re dealing with the better.

In my home we moved my husband’s desk up to our bedroom (And trust me, this is not something that is part of the 3 emotions I want to invoke in my bedroom. There is nothing sexy about having a workspace in your bedroom, but desperate times call for desperate measures so we’re rolling with the punches).

But, let me also just take a second to remind everyone that life is a series of compromises and “best you can do” moments. Rarely, is real life like the glossy magazine spread you’re picturing in your head. Make sure you set your expectations accordingly and don’t get too upset if something is not picture-perfect. Okay?

Now while putting his desk in our bedroom would not be my first choice - moving his desk opened up a whole room!

That allowed us to move our entertainment and living room which has made the TV less accessible as it’s no longer within view from the dining table. Sadly eating and watching TV started to become a bad habit we got into, but now it’s not as easy. It also gave us more space for our dining table which will be nice in the future when we are able to invite guests over again.

If you’re redecorating a wall (and not a whole room), remove all of the items from it so that you can look at the space with fresh eyes. I like to put furniture in place first so that I know what I’m working with before decorating the walls.

Speaking of furniture, consider a new arrangement. If you struggle with this, here is a great article I found at MyDomaine.com that shows different ways to layout an open floor plan. It can be hard to resist putting all your furniture up agains the walls, but it’s amazing how much cozier it can make a space.

Okay, with your room rearranged for your new intention, it’s time to work on the finishing touches and add in your accessories.

Shop Your Home and Storage

One of my favorite free ways to decorate is to look for any special items you have hidden in a box. There is no reason to hide the things you love away. Now is the time to enjoy these items - not some later “special” date. Get these things out and put them on display in your home.

Another idea is to decorate a room with one color. Walk around your home and gather up all of the items of that color. try them out in your space to see how you like it.

You can also look around to see if there are pieces that would work better somewhere else. Are there throw pillows or blankets in your bedroom that would work better in your living room or vice versa.

And get REALLY creative. One out of the box idea we incorporated was to use our sliding mirror closet doors to flank the bed in our master bedroom. Our bedrooms are a good size and the wall with our bed on it had so much surface area to cover. I wanted to add mirrors, but full length mirrors can be pricy. For a few weeks my husband and I had been struggling to get at the items in our closet at the same time. So removing the doors and placing one on each side of the bed accomplished two things.

I LOVE the look
We no longer struggle to get at our things in and out of our closet

And a gentle reminder - only put back the items that you love. If something causes you guilt or brings back bad memories - even if it was a gift - you have permission to let it go.

Think Outside the Frame

Consider using art and other items that are not in frames. On the wall in our living room, we’ve included things like a maraca from our wedding in Mexico hung with Command Strips. We also hung a wooden mask and canvas painting we purchased on our first international trip to Guatemala. These items hold so much meaning for us and they are a great reminder of the many adventures we’ve already had and the many more we will have again.

Elevate arts and crafts time

Decorating your walls can be a very creative time for you. Like I said earlier, I had been missing creating things and this project was the perfect opportunity to flex those muscles again.

One quick story…when we had been in Germany, there was an art piece at a friends house that stuck with me. The funny thing is, it was just a pair of tiny jeans their little boy wore when he was a toddler. My daughter, Eleanor, wore an adorable part of pink jeans and I always thought I would have them professionally framed since seeing this idea, but I found something even better when working on this project. It was the very first outfit we purchased shortly after finding out we were pregnant. It was our first trip to Europe and I took the pregnancy test the night before we left. Of course we had no idea if we were having a boy or girl, but we ducked into a French baby shop on Champs-Élysées for a cute little onesie and hat. It now hangs in my living room and I smile every time I see it.

Another art project I completed, was hand lettering a quote on the back of posters. Our walls previously had 3 hastily purchased IKEA posters adorning them because we were having friends over and we did not get a chance to print our own pictures out. News flash…we still haven’t, but now I’ve repurposed this posters by turning them over and creating my own art.

The quote says “Don’t take refuge in the false security of consensus” and it hangs over our dining table. I love having this quote here because it’s a good reminder to make your own decisions after thinking about an idea for yourself. And the dinner table is often where we have our deeper family discussions.

Use containers in a new way

There are so many boxes and packages you can use in creative ways. Cereal boxes are great drawer organizers.Cans can be used as pencil holders or craft supply sorters. Cardboard can be used in so many different ways - from making forts to becoming craft time canvases. Glass jars from salsa and pasta sauce can be turned into left over containers and vases for regrowing veggies like green onions and celery. Old coffee cans can be drums, a basket to catch tossed balls in a made up game or turned into old-school walkie talkies. We’ve bowled with empty 1/2 gallon milk cartons and I’ve seen a cool idea for turing these waterproof containers into mini herb gardens

I have a space in my kitchen where I hold onto these empty containers so we can look at ways to resume anything any everything.

The point is that with a little creativity and looking at our items in new ways, we’ll find that we have a lot of the resources that we already need at our disposal.

And now I want to help you. Hop on over to my Free Wannabe Minimalist group on Facebook. Introduce yourself and let me know if there is a creative project I can help with. Are you trying to create something and not sure you have the regular household items to make it happen? Have a tricky space you want to rearrange? Let us know so we can help you as a community.

Please share this post on Pinterest so other families can learn to live more simply too