Time for Some Home Decorating Magic!

Unless you have an unlimited budget, you’d probably love to hear about inexpensive home decorating tips and tricks to make your space your ‘happy place’. That’s what we’ll be exploring here. Do you know what you like in your friends’ homes? Are you a combination of multiple styles? Does your heart beat faster when you watch HGTV or read a copy Better Homes and Gardens and you see that cute room arrangement? We’ll consider some of the elements of your style to help you clarify what you like. Plus, much more. Here we go!

1. Decorate with the End in Mind

“Start with the end in mind. ” Stephen R. Covey stated that practical principle in his #1 bestseller, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Life-changing for projects in high-powered business and political situations, but equally powerful when transforming your house into a home. Having a vision of how you want your house to make you feel when you walk in and around is one of the most essential home decorating tips. However, most likely, the image will be incomplete when you begin. My dream was tiny and very general at first. It became more and more specific as time went by.

2. Do Your (Fun) Homework

The next step will be gathering ideas, photos, thoughts and then throwing many of them out. You are pre-decorating at this point. This process is fun because it doesn’t cost a dime (unless you buy a resource or two to help). I spent hours searching and pinning and organizing the pins into countless Pinterest categories. (You can find some cute pins in my Decorating Mi Casa board in my Quiet Hollow| Life +Other Things profile.)

A resource I (happily) purchased was Home Body by Joanna Gaines. The full title is Home Body, Creating Spaces You Never Want to Leave, which is the theme of this book. Decorate to make YOU happy, not your neighbors or your mother-in-law or some fancy high-school friend! We’ll talk more about this later, but your home is YOUR HOME. When I realized that, I felt freedom and joy and excitement in continuing the decorating process.

Don’t overlook the shops where you’d find the things you’d like to add to your home for ideas. I spent lots of time in Hobby Lobby and several trips to Magnolia Market. We have several incredible antique shops in our region (and beyond). My favorite is the 6th Street Antiques near downtown Belton. Such cute things at very reasonable prices. These places are perfect for shopping for just the right piece (and finding the one you didn’t know was the ‘one’)! But, they’re also rich with ideas to add to your vision. Most are set up in room settings or vignettes that will spark your decorating creativity. And don’t forget to keep your eyes open when visiting others’ homes!

3. Start with the (Home Decorating) Basics

When we moved, we sold our couches, loveseats and most of our chairs. They were all tired, and we were tired of them. So, we started over with our foundational living room/family room furniture. We loved and brought our dining room set and our beds. I highly recommend buying quality new or new/used furniture. We found a great store in our area that will special order your living room furniture, so we picked the colors and fabrics for that, as well as fun contrasting pillow fabrics. We love Bob Mills Furniture in Temple!

Facebook Marketplace has replaced Craigs List for me. I sold lots before we left and have purchased several pieces down here with Marketplace. Easy and fun. Our neighborhood FB group has also been a fruitful resource for used items. You have to be quick though!

4. Time for the Decor

Another one of my top home decorating tips is that once you’ve got your foundational pieces, it’s time to start ‘playing’ with the decor…the extras. We brought several treasured family pieces and wanted to incorporate them into the home’s look. (Check out my post about my treasured Tea Cups here.) I started there. Then I went shopping! I’ve gotten good at watching the Hobby Lobby sales – 50% off deals rotate through the sections of the store! I’d also regularly check 6th Street because their inventory changed often.

5. The Try It/Switch It Home Decorating Tip!

You don’t even know how many times I think I’ve found the perfect combination of decor on a tabletop or on the wall, only to switch it up later. And, then again even later! Let me say this out loud, IT’S OKAY TO CHANGE THINGS AROUND!

Sometimes I’ve redone a setting to get it closer to my vision. But sometimes it’s because I want a change. Be patient with the process. Have fun with the process. Know that you’ll never be truly finished! You’ll get to a happy place. I’m mostly there. Then you might get an urge to try a new wall color or change out that farm clock for something smaller. That’s part of the fun of it all.

6. House – Process – Transition – Home

We started with an empty house that was a floor plan we loved, but it wasn’t our home. It transitioned into our home as we went through vision casting, resource and idea gathering, foundation setting, and finishing touching. My vision for home decorating has morphed several times, and although it’s close to my original view, I believe it is considerably better because of all I learned and by chance found along the way. It’s also better because I stayed true to what I liked (other than Rick’s man cave 🙂 ) throughout the process.

7. Sit Back, Relax, and Enjoy Your Home Decorating Magic!

One of the most important home decorating tips of all: have fun with your project! Be patient with yourself and the process. Plus, trust your ‘likes’; if you do your homework, your taste and likes will become apparent…go with that! I’m excited about your home’s transformation, whether big or small. Remember to make it a place you love to come home to and don’t want to leave. Because, once you’re done with the magic, you’ll want to sit back, relax, and enjoy your home!

**Some referral links are included in this post. If you click through and take action, I’ll be compensated with no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support in this way.