I get a lot of email from readers who ask me all kinds of questions about homeschooling, scheduling and homemaking. One of the most frequently asked questions is this: “How do you make your home look pretty and inviting on a very small budget?”
Most All of us want a lovely home. I think we’re all agreed that to have nice home, we have to work at organizing it and cleaning it. We want our homes to reflect beauty and organization, and our own personality. But I think the problem is that we are brainwashed by the society we live in that we must have things for our homes that are new, expensive, trendy and color-co-ordinated. And we seem to be convinced that we need “things” that we really don’t have a legitimate need for. We think that because its “in fashion”, we must have one.
While decorating is a multi-billion dollar business in this country, I don’t think we have to play into that mindset. I did once, years ago…. and I ended up with a beautiful room that looked like it came out of a magazine. I spent too much money. I stressed over colors and accessories. It was costly in more ways than one. The most glaring problem though was that it wasn’t “ME”. It was someone else, the person who had designed it. I like it but it ended up being uncomfortable and not usable for my family. Gradually, it evolved back into a room that needed help.
Now I realize that I can look at a room in a magazine and admire it, and I can somewhat duplicate it by picking out my own things or making things to go in the room. I can copy a style I like without spending tons of money. You can , too. There are all kinds of helps out there online and in magazines that won’t encourage you to spend-spend-spend, but to make do with what you have, nature’s bounty and find gently used items.
Here are some more thoughts on decorating:
1) The less STUFF you own, the less you will have to take care of. The less stuff you own, the less important ’stuff’ will be to you. The less stuff you have, the more room you will have for important things in your home and the more spacious it will be.
2) Don’t compare your home to someone else’s. That just makes you miserable. Look around your home and see what you can do to make it good for your family, no one else’s family. Use what you have on hand to decorate or purchase things that really make you happy when you look at them. Buy from second hand shops, yard sales or antique and flea markets.
3) Find your style and stick with it. Don’t flit around and experiment with many styles, bringing many items into your home that don’t really belong… unless you are just really talented at making those things go together. 
Once you know what your style is, give it a name, and then look for items that will add to the beauty, not to the clutter, of your home. My personal style has changed over the years a little as we have moved, but it is mostly Country Victorian. I don’t use the traditional Victorian colors though of rose, green and tan. I use brown, yellow, red and green. So, you see you can break out of a mold and create something you like.
4) Learn how to build some simple things like bookshelves or wall shelves. There are lots of how-to books available at home stores. Bookshelves and shelves around the upper perimeter of a room can open up the room and give you a lot of space to store things. Plus it looks really nice
5) Recycle your decorating items. If you have a basket of silk greenery, for example, and you don’t have a place for it anymore or you need something green in a dark corner, you can pull apart the arrangement and use all the parts to make several small arrangements. Even tucking a piece of silk greenery behind a stack of books on a shelf can make a big difference in the beauty of a room. So don’t throw anything away until you have looked at it from this vantage point. One of my very first recycle effort was an old piece of fabric that was printed to look like a quilt. I found it a a thrift shop along with some poly-fil stuffing for less than $2. I cut out primitive animal shpaes from the fabric, quilted the fronts and stuffed them to make decorative pillows.
6) Keep in mind that if you have little children you will need to decorate in such a way that is safe for them and that does not expose all your breakable things to their curious hands. I remember the days when we had nothing on the walls or tables below 3 feet off the ground! In child training, some things have to be left out to teach the children not to touch. But if you own something that if it were broken would devastate you, my advice is to put it up.
7) Use your imagination. When I’m at yardsales, I take a list of items I am looing for, that way I don’t just buy indiscriminately, I go with a plan. For example, right now I am looking for some artificial red berries on twigs to put in a basket with some clear lights. I won’t be buying pink or yellow berries just because they are pretty
Finally, the most important thing I’ve learned about making a home in the last 26 years is this:
A home that is truly lovely and comfortable and is full of life and love can only come from a heart that has been freed from sin and a life that is filled with the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. Your spiritual walk will be reflected in your home and its beauty. I’m not sure of all the reasons that is true, but I have found it to be a true saying.
The freedom found in Jesus is what gives us our homes that extra touch of “something” that makes it a joy to be in. May the Spirit of Life fill your home with beauty no matter what your personal style may be!
© 2006 Sylvia Britton
