Decorating on a Budget
Let’s talk decor! To be honest, never did I ever think that I would be writing a blog post about decorating on a budget… But, all of a sudden, the words started forming on their own; and well, here we are!
I think a lot of people love to go to Target, Hobby Lobby, Home Goods (including myself!). We love to go to all these fun stores and pick up the most random home decor items. I remember doing just that SO VERY OFTEN when I moved into my last apartment (not my current one). I also remember how fast everything added up! One small item here, one picture frame there, one pillow on the couch -- and it really adds up very quickly.
My goal is to encourage you to make sure you recycle and reuse what you have already on hand. Rearrange the decorations you have available to you in a way that makes it feel new!
Especially with everything in flux in the world I think all of us are already arranging and rearranging our homes. I know a lot of people are focused on home improvement projects too, as seen by the very long lines outside of Home Depot. Because of that, right now it feels appropriate to talk about decorating on a budget. Not only that but we are binge-watching all the shows (#amiright)! Did you catch the Marie Kondo special on Netflix that came out in 2019? (As a side note, I intended for some of the recent blog posts to get published during the Spring season this year, but you know what … What better time to Spring clean than in Summer??! LOL.)
If you have been following me on Instagram for a while you know that I have gone through my closet several times to clean out and purge what I own. My focus is to minimize my belongings as much as possible. And you know what I have found to be true? The less STUFF I have the easier it is to clean, the easier it is to think about other things and not just needing to keep things tidy and organized. Once every item has a place to call home, that’s it - I don’t have to think about it anymore. This is still a work in progress, as I can think about a few areas of my home that could use more purging and rearranging. Recently, I went through 5 tubs of old storage items from wayyyyy back when. I got rid of the unnecessary junk - which ended up being mostly schoolwork that was no longer needed. What a weight that was lifted! I dwindled the 5 tubs down to 1 tub and 2 smaller storage containers that can fit nicely under my bed (1 container that is full of pictures that I don’t want to part with anytime soon). And now, I have all this extra closet space that was once storage space.
I found the Marie Kondo special to be inspiring because it makes you realize how much stuff we accumulated over the years. So here are a few things we can start doing today to find joy in what we have:
Reduce household decor purchases: not only will this save you cash in your pocket, but it’ll save you a headache down the road when you no longer want that item around and have to figure out what to do with it (Sell it? Trash it? Put it in storage?)
Wait 1 month to purchase: I know this doesn’t outright sound practical, but hear me out. I find myself scrolling through Amazon and come across all the fun items and start adding it to my cart. Only then I realize everything I added to my cart totals close to $100! That is $100 unbudgeted for that current month! If I did this every day for 30 days, well - we know how that will end up (hint: in debt). SO, my strategy recently has been to add it to my cart and then when a new month draws near I finalize my decision on the items that I deem necessary to purchase and include that in my budget for the following month, so it’s a net zero sum game. You follow? This is one great way of being proactive at budgeting non-essential items each month.
Sell your NWT clothing: How long have these articles of clothing been there for? If you can’t even recall when you purchased that NWT (new with tags) item, then you know it’s time to part with it. You can use a service like Poshmark or Thredup to sell your NWT clothing!
The less stuff we have, the less we have to think about. The less it weighs on us emotionally. That emotional baggage can really weigh us down - especially during these uncertain times.