Cozy Your Space without Buying New
The best and cost-effective way to add life to your home is by ‘decorating’ with your own belongings.
Using all thrift store finds and my favorite vintage boots as decor - Photo by Patti Wren Byrd
Most of us think that decorating involves driving into town, through traffic and numerous stop lights, to our favorite home decor stores. We’ll grab a buggy and wander, sometimes aimlessly, up and down isles in search of that one or two or ten things that will perfectly match the vision in our heads of what we’d like our homes to look like. After standing in line at the checkout with a cart full of things we full-heartedly believe are going to make our home look and feel so much better…(along with those extra items we didn’t intend on buying, but still, there they lay, ready and waiting to put little dents in our bank accounts…), we’ll receive our total and feel a little faint as we pull out the credit card to seal the deal.
I don’t believe this is the ideal way to go about decorating our homes. For one, I would hope that we wouldn’t put our bank accounts on the line, unless it’s absolutely necessary. Two, it would be a shame to have things around your home that cause you grief every time you look at them in what should instead feel like your sanctuary.
My solution to this dilemma is to go ‘shopping’ in your own home. What I mean by this is to go through the things you already have; get up in the attic and plunder through old, forgotten boxes; pull out everything from those jam-packed cabinets; go through old photo albums and scrap books for pictures that make you smile; pull out your unfinished craft projects. Anything that catches your eye, makes you feel sentimental in a good way, or is beautiful to look at: set it aside into a little collection of items to choose from during your decorating process.
Using my knitting project to add texture and life to my living room - Photo by Patti Wren Byrd
If you still find that you need things like frames for the old photos you found or an afgan for the couch or mirrors to bounce light around and brighten up your home, my #1 go-to is the closest thrift store. If the things in my house weren’t passed down to me from my grandparents, they all came from the thrift store or Facebook Marketplace. Or off the side of the road, which is where I scored my beautiful and very old headboard and bedside table.
My headboard that I found on the side of the road and thrifted crocheted shawls as window treatments — Photo by Patti Wren Byrd
You can also see another trick I love in this photo of my bedroom; using old crocheted shawls I’ve found at the thrift stores as my window treatments. If you live in a more private home that doesn’t get much passer-by traffic or you want to keep your curtains open and just have a tiny bit of privacy, old shawls are a beautiful alternative to lace curtains and they’re a dime a dozen in the thrift stores.
I hope this article has provided some help and inspiration for making your home feel like home without damaging your bank account. Reusing your things that are special, beautiful or inspiring is such a better way to liven up your home and it will feel even better and more genuine to you in the long run.
So roll up your sleeves and take yourself shopping around your own home!
