How to make your home look expensive on a budget

What if I told you, you could have a new house by Friday? Do you think you have the know-how to transform your home and pull off the look you want? I’m sharing my best secrets and how I step-by-step create the spaces we love. You do not have to settle for where you are! Follow this ultimate guide on how to make your home look expensive on a budget!

In order for you to understand where we came from, I should tell you, we used a hamper for a nightstand. I had the thrifty idea down pat with our tight budget. However, you have to decorate your home on purpose with a vision in mind to get the look you want.

How to Have a New House by Friday

There’s a book I’ve read about having new kids by Friday. They say if you follow their step-by-step guide and are consistent, your kids will change quickly, perhaps by Friday. Well, I propose that promise to you. If you follow this blog post, you could have a new house by Friday.

Okay, I’m not 100% sure we can do it by Friday, but having the home of your dreams is not as far away as you think. Creating a home will take work but it is simple. What if your home was more than a dumping ground, dirty dishes, and where clean laundry goes to die? You can have a home that blesses you AND blesses others.

7 Steps to Decorate your Home

1. Create a Vision

Your Pinterest board is still welcome; however, those throw pillows might not be. Find your overall goal for the room before you ever lift a finger or buy anything else. Having a vision is how I decorate on a budget and prevent impulse buying. Start with the full picture and then zoom in. This will create a space that brings contentment and the feeling of home.

Create a Pinterest board for your vision and post colors and styles that you LOVE. You have to LOVE them. Bonus points if you can find room layouts similar to yours.
Find your focal point. What is the first wall you see when you enter a room?
What is the purpose of the room and how will your loved ones be using it? Understanding how the room will be used is the key to great furniture placement.

We can’t go anywhere until we know where we are going. Do not skip this step.

2. Declutter

Decluttering is the single most impactful thing you can do when decorating. Most of us have too much stuff. Stuff is the pandemic of our generation, and it holds us down more than it fulfills its original intent. Decluttering is also the most difficult and emotionally challenging of all the steps, but if you do it well, you will love the result.

Declutter Checklist

Here is my step-by-step checklist to declutter.

First, Declutter all trash.
Throw out any broken or obvious items that are unnecessary to the room.
Last, make boundaries for what’s left. I challenge myself to get rid of 50% or more of each grouping. If I feel stuck or undecided, I use a plastic tub and once it’s full, I put it in the attic in case I need any of the items knowing I will be donating all the things in six months or so.

I only keep items that:

Are my favorite and I love
I use often or will if it’s seasonal.
that fit now.
belongs in this space.

My best decluttering secret is to declutter more than I think I should. An easier way to visually see the clutter is to take things out of the room and only add back in what follows my decluttering rules. When I think I’m done, I remove 10 more things. Once you have done that, you have finished the decluttering step.

Side note: Decluttering should become your favorite hobby. It’s not a one-and-done kind of thing. To declutter properly, it will look more like an onion and need to happen in layers until you get to the desired result. Be okay with the process. You have now done the most important, yet toughest, step and are well on your way to decorate your home on a budget.

My favorite decorating book that motivates me!

3. Clean

If you want a new house by Friday, clean it! The Bible even says.” Be faithful with little and I will give you much.” Be faithful with your home as it is right now. This creates contentment, and alone creates a home others want to be in.

This step is not always fun, but the reward for cleaning is my favorite. Basically, I clean from the top down. I wash the curtains, wipe the baseboards, and vacuum under the bed. Put your ears in, listen to a great audiobook or podcast, and get to work.

Here is some cleaning motivation

4. Organize

An effective organizing system should make your life easier and be almost as easy to put something away then leave it out. This is not the time to let Pinterest inspire you. I find pretty organizing systems to be not as realistic as I need them to be.

Organizing is simple.

Group like items together
Sort by how often you use them, when you will need them, and where the items should live
Find a container or bin to keep the like items together.

Don’t spend all your money here. Make life functional, but as fun as organizing is, it has to stay simple to work well. Just remember, if you see it, it’s decor. IF you do purchase items, grab all the same baskets and bins to create a cohesive look throughout the house and make life easier on you.

5. Decorate

Finally, we get to decorate. Decorating as we think of it, has a small part to play when you decorate your home on a budget. This step requires focus and intentional decision-making. Decorating does not mean going to Home Goods and filling up a cart with random items to make a room work. A beautiful home is done with intention and on purpose.

Remember, it is okay and best for a room to be created over time.

Home Decor Tip:

Always buy bigger than you think. Rugs are commonly purchased too small and take away the cozy vibe you want. Same for curtains, fabrics, and wall art. This is likely the case for you too, if your room isn’t looking the way you thought.

Another way to make a big impact on a budget: Spend your money on the furniture, rug, and curtains before worrying about the rest of the decor. It’s normal to go buy more wall art or decor for the shelves when we think of decorating, but this is not what the space needs.

6. Celebrate

The desire to create a beautiful home is not to show off or impress the neighbors. Your home should be lived in, used, and enjoyed. Invite friends over for community, make a game night, or purchase that fancy table you’ve been wanting.

Celebrating brings me back to what this whole process was for, and the purpose of the room being fulfilled. I love this step because the emotional work and physical labor are all worth it. Ultimately, If I stick it out and do the work, the end result is better than I could ever imagine! EVERY SINGLE TIME.

When you are finished celebrating, you need to finish the space by:

Throw away all trash
Take donations to local center
Run any errands and returns

Where to Begin decorating

Start with the room that bothers you the most. I find the living room an easy space to begin, so you can identify your style and color palette for the home.

Understanding the impact my home makes and the power I have to create a space, has changed my view and how I use my home. To follow my journey of how I created a home or get your free Home Decor Checklist to your inbox, join us below!

Home is the place where the ones I love the most come to find rest in a very busy and ugly world. This tool God gives us, deserves some thought and intentionality. The identity of my family depends on it. Memories will be made here. Hard days lived here. Laughter and tears. You are the best person to make your house a home.

Until the next blog,