For the longest time, I wasn't house proud. My house was functional, and depending on the state of clutter, it was often less than fully functional. The furnishings and decorations were nearly all just based on what we got cheap. To say that it was to my taste would have been as far from the truth as possible. I, not only, wasn't house proud, I was embarrassed of my house, and because even when it was "fully clean" it still looked bad, I wasn't really motivated to clean it or keep it clean.
For a while, I had decided that there was no way for my house to actually look nice- I mean, after all, we're a family of 6 people, and all our belongings, crammed into 484 square feet, with no closet space, and even though we have decluttered so much, we just have a lot of "stuff" and that takes up room, so of course our house will look bad, and only
one day, when we have our new home with
built in storage space, and twice as much living space, we'll be able to have a normal looking home.
And on top of that, I didn't even know what I wanted my home to look like- I just knew what I didn't want it to look like- how it was.
Through various discussions and personal reflection and pinterest searching
, I was able to pinpoint what my taste was, and some friends decided to advise me how to best reach that. Clinch was- I couldn't paint the walls a color I liked, nor did we have the money to buy new furniture. The home makeover would have to be on a super tight budget using the furniture we already had.
I had a mission, and I was set to do it!
Here's the end results.
Well, not fully the end. I still plan on repainting the drawers in the corner where I keep my laptop, and we desperately either need new chairs or need slipcovers, and I need curtains for the kitchen windows. And, despite my decluttering, there still isn't enough storage space, so there is more clutter than I'd like ideally, like above the fridge and the cabinets, etc... But, hey, we're a work in progress here.
Unfortunately, the two biggest eyesores, the floor and the light fixtures, can't be replaced, so... This is what it is.
Total cost of the home makeover thus far: $104. Some might say that isn't "super frugal", but for the change that took place, I think it was very well worth it, since right now, for the first time ever, I am proud to call this place my home.
Most of what I spent on was fabric-fabric is expensive where I live. I first tried second hand stores but didn't find anything I could use there. The one long piece of grey fabric that I used to cover both couches and add touches to the curtain cost me $34. The grey for the tablecloth cost $14.50. The fabric for both pillows my son made cost me $8.50. I splurged and bought the orange vase for $12.75 because I loved it so much and thought it would be perfect for my home, and the orange flowers in it were another $2.85. And then there was the white paint that my husband bought to fix up the gross walls that end up happening when you live with kids in the house. That cost $27 but was only partially used up, so it can be used in the future as well.
So, first let me start by showing you my new favorite part of the house- the cozy and fun couch corner. I sewed the slipcover for this Ikea solsta myself (figured it out all on my own!),
Lee helped me sew the pillows, I sewed the curtains, and the throw was given to me as a hand me down from a friend who knew I was using orange to redecorate. I took down the artwork that I didn't like that was there and instead hung up artwork that made me feel good. This corner of the room just makes me happy, the colors, the vibe. It's just perfect and its the part that makes me proudest.