Homemaking Wednesdays: Simple Home Decorating On A Budget

We bought our first home last year in September and moved into it at the beginning of October, 2012. However, with a 2 year old daughter, a new baby in December, a mother-in-law who lived with us for a while, and everything going on, home decor had to be set aside.  At least we had our home renovated before we moved in so it still looked very nice. In addition, we had our new couches, beds, and every piece of major furniture and necessary kitchen equipments. In the past, we have always rented and used  hand-me-down furniture, Craigslist, or Thrift Store furniture:)

But we were able to set aside some money, last year, to make a few new purchases for our new home – yea!

And we were finally able to make a little progress with decorations this summer (about 11 months after we moved in). Somewhere around the month of June, my hubby looked around and exclaimed, “Men, this house is really plain; we need some decorations around here!” That is all I needed – a cue and hubby’s approval – and of course money and time to get to it!

I tried to find decorations that would look nice but cost little and seem durable. I went to Kohls, K-Mart, Wal-Mart, Ross, Big Lots, and a couple other stores that are not too pricey. But the colors just did not seem to compliment. As you may be able to tell from the photos below, our living room, kitchen, and dinning area are painted with different shades of orange (not too bright). I forgot what the names of the paints are called – but the entire compliment is very warm and welcoming, especially with a lit candle!

Finally, one day we were driving around shopping, and my hubby noticed a  Family Dollar store not too far from where we live. I know we must have seen the store there before but I guess we never paid much attention until then. I jumped in, and sure enough was able to find some decorative Wall Art stuff (see living room photos below). By the way, it was the only matching pair of that color left. I thought great – the leaves and the colors will blend in really nice! I guess my home has a taste of Fall all year round:)

So here are a few snap-shots of what we have done so far – mainly wall decor with a few other touch-ups! I tried to take photos that does not expose too much of our home. Sorry about the quality of the photos – camera problems:(

Foyer Area – front door/entrance to the Laundry room/Garage, etc.

Living room area – Curtains, lamps, and wall decor……….. The photo with the black frame has the same kind of leaves as the first two photos. They are a matching set (I found those at Family Dollar not Dollar Tree (Dollar Tree Decor do not last).

The curtains (I have a Fall leaves one that I really like for the dinning area, but this same color below in the dinning). See an example of what it looks like when I put it up here in this link or below I copied a photo of it.

Kitchen Walls – with coffee photos (Below)……….. They are not crooked; it is just the angle from where I was standing to take the photos that makes them look crooked!

A Touch of Fall on on the breakfast table (below)…………

Dining room area with bookshelf – Our old book shelf (was passed down to us from a friend). It decided to give-up after many moves throughout the years! We bought a couple other cheap smaller ones in between from Wal-Mart because my hubby seems to be forever collecting tons and tons of books. But from our experience, save the money and buy durable ones. We got our new ones from Ikea.

A Touch of Fall on the dinning table (below). See my post on my DIY Fall Candle-holders here.

Photo of dinning before (bottom)

Bathrooms………..photos/magazine holders

Laundry Area photo………..

I think that is about where we are now. Still lots more to do – family photo wall and so forth…..but oh well………..

I would love to hear about your decorating ideas or even read them on your blogs!