How do you make a home feel, well, homey? How do you put together a room that feels comfortable and “just right” for your family? Can you design lovely spaces with little to no budget? Yes! I believe you can. But In my experience from updating our 1950s ranch home, you can build a space your family loves, but it takes TIME and some good old fashioned elbow grease.
Currently my family and I are living in a small condo that we’re renting. I’m faced with a new and exciting challenge of learning how to design creatively with more limits. So for now here’s a home tour of our previous home.
I had a very particular vision in my head of what I wanted our home to be. The only problem? I didn’t actually know what that looked like. Nevertheless, I was certain that I’d know it when I saw it.
It took me a few years, a lot of different styles and furniture arrangements before I began to grasp style represented our family best. Turns out, it was not one style but many different ones that inspired us. A bit of cottage, a splash of modern farmhouse, and a touch of midcentury!
Home projects didn’t happen quickly because we didn’t have a large budget. But over time and with creativity we were able to create a home that really felt “homey” to us!
The Entryway & Living Room
I wanted a space that felt warm and welcoming just as soon as you opened the door.
The large window in our living room bathed the whole space in natural sunlight. The windows were my favorite part about the space!
Our living room saw 4 different couches in just a two year time before we landed on the perfect one for the space. I used Craigslist and Yard Sale sites to buy and sell for a profit each couch until we were able to pay with cash for this Ikea couch!
The Dining Room
The dining room just like the Living Room had to “try on” a few dinning sets before we were able to score this one on also Craigslist for a steal of just $60!
I painted the chairs. We built a new table top and attached it right on top of the Craigslist table! It turned an ordinary table into a Modern Farmhouse style one!
Placing items around our house that not only are pretty, but also have sentimental value really made our home feel like a part of our family.
Here is a china cabinet that I upcycled to store my Grandmother’s china dishes.
Our Girl’s Bedroom
We wanted to maximize the space in their small room without minimizing the fun!
Most of their clothes fit into their dresser so we were able to turn their closet into a whimsical book nook! The whole project cost less than $10 because most of the supplies I already had on hand.
The tulle curtains were leftover from my wedding decor, and the polkadots were made with contact paper and a hole punch!
The Guest Room
It was very important to us to have a cozy place for our guests to stay, so we turned our spare room into a Guest room / Office space.
We didn’t even have a bed frame for the longest time, but that didn’t stop me from trying to make the room a little haven for our family and friends!
You don’t need to have everything all at once to make a cozy home.
Our Master Bedroom
Our room ended up being the last on our list to update. But once we finished it it made such a BIG difference in my overall perspective of our home. Having a place where we could retreat to after a long day was a breath of fresh air.
I hope you’ve enjoyed our little home tour. And that it encourages you to dream about what is most is important for you in your home, and think creatively about to what steps you can take to get there! Enjoy the process, and experiment until you find what makes your house, feel like home.
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