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I don’t know about you, but I LOVE to decorate.  I like to move around my furniture.  I like to re-purpose something and use it again in another way!

A few weeks ago Peter and I decided that we wanted to re-paint our bathroom.  Truthfully, it was a nasty blue colour that we just hated.  If you liked it, I apologize.  But it just wasn’t us!!  We went for a bold red, and we love it!  Here are the before and after pictures:

Here are some ways that you can save money when re-decorating:

1.) Buy paint from the mis-tint rack at your local home hardware store.  People choose colours all the time then hate it and it has to be sold off cheaper!  Make sure to check that it’s the right type of paint for your room.

2.) Check out my previous post on unexpected art to see cheap ways to decorate your space. 

3.) You can buy some cheap pieces to change the feel of any room from the dollar store!  YES, the dollar store.  I found our shower curtain at our dollar store for just $3!  It’s still a nice fabric one, and it does the trick for what we want.  :)

4.) A nice way to welcome people into your home in either a guest bedroom, or even your main bathroom is to include a welcome basket.  I love doing these, and have found that people really get good use out of them.   

5.) Sometimes it’s hard to decide what colour to paint your room.  Here are a couple of sites that you might find useful for choosing your paint colour:

On this site you can choose the type of room, and then a general layout (pick the one that is most similar to your house, considering the main features - windows location, fireplace, etc.).  Then you can change the colours of the furniture, the drapes, and the walls!  It’s not your room, but it can give you an idea of how the colours will go together.  I have personally tried this one and enjoyed it!  

On this site you can pay $10 to have the ability upload your own pictures of your room so that you can brainstorm your particular room.  

6.) Go shopping in your house!  Take a look around and see what decor you can switch around.  Which candle could go in your new room, and be replaced with another?  Does a picture look better switched out?  What about a throw blanket?  Is there one in your cupboard you haven’t been using that would match the new decor?   

7.) Plants: fake or real, they add a lush feeling to your space!  We have many fake trees, as well as a few sturdy real plants that we can’t kill.  :)  I’ll do another post on that in the future, but just to give you a glimpse, I love bamboo and aloe vera plants!  

So what tips do you have for re-decorating your house? 

I have made this card a bunch of times, and in multiple different ways!  It is something that can be done for birthdays, showers, weddings, you name it!  For weddings I have incorporated recipes for date nights, and their colours.  For birthdays I have included pictures, Bible verses, etc.  Here is how you do it:

Supplies:

Two 6" squares of printed paper (not cardstock) for the covers

Three 8 1/2" squares of cardstock for the pages

Two 4 1/2" squares of cardboard

24" of ribbon

Making the Pages:

The three 8 1/2" squares of cardstock are folded into something similar to a basic origami square base, and are then taped together into a collapsing accordian shape.

Bring one side over to meet the opposite side and fold in half (book fold).  Open and match the two remaining sides and fold in half again.  Turn the paper over so the creases appear as "bumps" rather than valleys, and take one corner and match with the opposite corner, making a diagonal fold.  With the side facing up that has a "mountain" diagonal fold, match the corners of the two remaining full squares and tuck in the two squares that are divided into triangles (by the diagonal folds).

Overlap the three sheets joining the square blocks to form an accordian chain.

Making the Album Covers:

Wrap the 2 cardboard squares with the 6" square patterned paper.  Attach the length of ribbon across the middle of the back of one of the cover pieces (place the mid-point of the ribbon at the midpoint of the 4 1/2" square, the ends of the ribbon extending beyond the sides).  Tape each cover piece to the top and bottom squares of the stack of pages.  The ribbon wraps around the card and ties it shut.

  

If you’re like me, you have a whole house to decorate, and very little money to do so!  I love to have art on my walls, but I can’t afford art from a gallery!!  So what does one do?

Well, although I have the standard pictures of family here and there throughout the house, I have also framed a few things that have caused people to ask questions!  Here is what we’ve done:

1.) We take a ton of pictures of our travels.  When we were in Morocco we took pictures of the amazing tile work that was found everywhere!!  When we got home we blew up the pictures to 11x14 (you could go bigger!) and framed them in simple frames.  We have a series of 3 pictures on our kitchen wall, and many people think we have framed fabric, or even tiles!  Speaking of fabric, on to point 2…

2.) Also while in Morocco we purchased some pillow cases.  They were super cheap, and gorgeous!!  Moroccans know how to create some beautiful stuff!  Anyway, we brought them home (very easy to fit in suitcases!), and we framed them.  You could buy store-bought frames, but we had them custom-fitted at Michael’s so that they would be preserved well for years to come.

3.) Now, not everyone travels and picks up pillow cases, or gets to take wonderful pictures.  BUT, that doesn’t mean you can’t find those items around your home town!  Take your camera with you (and it can be a simple point and shoot like ours!) and snap pictures of things that would reflect the decor in your house (flowers, buildings, nature, etc.).  Instead of pillow cases, you could take fabric and decorate them with sequins, or make a quilted-effect with multiple fabrics.  Your choice!!  

4.) If you don’t have any pictures you like, or think that you’re completely horrible at taking pictures, check out this link.  On this website you can download pictures in very large sizes which allows you to blow them up.  You can find pictures of anything!!  And, they’re completely legal to download and use.  You have to sign up for a free membership, but you won’t receive any annoying e-mails, and there are no catches.  I’ve used this site a thousand times for various purposes 

I hope this helps you to be inspired to decorate your home!   

It’s been a while since I’ve blogged on my own blog, but I think it’s high time I started again!  Lately I’ve come to love the comfort that my home (and particularly my kitchen!) brings me.  It’s a place of refuge for me, and it’s the place where I can get super creative in a way that serves others!  I love to make up new recipes, try old ones, experiment with spices and flavours and find ways to open up my home as a haven of hospitality!  This blog will be the place where I post weekly menu plans, bonus recipes, tips that I have found useful for cooking, organization strategies, and all things related to making my home hospitable and earth-friendly!  I look forward to sharing with you as I forge ahead in my endeavors to make my home a haven of hospitality!