How to Decorate your Home with what you Have

The pursuit of stuff drives me nuts. I often see Designers (and I’ll admit I have fallen into this trap too) purchasing random décor, miscellaneous knick-knacks, and books just to fill up a coffee table or bookshelf for their client. It kind of makes me go, “what?!” Why are we decorating our homes to be museums – filled with beautiful, unnecessary things rather than decorating with simple things we use everyday? I, for one, don’t want my home to be a place where people look but don’t touch. I believe that simplifying your home and your home decorating can bring you greater happiness. But there is a trick to decorating with everyday household items – a.k.a, please don’t put your toilet bowl brush on display! – so that your home has style and sophistication while being simple. Let’s look at some creative ways to decorate your home with what you have!

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How to Decorate your Home using what you Have

Pair functional with decorative

I’m all about less stuff, but I also like to add in a few touches of style with some decorative knick-knacks. So when you are decorating with a less-is-more approach, try to pair a functional item with a decorative item. This could mean hanging an umbrella or coat rack on your entry way wall and pairing it with an art piece you love.

In my home entry, I have a decorative box that catches our mail and keys when we walk through the door. It contains the clutter in beautiful and simple way. But I’ve also paired it with a picture frame and vase with some pretty flowers. This welcomes me home while containing the stuff and everyday items my husband and I both need.

Sentimental beats Inauthentic every time

When you’re decorating your home on a budget, don’t be ashamed of what you have! I know you LOVE that $50 vase from Pottery Barn, but the hand-fired plate you made on your first date with your hubby beats it every time! It may not be perfect, but its better to decorate with sentimental rather than impersonal. Remember that we are all on our own decorating journey and we are each at different stages. Young millennials decorating their first apartment will have lots of TJ Maxx Decor with college memorabilia. Moms with small children will have lots of homemade art and macaroni drawings. Empty nesters on the other hand, will have years of curated finds from their travels and lifestyle. What makes each home special is the personal items that tell stories. So don’t be ashamed to put out that art you did that one time at Sip-n-Strokes!

Strive for Happy Accidents rather than Perfection

When you are decorating with things you have around the house, it is not going to look magazine-quality. It’s not, let’s just accept that right here, right now. It’s going to look a little more ordinary and awkward. So strive for happy accidents rather than Pottery Barn perfection. This might be an off-center art piece that turns into a gallery wall or a paint color gone wrong that gives new opportunity for stripes or a different color accent wall.

See decorating your room with simple things as play time. This is your chance to arrange and re-arrange until you are happy.

Group things by color, shape, or purpose

If you’re like me, the somewhat awkward happy accidents I mentioned above can bug you at times. Sometimes, you just want a balanced, finished look and that’s ok too. So to get a more finished look when decorating with existing home décor and everyday items, group things by color, shape, or purpose. This can mean arranging books on your shelves by color or height, stacking coffee mugs together next to the coffee maker, or even filling a jar or vase with pens in your home office area.

Don't be afraid of empty space

Designers - including myself - might be the worst at this! We can't stand empty space and so we decorate out each surface to look pretty and polished. I don't know about you, but there is NOTHING I value more than an empty, clean kitchen countertop! I know coffee bars look cute and bowls of fresh fruit are inviting, but when I start cooking and laying out my ingredients, I don't want to have to move a bunch of stuff out of the way. I like having a clean, empty slate! The same goes with coffee tables, desk areas, dining tables, and other surfaces in your home. Don't be afraid to leave things blank!

Replace everyday ugly necessities with attractive ones

The one thing I have learned from decorating my home with ordinary, everyday things is that I want my utilitarian items to be pretty. Since you are displaying your everyday items, you want to start thinking about upgrading or replacing your ugly, outdated necessity items with new, simple, styled items.

For example, before I had a mismatched salt and pepper shaker in our Kitchen. I made the Pepper shaker with some girlfriends at a clay-fire studio, but its mate the salt shaker had broken. I paired it with my mother-in-law's old cat salt shaker and well, it was useful, but kind of depressing.

After a few months, I splurged on this Salt-and-Pepper shaker set from Anthropologie and boy, do I love putting this out on my dining table! It is so chic and simple.

If you are decorating your home on a budget, remember that attractive doesn’t have to mean expensive. You can find simple items with lots of style at thrift stores or even less expensive home décor stores. Start making a list of everday items you’d like to upgrade and keep an eye out for sale items.

Stop Comparing, do your creative best and measure yourself only by your own actions

Ok, seriously – if there's one thing I want you to take away from this post it's this! Stop comparing yourself to others. Its something I have to remind myself Every. Single. Day. As a designer, its easy for me to compare myself to others – to other designers, to magazine-quality homes, and to other decorating and home décor bloggers. But what I have accepted is that I can only do MY creative best. And my creative best is good enough for me. Because its my authentic style, my decorating journey, and my work in progress. So stop comparing! Stop looking and wishing you could be better or do better. Embrace your decorating journey and your creative best as the best you can do. Only measure yourself by your own actions and strive to beat yourself every time – don’t strive to be as good as someone else.

Whether you are starting from scratch or just looking to make a change in the way you decorate your home, dare to dream how you can use utilitarian, functional items everyday in creative ways! Pull together your most used and most loved items and just have fun! The outcome will be unique and authentically you!

I’d love to hear from you! Share your pictures of your minimalist decorating or how you decorate with everyday items below. Your style or happy accidents can help inspire someone else!

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