7 WAYS TO MAKE YOUR HOUSE A HOME + HOW TO DESIGN YOUR BEST LIVING SPACE | ft. our favorite household appliances, decor, and furniture!
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In today’s post, I am going to give you the low down on all of the things that have BLESSED our lives when it comes to keeping, organizing, cleaning, and LOVING our home. I am a true believer in romanticizing your current life and making your home the most enjoyable place on earth for yourself and your family. Making a house a home is an art we all can learn to do. How exciting is it that you are the creator of your space? Whether you live in a tinny room or a big-ol house you are the director of how that space feels, looks, and functions for you! And there is so much that you can do with a little imagination and some elbow grease to have a nice place to go home to. I hope this post inspires you to enjoy the living daylights out of your space and to EMBRACE THE JOURNEY OF PROGRESS OVER PERFECTION. This post is even for you if you live in an apartment and you’re wondering what appliances to go for as well! So no need for a HOUSE to read this post just thought it might be of use to those who were thinking about what to buy after purchasing a NEW HOME.
CLEANING APPLIANCES AND PRODUCTS I LOVE AS A HOME-KEEPER
Congratulations on your new home, if you did just buy one, that is a huge high-five to you! I am so excited that you are visiting us today, my beloved friend, welcome! It might just be that you are thinking about buying a house or you’ve already bought one and you’re wondering what the heck-an-bob to buy for your first-time home as far as appliances, products, decor, furniture, and household items go! We’ve got the hook up for you in this post with all of our favorites in home decor, products that have made our lives easier as homeowners, and other extra and bouyee things that have come from a long time of saving and really budgeting for those items.
Now, let’s talk about the practical aspects of turning your house into a home and the needs of a home. Here are my best tips for making your space a place you’ll love to LIVE in!
KITCHEN APPLIANCES, DISHES, DECOR AND GADGETS WE LOVE!
Throughout this post, you’ll see all the items we own (or would like to) that bless us in so many ways than just functionality. If I added it, that means it really is a SHOWSTOPPER and considered in my eyes a fantastic fit or a great help to keeping our home, or it’s an item I have on my wish list! Just so you’re clear, some of these items have been a gift from the brand but in my opinion, the items are truly remarkable, and thus why it’s being shared; because I truly love them!
Just FYI this is not including the outdoor space of the home. I can’t be an advocate for those items because I don’t use them much, Thanks Doug for being my cute pool guy, trash-man, and lawn-mower hero! He would need to write that post. Bwwwwahahaha, So this is focused solely on the indoor space of your home. Mkay!?
7 WAYS TO MAKE YOUR HOUSE A HOME + HOW TO DESIGN YOUR BEST LIVING SPACE
BE REAL: Notice + assess the current state of your house. Walk around every inch of it and bring a notepad or your notes app on your phone and take notes for every room. What changes need to be made in order to fix, replace, or reconfigure to your heart’s desire? Don’t be shy this is a place where you can dream big. We must start with THE BIG PICTURE first in order to lay down a vision and take steps that will take us to our GOAL and FINAL destination…. in time and with lots of patience, right? #Progress
VISION: Make a vision board on Pinterest for every room in your house that will give you the vibes of what you’d like the space to look like. It doesn’t matter if you can afford the “stuff” or not. Just make a vision board of what your desired space would be if you had no inhibitions or budget constraints. This will be important as you move forward with making changes. It will be your North when you’re at the store figuring out if you need those cute and fluffy print pillows and then you take a glance at your digital home vision boards and notice NOPE that’s not even close to my home goals at all! Target 0, You, 1 ! Congratulations you just saved a bazillion dollars. I know!! You’re gonna be a millionaire in no time!
CHOOSE A GOOD COLOR PALLETE: Give yourself a color pallet that will grow with you. If you’re in the process of painting one of my BEST tips is to create the entire home with a neutral base of a color you love, like light gray, beige, or white. And then work on the accents and colors WITH YOUR HOME ACCESSORIES. It is much easier to change out a pillow than it is wall color. My suggestion is that you’d pick a 3 color mood for the house and allow it to be more neutral throughout the entire home and then if you’d like to add a wall of intense or interesting color or wallpaper you can do so sparingly and strategically.
MAKE A LIST: Now that you have your ultimate home vision, you can start assessing what you have versus what your needs and wants are from your vision. This is where it gets fun and you can get as creative as lollipops to gather the “holes” or needs of your home decor, appliances, household items, and furniture. Before you start on the buying or hunting journey, make a super detailed list of the things you need; ie. a black round mirror for the front entrance, 4 silver door handles with locks… You get the point. Now keep this list someplace you’ll have access to it when you’re out and about. I love using my notes app on the iPhone or the reminders app as well! It gives me a place to check off my running shopping lists.
PRAY FOR HELP: PRO-TIP: Don’t forget the POWER OF PRAYER. God wants to meet you at the in-between of what you have and what you need! Asking God for help in wisdom, provision, creativity, and joy of making your house a home. I believe in the power of prayer and asking God to be a guiding light onto our path IN ALL AREAS OF LIFE. So of course, I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t suggest that you might want the King Of The Universe on your side. Watch what he does on your behalf. I’m not suggesting that you’ll pray for an espresso machine and that when you wake it will be there. What I am saying is that the Lord is your father in heaven who loves you completely and wants to help you and encourage your journey. He of course is going to give you all that you need and more. And if a prayer isn’t answered in the way that you prayed it, it’s because God has BIGGER MORE BEAUTIFUL for you. You just have to give it a go and let him show you he cares, yes, even about the small things like, “What toilet paper holder should I get?”
SHOP YOUR OWN HOME + IMPLEMENT INTENTION TO YOUR LIVING SPACE: Think creatively about the things you need based on the VISION board you made at the beginning and ask yourself. “How can I emulate this vibe in my own space?” Set intentionality to each room by asking yourself how do I want to feel when I or your family ENJOYS this room. And create that by finding ways to delight yourself and those who live with you with the ultimate experience in your home! If you love coffee; set out a coffee station that has adorable cups and has your syrups in cute dispensers! Show some love by putting a styling touch on the daily rituals you have. If you love perfume, how can you display it in a way that is both beautiful and functional? If you love skincare, can you make a spa-like feel in your bathroom space by adding rolled-up towels for your face? Think of how hotels treat you when you visit and take that detail and intention to delight right into your space! Look around your house or space! Can you move anything from any other space that can be better used or placed in a different space? Can you re-purpose any of the things you currently own for other uses? Or can you spray paint / OR PAINT anything old-looking to a new beautiful color like white or black or GOLD? Or your specific color mood!! Maaaaaaaaannny a thing in our home is painted (my piano), or spray painted (our barstools, many decor items) because it really does make a difference! Check out how we transformed an old surfboard into a cute backyard towel-hanging thinngy!
BE GENTLE AND COMPASSIONATE ON YOURSELF: Don’t beat yourself up if you’re not in the place to buy a bunch of things. Or the best quality! Things are not what makes a home a cozy living place, YOU DO. You decide where to spend your money and nothing that I will be listing is worth being in debt over. At the beginning of our journey, Doug and I did a lot of DIY things around our home. We had a LOT OF HANDME-DOWNS yes I can remember our old/new couch in our first home. It would NOT have made the Pinterest or blog status. But guess what. It was what we had then and it served its purpose for the time being. Doug and I are allergic to debt and to not being wise with the money God places in our hands. Yes. We’ve made A LOT of mistakes with our money. Noooooooo we are not perfect in any way shape or form and to be quite honest we are still learning every single day. But this I do know from owning 3 different homes and furnishing them all in 15 years of marriage with Doug. We’ve prayed to God to help us be content with what we have and to make our house a home no matter the budget. So take this post with a grain of salt that these items I speak to you of have been a veeeeeeeeeerrrrryyyyyyyyyyyyy gradual accumulation of years of being homeowners and married to one-an-other. Take it easy on yourself and give yourself a lot of grace for where you’re at. You and your home are ENOUGH.
BONUS: If you are remodeling your bathroom be sure to check out this post with 7 tips to remodel your master bathroom!
Appliances, Decor, Products, and Household Items I Love + Use A LOT!
BATHROOM ACCESORIES, DECOR AND ITEMS WE LOVE!
LIGHTS, RUGS, AND TEXTILES WE LOVE
CANDLES, HOME DECOR, AND BITS + BOBS YOU’LL ADORE
Our family renovated our dining room in September 2021 with West Elm's modern expandable dining table and I filmed the process of them installing it and delivering it to our home so it can help you decide if this is the dining room table for you! If you’re reading this Feb 2023 it’s on MAJOR SALE right now! We are still in love and have changed the configuration of the chair and will reveal the NEW chairs in an upcoming post!! The chairs I picked are linked below. I love them so much!!!
FURNITURE AND BIGGER HOUSEHOLD ITEMS WE LOVE
BEDROOM ITEMS, SHEETS, MATTRESS AND BEDDING
HOLY MOLY! If you made it this far, a GIANT hug to you and may this post inspire and encourage you to make a wonderful place out of your space. I love you to pieces and I hope to talk to you soon. Leave a coment with what project you’re up to so we can know how to best support you in content coming soon!!! Don’t forget to share this post with a friend you think will like this!
