It is no surprise to anyone that I don’t love going out and buying all the things. In fact, my husband is the one who spends the money on all the things, not me. His nickname from his parents’ growing up was “consumer boy” because he would want to try every new gadget or item there was. So when it comes to decorating, I am not one to run to the store and buy all the decor. I need it to be thoughtful, meaningful, and I really need a place for the item to go before I spend money on it.
But I love to change things up. Like I love switching out items for the holidays. Or even on a rainy day, I will change up all the decor in our home.
Now I am sure you are asking yourself, then how do you decorate if you aren’t buying anything? Well, I start with shopping my home first.
What Is Shopping Your Home
When I talk about shopping your home, what I mean is that you are finding items you already have from your home. It is like you are walking around a store, except the store is your home. And you are finding items that would work in a room, from another room in your home.
Sometimes I love just walking around and picking up things from one room and testing it out in another. Other times I collect everything and bring it to the room to start decorating.
I have found that there is no right or wrong way to shop your home. You just have to start with what you have. Then you can build from there.
How Can I Shop My Home
So how can you shop your home? Well, start by walking around your home. Go into every room other than the room you want to decorate. Grab items that you notice right away.
Then go to the room you want to redecorate. Start by removing everything from shelves, mantels, counters, etc.
Clean off everything.
Then start adding decor pieces to your shelves, counters, mantels, whatever you want to redecorate using what you have collected from both other rooms and what was already in that room.
Maybe hang a new picture on the wall. Move furniture to better meet your needs. Swap out a picture for a mirror. Add a tall vase onto a shelf by removing other shelves.
This is where you get to have fun and test out things. If it doesn’t work, it isn’t a big deal because you didn’t spend any money on it, since it was already in your home.
What If I Don’t Have What I Need?
Now you may also find that as you are redecorating using your things from around the house, you don’t have everything to make your vision come to life. And that is okay. That is when you can go out and buy what you need.
The reason we wait to buy anything is because you aren’t out there aimlessly walking around trying to find things to put in your house and wasting your time. You are now being way more thoughtful about what you bring into your home.
When I was redecorating this mantel, I shopped my house and found some fun pieces to add to either side of the mirror. I also redecorated our console table since I used a candle stand for the mantel. Once I moved things around and felt like the space was basically done, I realized that I needed some florals to go in the vases. I didn’t have any that I wanted to use. So that is when I went to get those specific for the vases.
Because I shopped the house, I didn’t have to worry about finding all the things. I could set things up for how I wanted them to look, then add things I may not have after.
Not only does shopping my home save me money, but it saved me so much time and energy. I was not running around hunting for anything. I knew exactly what I needed so when I went into the store, I could get that item after looking at options of florals for vases. This is totally different than just walking into a store and looking at things that you like. Because when you do that, you are most likely going to be purchasing something that you already have or is similar to what you already have.
We tend to buy things that feel familiar. So you would be buying things that you already have because they feel like “you”. So instead of bringing home things you basically have, why not start by shopping your home. Then you can set up the space exactly how you want it. Anything that is missing or needs to be added can be purchased to add to your new decor collection.
Want more of my decorating tips? Check out these posts you may like:
Some of my favorite staples for decor
