Cheap Thrills for the Homemaker that Make Your House Look Instantly Better

Ladies,

The word “cheap” can denote bad quality, but I use this figure of speech, “cheap thrills” to mean an inexpensive item, not a note about the quality of the item. Afterall, we should be careful against wasteful spending but moreover, what we do purchase should make an actual positive impact. Getting to the register and spending $100+ and not seeing much of a difference in your home is a terrible feeling and a big letdown in trying to make a good difference in your home.

The Most Impactful Cheap Thrills for an Instant Home Makeover

Tiny Lamps in Strategic Locations

You can find tiny lamps at any thrift shop for this to be easily under $15, even under $10! Get a soft yellow bulb for these lamps to give off a warm glow. Place a tiny lamp on a kitchen counter where you might make a cup of bedtime tea, or where it can give just a little light as you serve up dinner. Place a tiny lamp on a bathroom counter if you do not have a dimmer ceiling light. Place a tiny lamp on a dresser top, or on a bookshelf to invite a reader to look at the books on the shelf. Tiny lamps with a soft warm lightbulb are hands down one of the most impactful things you can do for your rooms. And these little gems are cheap, especially at the thrift shop!

Big Beautiful Bowls

When you see a big, beautiful bowl that catches your eye, buy it! Whether it is real crystal, glass, stone wear, or some beautifully painted or embossed ceramic bowl, these kinds of high-quality expensive bowls end up at thrift shops and garage sales for very inexpensive! But you can also find pretty ones at affordable big box stores. Your kitchen counters or the center of the kitchen or dining table will look beautifully designed with a big bowl out and it can hold necessary items like fruit, napkins, silverware, towels, etc. Get creative with what you put on display in your bowls.

Mirrors

Mirrors are a very expensive item if you did not know this already. Mirrors bring an almost luxurious feel to any room. They come in a variety of styles from very simple frames to ornate, from metal to wood. Mirrors make such a huge impact on interior decor. They are a wall art that is easy to implement because it reflects the room and the light, it doesn’t bring in any other art but the color palette around it, You can find them in all sizes and when they do end up at thrift shops or garage sales, you have scored. Always keep your eye out for beautiful mirrors of all sizes and when you find them at a shockingly low price, you have struck gold!

Pretty Organization & Decanting

I cannot overstate this enough: your house is only as attractive as it is organized with beauty. With beauty. Organizing does not mean buying a ton of random plastic containers and just containing mess. Organizing means giving everything a home and those homes are visible in every part of your house. Design your organization the way you would design the furniture and larger decor pieces in a room. Cupboards, laundry rooms, closets, these are places for beauty. When you open them to get something, they should sing to you. If these places that contain essential items are dirty, messy, and unattractive your entire home will look worse. Use pretty bins, pretty baskets, pretty containers. And decant, decant, decant, when you can. Instead of looking at a big plastic orange bottle of detergent, put it in a glass container with a spout. This is a cheap thrill because it takes more of your creativity than a whole lot of money to decide on the best-looking inexpensive containers to organize and then arranging it to look nice. This is one of the most impactful and inexpensive things you can do for your home. A bottle of spray paint will make any containers you already own match! Big box stores and thrift shops often will have inexpensive options for containers that look nice. Throw away mismatched hangers. Buy matching ones even if they are from dollar store. It doesn’t have to be expensive.

Candle Holders, Candles, Vases, & Plants

Never spend a lot of money on decor. Decor like candle holders, candles, vases, and faux or real plants can be found inexpensively. Are there expensive versions of these? Absolutely. But these items can also be found for very little money as a “cheap thrill”. Sometimes we just need a new tablescape. We need to change things for the season, or we are suddenly inspired to collect gold candlesticks like I was once which led me to finding some beautiful used ones. Sometimes you find the deal on something when you’re paying attention for that item in affordable places.

Sometimes We Need a Pick Me Up

And so do our houses! When you work at home, it can be incredibly draining to just work and work and never get paid. It’s important to remember all of the hardship that you never have to deal with that women in the workforce do have to deal with and stay thankful for that. Another way to pick yourself up is to go beyond just cleaning or cooking. The other part of working at home is making it a pleasant and beautiful landscape. These are the more artful sides of the work that do take consideration but is the fun aspect for those of us inclined to design.

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CHRISTIAN LIVING – FASHION – HOME