Making a house a home

I have recently been getting into decorating.  I have had a list of things I have wanted to "get done" before my husband got (so nice to be able to say that in past tense)  home from Iraq.  I wanted him to come home to a cozy, settled, warm,  kind of a home.  I never knew how much I would enjoy doing it all!  In our old apartment I really tried to decorate and make it homey but I think with this new place I (finally) found the "feel" our home is supposed to have.  I think oftentimes you may think (as I did) that it costs too much money to make your home "homey" but that is simply not true! Just get a little creative (believe me it doesn't take too much creativity because I don't have much!)

I had a wall in my kitchen that was driving me crazy! It was so white and so blank. I needed to do something with it.  I decided to do a shelf. I like old beaten up looking things. I thought a imperfect piece of scrap wood was just what I needed. I went to Home Depot and found a piece for $1.  I do not know if you  frequent Home Depots but they have a nice bin full of un-wanted, imperfect wood (and that is exactly the type of wood I like!) Every piece was a dollar (now, those are the type of deals I like!)  I painted it messy white (yes, I did that on purpose) I put two of my favorite pictures on it and a blue piece of pottery my Mom gave me.  I finished it off with some old keys I had gotten at a thrift store a couple of years ago.  I bought the keys for $8. I essentially made and decorated a whole wall for $9! Now, of course I did decorate with gifts that I had been given and if I had bought them would have cost a little more. But, I bet you have cute stuff  that sits around in the bottom of your closets or some miscellaneous corner of your home (I know because I do it too!) Pull that stuff out and put it somewhere! You will be glad you did, I promise.