How to Breathe New Life into your Home when you have no Money

On a budget that’s tighter than tight, but desperate to keep the love for your home’s design alive? This is what I do when I want to breathe new life into my own abode, but have zero dollars to spend on it.

I’ve been on such a budget of late. I’m in hardcore savings mode because I’m doing all I can to get a deposit together to buy my first home. I won’t even get into how tough it is to get a loan approved when you’re a sole trader (that’s another story altogether), but suffice to say… I’m on a homewares buying ban. Well, my partner has suggested I get on one. I’m not declaring I’ll stick to it 100% 😉

For a decorating addict like me (and you, right?), not buying new things for my home is like telling a dog not to bark; it’s second nature. I live for new cushions, a fresh scented candle, a concrete ornament. Not buying them has been a tough gig, I must admit.

But there are a few things I do in a situation like this. In fact, I did it Friday just gone, so I know it works as I’m reaping the benefits of it right now.

When you have no money to spend on your home but want to love it again, simply spend a few hours changing all of your furniture and decor around.

Decorating Ideas on a $0 Budget

I know it sounds gimmicky, and even a little lame, perhaps. But I assure you… moving your room around works wonders to help you fall in love with it again. And it’ll give you so many new decorating ideas.

Last Friday I was so over my home. Not having anything new to put in it, I began taking everything off the shelf in my living room. I gave the shelf a good clean, and then dragged it across to two or three other walls in my open-plan living-dining room. The idea here was to see if it looked good in another zone. Doing this can make your room feel new again, so I was determined to try it on all walls.

I then moved my armchair from where it was, across to where the shelf used to be. Then, I swapped my rugs around (I have one under my coffee table and one under my dining table). Then, my rectangular dining table got rotated, to see if having it on a new angle looked better than the last.

Art was next. I swapped around the canvas pieces I have in the living room, took off some of the framed art I had leaning on the top of my shelf, and put new pieces up from other rooms.

After I did all this I stepped back to look at the space. And hated all of the changes.

Some rooms are best set a certain way in terms of furniture configuration. You can’t avoid that. But what I achieved by moving all of these things around was a new-found appreciation for the room how it originally was. I also cleaned everything; floors, tables, homewares, books.

Not everything went back on the shelf that was originally there. Same goes for the coffee table. The best part of this process is going to your homewares cupboard (you have one, right?), and pulling out old homewares to do a bit of a seasonal rotate (you do that too, right?). This allows you to try new things together in the space, create new vignettes and re-appreciate a piece you’ve not seen in months.

I know that this might sound like a pointless exercise. But believe me, it works. Try it! You’ll either come up with a new layout, fall in love with old homewares again and at the very least – everything will get a great clean. And I always say that a good clean can make a room feel new again.

My partner Gavin always jokes that he’ll come home one day and the bed will be in the kitchen. That’s how often I’m always trying new things in my home. And truth be hold, I’m open to the idea of sleeping beside the coffee machine lol – so he could be onto something! But in all seriousness, this re-arranging of things at home has some serious benefits. I highly recommend it if you want to look at the space in a new way and come up with decorating ideas you never knew you could rock.