9 ways to elevate your home for FREE
As a minimalist and eco-conscious mama, I can hear the dissonance when I am giddy with excitement about The Container Store.
I own that. And I’ve gotten a LOT better at simply looking and not buying all the things. I was there on Saturday with a client who ordered a customized Elfa system for the office/craft room. It’s an expensive upgrade that she’s been waiting a LONG time for. She’s not only reclaiming this space, she’s doing an entire room transformation.
It got me thinking about inexpensive—FREE—ways to elevate your space. How can you make noticeable changes at zero cost?
I’ve brainstormed this list, and it brings me joy because it reminds me of the “10 Things to Spruce Up Your Room” article my sister and I devoured and practiced all the time as kids. Do you have anything else to add? Please let me know! kim@consciouslyclearedandcontained.com
DECLUTTER—a lot! (You didn’t think I’d suggest anything else first, right?)
This is the biggest way to influence a space for the better. Look around the room you’re in right now. It’s likely filled with excess—items you no longer need, use, love, or even want. Give yourself permission to let go. And then do it, again and again and again until you can see the room in a whole new light.
This is especially true for any items that “came with the house.” If the prior owner left some painfully outdated curtains, take them downnnnnnnnnnnn!
Move furniture around (or remove furniture, repurpose it, swap it with something from another space). Don’t be afraid to try something different. Move a desk from against the wall into the commanding position facing the door. Get creative about playroom furniture and shuffle it up! Add some feng shui to your bedroom with carefully placed furniture and items. If your home is an open concept, use furniture to help create zones that are more intimate and help separate the space while fostering connection and function. Look for ways to add symmetry to the space if it feels off.
The floor is NOT storage space. I’m calling out those items shoved between a dresser and the wall, the bags of miscellaneous clutter tucked behind the couch. You know what I’m talking about. Just because they’re not in the center of the room doesn’t mean they’re not visual clutter that will make a noticeable shift once you tackle them.
Go vertical: take advantage of the room’s height, add items of larger scope, actually hang art/photos (I see so many beautiful frames and art in peoples’ homes that’s in a box or leaning against a wall). Make design changes that help draw the eye upward.
Create focal points for each room, shopping from home to display your most favorite and joy-evoking items. This means that when you enter a room—notice what/where you first see and make that spot beautiful and meaningful.
(I wouldn’t be an electrician’s wife if I didn’t say) Change the lighting.
replace old lightbulbs
go with a brighter bulb (if you have one) or a warmer one to add ambiance
if you use shades and curtains, try removing one to alter the look
wash the windows inside AND out—the outside of windows, when clean, allow SO MUCH NATURAL LIGHT IN!!! I think I went 39 years without doing this and damn, what a game changer.
Get intentional about what you want to happen in this space, and make the necessary changes so that it can. Do you want to have a game night in the living room? Make the space, clear the clutter, move furniture as needed, find a place to store your favorite games, and have some fun.
Avoid overloading horizontal spaces. A realtor told my best friend to have no more than 5 items on a flat surface. It’s pure visual clutter and it invites more and more clutter to the party. You can also corral these items onto a tray or decorative plate to help ground them. And promptly attend to anything that doesn’t belong there (we are humans, inevitably miscellaneous crap will land here, address it as it comes up and not after it’s overwhelming).
Remove layers, one is enough.
If you have books on a bookshelf, have one row, with nothing in front of them (sometimes I see double rows, extra books on top, knickknacks on the shelves).
If you have coats hanging on pegs, limit one per peg
If you have a container holding all your breakfast items in the pantry, be sure to return items to their homes and not allow them to block the bin or clog the space.
I hope you feel inspired to make some FREE changes to your space. If anything, just imagine looking at the space differently. Or, if you could start fresh (like if you were only now moving in), what would you do differently?
For more radical transformations, for help getting unstuck from clutter, and for personalized home organization, book a call to take that brave first step: