Change Your Home Decor Without Breaking the Bank
When we moved to the beach from our townhouse, I knew I would need to make big changes to my home decor. I would have a very different floor plan to work with (not nearly as open as in the townhouse) and I would need to transition my industrial home décor with primary colors to a beachier home décor with neutral colors.
After looking at a lot of houses we finally found the perfect one. We didn’t really want to increase our square footage (we were proud of our downsized status), but we also wanted an open usable space with lots of light! Not only did this house fit those requirements, but the previous owners had done some major renovations, which we loved! With those renovations came painted kitchen cabinets, and painted living room built-ins that would help develop our color scheme and beachy home decor. They also left behind some amazing furniture that we wanted to integrate with what we already had.
Moving is expensive enough so I really wanted to create this new beachy vibe without buying a ton of new things. I wanted to reuse as much furniture of our own (even if it needed to be repainted) and spend money on new rugs and accessories. Going from primary colors and industrial home decor to neutral colors and beachy home decor was much easier than I anticipated. Here is how I changed my décor without breaking the bank!
The Living Room
Things Kept
- Couch
- Chair w/ottoman
- Rug
- Side tables
- Long table behind couch
- Floor Lamp
- Carpet
Repurposed
- Frames
- Round Table
- Whale
- Accessories and plants
New
- Chairs
- Pillows
- Throw blanket
- Ammunition table
- Paintings
BEFORE (industrial home decor)
AFTER (beachy home decor)
Having built-ins again allowed me to pull together accessories that were originally in other places in my last home. I stuck with natural baskets, plants, and threw in some books and frames with the same colors. It’s easy enough to change out the frames or you can even just paint them to go with your new home décor. Our big wood whale, originally hidden in our old primary bath, now becomes a focal point breaking up the window wall. We inherited a big round table from the previous owners which helped lighten up the room. Do not be afraid to mix different kinds of wood and textures in the same room.
The living room is obviously the focus of the home. We started off the color scheme in here based on the painted built-ins. The walls were a clean shade of white and the trim was painted to add some accent. The floor is so beautiful that a toned- down neutral area rug to create warmth was all that was needed. We were able to keep all the same furniture including the couch, side tables (mixing stained wood colors), console table behind the couch and even the same floor lamp. I couldn’t let go of my “tv watching” chair with ottoman, but to lighten it up, added a cream throw.
New additions included two conversation chairs. We found these at World Market (technically outdoor chairs), but they worked perfectly in the new beachy feel and pulled in a darker color. We purchased an old ammunition table from a local import store to work as a table between the chairs or as a footstool simply by throwing a Target floor pillow on top. Finally, we added the accessories that pulled all the colors together. Thanks to Homegoods, I found pillows and artwork that completed the look.
The Dining Room
Things Kept
- Table and bench
- Wine shelf
- Accessories
Repurposed
- Valances recovered
- Roulette wheel
- Dresser
- Light fixture
- Barrel bench
New
- 3 chairs
- Rug
- Bar Cabinet
- Accessories
BEFORE (industrial home decor)
AFTER (beachy home decor)
In our last home we didn’t have a real designated dining room. In this house it opened to the living room, so the color scheme had to remain the same. There was no way I was getting rid of the beautiful table Garret built so that would have to work as our “casual” dining table. Because it is a much darker stain, it was important to lighten this room up in different ways.
The new items included 3 new cream chairs from a local import store, and I covered cushions to pull in some color. The previous owners left valances which I recovered with fabric to fit the theme but still make the windows pop. An unused dresser from one of the bedrooms became the sideboard and helped lighten up the room. The Roulette wheel from our previous home was the perfect wall art to pull the cream paint and dark wood together.
The light fixture from our previous home was a little more of a challenge. With the A-frame ceiling in this home, it would be impossible to hang it the way it was before. Thanks to my handy husband and some vintage store hooks and rope, it has been transformed into the centerpiece of the room. With some updated accessories and lots of shells the look came together for the new beachy home decor.
We left our bar glass cabinet behind, so a new one was purchased to pull together the living room and dining room. My favorite barrel bench found new life just by adding a fun pillow. It was amazing how many accessories I was able to repurpose from our last home including glass vases, plants, and wood trays. Fill a glass vase with shells and it creates an entirely different look.
The Kitchen
Things Kept
- Counter items
Repurposed
- Bar Stools recovered
- Accessories from other areas
New
- Rug
- Table
BEFORE (industrial home decor)
AFTER (beachy home decor)
The kitchen in our new house is separated by a wall but I still wanted to maintain a flow of the same colors and themes. I loved the painted cabinets and backsplash so had very little to do to complete the look. The kitchen is the best example of where accessories made the biggest difference in changing your home decor.
Adding an area rug from Target was easy to make the stone floor a little cozier and protect it from spills. The counter accessories remained the same with a few color changes. I found a utensil holder to make the terracotta color in the backsplash pop. The big challenge here was the space above the cabinets. Originally, I wanted to extend the cabinets and add glass doors, but quickly realized that might be too much for this smaller space (and very expensive). Instead, we pulled color from the cabinets and added accessories to draw the eyes up. With some painted boards we added a shiplap interest above the stove and hung a new painting I found at Homegoods. My husband stained some 2X4 wood and created a trim along the ceiling. Add some miscellaneous accessories that I already had, and the look was complete.
Some of the accessories were repainted to go with the color scheme, and I got crafty and made one piece to go over the pass-through window. To see how I made this very inexpensive 3D turtle art click on the link below.
Finally, there was room for a small table in front of the bay window. My husband built a table with butcher block top, in case I needed more counter space, and we repurposed our bar stools from our last home. All they needed was to be recovered with a lighter fabric. To add a little color, I repainted the legs to match the cabinets.
*SIDE NOTE*
Some of the things we had in our living room from the previous home have been repurposed to new locations in this home.
A large hutch from the living room is repainted and now in the landing at the top of our stairs being used to store linens.
A rocking horse has been repainted and lives on our 2nd story plant shelf as does a cabinet that used to be in the hallway.
The Guest Room
The guest room was kind of created from scratch but also on a budget. The bed, grey bench, and nightstands were really the only things that made it from our old house. A cute rose loveseat was left by the previous owners as well as a white dresser. We incorporated everything together, repainted the dresser, and added new bedding, pillows, and wall art.
BEFORE
AFTER
The Primary Bedroom
The wallpaper challenge! Sometimes you just walk into a room and the only thing you notice is the wallpaper. When I first walked into our new primary bedroom, I had a love/ hate with the existing wallpaper. Although it was tasteful and probably really expensive, I wasn’t sure what to do around it. What could keep it from looking TOO busy? Plus based on closet space, I knew we would need to bring our gray wardrobes from the old house. I ended up sticking with very neutral colors and layered, pulling in the colors from the wallpaper and somehow incorporating gray. In this case, it was all about the pillows.
I’m not entirely in love with it, but sometimes you just need to exist in a space until the right thing comes along. Should something basic go on the wall above the bed? Does the gray really work? This will probably be a room that evolves over time, and that’s OK too.
In conclusion, room transformations don’t always have to be grand or expensive affairs. You can use what you have, repurpose items either through paint or change in location, and make big impressions with accessories including pillows and artwork. You really can change your home decor without breaking the bank. Some rooms take time to evolve and not everything has to be done at once. Stick around and I’m sure there will be many more changes to come!