Things That Make Your House A Home Without Spending A Dollar
Money Doesn’t Necessarily Make A Home
A home worth several million dollars may not be comfortable. If it’s just a massive half-empty castle, filled with a married couple and a handful of kids, it may actually be too much space. A house isn’t necessarily a home. What makes a house a home is something that’s not quantifiable monetarily.
A run-down shack in a southern swamp could be the place where you’re most comfortable. The richest mansion in Beverly Hills could be so strange you can’t sleep at night. What makes a house a home is something more personal, almost spiritual. And, these qualities don’t necessarily require a big budget to achieve.
Home-Making Tips That Won’t Break Your Budget
Do you have some old sheets, dye, and hair ties? Well, you might tie-dye the sheets and hang them on walls as makeshift tapestries in an unfinished basement. Sheets wear out in time, and you tend to accumulate them over the years; this is a great way to re-purpose what would otherwise be garbage without spending anything.
How about that yard, what’s it look like? Landscaping is a very important component in property value, but it’s also an important component in feeling comfortable. Sometimes you’ve got a yard so overgrown that the solution isn’t mowing the lawn or doing anything like that, but rather clearing a path and becoming “one” with nature.
Another solution is pulling up all the grass and covering the ground with wood chips broken up by stones used to make a pathway through the area. Then you can plant specific flowers, trees, bushes, or whatever suits you, maintain those specifically, and still have an aesthetically pleasing yard. You don’t have to buy seeds from a store if you use the web to research their natural acquisition.
Next, consider mirrors and partitions. Mirrors spread light in a space, making it feel larger. Partitions give the eye more to track across, making it so the brain must process more. Whenever you break up a space, it feels larger than it is. A tiny room can feel huge if there’s much for the brain to consider. A partition with mirrors on either side doubles the utility of a room without making it feel cluttered or small.
Floral Considerations And Affordable Options
Something else you might look into are interior floral arrangements. Flowers, vines, bonsai trees, aloe plants, roses, poinsettias—there are many plants you can easily maintain within the confines of your home, and which make the space feel organic, homey, comfortable, and unique.
Certainly you can spend money if you feel so inclined, but keep in mind that you don’t have to always pursue the most expensive options. For example, check out these affordable kitchen cabinets. Or, if you’re really on a budget, you might go to secondhand stores for furniture. The Salvation Army often has furniture for next to nothing; you’ve just got to transport it.
If you spray down a free couch with disinfectant, pull out all cushions etc. to ensure additional hidden smells or substances don’t ruin its usefulness. Cover it with a throw and pillows. You can have a perfectly reasonable addition to the living room. Completely free.
Churches, apartments, dormitories, Good Will centers, charities, and other areas of modern society provide ample opportunity to find free and low cost items. Pictures, paintings, furniture, tapestries, lamps, books—these things are all available secondhand, sometimes for free.
Anchoring Your Heart
Money doesn’t equate to comfort. Money can be used to find comfort, but all you really need is creativity. Especially when your creativity produces a unique solution, you’re more likely to feel as though your house has become a home. Even if what you do may be considered less than stylish by the powers-that-be, that doesn’t matter if you like it.
So consider where you are at, and what makes you feel comfortable. Comfort makes a house a home, not money. Certainly you can spare no expense, but if there is no soul in your interior design, it won’t make you feel at home. Find ways of anchoring your heart, and you’ll find any space can be your comfortable home.
