Home Decorating Philosophy & Trends | Day 11 Using What You Have

So often when we think of decorating we think of going out and buying the latest trendy item or wishing we could just spend lots of money at Pottery Barn.  While I love to spend money on items to add to my home, I have also enjoyed using the items that I already own to pull together a room or a corner of my home.

It really can be a fun challenge to make yourself use what you have to get the look that you want. One thing I have done is to pull items from around my home and add them to the room that I am updating.  It freshens everything up, forces you to look at what you have in a new light, and saves you time and money.

In my daughter’s room, I wanted to use what I had to create the look that I wanted.  The furniture, and bedding were things we had on hand.  We kept the walls the deep navy blue from when my older boys were in the room.  I had the triangle garlands left over from a birthday a few years ago.  I used fabric I had leftover from other projects to create the rag fabric garland and the fabric hoops.  Both super simple projects.

The hot air balloon was something I had purchased a few years ago and I made the pinwheels from paper I had.

All the frames we used in the room were ones that I had.  I didn’t even paint any of them, just made the look very eclectic.  Both the “Is” I had purchased years ago.  We framed art, decorative paper, a photo, and an art print, all things we had.

I realize that in addition to reused items their are many handmade projects in this room, all simple to make, and I do like using handmade items, but I wanted to mention that I also have done this in other areas of my home without making anything.  Just gather items together. Something simple to try would be to gather all your favorite items, in the color and style that works with what you love, to your living room, making that room your showstopper.   Or you could also do this with your mantel or a bookcase, shelf, or hutch.

Here is the complete post where I shared my daughter’s room and I also share about her gallery wall here.  

Do you enjoy using the items you already have to “update” the look of a room?  Have you had success with this?

You can find the my complete 31 day Home Decorating Series here.