Hi there! I’m Jenny. Welcome to Refresh Living.

I want my home to be my happy place. I’ve always loved decorating it, but I’ll be the first to admit that I have no idea what I’m doing. When I first bought my home 15+ years ago, I loved browsing through the home decor sections of stores, bringing home the items that I loved for one reason or another.

Truthfully, I look back now and know I wasted quite a bit of my hard-earned cash on items that I thought would make my house into a home I loved.

You see, making my home match the latest home decor trend that is brought into stores was fun for awhile, but I figured out (after quite a few years, I must admit) that my home needed to represent me, and, ​more importantly, fit into the reality of my life.

Jenny at Refresh Living (dev.refreshliving.com)

My current decorating mantra

Fill your home with what makes you happy,
without spending a lot of money.

Here is my current life reality:

  1. My husband and I are both teachers – he’s full time and I’m half time. We make a modest living, but we also don’t have a ton of extra cash laying around to throw around at extra projects. Big renovations, yard projects and frivolous decor items just aren’t in the budget. 
  2. We have four young kids. Kids are gross and destructive. Yeah, yeah – I see posts on Pinterest all the time about how you can have a beautiful home with kids. I’m just not buying it.
  3. We have a “small-ish” home (1,500 sq. ft. if you’re wondering what I classify as “small-ish”). I share this because none of the rooms in our home are “extra” spaces, nor are any of them unused. I need to be creative with the pieces I bring into my home, as most of them need to be functional ​and​ pretty.

Considering all of these realities, my previous decorating habits needed to go.

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There were no plans for them to be photographed on this day, hence the lack of any hair brushing.

I changed my mindset and decided on a new mantra: “Fill your home with what makes you happy, without spending a lot of money.” I’m able to do this through garage sales, estate sales, thrift stores, flea markets, and home improvement stores.  As I look around my home today, at least 90% of the items are repurposed, reused, refinished, or built and/or installed with my own two hands. 

The creativity and ingenuity that goes into giving these items a new lease on life, and a place in my home, is seriously SO much fun.

This is what makes my home my happy place, and Refresh Living is a place to share those projects with you. I’ll be here learning and DIYing while creating a home that I love. Hopefully, my gross and destructive kids will grow up loving it too.

The Woman Behind The Posts

If you’ve ever taken the shape personality test, I am a squiggle. My brain is all over the place, my executive functioning skills are poor to very poor, and I can’t stick with an idea without wanting to change it or improve it halfway through. I finish most projects to anywhere between 60-90% completion before getting another “great” idea and moving on. My husband is a very patient man.

Although I’m “in front” of people (albeit 12 and 13 year olds) at work, I hate being on stage. Putting my face and my voice on camera is terrifying to me. It makes me nervous to record tutorials and every time I post something on social media I get uncomfortable. It feels much safer for me to write posts behind the scenes here on the blog.

Here, come along and follow me on all the places that make me feel uncomfortable:

Do you have a question about a project you’re dreaming up or currently working on? Have you completed a project with the help of one of my tutorials? Are you a DIY-focused brand interested in collaborating with me?

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This picture sums me up perfectly.

  • I’m feeling incredibly uncomfortable as my husband takes a step closer to take a close up photo. My next words after this shot were, “Why are you taking a close up?!”
  • Only after the pictures did I realize I had a large stain in the middle of my shirt.

Do you love to make your home your happy place on a budget too?

I’d love for you to join me!

All this being said, I’m also the type of person who doesn’t like staying in my comfort zone. I am a learner and take pride in growing by challenging myself. This blog places me in that risky learning zone everyday and I’m grateful for all of you looking to learn alongside me. Thinking about the humans reading these posts helps to give me safety in all this uncertainty. Thank YOU for being here.

I’m so glad you found Refresh Living! Thanks for taking the time to learn a little more about the person behind the projects. Here are some of my most popular posts to inspire your next project!