I’m so glad you found Refresh Living and have enjoyed some of the projects that you’ve seen. Thank you for stopping by!
You probably already have a general feel for who I am, but let me tell you a little more about my home and my blog.
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 12+ 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.
Here is my current life reality:
- We don’t have much extra money coming in. (Quick back-story for you. I taught 5th and 6th grade for 10 years, but after teaching and “mommying” for three years of those years with two young kids, life just wasn’t feeling right. I resigned, and have found flexible ways to make a little extra money until it’s time to go back into the profession that I love. Basically, we are living on a single teaching salary, and totally making it work, but don’t have much “extra”.)
- We have three 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.
- We have a modest-sized home. 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.
Which brings me to my current decorating mantra: Fill your home with what makes you happy, without spending a lot of money.
The only way I’m able to do this? Garage sales, estate sales, thrift stores, flea markets, and home improvement stores. Yep, 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 my blog is a place to share those projects with you. I still have no idea what I’m doing, but I do know I’m now creating a home that I love. Hopefully, my gross and destructive kids will grow up loving it too.
Do you love to make your home your happy place on a budget too? I’d love for you to join us!
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