So I’ve been busy working. College life is for. real. with me taking three classes this summer. But this week I took a break to work a little bit on my home. Over the past few weeks I’ve been thinking a lot about my home and just the season that God has me in. I love it, the season and my home.
Recently The Lord convicted me to keep my eyes focused on the path set before me and to stop living in my head so much.
The truth is we’ve been wanting to sell our home for quite some time now, and it just seems like it’s not happening. I know that the time will come when we sell our home; all of the other times we’ve tried to move has just not been the right time, and I know this for a fact because hindsight is 20/20. But the season is fast approaching and when I am focused on the path set before me I can see it moving closer and closer.
But that’s the thing, if I am not focusing on what’s in front of me, if I don’t open my eyes to see, then I am often just thinking instead of doing. Daydreaming is all good except for when it prevents you from actually accomplishing what you are dreaming about.
So when I stopped daydreaming about a new house I started SEEING what I could do to help freshen up my current home.
Y’all, your home is so important.
I know we won’t be able to take our home with us when we go to heaven; however, I am a firm believer that your home needs to be the place where you can rest and find some peace. The season that I am in is reminding me of this, we are so busy and it’s amazing what a little bit of work will do to help freshen up your home and lift your Spirit.
We need to take a step back and realize what is a blessing and what is burden.
That’s what I had to do this week, there are a lot of burdens on my heart but I was turning my blessings into burdens, too. Even though my home isn’t perfect, and it seems like something always needs to be fixed or be replaced and it feels like my home is a burden when that happens; but the truth is my home is a blessing to me and my family.
So today I want to share a little bit of my blessing with you in hopes to inspire you to see your home as a blessing, too.
Since my heart is on creating a place of rest for me and my family I wanted to freshen up the décor in my home and I wanted to do projects that didn’t cost a whole lot of money or didn’t take up a whole lot of time. I was pleasantly surprised to find that DaySpring – whom I am an affiliate for – was more than willing to help me out with my projects by sending me some lovely home décor items!
My Three Home Decorating Principles
As I was planning out the five mini makeovers that I am going to share with you in a moment, I had to decide what are my decorating principles. The more I thought about what drives me to decorate in a certain way I realized that these principles have been with me for as long as I can remember and as long as I’ve been decorating my home!
So I would love to share my three decorating principles with you, and they are:
- Inspiring: My home décor needs to be inspiring. I don’t know about you but seeing scripture when I first wake up in the morning, or right before I go to bed, it truly inspires me. Not only that, but I believe scripture in the home can be a declaration over your home. When I am decorating my home I think more about how can I transform my home and lives of those who enter it more than I do about the latest trends.
- Practical: Y’all, we LIVE in our home. I remember when my kids were growing up I often wondered why my house was so dirty compared to other people’s homes and then I realized it’s because we spend 85% of our lives in this house! Now that my kids are in school they spend less time at home but I am home a lot. When they are home on the weekends or after school we are living in this house and my home décor needs to be practical.
- Simple: I love decorating but I hate cleaning, especially dusting. Whenever I am purchasing something I often ask myself, “Will I have to dust this?” If the answer is yes then I usually don’t buy it. Although, this principle is pretty flexible; if the item I am buying is inspiring or practical then I will buy it even if it’s not simple. I actually have a wall in my house where I tried to do a “gallery-type-thingy” and I need to redo it and take it down, it’s really just not my thing plus too many items I need to dust are now hanging on my wall.
So with all that being said I can’t wait to share my mini makeovers with you! Check it out, and I really hope they are an inspiration to you!
Featured DaySpring Products
A special thank you goes out to DaySpring for providing the following items for free in order for me to do these fabulous mini makeovers! I am honored to be an affiliate for DaySpring and I only share items with my readers that I feel will be a blessing to them! Please know that affiliate links have been used throughout this post (including amazon affiliate links) and the purchases you make through my affiliate links help to support my blog and my writing, thank you! Links to these items are posted with the mini makeover they are featured in! Scroll down to view the mini makeovers!
Mini Makeover #1: Master Bedroom
So this makeover was SO simple and it is SO inspiring! All I did to make the changes in this space in my home was to simplify the items on my dresser. This is the focal point of the room and I wanted to have something inspiring sitting on my dresser so I replaced the pictures of my kiddos as babies with a beautiful “I Have Found the One” picture from DaySpring! I really wanted to make this space about my husband so I am going to put the baby pictures in another area of the house .
I also had a lot of my essential oils gathering into a little corner on my dresser so I used my rubbermaid bento storage container that I had on hand to help keep those organized. I think the master bedroom mini makeover turned out nicely. Below are before and after pictures of the makeover! It was just basically a lot of decluttering and simplifying, and then adding new practical and inspiring pieces!
1. I Have Found the One Picture from DaySpring
2. Rubbermaid Bento Storage Box
Mini Makeover #2: Living Room
I don’t want to buy a new couch but my living room was definitely in need of a little refresher. SO what easier way to do that then to simply buy some new pillow covers? I am still on the lookout for some new couch covers, but this mini makeover was so easy to do and looks great even without the couch covers!
I will say that my old pillows did not fit into the new pillow covers; however, I was able to find a really cheap pillow form from Walmart for less than $4 and it was worth it! It seems the pillow covers fit a 16×16 inch pillow form quite nicely. I also have two couches and did a simple makeover on both of them with just new pillow covers!
1. How Grateful and Thankful I am Pillow Cover
2. Praise The Lord All Nations Pillow Cover
3. & 4. Arrow Pillow Cover
1. Everlasting Light – Shine Your Light Pillow Cover
2. The World is Bigger and Smaller
3. & 4. Gray Pillow Covers
Mini Makeover #3: Work Space
My work space is basically where I like to make journals and sometimes write. For awhile now I have been wanting to make a really nice space where I can easily sit down and plan out my day. This mini makeover features a beautiful tray from DaySpring with the 1 Corinthians 13 scripture on it; I felt this tray was a meaningful addition to my workspace since I wrote three Bible Studies based off this scripture!
I love how my new work space makeover turned out; now I can easily have a place to plan my day, and I love that the tray makes it simple for me to move my planning center to a different spot when I need more space on my desk to make my journals!
Featured: Faith, Hope, Love Tray by DaySpring
Planning Center Accessories:
- Letter Holder to hold my planner and journal.
- Little dish to hold magnets and clips.
- Pen holder (not pictured here) placed behind my journals to hold binder clips and pens.
- Diffuser that makes the area smell nice and it looks pretty!
- Additional giant paperclips are attached to the letter holder in case I need it for planning!
I love my new planning center!
Mini Makeover #4: Hallway Bathroom
The hallway bathroom was in need of a major makeover. The before picture contains a decoration that I put together probably 10 years ago – I’m not kidding – needless to say this bathroom was in a major need of an update. The area pictured here is right above the toilet and really helps the place shine (considering it’s a bathroom!)
One of my new favorite things is putting clocks in bathrooms! It seems so practical, don’t you think?
The canvas print from DaySpring in the after picture is one item that I wanted to put into this bathroom because I feel it is a declaration over my kids who are the ones who use this bathroom every day. I really love how this turned out, and I love clocks in bathrooms!
Featured Canvas Print: Illustrated Faith – The Lord is My Strength Printed Canvas by DaySpring
Additional Items:
- Shelf came from Target (circa 2007)
- Rose came from Target (circa 2007)
- Clock came from Target (new!)
Mini Makeover #5: Master Bathroom
So I guess I saved the best for last because it is my favorite mini makeover of them all! Now, I am not sure if I went a little overboard with the mini makeover considering it is a bathroom, but I had a vision and I just went for it. I feel like the bathroom is one of the best places to have inspiring pieces of home décor because it is where we spend a lot of time getting ready in front of a mirror; and maybe we even spend time in front of that mirror battling the insecurities and negative self-talk that most women struggle with.
When I finished this mini makeover I felt like my bathroom was brand new; this simple bathroom makeover really changed the atmosphere, and that feels weird to say because it’s a bathroom.
Also, clocks in bathrooms! Y’all everyone needs to have a clock in their bathroom; why aren’t more people decorating their bathrooms with clocks?
Featured Picture: He Will Rejoice Over You Scroll Banner
I absolutely LOVE this scroll banner!
I really feel like I want to put this banner in every room in my house.
How sweet The Lord is to “quiet us with His love.”
I am going to read this scripture every. single. morning!
Also, first time I have ever hung a shelf without my husband’s help, so win for me.
Additional Items Used:
- Shelf from Target
- Cactus (fake) from Target
- CLOCK from Walmart
So what do y’all think? Do you like it? Do you have any tips for me when it comes to doing these mini makeovers in the future? Do you put clocks in your bathroom? I would love to hear from you in the comments below!
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Good habits are worth cultivating… and will help our children to do the same. 🙂
Thanks, Heather, for the before and after pictures! We’re about to start a HUGE renovation project that will decimate kitchen, dining room and living room for a while, and involves moving a piano — I’m dreading it, but your post inspires me to look toward the finished product as motivation!
This was a really interesting glimpse, Heather. It’s time for me to switch my seasonal décor. Thanks for the reminder!
I get attached to “favorite” little things that I like to display, so I don’t change them often, but it’s fun to discover some new treasure and make a place for it. My husband and I both love finding old treasures or things that can be repurposed. Thanks for your inspiration, Heather.
I love all of your sweet accessories. They look great in your home because they have special meaning for you. And that I think is the only rule we should follow. That tray is really cute and the scroll banner is commanding.
All your personal touches are nice, but I really love your desk setting. Who wouldn’t love looking at that desk before tackling the days to do lists.
Oh what a lovely post, inspiring, for sure! It’s amazing how a few tweeks here and there can give our spaces a fresh look. And in the process we grow to appreciate what we possess when we see it in a new location.
So good to meet you this morning, Heather …
Great tips! I’m currently sitting on the floor of my now empty house as our goods are on their way to our new home in a new state. I think I’m going to have to incorporate some of your tips as we set up home in our new (to us) house. Especially that minimize dusting and clock in the bathroom! Blessings!
It’s nice to see you mention how we LIVE in our homes. It both fills me with a little envy, then a little sorrow when I see houses all magazine perfect, online or in person, but I usually remind myself that I like ours being lived in, it’s more comfortable for the kids and for us! I feel too nervous in pristine houses to even sit!
Wow. You’ve done a lot of work. Good for you! I’ve recently begun making a list (again) of home projects. I want to prioritize them tomorrow and then make a schedule to DO them. I love simple, but sometimes even simple takes a little bit of time to create. Thanks for sharing these tips, Heather.
Oftentimes little changes make a big impact. I love that tray on your desk; so pretty!
Keeping it simple is important. Using pillows to change a couch up is my go to always.
“Will I have to dust it” This is a fantastic way to weed out unnecessary purchases! Thanks so much for sharing at the #happynowlinkup!
These are great mini makeovers!
Heather, a lovely and practical approach to decorating! Like you, I’m not interested in wasting my limited time and energy on dusting a bunch of frou-frou!
Hi Heather! I love your mini makeovers! Thank you so much for sharing them with us at the What to do Weekends party. I’m featuring them now over on Shoestring Elegance’s new party! Congratulations!
Happy Weekend!
Theresa.