On Sunday I shared over on my Instagram how I was feeling in a slump and not loving my home. Just wanting to get rid of it all. You know how it is all or nothing? Well I was reminded of a quote I heard that was along the lines of “If you are not happy with how things are going or results you are getting than make a change!” That sounds so logical. So I did just that. I shopped my home and moved around basically every pillow in my house and ended up loving the result. It was amazing how a little movement to my surroundings boosted my energy and made me more positive. So I broke it down to just three simple things you can do to refresh your home decor!
3 Simple Ways to Refresh your Home-
#1- Move ALL Your Pillows-
I suggest starting with one room first- maybe it is the room that everyone is in the most or it is the room that is bothering you the most. Shop your home and gather up all the pillows you want to try in the new room. Don’t worry about mixing pattern- go for it and be bold!
I did this in our kitchen. I wanted to do a completely different look. I took out all the pillows I had on our banquette. Started with a clean slate. I went around our home and stole all of the black and white pillows. I was surprised with how much I liked all the play on patterns. I would typically say “try to avoid using two strips together or two plaids”. But after I tried it I really liked it for a change. It WORKS because there are just two colors- black and white.
This comment came up on my Monday blog post that I had one too many pillows in our front room. Honestly at first I got insecure about her comment, I think a natural reaction when one’s pillows are questioned. Then I looked around the room and disagreed, I like them for MY home. MY PERSONAL RULE for pillows is if I don’t have to move them to sit down on the sofa or a chair then they can stay. They are cute and they offer back support. This banquette is packed to the max with pillows, but it really needs all that back support, it is a deep banquette. I typically have to stack two pillows behind my back to sit upright and that is how I designed it. I wanted to be able to use a lot of pillows for a really cozy look.
Two of my FAVORITE sources for pillows are HERE and HERE. This pillow hoarder really wants THIS one.
#2- Group Like Colored Items-
Whenever I am feel like my house is too busy. I re-group and put “like” things together. This is a way to do a lot of pieces in one space. I did this on our tiny kitchen shelves. Since I switched out the pillows to black and white I moved the black chalkboard to this space and a white marble board. It was a few simple tweaks that really made a big difference and pulled the entire look together. Oh and included a little pop of pink for fun.
Remember this is what the kitchen banquette looked like before-
#3- Get Rid Of Some Of Your Home Decor-
That seems like a bad tip when I am telling you how to “Refresh Your Home Decor”. Well it works, trust me! I think simplifying does something to our mind- it will free up space for new ideas! Apply this tip by looking around the room you are working on and take out anything that doesn’t bring you joy, just kidding. But I do think you should take out at least one thing that you have had for a long time and you would really not miss if you took it out.
I had a couple of you lovely readers say you want to know what happens to the other rooms when I “steal” from them. Basically the room I stole from gets the leftovers. But most of the time I don’t move everything unless I like what the other rooms will look like after I do the switches. Or it gives me a good reason to get rid of or sell pieces that I am not using anymore and buy new.
This is the upstairs family room- I took out all the pillows that were in here and the ottoman and they got shuffled around to the kitchen and front room. I had that ottoman that I put in here since I moved the one that was here downstairs for Mondays Blog Post. Hopefully that didn’t sound like a big jumble of words?
Basically it looks like a tornado went off while I am moving everything around. I didn’t take pics while this all was going on because I am a tornado, tornados are too busy. But next time I will take pics of the in-between and just share with my email subscribers! You did get a couple of juicy pics in your email blast today. What did you think? I am going to start including extra photos that don’t make the blog just for my friends who subscribe to my blog. Because you scratch my back I want to scratch yours.
I am going to be taking SIMPLE design questions and sharing the answers to them for just my email subscribers. So if you are an email subscriber please shoot me an email with a design question you have include a pic please!
It could be anything from- What rug would you suggest in here? What color should I paint my walls? What would you change in this space? Seriously anything! I will pick random design questions and answer them when I send out my email blasts when I do blog posts! I am so excited to see what you have questions on. Email me at- [email protected] Subscribe to my blog below….
I really love the contrast of black and white with warm woods and natural wicker baskets. I’m loving your kitchen and upstairs family room!!!
Me too! Thank you so much Tracy for your sweet words!
I love it all. I appreciate the extra pics in the email too–what a treat. And, yes, I want to see the tornado– if anything to justify my own tornado activity in my home 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Sharon! So happy you appreciated those:) I will continue sharing more! Have a good day!
Thank you for showing a sneak peek at your family room. (I’m guilty of being one of those who asked what the other room looks like). I’m always afraid if I take from one room, it’ll leave that room empty. But I love what you did mixing up the pillows. Pillows and throw blankets just make a room so much more cozy and warm feeling. I love how your home gives such a welcoming feel to it.
I know! I do like to make sure that I don’t leave any room looking terrible after. It just might be more simplified. I still don’t love the family room upstairs, but it works for now!
Yep, me too….. I want to see how you doing your impression of a tornado compares with me doing my impression of a tornado. I’m right around an EF4…..not total destruction but close to
it ,lol!
hahahaha!! I might be up there because I have head phones in listening to podcasts so I am oblivious to my children making more messes in other rooms:)
Would you please name the podcasts here so I can do 1 screen shot from here : ) Thank you so much xo
Sure!
How I Built This
Happier with Gretchen Rubin
Awesome with Alison
Mormon Mompreneur
Pursuit with Purpose
The Goal Digger Podcast
hey girl- love the post! Such pretty changes!
Your house is always one of my favorites. Always. And as for pillows, our house is a bit bigger than yours (1600 ish sf), but still not large by most standards. We have a large, deep, comfy sectional with 15 pillows on it. 15!! So you should not feel bad! But like you, we don’t move them, they are functional. It actually came with a bunch of pillows, but I changed them over time to make the look more my own.
When you talked about getting rid of decor- I had a few things in our attic that I sold recently that I just don’t need/use anymore. I also sold a really nice, cream leather ottoman that was once our coffee table, but after we bought our sectional, it was too large for our small living room. I kept moving it around the house, frustrated that it would not work. I wanted it to and I did not want to let it go. Finally, I realized I was being silly (but that took, oh, a year??) and sold it and guess what? I haven;t thought twice about it. It’s almost like having it here, but not using it the way I originally did, was driving me mad. Letting it go was so freeing and made me feel more settled with what I have in its place.
Keep doing what you do- always enjoy your posts and IG feed. 🙂 Have a great night Brooke!
I love that! I am with you- I have things in my basement that I swear hang over me. I want to get rid of and should!
And I love that you love pillows too:)
Have a good day!!
I’ve read and re-read this post…did I miss the link to the FANTASTIC new art piece of the ‘carnival swings’ print??
would love the source! thanks’
Thank you so much! Here is the source- http://rstyle.me/n/cqxe6db5qwf