Updates to Make to Your Home When You Need a Change

Almost exactly a year ago, my husband and I closed on our first owned home together!!! It is everything we have ever wanted out of a first home and we still love it to this day (even though we have a lot of improvements to make). But, this story is not about our first purchased home, it is about the first rental we had together. Let me get started.

Before we closed on our house, we were living in a small rental home that was extremely run down and outdated. Let me try to paint a picture in your mind; The first time we looked at our rental home, we were in college. We walked in and it smelled like an attic full of old clothes. There were holes in the walls, dirt all over the ground and cobwebs in every door frame. The landlord promised to have all of this cleaned up and offered an extremely low rate, so of course, we signed the contract for our under 900 square foot bungalow (fun fact: this is where my blog name came from). We weren’t used to anything fancy, so how bad could it be?! Well, it wasn’t the best, but we ended up spending over four years in that home!

During those 4+ years, our lives changed quite a bit. We went from being college students to working for corporate companies and then finally I ended up becoming self-employed (yay for freelance writing and blogging!!!). I am sure you have heard this quote before: “You are who you hang out with.” New friends were made with each new opportunity that arose and being around new people resulted in our likes and dislikes to change. We both found new “favorite” restaurants, our styles changed and believe it or not, our attitudes also changed. When everything is changing around you, it becomes hard to live in the same outdated home without any change for four years, so like I made a few changes that really helped. Here is what we did and what you can do if you need a change in your home.

Paint your walls

Painting your walls is an easy update that you can do to your home and it’s really not that hard, or expensive. Changing out your paint instantly refreshes a room, making it feel like new. I prefer to choose lighter colors to open and brighten rooms.

Fill your home with flowers

Choose your favorite flower or flowers and fill your rooms with them. This will automatically help your home feel prettier and fresh and the bonus is that it will add a sweet scent! On top of flowers, if you add plants, it can improve the air quality of your home!

Get new sheets

I don’t know about you, but I always feel like my house is cleaner and comfier when I have new sheets that I love! If your style changes, this is an inexpensive way to change something out to help fit your new style.

Get new furniture

Okay, so this can be an expensive option, but it doesn’t have to be. Before you make a big investment, make sure you really know your style, but if you don’t then you can still purchase new furniture options for a fraction of buying new. Think about going to yard sales and discount stores. This way, you can buy for your new style without spending too much and if you end up not liking it, you haven’t lost a lot.

Change your decor

This is probably my biggest recommendation – change out your decor when you are ‘bored’ with your home. The decor you put in your home makes a huge difference. If you used to love bright colors and now like neutrals or black and whites, you may just be able to get away with changing out the decor to love your home again! Some of my recommendations for changing out your decor.

Get a sign – There are some unique ideas online for custom made neon signs, that could give your home a new and vibrant look!

Get new artwork – I love supporting local artists in my city! A lot of times, you can go to a farmers market and find amazing pieces of art!

Get decor that is useful – I love finding pieces of art that are beneficial to me. One example of this is a sword from Swords of Northshire. If you have traveled to China, this is a great piece to remember your time there because Swords of Northshire hand forge their swords in the town of Longquan. If you don’t know, Longquan is a city in China in the Qinxi mountainous area. The town has over 2,600 years of sword making experience, dating back to 770-476 BC. This means that if you do purchase a sword from Swords of Northshire, it will go through the most tedious, perfected forging process, ensuring that you receive the best product possible.

There are a couple other reasons why purchasing a sword is beneficial. First of all, it is a conversational piece. Any guest that comes into your home will automatically want to know about the sword, which will start a conversation. The second and most important reason is that a sword can be a self defense weapon because the swords you can get from Swords of Northshire are functional. Swords of Northshire offers Samurai Swords, Ninja Swords, Knives, Custom Swords and Accessories, so between all of these options, you are sure to find something you love.

Get your house deep cleaned

Maybe it’s just me, but after a deep clean, my house feels new. No matter if I love something about my house, or hate it, a deep clean usually makes it (temporarily) better. I focus on the positives like how the sun comes through the window and makes my clean cabinets shine, or how my carpet smells so fresh instead of the small negative things like not liking the desk in my office, or hating the paint color in the bathroom. Get a deep clean and reap the amazing benefits!!

These are my best tips to refresh your home when you need a change! Has your style ever changed and you needed to refresh your home? What did you do? Thank you so much for reading my guest post!