It seems that there is always a pull between beauty and function in a home. You want to create a welcoming space, but you also want to be able to really live in your home. I encourage you to think of both concepts (function and beauty) when keeping your home. Shoes do not need to collect by the front door anymore! There are stylish and beautiful options to use in place of the giant shoe pile. We are going to look at how to make your home beautiful with simple things that are completely budget-friendly!
Be inspired by the simple touches that can make a significant difference in the organization and style of your home. Read on to learn more about functional and beautiful pieces for every home.
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Home Decorating Ideas on a Budget
A house can be small, beautiful, and decorated on a budget! There are just a few things that you will need to bring function and beauty into your home. Especially if you have little children running around, the function is especially important. Here are a few ideas for making your home beautiful with simple things.
How to Create a Beautiful Home with Baskets
Things tend to gather in a room. Blankets, decorative pillows, books, etc. Instead of having a trail of blankets around the room, they can be folded and placed in a basket next to the couch. Baskets are my absolute favorite item to use for functional and decorative storage. There are several styles and sizes of baskets to choose from in any material imaginable. I like to use several types of baskets for different storage purposes.
Where to Find Baskets
Baskets can be found at popular large retailers. Watch for sales on baskets to get the most value on your purchase. Large retailers are a wonderful place as you can buy a bulk number of baskets for a greater discount.
Another favorite place to look for baskets is at yard sales and thrift stores. I love these for a sentimental purpose. Every basket has a story tied to it of how it was used and who it was used by.
I can imagine a mama having a basket by her rocking chair in her baby’s room. She keeps her favorite blankets, lovies, and books in the basket. When her baby is grown, the basket ends up in the yard sale with a difficult goodbye to all the special memories it carried. Now, those memories are carried in the mama’s heart.
Another place to look for baskets is in your own home! You may be surprised at how many baskets you have on hand. I am a self-proclaimed basket-hoarder, so I have plenty to choose from!
What Types of Baskets to Use
I have tried baskets in every room in my house. I feel like some sort of expert in basket-selection. I hope these recommendations make basket-hunting easier for you.
Storage in Closets and Cabinets
For interior storage in closets and cabinets, I would recommend durable plastic baskets or containers. These types are perfect for bathrooms and kitchens. They are easy to label with a chalkboard sticker or tag. For ease on the eyes, I would recommend keeping the baskets all the same color (this is where labeling the baskets comes in handy!).
Storage on Open Shelves and Bookcases
Storage on open shelves requires an assortment of baskets that are pleasing to the eye and fit in with the aesthetic of your home. Simply having coordinated baskets on shelves to store things can often turn into a statement piece of organization and beauty.
Storage Out in the Open
For storage that is out in the open (under coffee tables, by couches, beside beds, etc.), use a larger wicker decorative basket. These capture the charm of your home while still having practical use.
You can keep remote controls in a basket under your coffee table in your family room. Or place your Bible and quiet time materials in a basket near your favorite chair. It’s a simple task to pull the items out to do your study and then tuck them away when you are finished.
Storage of Clothes
For storing seasonal clothes or out-of-size kid’s clothes, use the large durable storage totes. Place a chalkboard label on each box so that you can change the label as the contents in the bin change.
In my home, we have a lot of kids! It is exceedingly difficult to manage all the sizes in our home with all the kiddos we have. My husband put up some shelves and we store the storage totes on them in size-order. It works so well as we can keep all the clothes in one area and know right where a particular size is.
- Macramé Baskets
- 6-Pack Cloth Baskets
- Rope Baskets
- Huge Rope Basket
- Bambiso Basket
- Small Rope Baskets
- Large Laundry Hamper
- Small Natural Cozy Baskets
Decorative Boxes
Decorative boxes are one of my go-to pieces to use because they hide things in a super-stylish way. They give a pop of color and pattern in a room where I am trying to minimize clutter. They are functional and beautiful (my favorite pairing!). Decorative boxes can fit on any open shelf or furniture piece and make it seem like they were always meant to be there.
Where to Find Decorative Boxes
Craft retailers will have several sizes and patterns of decorative boxes available at a low cost. In the stores, these decorative boxes are known as photo storage boxes. Buying from these companies makes coordinating to your home décor extremely easy. There is a pattern and color for every style. They also come in several sizes where you can customize the look and placement in your home.
Where to Use Decorative Boxes for Storage
Decorative boxes are perfect for simple, light storage in a room with open shelves. I have three boxes on our homeschool bookcase that have fidget and chewie’s for my sensory kiddos, laminated calendar pieces, and laminated pieces for our visual schedule. I access the boxes every day, so I am careful not to store heavy things in them.
One thing to note is the decorative boxes can fall apart easily if you store heavy objects in them. But for lighter storage, they really do the trick! Just be certain to keep them away from moisture.
Other places to use decorative boxes is in bedroom closets. They really dress a closet up! Place boxes on shelves to store accessories such as scarves, hats, etc. Pick out a pattern that you love so that you will smile when you open your closet!
I love all the rope baskets that are on amazon. Sometimes I go a little ‘rope crazy’ and place my rope baskets on my DIY Rope Rug!
- Leather Decorative Boxes
- Farmhouse Metal Boxes
- Decor Wood Boxes
- Vintage Boxes
- Book Boxes
- Suitcase Boxes
- Vintage Faith Boxes
- Vintage wood Boxes
Functional Furniture
Now for the grand finale… Functional furniture! I get giddy when I think of the potential that every piece of furniture has.
Repurpose Furniture in Your Home
We have a beautiful gentleman’s chest. We bought it when my husband and I were first married. It added such elegance and class to our newlywed bedroom.
As our family grew, the purpose for the gentleman’s chest changed. Suddenly, this beautiful stately piece moved with us across the country. It became the center for all things preschool homeschooling of my triplets.
As I began gathering more books to homeschool my older sons, we needed to purchase a new cabinet. We brought the gentleman’s chest down to our family room where it now holds warm blankets for our family to snuggle together on during family movie nights.
Look around your home and see if there is furniture that needs to be repurposed. Maybe it just needs a new coat of paint to fit into a different room. Don’t think that just because something says “bedroom nightstand” that it couldn’t be used for a side table in your family room. Or, if a chair has always been in your room, could your daughter benefit from using the chair to make her own memories in?
The chair in the left side of the picture was completely wreaked and left on the side of the road. All it needed was some wood glue, and a new fresh coat of paint. There is so much you can do with a little creativity!
A room can be refreshed just by rearranging the furniture or bringing in new pieces from other areas of your home.
If you like to watch repurposed furniture transformations, then head over to Healing Homes Instagram highlights.
This old chair remake was a challenge, and this desk restore was absolutely a blast to watch unfold.
How to make your Home Look Elegant
Consider going room by room in your home and identifying traps in your home. These traps are where papers gather, where toys seem to end up, and where stuff seems to accumulate. This is usually a sign that a new process needs to be put in place.
The most elegant homes are usually the most functional.
What I mean by this is that we all want elegant and beautiful homes, but not at the cost of dysfunction. The most beautiful homes are the ones that work for you and your family.
For instance, place a decorative box on the counter where the papers are accumulating and put all papers in there to be sorted later in the evening. Or, try placing a basket on the lower shelf of an end table in the family room to hold remotes, special family books, and other essentials to the room.
And finally, consider the greater purpose of workflows in each room and assess what furniture can best be utilized in that space. My mother had this fabulous idea to store her tablecloths, candles, and cloth napkins in a small dresser in the dining room. It fit the décor of the room perfectly and was accessible for quick setup of large family dinners. (It has now been repurposed as a dresser for my daughter!) I love that my mother was able to use a dresser she already had to be functional and beautiful.
How to Make Home Beautiful with Simple Things
Your home should be a place of peace for you and your family. Make it beautiful with functional pieces like baskets, decorative boxes, and repurposed furniture.
But more than function and décor, let the peace of God rule in your heart. Pray about the changes that may need to be made in your home. Let these ideas from this post simply be a source of inspiration to create order and life in your home. Allow God to direct your steps in planning your space.
A Little More About Katie
Katie White is a Christian writer at www.graceandthanks.com. She loves to share ways to have a Gospel-centered home through the changing seasons of life. You will be encouraged in your daily pursuit of the Lord, raising your littles in a home you love, and sharing the love of Jesus through entertaining in your home. As a mom of 5 who homeschools, she has crazy busy days.
Yet there is so much joy and peace amidst the chaos. She has learned to laugh at the crazy moments with her husband, sneak quiet moments in to take a breath and a sip of coffee, and to depend on the Lord for every step in her day. Come and enjoy the fun and inspiration at GRACE + THANKS.