Home Decor on a Budget: Start Small to Ignite Inspiration

I remember how overwhelmed I was when we first moved into our home years ago. It took a friend to stop by and give me vision to get started…she just jumped in and said, “Begin in the kitchen.  Just focus on it and nothing else…then the rest will happen.” 

I took her advice with me as we traveled to see our daughter and her family in a new home.  With two small children, she was overwhelmed.  Toddlers were the first challenge.  Followed by little money and little vision. Also, an older, unique floorplan in a home with great potential. So, I looked for an area where we could begin small and found it in this little breakfast nook just outside of their kitchen.

Recently, I noticed on Pinterest a trend to place coffee bars inside of residences.  I found many cute pictures like the first one in this post.  Her kitchen is also very small with limited counter space and they love coffee so much, they own a really nice coffee machine. So, I suggested making this a coffee area and they loved the idea…so, off to shop we went and here are the results.

We found the clock first at Homegoods and my daughter loved it!  Next, Hobby Lobby was having a huge sale, so we found the shelving, the metal basket on the table, and the wall art there.  It provided the “industrial-coffee-shop” style we were going for.  We placed this small, burlap tablecloth on the table and then supplemented with their pieces and a family picture which happened to be framed in a similar style.  Future purchase will be a cool light over the table of similar style.

Just taking on this one tiny area was the catalyst for a weekend of inspiration and they were able to decorate their front room and children’s room!  Sometimes a small change leads to bigger ones.  It is that way with a personal style makeover as well!

Are you familiar with this new idea of having a mini-coffee shop in your house?  I love the idea….and it works for their lifestyle right now.

What room do you like to begin with when decorating a new place?

Thanks for stopping by…and…as always…

Keep Smiling!

14 Comments

  1. I agree – in my last 3 moves I've been lucky enough to have a couple of weeks overlap so didn't have to do everything at once. I set up the bathroom – then the kitchen – and then had all my bookcases & boxes of books moved first so that those boxes were all unpacked and the bookcases loaded. Then on the actual moving day it was just a matter of moving all the big pieces into place.
    I've been doing a bit of redecorating in my small apt. these past couple of weeks – mainly just switching out accessories – although I plan on moving some furniture around later. My kitchen is tiny 8' x 8' so not a lot of counter space. I took a tray that I owned but had been in a back closet and put it on my dining table. It adds a pop of my new accent colour (pink) and I've filled it with my two French Press Coffee Pots, my main Teapot, cream & sugar bowls and even my frother. It looks lovely and everything I need for tea or coffee making when company comes is front & centre and I don't have to go through cupboards pulling everything out.
    Love the look in your daughter's home.

  2. Oh I adore this. And I adore COFFEE. And I to did not have much much space. I might steal some of these tweaks for my own home <3

  3. You really started pulling together a "look" that your daughter can expand on as she moves through other spaces in her new house with her decorating projects. I know it makes you feel really good to be able to help her out in this way.

  4. So cute Pam! I was just at my daughter's home in Northern CA last weekend doing the same thing. She has 2 little boys and appreciates my help. We did her entry with a new console table from Macy's and Pottery Barn mirror. Then decorated with some fun items from Cost Plus World Market. It is amazing how much inspiration they get from Pinterest and I tease her saying we only had magazines to look at when I was her age. 🙂

  5. Of course…steal away…we stole ideas from Pinterest and there are some great ones there. We spent more on the clock because we fell in love with it, so that affected what the rest of it could look like. Now I want a coffee bar in my house!

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