Hello, rock star.
It’s a new month.
But before I can start the day.
Before I can flip my calendar page.
Before I can look outside to see if all my April showers brought some May flowers.
I have to finish what I started. 30 days of FREE. 30 days of decorating your home with what you have and what you love. If you missed the first sixteen days, you can find them here.
And now, without further fanfare or ticker tape parade or (hopefully) any more snow or sleet or hail…
…here are 14 ideas to decorate your home for FREE.
Twig wreath
Shop your yard.
Pick up sticks and twigs and branches.
Snap pieces of the branches into six-inch sections.
Cut out a thin circle out of cardboard and hot glue the twigs in a clockwise direction around the cardboard circle.
Keep applying the twigs in layers until you have the shape and size of wreath that works with your decor.
I spray painted mine white, but you can always leave it twig colored.
Un-sag your couch cushion
Make your house and your living room cuter with by un-sagging your couch cushion.
Unzip your zipper on the bottom of the cushion.
If you have cushions that are attached to the back of your couch, chances are you probably have a secret zipper way in the back.
Reach into your cushion and pull out a little bit of the stuffing.
Rearrange it.
Re-fluff it.
Puff it up and pull it to the corners.
Replace the top stuffing back and put the cushion back in place (if it’s attached, it never left).
Stand back and take a look.
Seriously.
It’s like a new fluffy, cuter couch just showed up.
Pull your furniture away from the wall
I know, right?
This is the freest of the free tips.
So many times we start decorating our rooms with our couch and chairs and tables and ottomans all lined up against the wall.
Take a step back.
Look at the room from a new perspective. Can you pull some of the furniture into the room a little more? Can you rearrange the space to feel a little cozier?
Try it.
You might like it.
Create a wall display with a basket
Look around the house.
Chances are you have a flat basket or tray.
Chances are you have an empty wall.
Think vertically.
Take the basket or tray and hang it on the wall.
Then tie a wreath onto the front of it.
Create a free table runner
Go to your fabric stash.
Cut a rectangle from your favorite piece of fabric.
Fray the edges.
Burlap works really well with this method.
Don’t have fabric? Why not use wrapping paper instead?
Decorate with wrapping paper
And speaking of wrapping paper?
I decorate with mine.
See that basket in the corner?
It’s full of rolls of wrapping paper. I’m using faux wood paper and craft paper because it matches my decor.
But add your own.
Put your wrapping paper on display and decorate with it.
Spray paint your baskets
Have baskets sitting around your house in your donate pile?
Make them cute.
I spray painted this basket gray.
And then?
I printed off numbers on the computer to use as stencils, cut out the center, taped them onto the baskets and spray painted them white.
Decorate with wood scraps
These pieces of wood were left over from a molding project at our home.
Instead of tossing them, I decorated with them.
I painted them with acrylic paint and glued a chipboard letter on them.
Don’t have chipboard letters around the house?
Trace a letter onto the scrap of wood and fill in the outline with paint.
You can use these letters for different seasons to spell different words.
Make your own wood twig sphere
This is another easy project made from shopping your yard.
Find twigs in your yard and cut pieces approximately 3-4″ each.
Glue twigs around a balloon to create the shape of a sphere.
When glue dries, pop out the balloon in the center and remove.
Decorate a mantel, a bookcase or a coffee table with your new twig sphere.
Refresh your door
Hello front door.
Nice to meet you.
If you go in and out your back door like me, sometimes the front door gets a little neglected.
And it’s the first thing that people see.
Take a moment to wipe down your door.
Shine up your handle and your door knocker.
Refresh it with a wreath.
Your door will be so bright, your guests will have to wear shades.
Refresh your books
I cover my books in wrapping paper.
Or scrapbook paper.
Whatever makes them look cuter.
If you are looking for a new look for your bookcase, why not rethink your books?
Add a pop of color with left-over paper and then hand-write the title of the book on the spine, or print off a label on your computer.
(total decorating aside: you could also place all the similar colors of books on your shelf together to create a color block look without covering the books).
Frame a family quote
Print off something amazing you or someone in your family has said.
Then frame it.
Instant wall art for your space.
(total aside: this is the cutest quote from my son when he lost his first tooth).
Decorate with your craft supplies
I know, random, right?
But some of the cutest decorations in my craft room are putting the craft supplies on display.
Decorating and organizing–two of my favorite things.
Fill up containers and baskets and trays with paint and brushes and scrapbook paper and stamps.
It makes it so much easier to create when you know where your supplies are.
Wake up your house
Every morning.
Walk around and fluff it and rearrange it and make it feel like it’s loved.
Just be careful.
Sometimes you wake it up.
And sometimes?
You step in it. 🙂
PS You know I couldn’t let you leave without a story.
PPS Thanks for following along with the 30 days of FREE.
I hope it helped you and your house take your relationship to a new level. 🙂
That twig globe would make a great gift for a certain someone....thanks for the DIY.
Free ideas are my favoritest of ideas! Happy May Day! Lisa
What does the tooth fairy quote say???
Yes! I want to know too!
I love all of these. The simplicity is perfect. Thanks!
Love the tips! Will definetly do the er eath project. So many sticks in our yard winter has hung on longer than ever this year. Do you remember celebrating May Day back when you were in school? Come on tell me I’m not that old. You know maypole, ribbons all that. Anyone??? Sigh, I must be old.
I remember May Day, the pole, flowers and ribbons we'd wind around the pole...you're not alone nor that old. ;)
I remember making May Day baskets for our neighbors! That really was a loooonnnnnggg time ago!
I'm 56 and I never did the maypole and ribbons. The only thing I can remember about May Day was leaving flowers, anonymously, on people's porches. :)
Love the quote idea!!! Great job. Happy spring finally from Kentucky. Perfect porch sitting ice tea drinking day.
You may have to edit post and let us know tooth fairy quote! But you gave me a great idea. When my son was really little he told my husband to " Kiss Mommy just like in the movies!" My family quote. Haha
Happy May Day to the biggest rock star out there!!! Love the ideas- especially the quote one. Thank you.
I think we all want you to “read” that quote to us ... please!?
Absolutely wonderful. And amazingly simple. Actually things I never would have thought of. Thank you for sharing.
One of my fave stories EVER!
You never run out of ideas, girl. And I love them all. It's time we started doing and stopped buying...like the good old days! Jane
Can you tell me the flower (I know they are not live) shown in the bread bowl? Needing to do this! Love the twig spear idea!
**sphere
Linda, They are live! They're Jasmine plants that I got at Trader Joe's. Happy day friend! karianne
Hey, Great ideas to decorate home Simple and cost-effective things to try out. Recently I've shifted to my new house. I'm very much confused about my living room rug. The walls are decorated with a pop of bright colors and the white colored couch is placed at the one corner of my room. Please suggest me the best rug which can go with my living room. I've been choosing the rugs from https://www.therugmall.com/8-x-10-area-rugs-best-rugs-to-buy-in-usa/ they are having the greatest collection of rugs.
I love these ideas! Your home is gorgeous, as always!! xoxo
What a wonderful post! I love all these ideas, and I especially love that you wake up your house each morning. That is such a fantastic idea. I did love the story you linked to at the end as well. I hope that was the only time you had that experience! Thank you so much for sharing, Karianne. I'm featuring this post at the Hearth and Soul Link Party this week. Hope to see you there!
I remember May Day in Hawaii. School allowed us to wear mumus an leis, boys Hawaiian shirts and leis. And we had a maypole dance. It was so festive and it smelled wonderful. That was many many moons ago but I STILL REMEMBER.
I like your blog, your house is wonderful. Merci pour toutes ces photos qui font rêver. Have a happy month of May. A reader from Belgium