Refresh Your Home This Fall, Small Budget and All

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Here are five budget friendly ways to refresh your house this fall.

When fall arrived this year I dove in with all the excitement. I got some pumpkins and arranged them out on the front steps and inside on the fireplace mantel. I was so proud and feeling like Joanna Gaines. But then I took a step back and something looked off.

Maybe I need more pumpkins. Maybe these pumpkins are too small? I should get some twinkly lights to decorate the railings on the steps. And a wreath. What front porch fall decor is complete without a wreath? Yes, a wreath will fix it.

These are the thoughts running through my mind this year. Being in my third trimester of pregnancy, I'm in nesting mode, but also, our house has just felt the need for a refresh. Since we rent our old farmhouse, there's only so much we can (or want) to put the work into. But this fall I finally made a few simple changes to give the house a little pick-me-up. They were budget friendly and gave the house a breath of fresh air.

So if you're like me  and feeling stuck wanting to do a lot with your house but don't have the money or ability to just yet, these tips are a good way to tide you over until the big renovations can begin.

1. Switching out the old pillows and blankets
We've had the same pillows on our couches for years and the same throws for almost just as long. The pillows aren't bad. Beautiful brown and red suede pillows that at the time, flowed with our western ranch style decor quite well. But as the years have passed, our walls now hold bright and happy family pictures in instead of galloping horses and cowboy boots. The pillows not only, don't follow the light and airy feel of a family farmhouse, but the suede is wearing out and the pillows weren't holding their shape quite as well. The fix? I ordered new pillow covers off of Amazon. For twenty-five dollars (the price of one new pillow) I was able to order four new pillow covers of different textures and colors to slip over the old pillows. Putting new covers on the pillows helped bring back their shape and stability and allowed me to lighten up our room with some contrasting colors and textures on our suede couches. I also pulled out some handmade blankets and quilts from family that we've not used for fear of wearing out and sent the store-bought throws to thrift. The handmade ones bring more life and coziness to our home and are now being used and admired instead of hidden away in a closet.

2. Rearranging furniture
I don't know about you, but I don't care for change. Even if I'm tired of the same old stuff, change gives me anxiety. Especially when it comes to decorating. I'm not the best decorator so I'm afraid to touch anything and make it look worse. But with a second child on the way, I was forced to rearrange our house in order to make room for our new little bundle. One of the ways we rearranged was turning the dining room into our guest bedroom.

Read that again. Yeah, you read it right.

It's kind of an out there thought, yeah? Most people don't think of making a dining room a bedroom. But in our house, everything is divided into rooms. No open floor plan in a hundred year old farmhouse. So it actually isn't quite as crazy as you would think. The point is though, a little out of the box thinking can completely transform your house without having to gut it or do high cost renovations. Simply moving a bookshelf around or rearranging your couches can make a big difference.

3. Rotating in those fall decorations
While I'm just now jumping on board the decorating for the seasons train (this is the first year I've decorated for fall), I'm all about rotating your decorations. Whether it's putting some away in storage and bringing out others so the decor feels new, or swapping the room the decorations are in, your house will magically feel newer and fresher than before.

4.  Bring in living plants
You don't need to go and buy an expensive fig tree or a bunch of succulents. Although I must say, buying plants is always fun! Another way to freshen up your home is by bringing in some wildflowers you pick while on a hike, or trim some flowers from your own flower garden. I clipped the tops of our petunias and marigolds from our flowerbed and dropped them in a bowl of water. They float around and look so pretty. And it's a bit of a different look than your typical vase of flowers.  And this time of year, pumpkins. They're everywhere you look and not super expensive. And the best part? If you buy the real ones, you can use them for pies, soups, and breads when you're done using them as decorations.

5. Use passive lighting instead of direct light
Sometimes, all it takes is lighting the room by soft lights such as candles or strung up lights (those aren't just for Christmas, you know.) During the day, let the sun light the room and in the evening light your favorite candle and use a table lamp instead of the ceiling light. Ceiling lights can sometimes cause drastic shadows or color distortions. Using natural light and shears on your windows instead of heavy curtains will help utilize the sun and keep you from needing to burn electricity too!

These five simple and low-budget ideas can be done anytime of the year, not just fall. And they'll give your home enough of a boost to get you through until you have the time and money to invest in the Fixer Upper renovations you've been dreaming of.