This post shares slow decorating tips and ideas to help you reflect your style and save money.
Are you interested in making your home into a space that showcases your personality and fits your budget?
Slow decorating is all about curating interior spaces that showcase authenticity and welcome a cozy, slow living lifestyle. It’s creating a relaxing, calm space where you can cozy up with a soft, warm blanket and savor the moment.
Benefits of Slow Decorating
Taking time to decorate your space comes with many benefits. Slow decorating allows your home to evolve naturally. It reduces impulse purchases. It encourages sustainability and allows you to showcase pieces that carry a story.
The best part about slow decorating is there are no rules or “one size fits all.” This is about decorating in a way that is affordable and meaningful to you.
What Is Slow Decorating?
Slow decorating is not another trend; it’s recapturing a way of life that has become lost in a fast-paced society where quick, picture-worthy rooms are valued over the slowly curated spaces that embody the word “home.”
This idea was sparked during a conversation with a friend who was in a hurry to furnish and decorate a new home. They didn’t want to host a gathering until it was finished. I walked away wondering, Isn’t a home a place full of stories, not just a place full of items quickly purchased to fill a space?
With slow decorating, perfection is not the goal. Rather, embracing your season of life and patiently allowing your style to evolve is part of the fun.
These budget-friendly slow decorating tips are helpful no matter the size of your home.
Perhaps you find money, organization, and decluttering stressful. With this approach, decorating doesn’t have to be stressful. These tips will allow you to enjoy the slow, thoughtful process of making your house a home.
Don’t miss the bonus tip at the bottom of this post!
Here are the best slow decorating tips for those that value intentionality, longevity, and versatility.
15 Slow Decorating Tips for You
1. Live in the Space First
Take time to observe how you use each room in your home. The more you know how you actually use the space, the better you will know what pieces you need for decorating. This will save you money as you find timeless décor pieces that fit the space.
2. Prioritize Function
Think through what is needed to make the space liveable. Buy core items first to limit unnecessary furniture that clutters the room. Would a trundle bed allow more versatility? Would the room benefit from a chair in the corner? Is warm lighting preferred over cool lighting?
3. Avoid Filler Items
Leave some areas empty until you find the right piece. A bare wall in the entryway is better than a table that is in the way when you walk through the door. If you’re looking to warm up the space while searching for the right piece of furniture, consider buying a plant. Even faux plants or trees add color and life to a space and are easier to relocate than a piece of unwanted furniture.
4. Identify Patterns
Pay attention to the types of textures and styles you are most drawn toward. Sometimes we don’t know our preferred style until we begin taking note of what draws us in. For example, some people find stripes cozy, while others find stripes busy. Having clarity on your preferred style will help inform your buying decisions.
5. Create Your Own Mood Board
Gather inspirational photos from Pinterest, Instagram, and magazines. Decide on a color palette that reflects your personality. Think through the overall style of your home so there is a cohesive design as you move from room to room. Do you prefer boho, mid-century modern, French country? Knowing your preferred style will help eliminate decision-fatigue as you look for decor items.
6. Decorate in Phases
Start with the basics. Figure out the layout of each room and where furniture best fits. Then look for lighting and rugs to warm up the space. Then add art, plants, and décor items that bring the room to life. Using phases to layer in items will make the room both practical and beautiful.
7. Invest in Timeless Pieces
Choose well-made items that are durable and long-lasting. Don’t settle for items you don’t love. Your home is a refuge—a place of comfort and joy. Let those values guide your purchasing decisions, and save money by choosing items you won’t need to replace too soon.
8. Visit Thrift Stores
There are many unique, affordable treasures to be discovered at secondhand stores. Online marketplaces are also a treasure trove for one-of-a-kind finds. Thrifting is the best way to find a piece while creating a memory to go with it. You’ll certainly have interesting stories to tell.
9. Incorporate Handmade Items
There’s nothing quite like seeing a child’s painting framed on the wall, or a quilt your grandmother made displayed in the corner of the room. Learn to crochet and make your own coasters, or try pressing flowers, creating mini terrariums, or visiting a local pottery studio to create your own ceramics. Handmade items, whether gifted or made yourself, are key to making your home a reflection of you and your story.
10. Mix New and Old
Don’t hesitate to blend vintage items with new items. A China cabinet filled with old-fashioned plates and teacups looks charming next to a modern tea kettle or pitcher. Family heirlooms that carry personal stories look lovely on your modern coffee table. If you don’t love the family heirlooms or antique items passed down through the generations to you, consider passing them on to another member of the family.
11. Be Willing to Return or Resell
If an item isn’t fitting the space, see if you can return it, or try reselling it on an online marketplace. You could also move it around and live with it in different spaces before deciding where it should live. Don’t keep items if they don’t resonate with you. You will notice them and cringe every time you walk in the room.
12. Don’t Compare
There are countless images of beautiful spaces online. Slow decorating is about reflecting your style, not necessarily the latest trend or most popular design style. Focus on what you love about your space and how you can make it an extension of yourself, while also meeting your needs.
13. Take Breaks
One of the best aspects of slow decorating is embracing the slow living lifestyle. Sometimes that means enjoying a vacation, going for a walk, sitting and chatting with a friend—living life! With everything in life that demands quick answers and tight turnarounds, slow decorating is your opportunity to pause and curate timeless, meaningful spaces.
14. Trust Your Gut
Keep in mind, slow decorating is about finding what works for you. Others may have opinions about your space but do what feels right to you. Even if you make a mistake, you’re learning what you like or don’t like and what works or doesn’t work. The good news is that while your space is in the process of becoming, so are you.
15. Less Is More
Fewer items allow you to wait for pieces that feel right and resonate with you. It’s less expensive, more sustainable, and calmer when your home is decorated in a way that truly highlights what you love. Let go of items that don’t reflect your style and focus on the pieces that do.
Bonus Tip
Don’t wait until your home is completely decorated or perfectly clean before you invite people over. Hospitality is about how you make others feel, not whether every dish is in place and every room is perfectly manicured. Some of the best conversations are had and the most meaningful friendships are developed in homes that are still coming together—not finished, but lived in.
Which Slow Decorating Tips Most Inspire You?
Use the tips above to help you decide what to keep in mind when looking for décor items.
One final, but important note, slow decorating invites you to play the long game instead of looking for instant gratification. Rather than speed and convenience, decorating a home invites patience and intentionality. It’s all about quality over quantity.
And the hidden benefit of slow decorating is how it builds self-trust and long-term vision. In the process of decorating your home, you grow and develop too. Your home becomes a gentle reminder that good things take time to develop.
So, remember to embrace the journey. Slow decorating doesn’t come with a deadline. It’s a joy-filled process of collecting, trying out items, and making memories along the way.
This post shares slow decorating tips and ideas to help you reflect your style and save money.
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