What’s up, home-ys?

In March of 2019, I purchased my first home – by myself.

Since then, I have spent much of my time and money pretending to be Joanna Gaines. I was scared that buying a house and living there by myself was going to cause me to be homesick, even though I am 3 miles from home. To prevent this, I wanted to make it homey and really reflect my style, which I think I have been waiting to do since I left for college at 18. Now, people ask me to help decorate for them – which by the way people, I am serious when I say I will help!

I am on a budget so my favorite app right now is Wayfair. My rugs come from Wayfair or RugsUSA, which always has amazing sales and coupons. As far as decor goes, Target and Kirkland’s are my go-to. My [fake] house plants all come from HomeGoods.

Here are some tips I’ve learned when decorating a bare, budgeted home:

Always buy the big stuff on holidays. My couch was 40% off from Johnny Janosik on President’s day.
Do NOT get a white couch if you have a dog. People told me this but I did not listen because, well, fashion.
You can ALWAYS find it cheaper. If your heart is set on something, Google the shit out of it. You can find it on sale (ads through Facebook will definitely help with this!) and the same rug from one site is almost always cheaper on another.
Build-able furniture is the cheapest – it fills the lonely void in your life by giving you a project and it works (if you don’t strip all the screws).

Living room – white couch with dog-saving blanket

The other thing I get asked a lot is “how are you such a good decorator?” Ok, no one asks me that but they should. The answer is – I am constantly changing and rearranging. I did not just walk into my home one day and put everything in its place. I am always deciding I don’t like something or that looks too cluttered or where am I going to hang this other pack of sea urchin thingys? Tip – they also make great table top decor as seen in my dining room. Just have patience and keep moving things to know what you like and don’t like. And, when in doubt, ask me!