Home Where Your Heart Is

My wife is lucky to have a mother who is skilled at making decorations for the home. Something about homemade decorations adds a certain feel to a home. People have commented to us that when they walk into our place, they feel right at home. They see oak pinwheel chairs, silk flower arrangements, colorful wreaths, lots of cozy blankets and afghans, handmade baskets, and many other personal artifacts that say to people we like to spend time in our home. Almost every decoration has a story behind it, usually one of care, family, and resourcefulness.
Your home can be warm and attractive without spending a fortune. For example, my wife always receives compliments on a beautiful basket she painted and decorated with a bow of floral cloth. To this day I have not seen a more beautiful basket, and we frequent a lot of boutiques. It cost her $20 to $25 to make, and similar baskets run from $75 to $100. So when I look at that basket, I admire its decorative qualities and also see $50 or more that we saved. The story of how the basket came into being illustrates further why interior decorating can be easy to do as well as pay dividends.
The basket would have never come into being had it not been for a family friend. She invited four women to her home and instructed them to bring a large basket and a yard of floral material. Together, they constructed the bows, painted the rims, and attached patterns to their baskets by following a plan in a crafts book. None of them had ever done that before.
Decorate Together This little experience suggests some simple steps you can take to save money decorating your home and develop a sense of community.
• Get people together to work on a project.
• Find ideas in decorating books available at your local crafts store or the library.
• Buy materials for decorations and put them into arrangements yourself.
• If your friends show no interest, take a class yourself. Call your local crafts store and inquire about where such classes are offered. Many hold classes on the premises.
As with so many other areas, spending less and investing your efforts increase the value and quality of things