Do you ever feel like you have the perfect decor and you just love all your decorations…. until one day you don’t? That’s how I have been feeling lately, I loved what I had, but I simply felt like something was missing. It wasn’t anything big or major, I didn’t feel like it needed to be anything big, like a furniture change, but I felt like there was just parts that didn’t mesh right, or feel right to me. I decided that it was time to move stuff around in the house and purchase a few small things to really make a large impact on my space.
It’s easy to make small changes for a big impact when you are decorating. My big rule of decorating is to shop my house before I spend any money on my space. I also stopped purchasing things unless I knew exactly where they were going to go.
This post is going to showcase how just a few new pieces and some old ones that I moved around in my house made a very large impact and difference to a space. It always amazes me how easy it is to change the look and feel of a space with just a few small changes.
This is our library space. I never overly loved the space as a whole. I like where the big major pieces were but I always felt like something was off or missing (trust your instinct when decorating, if it doesn’t feel right, it’s probably not) but I was not sure what, so I was waiting until I could find the right piece (or pieces) that would pull this space together.
The first thing I did was decide what I thought needed fixing. I looked at the space and realized what it was missing or what needed changing and made notes for myself. Making notes helps you visual what needs to be changed and then when you are shopping your house, or start shopping then you know what to look for.
I started by adding this sign that I had bought at Home Goods but had not hung up yet. I really wanted it to go in this space but I was not sure where to put it. Once I outlined what I wanted to change in the room I knew that this sign would be the perfect match above the chalkboard.
I tried hanging a wreath in the space and I really liked that, so after Easter I looked for another wreath to hang in the space.
I found a Giant J for $6, that I loved for this space at Hobby Lobby but it was not very pretty, nor was it the right color so I fixed it up using some BB Frosch Chalk paint, you can read the post about my redo of this piece here. I also rearranged the top of the cabinet with things I already had in different places around the house. 
Next I added some cotton garland that a friend had mailed me. I tried putting that thing in so many places but it wasn’t until I put it on the top of the chalk board that I felt like it finally found its home.
I liked the rearranged pieces above the cabinet but I felt like there was not enough texture and dimension to the space so I added my blue cotton basket from the floor to the top of the space. And in its place I added a new lamp. I had seen a post on All Things Thrifty where she had bought this BHG lamp at Walmart and I fell in love with the lamp so I knew it had to be added to the space. I also knew that as much as I loved the blanket my grandmother made being in the space, it still was not exactly the look I was going for and my kids were playing with the blanket and I was worried it was going to get messed up, so I went into my blanket bin and found the multicolored Ikea blanket that fit the space perfectly. I also grabbed an anchor pillow that I had downstairs and brought it up to put in this chair. Lots of changes and very little money spent so far.
I seriously am in love with the Lamp… its perfect in the space and is exactly what I had been looking for in this space. I feel like it completely changes the space and gives it the exact look I was going for. Before, every time I walked past this spot I would look at it and cringe and feel like something was totally missing, but now I love it so very much and every time I walk past it I love it even more.
When I moved the cotton bucket to the top of the dresser and the lamp into its place I still had my fun metal basket that needed a home. I pulled a chair that I had sitting in the living room and a basket that was not getting any use and layered it up on the side of the computer desk to fill the space better. I also found this glorious dining room chair at World Market and knew that it would make the perfect blogging/computer chair. It was on sale and I had a coupon and it was military day… so I stole the chair for $50.
I also found a super cute tiny wreath at Walmart for $3 and knew it would be perfect to add to the chalkboard.
The top of the yellow cabinet went thought a pretty good make over too. I bought nothing for this space, I simply found things through out my house that would look good in the space and I rearranged my book shelves to add stuff from the top of the cabinet to decorate the book shelf with.
I love how it turned out. I feel like it finally looks like what I wanted it too. I had a jar and some old spools and I just mixed them together to create a bit of depth and color to the space.
Next up was this little spot to the left of the library, it just sits right under our bar and I did not like hardly anything about it except for the blanket and the chair. I knew it needed a change.
I changed out the pillow ( a few times)….
And finally settled on a J pillow I had bought at Target awhile back… I also ended up painting my milk jug a soft light color so it was not so dirty and dingy looking. I finally feel like the space has the soft look I was going for. You can see how I painted the milk jug here (I just painted right over that nasty rustiness.)
I also changed up the table behind the chair and added some succulents in a metal tin to it (you can see how I painted that to give it a weathered look here.) I also moved the brown wooden basket from the side of the computer desk to the side of the table.
I re-upholstered this stool to be a softer color and added this egg basket to it. I loved it at first, but it was in a high traffic area and it just felt too plain.
So again I just went shopping in my house and grabbed two pillows that I had floating around and added them to the basket to complete the space.
Perfect. A quick change that cost me nothing.
This is the space I right to the left of the computer and it was not in need of a lot, but it was still very plain. I knew I wanted a mirror to go on that blank wall and I needed to add more depth to the side of the computer. 
I moved that basket to the dining area and added a fun round mirror in that space next to the Milk sign. I got the mirror at Home Goods for $20 and absolutely love it.
I brought the chair over from the dining room and added the baskets to it. I literally am just loving how it turned out. Such small changes and such a big impact.
Before:
After:
Seriously the mirror is dreamy.
Before of the space: All the stuff that needed to be changed out so badly, just waiting for a bit of extra love.
After: It’s finally found its beauty.
Total cost on this room redo:
$50 for the chair: World Market
$6 for the J: Hobby Lobby
$5 on paint: BB Frosch and Behr
$60 for the lamp: Walmart
$3 wreath: Walmart
$20 mirror: HomeGoods
= $139
The rest I already had in the house so that was all free. Not bad for a total room make over.
Last but not least I wanted to share what just a little bitty change can do to make a piece look more complete.
I love my hutch that I redid a few months back using BB Frosch (you can see that redo here and here). And I love that I can finally display all my pieces but I just felt like there was not enough depth and dimension up top, it was just crying out for some more love.
When I was at Hobby Lobby I saw these adorable signs and knew they had to be mine. I am just in love with how perfect they look in this space. Swooning!!!
They were $15 a piece and I can not imagine a more perfect thing for the space.
It’s not difficult to rearrange your space and make it what you want it to be.
Just remember to 1) Make a plan 2) Shop your house 3) Be patient when shopping for things (wait for the right piece) 4) Don’t buy it unless you know where you want it to go!!
What small changes have you made in your house that have had a big impact?
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