How to Change Up Your Home Decor for the Seasons Without Breaking the Bank

For many people, having a beautiful home means decorating for the season. Sure, decorating for the winter holidays is a widely accepted practice in western culture. Consumers spend billions upon billions on gifts and seasonal decor just for this one season! However, more and more people also want to decorate for the fall, spring, and summer holidays. However, the cost of these little decor items can add up to be a huge hit to your bank account balance. Does that mean that seasonal decorating is only in the domain of the wealthy? Absolutely not! With a little planning, everyone can have a seasonally appropriate home for a minimal outlay of cash.

Invest in Multi-Use Items

I love large, very specific decor items like huge ceramic pumpkins for fall or large red, white, and blue bunting for summer. Those items, however, can quickly eat up your budget, take up lots of storage space, and leave you without the layered look favored by decorators and influencers. What to do? Devote your decorating dollars to items you can use from season to season. (And don’t worry, no one is suggesting you pay full price for these items, either. More about that below!)

• Vases and Pitchers: A great collection of neutral vases and pitchers can be used to show off a variety of holiday decor items. Clear (glass, crystal, or even plastic) vases and pitchers are especially useful. A large, clear vase can hold colorful balls in the winter, Mardi Gras beads in the spring, seashells in the summer, and dried leaves in the fall. Metal or ceramic vases and pitchers can hold seasonally appropriate flower cuttings or stems.
• Baskets: Baskets are incredibly useful decor items you can use year-round. In the winter, sturdy baskets can hold firewood or cozy throw blankets. Those same baskets can feature flip flops or flowering branches in other seasons.
• Frames: A great collection of frames has a large impact on a wall. So instead of spending on pricey wall decor, just take the frames down each season and switch out for seasonally appropriate images. The Library of Congress offers a search database of free images and artwork, so your only cost will be printing the pictures.
• Trays: Small collections make a large impact when grouped. Trays are a great way for small holiday decor impact to make a splash.
• Simple linens and tableware: Tablecloths and dishware are major investments. White or beige linens can be used year-round and jazzed up with less expensive runners and napkins. Same with dishes. If the backbone of your china collection is simple white plates, it makes it easy to work in great holiday mugs or seasonally appropriate accent dishes.
• Candlesticks: Candles are a great way to help your home change with the seasons. Not only can you change out the color of the candles, but changing the way your house smells to match the season is another great way for each season to feel special. I love pulling out my douglas fir candles in winter, and I love my sea salt candles just as much in the summer. Having a varied collection of candlesticks lets you buy cheaper taper candles versus more costly candles that come in their own jars or other containers.

Shop the Dollar Store

The dollar store is a holiday decorator’s dream destination. Each season they bring in loads of new merchandise! You can expect a plethora of ghosts, goblins, witches, and other autumn-themed decor in the fall, while the winter months bring Christmas tree decorations, holiday-themed paper goods, and other fun accents for your home. However, the dollar store is also a great place to stock up on multi-use items. They have a good selection of vases, candlesticks, plain dishware, and baskets you can use year-round! If you like the shape of something but not the color remember that can typically be easily changed. The dollar store is also a good place to stock up crafting supplies, like foam wreath forms and even things like candies in seasonal colors you can use in glass jars as decoration and treats!

Buy Used

One of the best ways to get splurgy or hard-to-find decor items? By buying someone else’s decorations! Facebook Marketplace, Mercari, and Craigslist are great places to search for holiday decor items. Thrift stores can also be a great place to treasure hunt! Not only do they get donations of holiday-specific items, but they are often overrun with items like baskets and vases. Another great place to score amazing decor at a bargain-basement price? Estate sales! Families often don’t have room to take all of their loved ones’ decor. Often, estate sales are run by professional companies and you can sign up for their email lists. Often, announcements of coming sales come complete with photographs of what’s being offered, making it easy to find sales offering holiday decor items that suit your taste.

Do It Yourself

Another great way to get affordable holiday decor items is to make them yourself! And not all DIY projects are difficult or time-consuming. One easy DIY is to spray paint all your various candlesticks or ceramic vases the same color. Another great DIY is to collect craft supplies from nature. If you have your own yard, you probably have a plethora of seasonal appropriate debris like fallen leaves (autumn), pinecones (winter), flowering branches (spring), or simply flowers cut from your bushes (summer). Even buying simple bits of greenery can be very inexpensive and offer many decorating possibilities. There are plenty of other easy projects you can try as well.

• 78 Easy Christmas Craft Ideas to Make Your Home Merry and Bright: Country Living Magazine put together a list of easy and affordable DIYs.
• 25 Amazing DIY Spring Decorations & Crafts: Flower chandeliers, mason jar planters, and tulip wreaths are just some of the great ideas for spring decoration Curated Interior compiled.
• 100 Best Summer DIY Decor Ideas: Summer provides a lot of opportunities for inexpensive seasonal decor and DIYs!
• 50 Easy Fall Decorating Projects: Autumn offers a wide variety of decorating possibilities between the season’s turn toward most cozy textures and colors, but also all the possibility of the themes of harvest, Thanksgiving, and Halloween.

Buy Off-Season

Another great way to save is to buy new seasonal decor items at the “wrong” time. For example, January can be an amazing time to stock up on Christmas items. Summer decor items (especially outdoor items) often go on sale in late July and early August. Stores want to clear out their inventory so they have room for the next season’s wares! This means you can score major deals at a big discount. If you really want a fancy tree or huge ceramic pumpkins right after the holiday season ends is the best time to buy. It’s also a great time to buy basics at a low price. Things like white lights and baskets are needed every year, so why not buy them at the lowest price of the year? Think about the upcoming seasons and celebrations, and then buy early or right after, to be used the following year.

Decorating your home for the seasons and holidays is a wonderful way to bring joy into your home. But before that can be a priority, it’s important that the basics of the home are covered. That means home repairs. In the event of an emergency, it is important to understand all of the financial options available to you. Should an expensive and immediate repair be required, TitleMax offers alternative lending solutions to help you meet your emergency financial need.