When Katherine sent me a few pictures from around her new home, I was stunned at how beautiful her house is becoming.  She and her husband just moved in last fall, and like most newlyweds, they didn’t have much.  Katherine told me, “We moved in with nothing much more remarkable than a bed, a couch, and stacks upon stacks of books.”

I just knew I had to share her new home with all of you.  Katherine has some beautiful ideas for creating a home that’s both financially and environmentally responsible, so I think you’ll just love what she has to say.  (And swing by her blog if you get a chance, too.  We recently did a super fun interview about Gadanke over there.)  Okay, Katherine.  It’s all you…

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Since laying out the welcome mat across the front door last fall, turning this house into a lovely, hospitable, warm refuge has come to be the most beautiful job to which I’ve ever been proud to dedicate myself.

Like a lot of other women I’ve got the magazine-reading, blog-scouring, window-shopping, nesting bug bad. Yet it’s also true that like most other households, we’re building this one up with the desire to be financially and environmentally responsible. We’re still working hard trying to figure everything out, but here are a few practical tips that have worked for us:

1.  Plants create comfort in any and every room. Supermarket bouquets, houseplants, and fireplace arrangements are inexpensive, create clean air, and add immediate polish more than any knickknack or candle display. If you’re going to display a collection, make it of the botanical variety. (The second option, in my personal opinion, would be books!)

2.  Thrifting, thrifting, thrifting. Our dining set was an $80 auction win, paintings and chairs came from thrift stores, and everything from our lawn mower to our guest bed was a craigslist.com find. Inexpensive? Check. Good for the environment? Check.

Just a note of encouragement: if waiting to find just the right pieces at just the right prices makes you feel impatient, try to remember that you will treasure a carefully assembled, well-loved collection of furnishings complete with their own histories far more than you will enjoy that expensive department store display set that will be out of style in 5-10 years.

3.  DIY is popular for a reason. It’s fun!! Don’t be afraid to tackle reupholstering, painting, refinishing or any number of other home improvements. I’m here to tell you that, while daunting, doing things yourself is an adventure that is well worth the undertaking and so rewarding in the end. Besides, with a quick internet search you can find a tutorial on practically anything. DIYNetwork.com and Instructables.com are great places to start. All it takes is a little creativity to turn an outdated piece with great bones into something more modern and completely beautiful.

4.  Spend less than you can afford. I could take all kinds of time on key ways to use your finances wisely in house investments, but I think this one principle is particularly worth mentioning.

Take it from me, it can be really easy to get caught up in accessorizing, picking up this pillow or that rug, and forget that we are so blessed to even be able to buy these things. Make it a priority to support whatever charity or cause or church comes to mind just enough to pinch your house budget. We immediately find that this practice puts what we want and could do without, versus what we really need, into perspective (a couch for the formal living room, a flat screen TV).

Suddenly other people become more important that what is in our home and I find that even though I’m still very much growing in this area, the less we buy, the more satisfied I am with what we already have.

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Isn’t Katherine’s home looking amazing?  I still can’t believe it – less than a year!  Her wisdom far exceeds such a length of time, don’t you think?  Any favorites from her home?  How about her philosophy?

Thank you again for sharing with us, Katherine!  I’m ready to move in.

Pssst… deep in the archives are some great tutorials on how to refurbish wood furniture and how to restore painted furniture.