Hello my friends! Our weather for the past few days has been GLORIOUS! I mean, just perfect. I'm sitting outside under our pergola writing to you right now. When it's like this I could spend the whole day outside.
So in just a few days I will be embarking on yet another no spend month...if you're new around these parts you know I usually do this once a year. It helps with the budget but for me it's more about just clearing my mind and getting stuff done.
I usually finish up projects that I have the supplies for, or fix little things I've been putting off. I also usually do some organizing and purging. At the end I feel lighter in more ways than one. So at the end of this week I'll be kicking it off again. Usually I do this in January -- that's a great time because I'm so overwhelmed with stuff from the holidays. It forces me to put the brakes on and simplify.
I think I did it in the summer years back and I think that's a good time too. We're home and life slows (just a bit) so it's perfect.
My no-spend months are pretty strict and this time I may not be quite at strict -- only because I may have to grab a few minor things from hardware store. Nothing major, I'm talking paint brushes or random little stuff like that. But NO spending on decor for sure. I have plenty. ;)
Thus time I'm focusing on finishing up projects that I've let sit for a few months or even longer. Our stairs don't look like this right now:
We had them sanded down for me to restain last month...I thought I was going to work on it then but time got away from me. So they're still unfinished and I need to get that done. Big time.
I took our cabinet doors down in the laundry and taped everything off to paint...and still haven't finished that:
I adore our laundry room -- getting those painted is going to make such a difference in here. It's going to look so good! We've had unfinished cabinets hung for ummm...years? I also have a built in cabinet in the corner I've never shown you that I would like to trim out and paint as well.
Our. nightstands. are. still. unpainted:
I know what I want to do with them...I just need to do it. Squirrel!!
I've also made a loooong list of little things for each room that I've been meaning to tackle forever -- like filling anchor holes in the walls, touching up paint, filling holes in trim from when I installed it. Just a long list of teensy little things that add up over time, you know?
It's so nice to look back at the end of the month at what I am able to accomplish. By the way...so not a sloth this summer like usual! Virtual high five please. I've been working my tail off on the bathroom reno and I hope to share that next week.
Some of my favorite projects in our house have been completed during no spend months...that's the thing -- I'm all about completing during those weeks. I had the paint for our master bedroom but because the walls were so tall I never finished it up till my no spend month one year:
That was such a big transformation!!
I tend to install things and then not paint them. I guess I get tired? 😂 (See the laundry room above for reference.) I finished painting the window trim in our library one year and called that room done:
Often I'll have something that needs to be installed and a no-spend month is a good time to get it done. I had the "command center" hardware for our mud room forever and finally got it up:
You can see more of that mud room makeover here! Oh, and I always have my black paint on hand so you never know when another door will go black. ;)
I have a huge spray paint stash so I finished up our basement bathroom by painting a mirror and adding the finishing touches one year:
And sometimes I'll find free ways to decorate, including these free printables I found for our gallery wall:
Sometimes it's about getting creative to get a job done, sometimes it's just getting the job done. ;) But I always enjoy the NOT buying part and just clearing my mind and our house a bit.
I know many of you have tried incorporating a no-spend month into your family/household over the years as well. If you haven't I think you'd be surprised at how good it feels! But I AM always ready for a trip to HomeGoods at the end. ;)
Let me know if you have any questions about these projects! As always, you can see a list of my favorite projects and paint colors in our home here.
from
http://www.thriftydecorchick.com/2017/06/my-plan-for-no-spend-july-get-er-done.html
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