Ten Items I Use to Decorate my Home with Character

Decorating a home so that it has "character" has become the trending way to describe what will make a house feel unique and "homey." This week I thought I would share ten items I've either used or made that help me feel like I've added character to our home. Our budget does not allow for larger scale projects very often, such as shiplap or brick walls, vaulted ceilings or wooden beams. (Although, if you read last week's post, you'll see how we have since found a work around for that last one!). So I try to bring in character in other, less expensive ways. Here are my top ten!

1. Use a wooden sign as a valance over the kitchen sink as opposed to the typical curtain. I love our GATHER valance! And, better yet, I love that we also have one that we swap out for the holidays that says North Pole.
2. Use a ladder or repurpose an old ladder and hang vertically or horizontally on the wall. We have one hanging in our entry way vertically. I like to switch out the buckets during certain seasons. The middle bucket and plant hides an oddly placed light switch! We used to have another (duplicate ladder) hung horizontally over our sofa until I switched things up and used that space for our wall collage with scrabble tiles... see #3! These ladders were old camper bunk ladders that had uneven legs because of a step on which they rested. I cut the legs even and added hooks to the back and VOILA...Instant wall decoration with character!
3. Create a wall collage using scrabble tiles, signs, wreaths, cutout words or initials and arrows to add character to your walls. While it may take some time and patience to arrange and plan this kind of wall (future blog post to come), it's well worth the energy! We can make these scrabble tiles for you from our shop OR you can purchase a kit though us to make them yourself! I love how ours turned out and, because I have another space for photos, I did not feel compelled to add any photos into this collage, but you might want to!
4. Add a gallery wall if you have the space. Check out a prior blog post about how we added this gallery wall to our entryway. This adds some depth and character as well as an opportunity to showcase all of those precious photos.
5. Incorporate a wooden toolbox. I love to use toolboxes for adding character to my home decor! They are so easy to switch up for the seasons - from greens to pine cones to pumpkins to hydrangeas... so versatile! We may even have some of these in the online shop!
6. Use a tufted bench as a coffee table. We purchased our bench from Kirkland's and I love that it is narrow, comfortable for shoe-less feet, and can fit a couple of soft baskets below it to hold the endless Power Ranger Toys!
7. Have an old window available to use for a focal point on a fireplace, even if just seasonally. Last week's blog post was all about how I decorated our mantel, particularly for Fall. But I love using this old window all year round as another way to incorporate character into our home decor in a very inexpensive way.
8. Use a mug holder for more than just mugs. I love this piece I purchased from Amazon this year. (This is the one affiliate link I do have here in this post... but I love it so much that I ordered two!) I plan to use the other one in my little product corner and for shows to hang some of my shop items. Hang cutting boards, seasonal decor and small wreaths... so easy to change up for the seasons and, again, it adds depth and dimension and character to your wall!
9. Think outside of the decorating box! I made this planked photo frame for our family photo to hang in the living room. Mine has a floral dimension but I show how to make one without in a prior blog post and you can find that here.
10. Turn an old headboard into a coat rack, towel or robe holder or look for ways to use existing pieces in unique ways. I love the piece I found at TJMaxx (I stumbled upon it in an odd place and didn't quite know what I would use it for until I got home  and DING DING DING above the tub it went!
    Falling under this category would also be one of our own custom made Farmhouse Shelf Signs! Check out some of the ones I have made for custom orders. This has become one of our most popular requests!

So there you have it. My top ten ideas for adding character to your home decor on the less expensive side! Do you have some favorites you'd like to share?