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How to Love Your Home Part Two

If you are struggling to like where you live, then this four part series is for you! Enjoy the second part of our podcast series where we talk about how you can learn to love your home by focusing on what you can control.

We get it – we really do!

Not everyone’s living sitch is ideal.

I know there were many homes that we did not love.

So this “How to Love Your Home” series is here to hopefully spark some joy in your heart and help you shift your mindset to help you learn to love something about your home.

In Part 1, we talked about learning to love your home by focusing on what is good in your home.

Filling your home with your favorite things, listing what you might miss if you moved away, and counting your blessings – all are great points to focus on when dealing with a home your aren’t quite fond of.

And today, we are talking about focusing on what you can control.

Click below to listen to the
Your Home, Renewed Podcast:

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How to Love Your Home
Part 2: Focus on What You Can Control

(Some affiliate links are provided below. Full disclosure here.)

There are some circumstances in your home that are out of your control.

Like living in a neighborhood that doesn’t have natural gas, but you love cooking with it.

Or it may be an issue we don’t like about our current home, like how close the houses are to each other.

In this episode, we discuss ideas to help you find solutions with some of your challenges.

Focus on what you can control while Living in a Rental

Living in a rental home may limit you on how many changes you can make to the home.

Many landlords are very strict about what changes you can make to the home, including painting or structural changes.

But there are many options to consider.

Right before we moved back to Tennessee, we decided to sell our house and rent a smaller property to help us save us to move back to east.

We approached the landlords and told them we were DIYers and noticed that some things in the house needed repairing from the previous renters.

We were able to negotiate our rent lower in exchange for us completing the repairs on the property and to the house.

The drain pan to the washer and dryer was busted, so we repaired that, as well as the outdoor sprinkler system.

So there are definitely things you can consider to do while living in a rental that can help you love this home.

We installed a temporary backsplash made of headboard behind the stove and hung it with either small finishing nails or those velcro picture hangers.

Decorating a Rental - how to love where you live, even if it's temporary!
Decorating a Rental - how to love where you live, even if it's temporary!

We also needed a temporary solution for a kitchen island in the rental house, so we built one out of pallet wood.

It was super simple to make and cost us less than $50!

When we were living in a rental, our home was lacking a counter space, so we built a DIY Pallet Kitchen Island for less than $50.
CLICK HERE to read how we made this DIY Pallet Wood Kitchen Island

In fact, we loved it so much that we took it with us when we moved back to Tennessee and used it in that kitchen.

We added some beadboard to the frame, painted it white and gave the top a new upgrade.

DIY Farmhouse Kitchen Island - how to make an affordable kitchen island for your home.
Read about the updated Farmhouse Kitchen Island HERE

Here are some more ideas to consider for your rental:

  • Swap out Light Fixtures: if you are handy or have electrical knowledge, swapping out fixtures is easy to do. Just remember you will have to hang the old ones back up. Or offer them to the new owner! 😉
  • Ask if you can paint: Some rentals allow their tenants to paint the walls, as long as it’s not difficult to paint over when you move out. It’s worth asking!
  • Removable wallpaper: you can add this to your rental to help you put your own flair on the home. If you are worried that you may damage the walls, we have a Temporary Fabric DIY Wallpaper Tutorial that we made out of fabric and liquid starch.

So how do you find the joy with this list and help remove those burdens that you just can’t seem to shake?

Focus on what you can control in the home you own.

In our current home, we don’t have our dream ceilings.

Our boys are very tall and it would make sense to have taller ceilings to accommodate them.

But we still wanted to have beams in our bedroom.

So we decided that we could still get the look we loved, but with smaller profile DIY beams.

In fact, we found that by removing the popcorn from our ceiling, they suddenly seemed a bit taller.

But it’s probably only a quarter of an inch. Maybe it’s how the light reflects off the flat ceiling vs the popcorn that helps.

Another issue in our current home is that it’s really dark, even in the brightest of daytime.

We could add more windows to add the light, or bust out some walls to allow light to flow better.

But not having a huge reconstruction budget takes that option off the table immediately.

One other thing that is out of our control at this house is the proximity to our neighbors.

But once you get in the house, you never think about how close you are to your neighbors.

But this is the first home that we actually have space for everything in our home

Rethink your furnishings

In our first episode, we talked about saving versus splurging when it came to certain items.

That was definitely the case with the sofa in our basement.

If it’s uncomfortable furniture that is making you dislike your home, then make a change that you can control.

When we purchased our bed frame, it was the first, expensive, grown up purchase we made for our home.

And while it was scary at the time, looking back, it was one of the best purchases we made!

BTW – it’s hard to find a replica to this bed, so I’ve rounded up a bunch in the similar style in this post.

You can always find awesome, like new items on the marketplace or Craigslist to replace your busted couch.

Rethink your Decor

One thing that may be affecting how your love your home is how you have it decorated.

I’m one that thinks that the decor should fit the home.

For example, a cabin should have that type of aesthetic. Not to say that it has to be bears, plaid and snow shoes everywhere. Check out my friend, Dara’s home for gorgeous log cabin inspo.

But ultra modern style decor may not work with a log cabin.

Or it could be the opposite – you may hate that country style, but live in a farmhouse.

Decorate in a way that will make you happy!

Make Peace with the Out of Control

Sometimes what you can control is absolutely nothing.

It may be financial.

It may be medical.

You may be in a situation that you can’t get out of.

But honestly, the façade of thinking we have any control isn’t real.

Even with Trent’s recent surgery, it was out of his control, but on this side of it, he can control what he eats and how he approaches his health for the rest of his life.

So this goes back to finding blessings in those circumstance.

And make peace with being out of control.

You may have to increase your trust and know that God had the best plan for you.

And trusting in the sovereignty of God can actually release you from the worry and anxiety that comes with being out of control.

Trusting in ‘Thy Will Be Done’ can alleviate that feeling of being out of control, knowing that He has you in His hands.

So the key to focusing on what you can control is coming to the realization that you actually don’t have control over anything!

Do you have more tips that you want to share?

Be sure to leave a comment below – we would love to hear your amazing suggestions!

Resources

Ways to Shop Our Home

If you’re looking for sources for items in our home, you can find them here!

From furniture, home decor items, and some of our favorite tools, small appliances and organizing bins, you can find anything you are looking for.

Since most of our projects here at Noting Grace are DIYs or thrift store finds, we’ve done our best in finding budget-friendly alternatives for you.

Happy Shopping!


More Ways to Shop


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Our regular one-stop-shop for all things home. Shop all our favorite items in our home.

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Love the look of one of our rooms? Shop this list to find the exact link you are looking for.

Shop our LTK

Here is where you’ll find our Instagram round ups, upcoming sales and gift guides.

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