How To Make Your Home Cozy On A Budget

Knowing how to make your home cozy makes all the difference when the world outside gets crazy. 

I recently had one of those days! There were 20 errands to run, everything was taking longer than expected, the kids were beginning to meltdown and we were all starving. The minute we got home and walked through the front door, I think we all let out a sigh of relief.

Days like this make me so thankful I’ve worked hard to simplify and make my home cozy and inviting.

How To Make Your Home Cozy

It doesn’t matter if you’re a full-fledged minimalist or just learning how to simplify when life gets crazy, and it does for everyone from time to time, you want your home to be a place of refuge. A place where you can sit and forget about the outside world.

Often we fail to make that cozy and inviting home that we long for because we’re worried about the costs.  But here’s the thing, it doesn’t need to be expensive and certainly shouldn’t be complicated to make your home cozy and inviting.

There are inexpensive ways to make your home cozy on a budget, here are a few to get you started.

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1. To Make Your Home Cozy – Declutter

It’s no secret how I feel about clutter. I’m actually gonna tell you that clutter is the exact opposite of making your home cozy.

There is no way you can create a warm and cozy environment if your house is full of clutter.

So the first and number one thing you need to do to make your home cozy and create that peaceful space you long for is to declutter.

Now don’t get me wrong here, I’m not saying your house has to be 100% clear of all clutter before you can begin to make your home cozy and inviting. Decluttering is for sure an ongoing process and depending on the extent of your clutter could be an extensive project.

However, to make your home cozy, you do need to make decluttering your first priority and something you pursue on a regular basis.

If you’re not sure how, where, and when to fit it in, no worries. I have lots of info on the how-to of decluttering all you gotta do is search the archives. Or click here for answers to some of the more common decluttering issues and questions.

I promise, if you start decluttering your home today, not only will you make your home cozy on a budget, but you may actually make money if you decide to sell off some of that clutter.

2. Keeping Indoor Plants & Fresh Flowers Makes Your Home Cozy

Did you know that indoor plants and fresh flowers have many benefits? For starters, they remove toxins from the air making your environment healthier. As if that wasn’t enough, they create immediate calming and positive feelings.

Adding both plants and flowers to your home is a simple and inexpensive way to make your home cozy on a budget.  They are a wonderful way to add natural beauty to any space while also creating a welcoming atmosphere.

Indoor plants instantly bring to life any room. It really doesn’t take much to make your home cozy.  A new plant or fresh flowers will do the trick every time.

3. Set Up A Cleaning Routine

When I think about ways to make your home cozy and inviting I have to ask why. Why is this important? The answer really is simple, I want my home to be more than a place I go to sleep at night. I want it to be a refuge of sorts. A place I can go to relax from the stressors of the outside world.

But the truth is, I can’t relax in my home if it doesn’t have some sort of order and cleanliness.

Honestly, I’m not naturally one of those super clean neatniks. I sleep just fine if the sink has a few dirty dishes. At the same time, I can’t sit down and fully relax if the house is a mess because I know I should be cleaning. This is where having a regular cleaning routine to keep everything tidy helps maintain that warm and cozy feel.

To make your own home cozy and inviting, set up a regular cleaning routine that will work for you. After the initial purchase of a few natural cleaning supplies, maintaining a cleaning routine is very inexpensive in terms of time and money.

The more simple you keep your routine the better.  Once you set up the right routine, before long you’ll be doing it on auto piolet.

If you need some inspiration, you can see my exact cleaning schedule here.

4. Cozy Up Your Home By Fixing Things That Are Broken

It’s just frustrating when you go to use something and it’s broken or doesn’t work quite right. Especially if it’s something simple like a loose cabinet hinge or stuck drawer. Having broken items around the house can trigger some serious discontentment.

On the other hand, eliminating those daily irritants is a guaranteed way to enjoy your home more. By fixing little things that are broken, you restore your sense of contentment and make your home cozy without breaking your budget.

5. Get Organized To Create a Cozy Home

After decluttering and creating a regular cleaning schedule, organizing key areas of your home is one of the best things you can do to make your home cozy on a budget.

Having a disorganized home is stressful to look at. I’m not just talking about piles of clutter here. Most of us can walk into a room and instantly tell the difference between a room that is well organized and one in disarray.  This is true even if they have the exact same belongings in both rooms.

When you’re in an orderly space there’s a feeling of tranquility. Coming home to an orderly home helps you to feel peaceful, knowing you’ve stepped away from the stresses of the real world. After all, this is what making your home feel cozy and inviting is all about.

The added benefits of organizing your home are you’ll avoid wasting time looking for things. You’ll also spend less time cleaning up. This, in turn, allows you to spend your time at home on those things that truly matter to you.

All it takes to make your home cozy and inviting is a fairly minimal effort in setting up a few basic systems. Find a place for everything and keep everything in its place.

Once you have a place for everything, invest in a few organizing supplies that fit within your budget and that’s it.  For some guidance in setting up organizing systems, Pinterest is a wonderful resource to get you started. You can also check out a Just a Girl and Blog.

6. Surround Yourself With What Makes You Happy

Your home should be a reflection of YOU!  Of your unique personality and style.  You want to feel refreshed and a feeling of contentment when you walk into your home.  Surrounded by what you love!

After all, life is too short not to enjoy every day. I’m not saying that the stuff in your home is the key to happiness. We know it’s not. However, that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t add a sense of joy and make your home feel cozy and inviting.

If you look around your home and you have a bunch of stuff that is neither necessary or something you truly love, get rid of it.

Start limiting your purchases so that you’re only buying things that you love. No more purchases just because it’s a great bargain. Also, stop buying things that will do for now. Learn how to stop buying things you don’t need!

By only purchasing what you genuinely love, it won’t take long before your surrounded by things that make your home cozy!

Remember that these things don’t need to be elaborate. For me, I love little reminders to be positive and kind.  I have lots of encouraging messages around my desk. I also love candles and all things soft and cozy.

Make a list of those things that bring you joy and fill your home with them today!

7. Slow Down

Slowing down is a choice. But it’s a choice that goes against the grain. Every message we receive from our fast-paced society tells us we need to go, go, go, and do more and more.

What these messages don’t tell us is that the more we go and the more we do, the more stress we feel. And of course, stress erodes our ability to enjoy all the work and effort we put into simplifying our home to make it cozy and inviting.

To maintain that cozy and comforting feeling in our home requires we slow down and simplify. We need to simplify both our schedules and what we have in our homes.

You can simplify what you have in your home by decluttering as we’ve already talked about.

Now, if everyone is feeling exhausted and grouchy that’s a good sign that you probably need to declutter your schedule as well. When it comes to decluttering your schedule, the goal is to eliminate as much as you can!  There are some really good tips for decluttering your schedule in this article, make sure to check it out!

Just know, it really is okay not to be involved in everything. Our time is short and fleeting, cherish it by slowing down. This will help the people in your home feel at peace, which will make your home automatically feel cozy and inviting without spending a dime.

8. Adding Favorite Scents Will Make Your Home Feel Cozy

Creating a home environment that invites you in with that warm and cozy vibe is as dependent upon the smells in your home as the way it looks. Scents really do help us relax. They trigger past memories of positive feelings.

Envision that ideal inviting and cozy space.  What smells are evident? Is it characterized by a clean and fresh scent? Is there the smell of cookies baking? Or maybe it’s fresh-cut grass on a warm spring day?

Whatever that magical scent is for you, add it to your home!

My two favorite ways to add scents to my home are with candles or an essential oil diffuser. Personally, I’m not a fan of perfumes and they actually bother me a lot, so I go for more natural fragrances.

I get some of my favorite candles and essential oils directly from Amazon their prices are low and they deliver right to my door.

It doesn’t get much simpler than that! So go ahead and make your home cozy by adding in some of your favorite scents.

9. Get Cozy

Think soft pillows, throws, and blankets. Nothing says cozy and inviting more boldly than comforting textures. Here’s the thing, not only will surrounding yourself with tranquil textures make you feel more relaxed they will make your home cozy without breaking your budget.

Soft cozy throws can’t help but invite you in. Think about it, when you see a room in a magazine or advertisement with a soft throw draped over a cozy chair how does it make you feel?  Chances are you can’t help but want to be in that room. It says forget about the rest of the world, just sit here and relax in pure comfort.

Pinterest is great for inspiration on how to achieve this look in your own home.

Your home is meant to be that place where you feel safe and protected. As you walk through the door there should be that sigh of relief “ahh I’m home”

It really doesn’t take much to make your home cozy.  A few small tweaks and additions made over time will help you turn your home into all you want it to be without breaking your budget.

Tell me how do you make sure your home feels like a cozy refuge from the outside world.