Decorating: Easy as 1-2-3

We're closing in on a year since my husband and I have moved in to our current house. Which, by the way, went by in the blink of an eye! But anyways, because we live in base housing and we are pretty limited on decorating options. I can't wait until we are in the position of purchasing our own home because base housing is definitely not the business. After all is said and done, it would have been less than two years that we've lived here and when the time comes to move out we have to leave everything just the way we found it. So in other words, we can't do any remodeling or additions, and painting the walls would be a bigger headache than it's worth because we would just have to paint back over it anyways. With that being said, our decorating options were pretty limited, but I didn't let that stop me from creating a friendly and cozy living space. You can do the same by using these three key items:

Flowers

Flowers are so friendly and can add a pop of color to any room. I try to have a vase of fresh flowers on the dining room table as often as I can (or whenever my husband decides to surprises me with flowers). Spring and summer time are great in this area because the local farms we are surrounded by have some of the most beautiful arrangements and for such a great price! I prefer fresh flowers, but you can't underestimate the power of a faux flower arrangement put together with flowers from the Dollar Store ;) I prefer to use artificial flowers to decorate our home for fall and winter because you can hand pick your arrangements from a surprisingly pleasant variety without spending a pretty penny.

Candles

I've said it before and I'll say it again; I LOVE CANDLES! Whether they're lit or not, candles instantly make any space cozy and smell wonderful (well, depending on the scent). I have about 20 Bath and Body Works 3-wick candles tucked away, but I am constantly swapping them out to compliment the season and our current decor. Have several, or display them solo, candles are a great 2-for-1 decorative smell good. 

*sidenote: I created the floral arrangement in the photo on the left with materials from the Dollar Store, including the vase and ribbon.

Photos

 

I have a ton of photos displayed throughout the house! Because we live so far from both of our families, I love being surrounded by photos capturing great memories with all of our family and friends. I'm not a big fan of uniformity when it comes to frames. Using different sizes, colors, and patterns adds interest and appeal, especially when I decided to make a photo collage on our wall. I noticed that it also makes it a little harder to detect if pictures aren't hanging 100% straight. If you're in a similar situation as us and are unable to paint your walls, creating photo collages or using larger shelves to display photos, livens up a boring blank white space.