🌼Cottagecore Inspired Decorate and Chat with Me 🌼

Hey everyone, this is Bethany. Thank you so much for stopping by Joyful Habits. Today I wanted to show you a little bit of how I've been decorating. I'm currently in between living spaces, so most of my things are packed away and I have a very small area to work with. But whether you have the house of your dreams, an apartment, a small bedroom, whatever it may be, work with what you have and where you are. Just remember that it's not about impressing anyone or being picture perfect, it's about creating a space that you love, that puts a smile on your face, and makes you feel happy and at home. And that will look different for every person. What I've found is that every good home looks different, but every good home feels the same. So even though my current living situation is not ideal, I try and make the most of it and be grateful for what I have, and still take the time to make my space fun. I really enjoy being creative with my space and whatever space I'm living in because it inspires me to create in other areas of my life, it inspires me to write, to sing, to make YouTube videos, it encourages daydreams and peaceful afternoons, and truly makes me happy and excited for whatever season I'm in. At different times in my life I've had less or more space to decorate and be creative. There have been times where all I did was put some flowers on my nightstand or a pretty picture on my desk, print something out and color it and pin it to the wall, and other times I've had a lot more space to work with and a lot more resources, and I've been able to go all out. But no matter where you find yourself, don't be discouraged if you don't have a large and fancy home. Be creative with what space you do have. I remember at one point the only decorating I could really afford was hanging a little felt pumpkin from my car's rearview mirror, and even though it wasn't a lot, every day when I drove in my car to work or wherever I was going, that pumpkin made me smile. And honestly, that is what it should be about. Not about comparing or who has the fancier home or most expensive decorations, but rather using your creativity to reimagine your space and create beauty and joy and hopefully make you smile. Honestly, never underestimate the power of a smile, for you or anyone around you. Quite a few items that I'm decorating with in this video actually came from a thrift store. I really love finding consignment shops or thrift stores to, I don't know, hunt for treasures. It feels good to reuse and save items from the landfill, but you also save money and you never know what kind of treasures you're going to find. The baskets that I'm using, candlesticks, some of the books, picture frames, and even the blue comforter that you see in this video all came from a thrift store. And then there are other items that I either made or partially made. For instance, the botanical drawing of daisies that I pinned to my wall, you can see that in one of my previous videos. You can also just go outside and gather leaves or flowers or whatever else you can find in nature and make artwork with that. I really enjoy in the fall finding some beautifully colored leaves and pressing them, and then I like to frame them or whatever other ideas I come up with, and I do the same thing for flowers in the summer. I really enjoy taking my time with the process of decorating and slowly adding little touches here and there to my space. I never just decorate everything in one day. It's usually a very gradual process. Every day I kind of look around my space and think it over, and sometimes I'll have a light bulb moment and come up with a really cool idea, and other times I just kind of tweak something. I don't know, I really enjoy that because to me it's not about a finished product or doing something. It's again just about enjoying the process and being creative, and if I just did it all at once and then it was over, that would be no fun. And funny enough, even now as I'm sitting here doing the voiceover for this video, this space looks completely different than how I had recorded it for this video. So yeah, things don't stay the same very long around here. I tend to constantly change and tweak and move things around. Well that's all I have for today. I hope this video has inspired you in some way, or maybe at least put a smile on your face and helped you forget your troubles for a little while. I would love to connect in the comments below, so feel free to ask questions. I would love to hear if you like to decorate or not, and what kind of decorating you like to do. You can also find me over on Instagram where I share some photos of my decorating, what I'm growing, or anything else that inspires me. This has been Joyful Habits, where we daydream and add a touch of whimsy to the ordinary. I'll see you soon in my next video, and until then, keep smiling!