5: Play around with shelves
Ah, the humble shelf – what scarves are to novice knitters, the shelf is to wannabe-woodworkers (that is – even simpletons like me can make them). Instead of simply hanging photos on your walls, adding a series of shelves – staggered up a set of stairs, perhaps, or above a television – adds a point of interest that you can really play with. Pictures of friends and family, military awards, and books add dimension and personality, but also consider vintage vases (back to the thrift store game!), ornaments and other antique trinkets to break them up and add a little somethin’ extra.
6: Pay attention to smaller walls
You know the ones – the hallways, the alcoves, the little spaces that make up a foot of space between a cupboard and a door. Adding a little something to these oft-neglected, iddy-biddy stretches of wall make all the difference when it comes to making a home feel “lived-in.” Small mirrors, a hook for keys, or cubby shelves – especially in a light or neutral color so as not to overcrowd the space – will punctuate a room that otherwise feels like it’s missing that elusive “something.”
7: Find new ways to make it personal
Aside from hanging family photos, there are so many ways to infuse a little bit of “you” (and your family) into your wall artwork. Try finding vintage maps of areas that you grew up in – or places that the military have taken you – or getting engineer prints made of your children’s artwork. Better yet, you could make a day out of painting together and hang the products up in your family room – or, as a good friend of mine recently did, get one of those paint kits for, erm, mom and dad (which, by the way, turn out to look like a high-end piece of abstract art so…it’s for you to know, and no-one else to find out).
8: Shop local
My all-time favorite piece of design advice is to shop small. Thrifting and crafting are cheap and fun, by all means, but if you want to outsource past your own creative means (or, in the case of thrifting, ability to rifle through heaps of junk to find gems), then turning to fellow milspouses or local artists is always enormously more rewarding than picking up something from Marshalls – and, very often, ends up in a similar price range. The difference is, you’ll end up with an often one-of-a-kind item that you can cherish in future homes, wherever they may be.
Have any favorite milspouse Etsy shops? Let us know in the comments!
