Exercising ‘Care Creates Contentment’ (more on this from @debtfree.mom on Instagram) can take your budget or pretty much any area of your life a long way simply by just caring for what you already have. During spring cleaning, I typically find that I have the urge to spend thinking “oh if only I had a little pop of color here” or “something fresh and new here”.

This year, I’m spring-cleaning a room at a time and giving myself a week to work on each room. First, I tackled my worst room – the kitchen. This week, I followed up with an easier room – the master bedroom. Follow along as I freshen up and deep clean the space breathing new life into areas I’ve neglected.

It sounds silly, but I always start with a list. This way, I’m able to get a sense of accomplishment by seeing things get crossed off. I have reassurance I’m not forgetting anything and I have the ability to pause and revisit as needed. For example, if I wanted to hold off vacuuming and mopping the floor to do all the bedroom floors at the same time, I would know to come back to this task.

Next, once my list was made I started cleaning top to bottom. I started with dusting the ceiling fan and trim around doors and windows. Then I took down curtains and washed them. Next I finished dusting pictures and any remaining surfaces,and followed this with windexing my windows and mirror. I washed bedding, and then started vacuuming so I could rearrange the furniture. This step might be a little extra, but it gives me peace of mind to know that I’ve cleaned under my bed. Once the furniture is in place, I go ahead and vacuum and mop.

This year instead of just spring cleaning, I was yearning for more. I kept looking at our nightstands we’ve had for 15 years with stains and nicks in the paint begging for a makeover, and our wooden trim with paint spots on it crying out for some TLC. I wanted to give a refresh- but without breaking the bank.

So once the room was all clean, I decluttered the nightstands and emptied the contents of the drawers to begin painting. I went with a timeless ‘white linen’ as I knew it would be perfect for the light and airy refresh I was looking for. Some may glance at my bedroom and think beige and boring, but I find it warm, cozy and inviting. It’s exactly where I want to lay my head down to rest.

After a deep clean top to bottom and decluttering, i decided to add a few pops of color with my curtains, spray painting my lamps, faux tulips and a lightweight throw on my quilt rack.

The paint, I already had, so the only expense here were the faux tulips and the throw. Using the ‘Care Creates Contentment’ philosophy, I was able to care for and refresh things I already had in order to be content with what I already have.

What are some spaces in your home you could easily refresh with what you already have on hand?