As a Military Spouse, you’re no stranger to moving. Frequent reassignments mean hopping from place to place, sometimes only for a few months at a time — and trying to build a home for your family can be difficult when you’re faced with a short-term PCS.
Whether you embrace the challenge or dread the thought of temporary living, there are plenty of ways to ease the process of making your house a home. Here are four tips to make decorating your home for a short-term stay as simple and painless as possible.
Bedding
Nothing feels quite as good as crawling into bed at the end of a long day. A cozy, comfortable place to escape to defines what it means to be “home.” Unfortunately, it’s not always practical to take your mattress with you for a PCS move. You can, however, bring the comfort with you to make your new sleep space feel warm and familiar.
Your pillows, mattress topper and comforter or duvet help you quickly and easily recreate your homey sleep space whenever you move to a new place. Taking these items with you also means there are fewer items you’ll need to buy after you’ve relocated. Plus, bedding and blankets are a great way to add personality to your place, even if it’s only for a short-term stay.
Family Photos
Another easy way to make your temporary place feel more like home is by displaying photos. Surrounding yourself with photo albums and picture frames creates a sense of comfort and familiarity that helps transform a short-term living space into a real home.
Printing photos is easy and relatively cheap, whether you use an in-store printer or online printing service. If you don’t already have picture frames, wait until after you’ve moved into your new place to buy any. One less thing to worry about packing for the move!
Tip: Hang picture frames using removable mounts like Command hooks to avoid causing damage that will have to be repaired before moving out later down the line. You can also use Command hooks to hang other wall decor items and even window treatments.
“Quick” Decor
While creating a gallery wall in your temporary place may not be the most practical decor choice, there are a few “quick” decor items that add personality to your home without breaking the bank or taking up too much space when it comes time to move again.
Candles are a great decor choice for a short-term stay because they’re temporary, too! Not only do they look great on a nightstand or coffee table, but the scent you choose can create a sense of nostalgia and familiarity that turns your house into your home. House plants and flowers are other temporary decor items that add a nice pop of color to your new living space.
Throw pillows and blankets can also liven up your new place without any long-term commitment. Plus, throw pillows often have removable covers to make washing easier, so you can easily swap the cover in the future to meet your style preferences.
If you’re really looking to transform your short-term residence into a place of your own, removable wall decals and temporary wallpaper allow you to take your decorating game to the next level.
Meaningful Keepsakes
Lastly, make sure to showcase all of the sentimental items you’ve collected along the way. Don’t leave these items in a storage unit where they might get damaged. Whether it’s a Christmas ornament from the first holiday you spent with your servicemember, your daughter’s finger paintings or the jewelry box your grandmother passed down to you, having these important keepsakes on display is really what makes your place feel like home.
When you move so frequently, home decor doesn’t always make it into the budget — but that doesn’t mean you can’t make the most of a short-term PCS with some of these tips and tricks. And at the end of the day, it’s not “stuff” that makes a house a home; it’s family that matters most!
