Decorating a rental home abroad, especially a furnished one, poses different challenges from decorating an apartment or a house back in your home country. However, it shouldn’t hinder or discourage anyone from decorating a rental residence abroad. You may not be able to renovate a residence by putting a different floor, painting kitchen cabinets or updating tiles by painting them with a different color. Nevertheless, creating a beautiful and cozy home is achievable for all by using simple tricks.
This beautiful home is a home away from home for my friend, Priscilla and her family. Please scroll down to learn more about Priscilla.
I hope you will find those 15 tips to decorate home abroad helpful for you to decorate your own!
LIVING ROOM
1. USE NO DRAPES
This may not work for everyone, but having no curtains makes a room look bigger. I would chose to go without drapes in this house to achieve the same clean look. Another good example of no drapes was seen at my another friend, Amber’s home in Manila.
2. IMPORTANCE OF ACCNET DECORATIONS
A blanket on a stool, a group of candles on a table and some flowers in a vase added are beautiful accessories to this living room space. There is a basket under the coffee table with some magazines. These are all great and affordable way that anyone can copy to add special personal touch to a space.
3. STORE AND DISPLAY PILLOWS IN A BASKET
Instead of crowding your sofa with pillows which end up on the floor when guests sit there anyways (Is it just our home???), why don’t you put them in a big basket and display? Brilliant idea!
4. NO RUG
One thing Priscilla mentioned that she would have done differently is that she would have brought her own rugs.
One of my tips for expats to decorate home is to bring your own rugs. Rugs add personality to your home. However, Priscilla’s home demonstrates how beautiful and clean it can look without rugs.
I sometimes like it that way. In fact, I didn’t use rugs in our condo in the U.S.
5. PAINT WALLS WITH A RELAXING SAGE GREEN
If you notice, the downstairs walls are painted in sage green, a color that creates a calm ambiance. Here are some inspirations for 6 sage green rooms for your inspiration on Elle Decor and 6 more sage color recommendations by One King Lane.
DINING ROOM
6. HANG FRAMES AT EYE LEVEL
Decorating similar size frames in one space creates a nice flow because it allows them to be hung at the same level.
Here are frame hanging tips by Level Frames and 6 tips For Hanging Art by Park West Gallery.
7. SYMMETRICAL DESIGN
I’m a fan of symmetrical design as it creates a balance in a room. The back wall of this dining room is designed symmetrical with the China cabinet in the center. For a symmetrical room, One King Lane gives the following advice.
“Try to add something that sets the symmetry just a tad bit off. This will ensure the room isn’t too perfect.”
The little plant on the left is so perfect, isn’t it?
STUDY
8. PERSONAL PHOTOS IN PERSONAL SPACE
I noticed that Priscilla displayed her family photos in the rooms where they usually don’t entertain guests. When I asked if it was intentional for her to decorate her living rooms and dining room without personal photos and display her family photos in more personal spaces, her answer was no. I was intrigued because in fact, it is the style I like for my home.
MASTER BEDROOM
9. SELECT A CALMING COLOR FOR A BEDROOM
They chose a light blue color for their bedroom walls and paired it with a clean white duvet cover with some subtle pattern. Selecting a calming color to make you relax is important. Here are 4 best paint colors for bedroom according to homedit.
My friend, Ayessa, who is a professional organizer and decorator, told me how important it is to create a calming atmosphere in your bedroom. She especially paid attention to it when she designed her son’s room.
TEEN ROOM
10. PHOTO COLLAGE WALL
I wonder if my daughter got the idea of a photo collage on a wall by her bed from Priscilla’s daughter… I must say that a photo collage is a hip way to decorate a teen room!!
11. CREATE A CHALKBOARD WALL FOR A BIG ROOM
One entire wall was painted in black to make it into a chalkboard wall. Priscilla’s daughter likes to keep all the drawings and writings that she and her friends did on it. As a fan of chalkboard walls, I absolutely love it!
12. PAINT WARDROBE WALLS
This is Priscilla’s son’s room. How cool are those wardrobe doors painted in orange?
In many countries, landlords may not give you a permission to paint your wardrobe doors. If you are allowed, it is a cool way to dress up and personalize your room.
CORRIDOR
13. DECORATE SPACIOUS CORRIDORS WITH FURNITURE
You may not think to bring some furniture pieces to a corridor. However, if you have a lot of space in a corridor, it’s a good way to decorate it. If you want to create more space in some rooms if you feel that they were too crowded, you can always bring them to some other spaces such as a hallway.
Priscilla’s eye for detail is amazing, don’t you agree? As a photographer, I was supposed to notice that one of the books was upside down. I usually don’t notice until I see photos. Unfortunately, attention to details is not my forte.
14. DECORATE A STAIRCASE AND WALLS
A gallery wall and a table in the middle of the staircase are great additions to a broad staircase.
ENTRYWAY
15. A BASKET FOR SHOES BY THE FRONT DOOR
There is a big basket with shoes inside next to the front doors. It’s a convenient and great way to store and organize shoes in the hallway.
MEET THE DESIGNER
This is Priscilla Heffelfinger. She’s an American expat living in Manila with her family. Between she and her husband they have 4 children: 3 daughters and a son. They landed in Manila as a family of 6, but now two are in college in the U.S. and two in high school in Manila. They have lived in Dhaka, Bangladesh and Manila, Philippines for her husband’s overseas assignments.
When her children were still little, she and her husband talked and decided that one of them would stay home. Since she wanted to attend to the kids herself, she decided to leave her career and become a stay-at-home mom. I remember she said one time that she felt very fortunate to be able to make that decision to stay home. From then onward, she followed wherever her husband’s job took them.
As mentioned above, Priscilla stayed home when her kids were little. Eventually she started working mostly part-time and always stayed in the research and development sector. Since she has always wanted to be related to children, she did. Then being an expat trailing spouse in Bangladesh took her to the next chapter.
Priscilla is one of the 3 co-founders of an NGO called THRIVE which was founded in Dhaka, Bangladesh. There were 3 expat moms who arrived in Dhaka around the same time in 2012. They saw hungry kids and said they needed to do something. As a result, they started with bringing bananas to 250 students at a school in the Dhaka slums. Now, their volunteers deliver over 12,000 healthy meals a week to 13 schools in Bangladesh and 2 communities in the Philippines.
Isn’t it amazing? She transformed from a stay-at-home mom to a co-founder and a CEO of an organization.
THRIVE: ORGANIZATION THAT HELPS HUNGRY KIDS
Below is a video that talks about what Thrive does. This video can be viewed on their website as well.
Thank you, Priscilla, for allowing me to take photos of your very inspiring home.
Thank you, Mr. Birch (below), for being an awesome assistant.
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