If you read the blog, you will find MMM is also into aesthetics, and has done some beautiful work, carpentry, bathrooms etc. In the photos of his home, it is clear that an eye pleasing home is important to him and his family.
I think though one of the fundamentals is that you do it in the least expensive way, and he does a lot of the work himself. Renovating an old piece of furniture such as a simple chair by redoing the wood work and redoing the upholstery oneself would be an example in reach of almost everyones skills. If you find a good quality sofa secondhand but hate the upholstery you could for example buy or make a cover slip for it, since usually upholstering a whole sofa would need some level of skill beyond the average Joe. But hey a bit of application, learn the skill and you might have a side income if you decide you love renovating old furniture. I for example reuse old picture frames, take the picture out and put in the new one I want. If necessary I recut a mount. If one had just a little carpentry skill , one could buy the moulding and cut it and join it yourself.....I'm not that clever, but I can cut a mount and reassemble a picture. In theory one should have a mount cutter that cuts a bevelled mount at 45 degrees, but I have never bothered, you don't notice the straight cut that I do with a stanley knife. If you wanted a fancy mount though, you'd need a mount cutter.
Another aspect would be to be quite efficient about this: pick things that won't go out of date in 2 years. Really think about what you actually need. Buy secondhand wherever possible. Make sure you really like the stuff for its own sake so you won't feel bad about keeping it a long time. And seriously you can create an overall effect by clever appropriation without spending an arm or a leg. Eg if you feel nothing matches because you have picked up from here and there, create a unifying theme e.g., 'make a rule" that all covers/soft furnishing are one plain colour.
If you are a debt emergency though, absolutely you can't decorate unless it costs you NOTHING e.g. you get stuff for FREE Or rearrange what you have OR use stuff you already have. Decluttering, cleaning and re-organising can make a surprising difference.
Apologies to those who dislike Myer-briggs but: INTJs and INFJs are lovers of fine things and aesthetics (as well as experiences)...so having a pleasing environment is often important to us. I note even Jacob from ERE, likes to buy top quality items eg leather coat, watch, second hand. He can justify this logically because of the re-sale value, but it does also satisfy this other part of the INTJ personality.
