Budget Decorating Ideas

Just a few ideas to help those of us who don't have a lot of money to spend on decorating but still want to have homes we can be proud of.

Dollar store clipboards as wall art: (which I have in my office)

They look even better decoupaged or painted... (which Jenn has in her sons room)

Scrapbook paper as wall art: (which I also have in my office)

Dressing up inexpensive light fixtures with ribbon and/or beading:

Before- Walmart lamp $9.99....

...now picture it with a shade like this...

...or this...

...or this....

The Real High/Low Style

Have you ever read your favorite design magazine and thought what they were calling "high/low" pricing were more like "high/still pretty high" prices?
Here are some examples of actual high/low prices.

High- Pottery Barn dining table $1299

Low- JYSK dining table $399


High- Restoration Hardware lamp $619

Low- Canadian Tire lamp $69

High- West Elm console table $349

Low- Rona console table $149

High- Structube mirror $349

Low- Bouclair mirror $149

High- Restoration Hardware pendant $239

Low- Home Depot pendant $30

Pottery Barn Design Studio

Anyone who follows this blog, knows that I love the Pottery Barn website, especially their room ideas. Well now I love it even more with the launch of the Pottery Barn Design Studio. The design studio is filled with inspirational photos, advice, a room planner and entertaining ideas. Here is a little sample:

Living Room- Before & After

Our living room is where we spend most of our time in the house so it was one of the first rooms to undergo renovation.

Before- The biggest problem I had with the room was that it felt very closed off from the rest of the house due to the fact that the doorway into the space was very small. This also posed a problem in the summer in terms of airflow.



In progress...

After- The biggest job be did was replace the windows with doors. Not only does it make the room tolerable in the summer heat it looks sooo much better. As for the other changes in the room we added a mantel, painted and replaced the floors and trim.

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Kitchen Inspiration

My mom is thinking about giving her 1980's kitchen a facelift, so I thought I would provide some inspiration for her. Enjoy...












Love the 2 tone kitchen. Tried it in our kitchen- did not look good. Our cabinets are just too plain.

Nothing Room- Before & After

There is a room in our house that essentially connects all of the different areas together. We lovingly refer to it as the "nothing room". I believe it was the dining room of the house before the addition of what is now our dining room and mud room.

Before- The previous homeowners may have used the space for dining although I am not sure how functional the table was pushed up against the wall. The light fixture was one of the first things to come down when we moved in.


After- We replaced the floors and trim, opened up the doorway to the living room, replaced the ceiling fixture with a fan matching the one in the kitchen, added some stools to the peninsula (and one day they will sit under a breakfast bar) and painted. As you can see below, Stu and I have a cabinet that is quite large but fit perfectly in the awkward corner. Rather than trying to fit too much furniture into the small space we opted for the large cabinet in one corner and a small seating area in the other corner. It seems to be the area that everyone congregates when we are entertaining.