getting festive around here!

The 4th of July is my favorite holiday (next to Easter), but I realized a few weeks ago that I have hardly any decorations for the festive day. So, I whipped up this banner for our mantle and it has made our lil' apartment cheery ever since.

I made an extra and am giving it away on So Festive today. So if you'd like something to festify your house, check out the details on the blog.

before & after: $20 living room spruce up

I love change. Especially when it comes to decorating. That is why my style is to keep things fairly neutral and add pops of colors so when I get tired of things, I can change the look easily. I've done things here and there to our living room, but I finally changed up the color scheme and finished it off.

It's fun to look back and see how much my tastes have changed over the years.
Our first living room in Provo looked like this:

Then when we moved, it looked like this: wow. it was drab.

Then when I needed a little color, it went to this: I went through an orange phrase.

Then to this: updated coffee table and desk, but lots of random colors.


And finally this: a little more continuity.
(and keep in mind, our house is never this clean on a daily basis. just keeping it real!)

I sold our coffee table for $35 and bought this one for $40. For another $15, I got the fabric for pillows, turquoise pillow, a can of spray paint, circle mirror, and a few picture frames. All of the fun for me comes from doing it cheaply. So even though it will never be featured in a magazine, that's okay because I didn't have a huge budget to work with. And knowing me, I'll probably change it again, especially since the holidays are coming up. 

blake's room...on a budget

I know Blake could care less what his room looks like. That is why for the first few weeks he slept on and off in a swing or in his pack n' play in the corner of our room. Quickly realizing we would get no sleep if we continued sharing a room, we moved him to his own. It has been a work in progress for the past few months. When we finally got a crib, I cracked down and finished decorating his room. Keep in mind, we are renting so we couldn't paint and everything I did was for my sake. I spend lots of time in there and it has become one of my favorite places to be. It is so peaceful and heavenly. By finally getting things organized and together, it continues to be my little sanctuary.

The one rule for myself was: I couldn't spend any additional money on decorating (besides the few things we had bought before he was born).  This forced me to get creative, but again, Blake could care less. And there is something fun about being frugal. So here goes...

$5 bookshelf we painted last summer. white baskets thrifted $4. picture frames thrifted $4. pottery barn copy-cat rocking chair $80 new off KSL. used gift card to buy slip cover. pillow $2 from garage sale. i am a child of god print and frame gifted.

clock from Kohl's years ago. IKEA plant. lamp a friend was giving away. tricycle thrifted $1. frames repainted and/or won. basket was gifted. 

dresser free from Brandon's parents (we painted it). crib free from a friend. bedding is dwell studio.

And here it is all together!

And us chilling on the nursery floor. I'm sure this is the first of many self portraits we'll be taking together. From the looks of it, Blake seems excited.

Before & After

It's funny to see styles and my tastes change. I used to love reds and tans. Now, I LOVE pops of color, white, and crisp, clean lines.

When we first moved to Salt Lake, our bedroom looked like this:

blah and boring

Then it changed to this. A little more color, but still way too much tan.

 

Now, it looks like this. I'm loving all the color!

a splash of blue

We have been so busy lately that I really haven't had much time for projects. However, our room was needing a splash of color. Its still a work in progress, but this SPLASH OF BLUE has definitely brightened things up. I didn't want to spend any money on decorating, so this is what I came up with:

framed scrapbook paper

moved the blue end table in to use as my nightstand

made this blue accent pillow out of and old pillow I had and some fabric I got at a thrift store

viola!

operation: project color

i have been craving COLOR lately.

maybe because it's spring or maybe it's because all of our walls are tan and so is our couch. don't get me wrong. i love our walls and carpet. it's just that our little home needed a little sprucing up.

it all started with the orange table. i thought it would be fun to have a colored table. it turned out brighter than I thought, but i liked it. I just didn't like it with the rest of our warmer color decor.

we have had a big empty wall above our couch for a while. So I decided to add some color and do something that would bring in the orange.

this is how it turned it out.

it was a rather simple project after I learned its worth spending a few extra dollars to get it how you want. i am always looking for the cheaper option, but in this case, it was worth just buying the already-made canvases.

I love that our house is just a bit more springy now.

Thrift Store Decor

Did I ever tell you that I LOVE shopping at thrift stores for decor?

I love it so much that I have to make goals to not even step foot in the store because I can always seem to find something there that would be 'perfect'.

I love buying decor at thrift stores because a)it is SOO much cheaper than buying it at a craft store. In fact, I think I have only a few things in my house that were actually brand new. b) many times it becomes a fun project and I love projects.

Well, I'm proud to say that I have not been decor shopping since January.

And in my most recent trips, I found some fun little additions to our house.
Ready for this?

Before

During-my husband is an expert spray painter now.


After

Do you think it's too orange? The color was supposed to be a paprika (redish-orange), but it turned out a lot more orange than we thought. We are still deciding if we like or it we should redo it. I like it, its just that everything else in our house is warm colors so I don't know if it fits.
***

Found this beauty for $3. I am still thinking about painting it a fun color, but after my last attempt and getting an orange table, I am going to take my time deciding which color would be best. But for now, it does an amazing job at keeping my purses off the floor, but oh so convenient right by the door.

***

We needed some extra light in a few places and we found a set of 3 matching lamps for super cheap! The only problem was...

they were an bronze color that didn't really match our style.

Never fear...spray paint is here!



That's all for now.

home sweet sunday home #2

Since some of you were asking...

I didn't get a chance to get pictures of the whole house yet or a video of home #2, but these pics will have to do. I'm excited to try out some new decorating ideas, but that will have to come later.

On Friday night, Brandon and I were thinking of something to do and instead of cruising our new town we switched bedrooms! Lame huh? Yep, sounds crazy since everything was nice and settled. We moved our bedroom to the smaller room (including smaller closet), but we are so much happier! The room just seems more cozy and together then the other one. Plus it is much closer to the bathroom and is quieter and darker. We will use the other larger room for a office/craft/project/guest room--so please come and visit! :)

Here are some pics of our new place...

Thanks Andrea for the cute SUNDAY letters! They go so well on the mantle.

our dining room and guitar. haha-haven't touched that since Christmas. hopefully be able to practice more now that we are settled

our small bathroom, but it will do

our bedroom. small, but oh so cozy!

the living room


and the kitchen where i will be whipping up many culinary masterpieces...or at least attempting to!

craft of the day

here it is.



what meant to be a quick project, turned out to take all day.

but that is okay.

Diane and I had a blast crafting. we even cut and sanded the blocks ourselves.

added some paint, cute fall paper, mod podget (i love this stuff!) and viola...

a little Thanksgiving craft to spruce up our house.