Hey there décor people! I’m currently sitting on my couch
with Mr. Rango watching Glee pushing off going food shopping cause this weather
is STANKKKKKK. That and I have a butt load of stuff to do around the apartment.
Our sink is just about to overflow, I have laundry that is screaming to be
folded, a couch that needs vacuuming because Rango decided to shed and create
another animal with all his hair…but as I stood in kitchen making a mental list
of what needed to be done today, I just looked at our 900sq ft apartment and
felt comfort, I felt at home. “Well duh, it is YOUR home, why wouldn’t you?” I
shall explain. I have lived in 2 other apartments since being married, and in
each one I was so focused on wanting brand new things cause I thought that is
what would make me love our home, and when we couldn’t afford them I would get
a bit bent out of shape. I wanted new furniture, I wanted a new headboard for
our bed, I wanted a new dresser and this gorgeous tv stand that I had my eyes
on for some time. You know, if we bought everything I wanted right away it
would cost us a good 2 grand, AT LEAST. As newly weds and just starting out in
our careers, dropping 2 thousand dollars was not a priority or realistic. And
going into debt just because I wanted new things was not something we were
willing to do.
SIDE NOTE If you like brand
new things, if you can afford to buy high-end items for your home that is
great! I have plenty of friends who do and their homes look stunning! I am not
bashing that at all, REMEMBER this is a blog aimed towards BUDGET FRIENDLY
DÉCOR and making a home beautiful for LESS!
Ok back to business……Soooooo, our first apartment I loved
but I was not happy with it because I was not grateful for what we already had.
I did not see the beauty in the hand-me-downs. I did not appreciate the things
we got for the cheap. I was “OK” with it but was not thrilled. Then we moved to
our next apartment. And I became more content. But that “content” feeling was
brought about because I would spend way too much money on décor and then a
month later not be happy and go and spend more money to replace the stuff I
just bought a month ago. Example. I bought some new wall décor because we “needed
it”, now almost a year later I have gotten rid of just about all of it. Not
because it wasn’t nice, but because we did not need it. I overloaded on buying EVERYTHING
AT ONCE and in doing so I bought things I eventually was not happy with. I just
got them, to fill our space and it caused me to never feel at peace or comfort
in a place that was supposed to be our home because I was never happy with what
I already had and was constantly striving to make it better. Fast forward to
our recent move to our current apartment. We got rid of A LOT and just kept the
things we needed and loved. We kept my husbands dressers that he had since
childhood, our couch (that I painted and love) and end table from my in-laws,
our nightstands that I got in college, our 15$ book shelf from Wal-Mart that I
painted, our coffee table that my in-laws gave me in college and I turned into
an ottoman, our metal filing cabinet I found at Habitat For Humanity, our
dining table our in-laws bought us, and a tv stand we got for 10$ at a thrift
shop.
Our apartment was bare, it was simple, it was a blank slate
and I LOVED IT! I was not in a rush to
fill it up and decorate it. I wanted to slowly add things to our home that I
knew we would love and want to keep for years to come. My first purchase was an
old pea green retro velvet chair. I am in serious love with this chair, like
for real I just stare at it sometimes, it’s kind of weird. I found it at an
antique mall and was able to bargain for it and got it for 40$. My next
purchase was 2 yellow industrial bar stools cause we needed some seating at our
bar since we don’t have a dining room in our new place. I was able to get both
of the stools for 45$ (originally 90$). Since we got rid of our bigger couch to
make more space, our sitting was a bit limited for when we had company over so
I was then on the hunt for a chair. I was checking craigslist and different
websites but I either found something I liked and it was expensive or I found
something that was cheap and I was not thrilled about it. So for about 2 months
we held off on getting anything and I kept searching and one day I found a
vintage navy blue wingback chair in our neighborhood bulk dumpster! I
freaked out! And just to clarify, the bulk dumpster was for furniture ONLY, no
trash was in there, EW. I called my husband and told him to get his truck and
we loaded the chair up, I sanitized it and now we have our extra seating and we
didn’t have to pay a penny for it!
Over the next couple of weeks I collected some old frames
for less than 1$ apiece and hung them up for some wall décor, I got some old
items from thrift stores, I found some neat little items in Target’s HOT SPOT,
shopped around our apartment and took things that we both had for years and refurbished
them, and SLOWLY but surely our apartment has come together; in my opinion,
BEAUTIFULLY. Every time I walk into our home I fall in love with it over and
over again. I feel comfort and cozy, and not just because it’s a small
apartment, but because almost every item in our apartment has meaning to it,
whether given to us by our families, brought from childhood, from another era,
previously owned, or refurbished and
given a second chance. It’s a special place, it’s home.
I have learned that your home does not need to be filled
RIGHT AWAY. It does not need to be fully decorated within days of moving in. A
home is made a home in time. It is the unique, old, run down, new, antiques,
weird, family items that make your home YOURS!
happy decorating
happy decorating
