This past weekend was a whirlwind of productivity. On Saturday I sacrificed cleaning bathrooms, doing laundry and general clean-up-ery (big sacrifice, I know, right?) for a shopping excursion to the East side of the state. With a list in hand and cinnamon coffee in my cup holder, I picked up my mother-in-law and sister-in-law at 9am and headed out.
We stopped at two separate Home Goods stores. (If you don't know what that is, it's basically like Marshall's or T.J. Maxx, but ALL home/house things. It's like a dream come true for a new home owner.) We couldn't be in the Novi area without stopping at The Great Indoors, too. I was convinced we'd be back shortly after supper but to my utter shock, I pulled into my driveway at about 10:35pm. And let me tell ya...the day was NOT spent dilly-dallying. (Oh...but we did stop at an outlet mall on the way home because they had a Bath & Body Works...I needed to stock up on my wallflowers.)
Anywho, I purchased everything except ONE small thing I was searching for. (And I realized I'm going to home-make it instead...cheaper AND I'll get exactly what I'm looking for.) Sunday, after the dust settled, Dan and I had a hanging party, and he helped me hang up all the mirrors/artwork that were just propped up against the wall in their places :)
This was originally our disaster mirror that was "30 inches x 40 inches." But...it wasn't. We almost took it back, but I realized it would work great in the guest bedroom. I'm pleased as pop that it's finally hung! (Near future projects for this room - painting the little chest of drawers a dark espresso to match the mirror and making a rich colored fabric headboard. SO excited!)
Purchased @ $60, Compared @ $120 - Savings = $60
I got this little guy for the upstairs guest bathroom. This is the room I failed at this weekend. But I decided I'm going to get three pieces of white canvas, wrapped around a wood frame. Then just get either real or real-looking fake greenery (ferns, oversized leaves, etc.) and decoupage them to the canvas. Then I'll hang them, unframed above the towel racks. JUST the look I'm going for - clean, crisp and light.
Purchased @ $11, Original price @ $17 - Savings = $6
Ugh. The floor vase saga. Our ceilings are SO tall and I need a floor vase with branches/faux plant life. I don't want a genie-in-a-bottle type vase, that's wide and has a skinny neck...I don't like that look. But I'm not a huge fan of this wide opening either. I think I'm going to put styrofoam about halfway down, then put branches and maybe some flowering branches sticking out. My mother-in-law is trying to convince me to put filler in at the opening - grass, moss, etc. But I don't like the idea of a garden growing out of my vase. I'm going to have to play around with it. But for now, unless I change my mind, this is my vase...
Purchased @ $63, Original Price @ $70 - Savings = $7
(Bought this and the grass above from Great Indoors...they're pricey and have "awesome" sales...not so much)
I definitely was NOT planning on buying lamps. We're getting new furniture within the next few months, and I'd planned to just buy them then. BUT...I found a set of two that caught my eye immediately. They're monsters, and fit perfectly in our huge living room. The bulbs each go up to 150 watts, which is substantial for a lamp. When the light's on on, the shades are just kind of a fabric beige color. But when they're on they give a kind of contemporary/retro pattern. We'll have higher, espresso end tables, no the miniature faux oak ones we have now :( (From Dan's bachelor days. I'll be overjoyed to see them go.) I can't decide if I feel like they're too boring (I was originally going to do a colored glass or porcelain base), but I feel like the chunky-ness of the base and unique-ness of the shade makes up for the lack of color?
Purchased 2 @ $40/each, Compared @ $100/each = Savings = $120
Dining room piece. I wanted to do a set of two in this space, but could NOT find anything that was the right size or style in a set of two. So I went for one, bigger piece. It's hung a little high, I know. But the reasonable height would've lined up with the window sill which would've looked too geometric/matchy-matchy. Any lower and the bottom of the picture would've been lower than shoulder height and to me, that's a no-no. So...I had to resort to hanging it a tweak higher than I would've liked :( But the good thing is, I can easily play off of the colors with table cloths, fabrics, etc. - and since the living room is right beside this area, I can do throw pillows, throw blankets, etc. to catch the colors of the flowers.
Purchased @ $40, Compared @ $70 - Savings = $30
I wasn't planning on getting a piece for our bedroom either. But this guy jumped out at me right away! The taupe and blue match our walls/lamps/bedspread perfectly. I'm going to play off of the dark frame and put a giant full-length mirror on the adjacent wall someday. They'll look really nice together.
Purchased @ $60, Compared @ $120 - Savings = $60
I wanted our bedroom to seem really soothing, and I feel soothed when I see this picture :) Here's the full scope of our pillow-laden bed, complete with Heidi Bear and Schubear (they're important members of the family).
The last picture I bought. Due to aforementioned homesickness for Colorado, this jumped right out at me. The second I looked at it, I might as well have owned it because in that moment I pretty much purchased it emotionally. It's this antique-looking photo. You can't see it in the picture, but some of the features just make it look really aged. I'm hanging it up so I can see it as I leave the kitchen (which is a lot). We couldn't hang it last night due to lack of proper supplies. So it'll go up tonight after a quick stop at Home Depot.
Purchased @ $30, Compared @ $60 - Savings = $30
Purchased @ $60, Compared @ $120 - Savings = $60
I got this little guy for the upstairs guest bathroom. This is the room I failed at this weekend. But I decided I'm going to get three pieces of white canvas, wrapped around a wood frame. Then just get either real or real-looking fake greenery (ferns, oversized leaves, etc.) and decoupage them to the canvas. Then I'll hang them, unframed above the towel racks. JUST the look I'm going for - clean, crisp and light.
Purchased @ $11, Original price @ $17 - Savings = $6
Ugh. The floor vase saga. Our ceilings are SO tall and I need a floor vase with branches/faux plant life. I don't want a genie-in-a-bottle type vase, that's wide and has a skinny neck...I don't like that look. But I'm not a huge fan of this wide opening either. I think I'm going to put styrofoam about halfway down, then put branches and maybe some flowering branches sticking out. My mother-in-law is trying to convince me to put filler in at the opening - grass, moss, etc. But I don't like the idea of a garden growing out of my vase. I'm going to have to play around with it. But for now, unless I change my mind, this is my vase...
Purchased @ $63, Original Price @ $70 - Savings = $7
(Bought this and the grass above from Great Indoors...they're pricey and have "awesome" sales...not so much)
I definitely was NOT planning on buying lamps. We're getting new furniture within the next few months, and I'd planned to just buy them then. BUT...I found a set of two that caught my eye immediately. They're monsters, and fit perfectly in our huge living room. The bulbs each go up to 150 watts, which is substantial for a lamp. When the light's on on, the shades are just kind of a fabric beige color. But when they're on they give a kind of contemporary/retro pattern. We'll have higher, espresso end tables, no the miniature faux oak ones we have now :( (From Dan's bachelor days. I'll be overjoyed to see them go.) I can't decide if I feel like they're too boring (I was originally going to do a colored glass or porcelain base), but I feel like the chunky-ness of the base and unique-ness of the shade makes up for the lack of color?
Purchased 2 @ $40/each, Compared @ $100/each = Savings = $120
Dining room piece. I wanted to do a set of two in this space, but could NOT find anything that was the right size or style in a set of two. So I went for one, bigger piece. It's hung a little high, I know. But the reasonable height would've lined up with the window sill which would've looked too geometric/matchy-matchy. Any lower and the bottom of the picture would've been lower than shoulder height and to me, that's a no-no. So...I had to resort to hanging it a tweak higher than I would've liked :( But the good thing is, I can easily play off of the colors with table cloths, fabrics, etc. - and since the living room is right beside this area, I can do throw pillows, throw blankets, etc. to catch the colors of the flowers.
Purchased @ $40, Compared @ $70 - Savings = $30
I wasn't planning on getting a piece for our bedroom either. But this guy jumped out at me right away! The taupe and blue match our walls/lamps/bedspread perfectly. I'm going to play off of the dark frame and put a giant full-length mirror on the adjacent wall someday. They'll look really nice together.
Purchased @ $60, Compared @ $120 - Savings = $60
I wanted our bedroom to seem really soothing, and I feel soothed when I see this picture :) Here's the full scope of our pillow-laden bed, complete with Heidi Bear and Schubear (they're important members of the family).
The last picture I bought. Due to aforementioned homesickness for Colorado, this jumped right out at me. The second I looked at it, I might as well have owned it because in that moment I pretty much purchased it emotionally. It's this antique-looking photo. You can't see it in the picture, but some of the features just make it look really aged. I'm hanging it up so I can see it as I leave the kitchen (which is a lot). We couldn't hang it last night due to lack of proper supplies. So it'll go up tonight after a quick stop at Home Depot.
Purchased @ $30, Compared @ $60 - Savings = $30
I also got two little glass containers for q-tips and cotton balls in our bathroom. As I was taking these pictures this morning Dan was in the shower, so I thought it best not to include them in this post :) Maybe next time. Also, I'm going to document my attempt at home-making my decoupage canvas for the upstairs bath. I'm interested to see how that'll turn out.
The new furniture milestone is approaching quickly and this gal couldn't be happier. In that bundle will come a giant wall clock (can't WAIT for everyone to see it - such a statement piece), couch, oversized chair w/ ottoman, recliner, end tables, coffee table and throw pillows. The living room will lit'rally transform!
2 comments:
I think Teresa has been influencing you... I don't think I ever imagined you'd be this dedicated to interior design, but everything looks great! I like the lamps and I really like the picture for your bedroom.
Ha! I think she has, too. Last night she told me I have the "heart of a decorator." I wanted to nest like this in the apartment SO badly, but knew everything was temporary. So now I feel like I can go buck nutty on the permanence :) I'm having so much fun! And the advice I can glean from a mother-in-law who's a professional is a nice bonus :)
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