Wednesday, September 26, 2012

decorating on a budget: my project this week

slowly but surely we are making our little condo our "home sweet home". this week i decided i needed to give myself a project. making our home a little more cozy was the perfect project. we had some target gift cards (yay) that helped with my project.

first: fix our patio door/window area. forgive me for using this awkward picture but it was the best i could find of the before
after: i spent about 1 hour looking through curtains at target. you can't really tell but our ceilings are high. and thus i needed long curtains. i almost gave up and realized i would probably have to pay about $100 a curtain. but then spotted these beauties. wonderful, long, and cheap table cloths. yep, i spent $15 each for the tablecloths turned curtains. luckily i already had the hanging clips and shear curtains. plus the mr. was pretty excited i didn't have to spend $150 on curtains.

second: rearrange the harp. it was in our second room (which i loved) but i wasn't playing it as much. it was awkwardly tucked in the corner and too difficult to get to. so i solved my problem by moving rooms. i added some vintage sheet music prints to give it a more "harpy" feel. bring on the practicing.
third: the shelf. i feel in love with our shelf in our last apt. i knew i wanted to recreate the look in our new place. we ordered the shelf months ago but ran into a problem with our stud finder. we finally got a new stud finder and i begged spence to put it up last night. this is still very much a work in progress. i have big plans for this wall. a mirror, some shutters etc. we'll see how it all comes together. 
fourth: so this hasn't happened yet. our new couch. we have been waiting two months for our new baby. ahhh i hate waiting can i just say that. so for now we have a very classy (and very cheap) futon from wal-mart.  we almost didn't buy a temporary couch. we thought we could last. but boy am i glad we've had this little guy these past two months. hopefully in the next couple of weeks this will be switched out for a lot bigger and nicer seating arrangement.
fifth: our patio. it was sad and needed some tlc. this one will get some more lovin in the spring with a new paint job and flooring. for now i gave it a good cleaning, added some plants and (my personal favorite) twinkle lights. 
i wish i knew enough about photography at night so i could capture these beauties in their full glory. but these vintage round clear bulbs won my heart.
as you can see our neighbors are steps ahead of us plant wise. our little mums look sad compared to theirs. but we're working on a med student budget. i'll keep adding and maybe by next summer we'll have our own little garden.
my favorite spot: my little reading corner. i love sitting in our big overstuffed glider. it's so cozy and makes me happy. it's also nice have a bit of diy "art" on our walls. a good mix of us and other stuff. i felt like in our old place all we had was pictures of us. i like us but don't love staring at myself all day long.
my office: again still working on this one. i might get some shelves for the wall and a new (cute) file cabinet but for now this works just great. i love being able to look out of the window and see the little squirrels chasing each other (seriously just happened).
spence's little corner: now it doesn't look like much (and lets be honest it isn't) but this is my mans spot. he is an amazing piano player and i love to just sit and listen to him play. one day (when we have a house) we'll move our real piano in. for now our piano gets to sit and wait for us at my parents house (thanks mom and dad for the piano by the way).
another cozy corner: i've found that this is my new place for phone calls. something about my 7th grade butterfly chair makes me smile. we brought it with us as a temporary seat while we wait for our couch but i think it might just stay with us!
so there you have it. my week has been full with settling into our family room, second room and patio. i still have a bit of work in the bedroom and kitchen but i'm slowing putting it all together.

it feels so nice to have our home feel like home. i still have tons of projects but thats good! i think i'll attempt homemade roman shades for the second room next week. we'll see how that one goes.

how do you decorate on a budget?

9 comments:

  1. I really like the colorful walls? How do you feel about them? Everything looks beautiful.

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  2. I am in love with your little place! I especially love the little twinkle lights!

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  3. Everything looks AMAZING Syd!!! Man, I wish I was more creative and talented with DIY projects. The way I decorate on a budget is usually just buying things consignment haha. (I got a ton of our furniture just off of KSL). But I have to pretty much like it "as is" because I am am clueless when it comes to re-designing stuff! Hopefully one day we will live close to each other again and you can teach me some of your ways :)

    your condo is so pretty! I love the wood floors, balcony, and finishings :) Can't wait to see more!

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  4. your apartment is darling!!! i love the bistro lights!!

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  5. It is amazing what curtains will do! I love what you have done. Looks great!

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  6. I love the updates! I'm so impressed by your tablecloths for curtains idea - what a great way to save money and you can't tell at all! I'm excited to see these next time we stop by.

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  7. SO Homey and SO CUTE. I already know we could be fabulous friends. Why? I PLAY THE HARP TOO! How awesome! This is so cool.

    Decorating on a budget...I definitely use my 40% hobby lobby coupon EVERY time.

    Excited to get to know you better!

    Amanda @ weandserendipity.blogspot.com

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  8. adorable adorable adorable!
    love this! :)

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  9. Love the color of the walls in the office? What is it and how do you like it? Newest follower! Love your blog!

    Lauren
    www.lifelovelauren.com

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