Decorating with Thrifted Furniture

It's been a while! I feel like I've finally gotten off the crazy train to nowhere, having moved into a new house right after Thanksgiving and hitting Christmas and New Years head-on, while tripping over boxes, and never knowing where anything was, or where all our crap stuff was going to go!

Anywho, with the start of this new year and new home, my inner DIYer has kicked into overdrive. How will we decorate? How can we turn one thing into another so we don't have to buy a new one? How can we make it unique? How can we Pinterest the crap out of this place?! Ha!

FRONT ROOM DECOR ON A BUDGET

Here is a front room sitting area before-after. This spot has changed the most since we've moved in, well, because we keep changing it!

It's an odd space because the front door opens right to it - a long rectangular entry way / front room / dining room. We're trying to figure out how to divide the space, while keeping it functional, comfortable and inviting. We love the final version and didn't have to spend much to do it.

Decorating with Thrift Store and Craigs List Finds

One of my favorite parts about decorating with thrifted furniture, is getting to go to all the thrift shops and perusing Craigs list til you find just the right thing.

I can't lie though, there have been several heart-pounding moments when someone else picked up what I wanted and I thought I was going to have a nervous break-down. Luckily, my powers of mental persuasion worked and I pounced once they put it down (on the item, not the person). Either way, I'm not proud.

Front Room Details:

Let me start out by telling you that not everything is thrifted. I try to find as many thrifted items as I can, but once in a while I splurge on a few great new items to tie it all together.

Another great tip when decorating on a budget, is to remember that you can essentially go thrift shopping in your own house! Hunt through boxes of things you've packed away, and take things from one room and put them in another! Budget Brilliance!

Bookshelf - pre-built into the wall. Filled with new and thrifted items.

Beach Scenes Picture - Ikea (purchased several years ago)

Sunburst Mirror - I made it a couple years ago

Soft Seagreen Throw - Home Goods (bought last year for our apartment front room makeover)

Faux fur Rug - New this year at Marshalls

Camel colored Couch - Craigs list (are you sitting down?) $25.00 - like new. Best post-holiday deal of my life!

White metal side table - Ikea (purchased years ago)

Solid wood lamp base - garage sale a few years ago

White textured lamp shade - thrifted recently

DIY Thrifted Coffee Table 

ONE OF MY FAVORITE THRIFTY DECORATING TRICKS WAS THE DIY COFFEE TABLE made with a base from a thrifted wooden stool and the glass top from an Ikea table we already had. Unique and lovely.

Round Glass Coffee Table - Base: an wooden stool purchased at a thrift shop / glass top from Ikea (purchased many years ago)

Round Woven Basket - Marshalls (purchased a few years ago)

Ceramic Elephant - thrifted (just got it and LOVE IT!)

Colored rocks - gift

Wooden woven Pineapple - Marshalls (bought several years ago)

Bubble glass Candle holder - estate sale (found a few years ago)

That's all for now! Feels good to finally get our home put together. I'll share more as we go along! xo

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Decorating with a cream couch: budget-friendly front room make-over

Once there lived a man and his wife who finally decided it was time to be grown-ups and buy a couch of their own.

And so the story goes, they lived happily ever after...and became a couple of lazy couch potatoes.

The End.

Decorating with a Cream Leather Couch

You may be hesitant to decorate with a cream or light-colored couch, but it has the potential to turn your drab and dreary to downright dreamy.

I was very skeptical, myself. "STAINS!" was all I could think about. And leather? "Am I even a cream leather couch person??" Enter: mini-crisis of re-discovery.

But since the day it was delivered, we can't be more in love with it. It's like butta baby!! So soft and so comfortable. It not only brightened up our room a million times over, but it brought some grown-up sophistication to our front room decor (and no, I did not tag team that off of Katherine Lowe's wedding theme "grown-up sexy"). In a nutshell? We. Love. It.

Okay, take a look (if you haven't already jumped)

Front room make-over reveal: Cream Couch

BEFORE 
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AFTER

Decorating on a Budget | Front Room Make-over Details

Determine a budget

Re-decorating on a budget is definitely do-able, but the trick is taking your time and doing your research to find great deals. We wanted a new couch for a long time, but it took a while before we found the right couch at the right price. Take advantage of holiday sales, 0% for a year pay-off deals, discounted items, gift money, even thrifted items if in good condition. You can save a ton and still get what you want. Just be diligent and patient.

Creating a palate

Decorating with a cream or light-colored couch is the perfect way to bring in lots of color to compliment your neutral base. You don't want colors all over the map, so decide on what kind of feel you want in your room and what colors would compliment best. I went for Beachy Chic and splashed around colors like aquas, blues, sea greens and sandy tans, to compliment and brighten the space.

Choosing a Couch

Choosing a neutral base was important for us, so we could brighten our space and build color around it. By choosing leather, it made the space feel a little more modern with a touch of sophistication, without being stuffy.
-Couch from Macys Furniture Store, style: Alessia Leather Sofa - Pearl - *Black Friday Sale

Choosing an Area Rug

Choosing the right area rug for your room can literally transform it. It's important to make sure the size and color work for the space. Not only did the blue and cream Moroccan Trellis Rug tie everything together, it helped to anchor the couch and coffee table as a defined space, allowing the other areas of the room to be have their own space.
-Homespun Moroccan Trellis Rug - Spa Blue - from Rugs USA - *80% off 

Adding Accessories: Pillows & Throws

One of the really fun parts of decorating with a new cream sofa is adding throw pillows and blanket throws for pops of color. Each item brings in its own unique touch, while creating a sense of cohesion.

Keeping with our chosen palette, I decided on light aqua, soft, faux fur throw pillows (20"x20") which not only brought in the soft brightness of color I wanted, but also brought in a great texture. Don't forget texture is an important detail to integrate into any space!

THE SOFT FAUX FUR BLANKET THROW is a deeper color within the same color family - more along the lines of sea foam green and compliments the pillows, rug and couch perfectly to give the room that Modern Beachy feel. Plus it's so cuddly soft that it's actually something we love to use, instead of something we just look at.
-Faux Fur Pillows and Throw from HomeGoods - *holiday gift card

Bamboo Sunburst Mirror Wall Art

I made the Bamboo Sunburst Mirror a few years ago. It was easier than I thought it would be, with stunning results! See this post on how to make your own DIY Suburst Mirror

-DIY ~$14.00 total materials cost

Coffee Table

We didn't splurge on a new coffee table, (although I'd love one!), but this thrifted, 60's style coffee table is perfect for our space at the moment. I tied in accessories that brought color such as aqua glass, texture: rope tied nautical balls, woven & bamboo baskets/trays, and a touch of antique with a thrifted antique mirror used as a tray.
- Thrifted

Other Accessories to add color and texture to a room

Make your space personal with framed photos, wall pictures, candles, lamps, + don't forget to bring the outside in! Plants, rocks, sand, grass, shells, wood, flowers, etc. bring freshness and variety from nature's own textures, colors and diversity.

We still have a long way to go, but it's definitely a good start. I'd love to replace our bookshelf, side table and lamps, but a girl only has so much cash! I reeeeaaaalllly had to hold myself back.

I love how it turned out. It makes me happy every time I walk in the room!
And after almost 2 months, no stains! (knock on wood!)

Update: still no stains after 6 months and counting! Woohoo!

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Sunburst Mirror DIY: Natural Bamboo

Honestly? I can't keep my eyes off of it. I even caught my husband catch a glance from the kitchen. Maybe we're both just in shock that it actually turned out as well as it did! 

I found the idea for this Sunburst Mirror made with bamboo, from House of 50, and decided to give it my own spin.

Make your own Bamboo Sunburst Mirror

MATERIALS:

• 10" round mirror from JoAnn Fabrics with a 50% off coupon for just $2.50
• Bamboo stalks from Michaels with a 50% off coupon: $6.50
• Saw from Home Depot (turns out scissors work even better) $5.00
• Hot glue gun (already had it)

Total cost = $14.00 (not bad!)

INSTRUCTIONS:

▶Cut your bamboo stalks

Cut your bamboo stalks into pieces ranging from 15" to 20" long. We started by using a little saw, but found it quite cumbersome. A pair of regular old scissors worked perfectly! (minus a bit of flying bamboo debris)

▶Lay out your pieces

Lay all the pieces out on the back of the mirror to see how it looks, before gluing them on, making sure to stagger the different sizes.

▶Attach each piece of bamboo stalk

Glue each piece down with a hot glue gun, to the backside of your mirror.

Unlike the tutorial mentioned above, we decided to keep our sunburst mirror its natural bamboo color and texture. 

▶Get it ready to hang on the wall

I didn't have any mirror hardware, so I decided to get creative with what I had on hand.

Using a small piece of leftover bamboo, simply glue a small piece on the back - gluing just the middle, leaving the sides open.

Slide a piece of ribbon or heavy string up and under the sides.

Once dry, turn over carefully...it was tricky to turn this baby over...try not to kabob yourself!

▶Hang up your masterpiece

And presto-chango - we did it!

Of course I see all the flaws, but that's what makes it unique I guess.

It really does make the room feel brighter!

◉UPDATE: Check-out how well our Natural Bamboo Sunburst Mirror looks in our new Beach Chic Family Room Make-over! 

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