1. Paint...something. Paint all the walls or just one. Paint an accent table, spray paint wicker baskets to match your color scheme. Paint artwork or paint the floor! Paint is cheap and is instant gratification.
2. Get new window treatments. You can find cheap curtains or drapes at regular retailers like Bed, Bath, and Beyond, Target, or even Walmart. New curtains can really change a space.
3. Rearrange your knick knacks. Refer to post 1. It works.
4. Try out a new rug!
5. Redo the entry. Not the inside but the outside. Paint the front door, make or buy a wreath (not all wreaths are Christmas-y, there are some for every month!) put up some house numbers and place some potted plants around. A welcoming entry is a great first page to a home.
6. Make EVERYTHING have a place. Cliché, but a must. Things like remotes, keys, phone, laptops, Kleenex's, papers, etc. are often strewn about. Look at every single thing and say "Where does this go?" If there is no answer, find it a home.
7. Clean your closets and reorganize them. Separate things by season and frequency of use.
8. Shelving. You can never have enough of it. If you have a weird corner or nook and it doesn't get much use, put shelving there. With storage, more is always more.
9. Bring out those photos. At the risk of you making your home into a virtual scrapbook, display the pictures you love! Even if they are goofy. Make cubes, collages or cover the coffee table with them. They are great conversation pieces!
10. Dust. Yes I know, this isn't a house cleaning blog, but you would be surprised how new things can look after some cleaning. When is the last time you clean your bathroom vanity light? Your baseboards? The legs of chairs? Get ready for a real refresh.
11. Change out the throw pillows. Cheap, easy, quick, cute!
12. Change up the book shelf. Chances are, your books are all standing vertically with the possibility of a book end? No!! Stand some up, lay some down and go back and forth on each shelf. Then add in accessories to fill in spaces. It looks so much better. Trust me.
13. Rearrange the furniture. Keep traffic flow in mind, but sometimes bring furniture away from the wall can make a room seem bigger!
14. Don't be afraid of tools, they are the best! Have things that need fixed around the house? Do it yourself. You will be surprise by how easy most things are. The gratification is amazing.
15. Collect ideas. Either from magazines or Pinterest or wherever. Knowing what style you love and what sticks out to you will help when you are redoing things in your home and shopping for items.
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
The love of trash
Keeping in lines with my last post, money does not grow on trees. So in order to refresh your home, you need to spend as little as possible. My last idea was free, this one could be as well. I feel that I'm a pretty respectable person, but I'm not above diving into a dumpster for a rug. (True story, the rug is in my dining room.) It comes back to vision. It's easy to visualize something beautiful when it already is. Rooms in magazines look amazing, furniture in a showrooms look amazing. I want my house to look amazing too, it just might take a little more work.
Most towns have 'bulk days' or days when you can throw away big stuff you can't normally with your current garbage company. These days are golden - they get marked on my calendar! I have all the schedules for the towns around me and what areas at which times, etc. Put your ego aside, grab your flashlight and go curb shopping. You wouldn't believe what you will find. Yes, A LOT of it is true trash, like carpet and really sketchy looking couches... BUT there are treasures out there. If you are not afraid of some elbow grease, paint, screws whatever, you can take a broken down piece of furniture, art work, (or rugs) from trash to treasure soon enough. Here's a good story for you:
I was driving to my sisters to pick up my kids when on the curb I saw a big base kitchen cabinet staring at me. It was 30 inches wide and 24 inches deep. Perfect. The door was off and it looked like it was a cat's scratching post, but what did I see? A kitchen island. So I stop, loading that beast into the back of my van and continued on. I spend 30 dollars and I know have an amazing kitchen island. I painted it red (leftover from my accent wall color in my kitchen.) I put two shelves on the side of it with some scrap wood I had and some cute shelf brackets from Lowe's. I keep my cook books on there. And I bought a piece of plywood, backer board and tile to match my counter-top. I cut the ply wood a 36 inch square and left one foot hanging off the back and six inches hanging off over my two cook book shelves. Next was the backer board, and then the tile. After the finishing touches, I had a new kitchen island that everyone loves! I have room for two bar stools under the part that hangs over a foot and now my kids can eat breakfast there in the morning. All for 30 dollars and because I wasn't ashamed to trash pick.
So go driving around and look for weird shaped little tables that could be painted a vibrant color or old lamps that would look great with some cleaner and a new shade, or anything really. Don't be afraid to love trash, it will love you back.
Most towns have 'bulk days' or days when you can throw away big stuff you can't normally with your current garbage company. These days are golden - they get marked on my calendar! I have all the schedules for the towns around me and what areas at which times, etc. Put your ego aside, grab your flashlight and go curb shopping. You wouldn't believe what you will find. Yes, A LOT of it is true trash, like carpet and really sketchy looking couches... BUT there are treasures out there. If you are not afraid of some elbow grease, paint, screws whatever, you can take a broken down piece of furniture, art work, (or rugs) from trash to treasure soon enough. Here's a good story for you:
I was driving to my sisters to pick up my kids when on the curb I saw a big base kitchen cabinet staring at me. It was 30 inches wide and 24 inches deep. Perfect. The door was off and it looked like it was a cat's scratching post, but what did I see? A kitchen island. So I stop, loading that beast into the back of my van and continued on. I spend 30 dollars and I know have an amazing kitchen island. I painted it red (leftover from my accent wall color in my kitchen.) I put two shelves on the side of it with some scrap wood I had and some cute shelf brackets from Lowe's. I keep my cook books on there. And I bought a piece of plywood, backer board and tile to match my counter-top. I cut the ply wood a 36 inch square and left one foot hanging off the back and six inches hanging off over my two cook book shelves. Next was the backer board, and then the tile. After the finishing touches, I had a new kitchen island that everyone loves! I have room for two bar stools under the part that hangs over a foot and now my kids can eat breakfast there in the morning. All for 30 dollars and because I wasn't ashamed to trash pick.
So go driving around and look for weird shaped little tables that could be painted a vibrant color or old lamps that would look great with some cleaner and a new shade, or anything really. Don't be afraid to love trash, it will love you back.
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
Less Money=More Vision
Everyone has seen beautiful homes on TV or in magazine and has wish to have that space, but know you couldn't afford a 3,000 dollar couch. I can't either. I have found comfort in knowing that I don't have a lot of money to spend on redoing things around my house, yet, I constantly have a project going. I try not to limit myself to only spending money. Sounds crazy, right? Do not be afraid to not spend money. Crazy again, but it works! When you are dedicated to improving your space on a small or non existent budget, the vision will come.
Here is a trick I use from time to time. Take anything decorative from around your house and put it all together on a table or on the floor somewhere. I'm talking curtains, pillows, nick knacks, lamps, art, side tables...basically anything that is not absolutely essential to the room (For example, the couch will probably stay in the living room, the dresser - in the bedroom) So now that you put it all down in one area, mix it all up because you probably set the stuff down from one room together. Mix it up, and do it again. Now...Just look at it all. What stands out? What pieces do you love? What things are only there because someone gave it to you? Are there pieces you have no idea where there came from? Are there things you have because you needed to just fill up space? (Most common one being art hanging on the wall because grandma got them for you at a garage sale and you had blank walls.) Now, make piles of things you LOVE, things you like, and things you are not sure about (This includes gifts you are keeping out of obligation), and things you are getting rid of. (Yes, this is a necessary pile.) Now you are ready to redecorate your house.
Keep in mind that less is more, most of the time. You cannot appreciate the things you love if you have a bunch of things just filling up space. One loved piece sitting alone will look better than 3 so-so pieces. Now you are ready to put things back. You DO NOT have to put them back where they came from, that is the point of this. Maybe your living room lamp would look great in the bedroom. Your dining table centerpiece may love the coffee table. Maybe that family picture that's on your nightstand should be in the living room so you will see it more often. Mix it up. Start with things you love. Showcase them. Put them where you and others will see them and spread them out between rooms. Then fill in with things you like.
How does your rooms look now? Cleaner? More organized? More you? Refreshed? I thought so. Reevaluate the last two piles - not sure and getting rid of. Actually get rid of the getting rid of pile. Just. Do. It. Now for the not sure pile. If you truly feel you need an item out on display, put it out. Everything else put away for a while and live with it. In two months, open it again and realize how much you didn't miss certain things and get rid of them too. Anything that you were thinking about during those two months. Keep.
That is an easy way to not only refresh your house, but also reorganize and cleanse.
Here is a trick I use from time to time. Take anything decorative from around your house and put it all together on a table or on the floor somewhere. I'm talking curtains, pillows, nick knacks, lamps, art, side tables...basically anything that is not absolutely essential to the room (For example, the couch will probably stay in the living room, the dresser - in the bedroom) So now that you put it all down in one area, mix it all up because you probably set the stuff down from one room together. Mix it up, and do it again. Now...Just look at it all. What stands out? What pieces do you love? What things are only there because someone gave it to you? Are there pieces you have no idea where there came from? Are there things you have because you needed to just fill up space? (Most common one being art hanging on the wall because grandma got them for you at a garage sale and you had blank walls.) Now, make piles of things you LOVE, things you like, and things you are not sure about (This includes gifts you are keeping out of obligation), and things you are getting rid of. (Yes, this is a necessary pile.) Now you are ready to redecorate your house.
Keep in mind that less is more, most of the time. You cannot appreciate the things you love if you have a bunch of things just filling up space. One loved piece sitting alone will look better than 3 so-so pieces. Now you are ready to put things back. You DO NOT have to put them back where they came from, that is the point of this. Maybe your living room lamp would look great in the bedroom. Your dining table centerpiece may love the coffee table. Maybe that family picture that's on your nightstand should be in the living room so you will see it more often. Mix it up. Start with things you love. Showcase them. Put them where you and others will see them and spread them out between rooms. Then fill in with things you like.
How does your rooms look now? Cleaner? More organized? More you? Refreshed? I thought so. Reevaluate the last two piles - not sure and getting rid of. Actually get rid of the getting rid of pile. Just. Do. It. Now for the not sure pile. If you truly feel you need an item out on display, put it out. Everything else put away for a while and live with it. In two months, open it again and realize how much you didn't miss certain things and get rid of them too. Anything that you were thinking about during those two months. Keep.
That is an easy way to not only refresh your house, but also reorganize and cleanse.
Monday, February 3, 2014
Introduction to vision
Hello there! My name is Brandi and I'm a DIYer with vision. I love my home; It's truly my passion, my hobby, my love. No space is safe from my ideas. It is said that the average person changes their space every 7 years. 7 years?! I want to change mine every 2 years! I love new ideas, new trends even, if I feel they will last. I'm a carpenter at heart but took some schooling for interior decorating. I'm the person who sees a palace while standing in a dump. I can FEEL the equity. I hear so often of people saying, "I just don't know what to do with it!" Speaking of their living room, patio, or a color scheme or anything really. Ideas are hard, execution is easier. So here I am! I'm going to share my ideas of how I've turned my house into a home with everything from trash picking, to shopping at stores I couldn't afford to walk through (for ideas, of course).
TMI on me:
I'm in my twenties, have been married for 7 years, have two beautiful children, and two large dogs, even a picket fence! The stereotype stops there. I'm the carpenter in the house, the fixer, the decorator, the visionary, and the list of mommy titles that could go on forever. My husband...not so much a fixer. (He is helpful, but when I had to explain why you predrill things before screwing them, I knew it was a lost cause.) He deals with the fact that when he comes home, our house my have new curtains, new flooring, or a new layout! I'm constantly project-ing.(Yes, that is my verb.) My life is truly fulfilled by my projects around the house and with all the compliments I get, I knew I had to share! Ideas are all around you, you just have to have vision.
TMI on me:
I'm in my twenties, have been married for 7 years, have two beautiful children, and two large dogs, even a picket fence! The stereotype stops there. I'm the carpenter in the house, the fixer, the decorator, the visionary, and the list of mommy titles that could go on forever. My husband...not so much a fixer. (He is helpful, but when I had to explain why you predrill things before screwing them, I knew it was a lost cause.) He deals with the fact that when he comes home, our house my have new curtains, new flooring, or a new layout! I'm constantly project-ing.(Yes, that is my verb.) My life is truly fulfilled by my projects around the house and with all the compliments I get, I knew I had to share! Ideas are all around you, you just have to have vision.
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