Mini Makeovers

I wanted to share a few updated spaces in our home. 

Nothing quite like a satisfying before and after shot. 

And just in case you haven't seen the real before,
here are the same rooms for your viewing pleasure...

 I always imagined the bay window area as a sitting/reading nook.

I found the Ikea chairs in the classifieds, moved the table from the nursery, 

and bought the curtains from Ikea for less than $20/pair. 

The living room was just too "warm" for my liking,
and didn't flow well into the kitchen color scheme, 

so I moved the sitting chair to our room and replaced it with the black rocker. 

I replaced most of my homemade pillow covers with new covers from Ikea for $5/pop. 

I moved the gold mirror to the basement and replaced it with an 

iron art piece from Hobby Lobby that I found for 50% off. 

In our bedroom my hubby hung 2 Ikea wall shelves that I painted white,

I replaced a broken floor lamp with one I found at the local thrift store,

I swapped chairs with the living room
(and it is so much nicer to have a good chair for chatting and reading), 

and I brought a rug up from the entryway to fill the vast area of gray carpet. 

The basement is still a huge work in progress.

We still need to paint all the walls and ceilings from a nasty taupe to white. 

There are no windows down there so it seems very dark with the current paint color.

But our vision for the room is coming together (workout/guest room/play room).

We found the futon for $60 in the classifieds, 

and Mike's work gives us a yearly stipend to use towards "health" 

(aka the exercise equipment). 

Slowly making progress! 

In the Mood

For some background info, first read
THIS POST 

Here are three mood-boards that I created in hopes of getting some inspiration. 

You'll notice that the colors are similar to our current room. 

There are two reasons for this.

1) We have to work with what we have, and since we have a tiny apartment we want every room to follow a similar color scheme. Thus the consistent presence of blues, greens, and reds.

2) We really like these colors. We originally wanted to try something totally different, but when we really thought about it we realized that we love these colors. And that's a good enough reason to stick with them. We want the room to match our personal style, and rich, bold color is definitely our style. 

I'm leaning towards #1 and #3 because I love red and because I've been wanting to bring in more yellow,
but #2 would definitely give us the most change. 

Note: I only put in things that we will change. 

Also, the background color would be the color of an accent wall.

MOOD-BOARD #1

Accenting Red and Turquoise, bringing in yellow

MOOD-BOARD #2

Accenting Orange and Teal, a bit more neutral

MOOD-BOARD #3

Accenting Golden Yellow and Red

Which one is your favorite? 

Any other suggestions? 

I have way too much...

....time on my hands. And, as a result, I've been itching for a re-design of our living room space. I really do love our place, but I'm ready for a change, and ready to dive into some projects. Since my job this summer is to be a full-time mom, I have been thinking of some "budget friendly" ways I can get creative and create an updated look without spending a fortune. I also have to remind myself that this isn't our permanent home, and that the ultimate goal right now is saving for a house of our own. 

So, here are a few ideas that I have that will hopefully give some inexpensive change to that space. 

1. Sofa Slipcovers

• I've gone back and forth between wanting to recovering our sofas and just wanting to buy new slipcovers. Unfortunately buying durable material in a fabric that I love has proven to cost a lot more than the average $200 for some basic slipcovers; not to mention the time and energy it would take covering the sofas.

2. Pillow Covers

• We have a nice set of down pillows that are worth saving. Unfortunately the current covers on them are tearing and shredding at the corners. My goal is to find some inexpensive fabric, an easy pattern, and some time to make some new pillows. 

3. Spray Paint

• There's nothing like a new coat of paint to change and freshen things up. We have a darling side table that is in desperate need of paint. 
• I also have 2 or 3 lamps that I'd love to give new life to. 

4. Wing chair Reupholstery/Slipcover

• I really, really want to give reupholstering our thrift store wing chair a try. I've been watching videos and looking up tutorials to see if it even seems possible. So far it looks like a huge project, but definitely possible. The key will be to see if I can find a fabric that will work. 
• Slipcovering is obviously easier, but not really the look I want. Since we're going to slipcover our sofas it would be nice not to have a slipcovered chair as well. Plus, the options and fabrics for wing chair slipcovers are much less desirable than those for sofas/loveseats. 

5. Art Work 

• I'd love some bright, fresh, artwork in our living room. Right now almost every frame in there is black, and our pictures have very little color or pizazz. Sometimes I wish I could go back and tell my newly-wed self not to buy everything in black. Black gets old, really fast. 

So there you have it. My game-plan for our summer living room makeover. Obviously doing this on a budget means a lot of DIY projects, as well as using what we already have, and sticking to colors that are already dominant throughout our home. 

Here's one last look at our current living room

Goodbye old living room,

Hello summer projects!

SimpleSpaces

My mom is incredible, and not just because she gave birth to eight children and raised ten. 

Not only is she is an amazing dancer, and an incredible example of a woman with integrity, and she lives what she teaches, and she taught me basically everything I know, and she keeps an immaculate home (even when there were ten children under age eleven), and she shares everything with everyone....

But also because

She is an author of a book that is going to change lives. 

This book.

We are born with nothing, and we die with none of our earthly possessions; only the knowledge we have acquired. We arrive on this earth unclothed and empty-handed, and we leave in the same manner. What we do in the space between that entrance and exit is our life's journey. All that we receive, purchase, consume, handle, and call our own, facilitate this life. Knowing what is truly necessary and sacred is imperative: what to hold on to, share with someone else, or throw away. When we free-up our spaces of all that isn't vital, we free ourselves from the responsibility and concern for those things.

 As we simplify our spaces . . . we free-up our lives. 

-Kim Smith Yandow