Bedroom Ideas: ANYONE can do

We are of course renters and the walls are white, awesome..... what to do?

My Bedroom Before:

My Bedroom After: How to: Headboard

Mirror - You can see how I made this mirror from an older post in January 09 titled "Mirror Frenzy". It was a gaudy gold mirror I found at DI(thrift store) for 15 dollars.

Valance - I found the valance at Bed Bath and beyond for a screaming deal and the branch was scrap wood from my in-laws backyard. I was thrilled to find a branch so straight and perfect, but an imperfect branch would look just as good.

To hang the branch I used two coat hooks. The branch fit sturdy right on top of the hooks and it is easy to take it down to make adjustments.

How to: Side Tables

Lamps - Both thrift store finds, though I did mix and match the bases with the shades to come up with a combination I liked. Most thrift stores test their lamps and electronics but if your worried about getting a dud find an outlet and test it in the store.

Side tables - One of the side tables is actually a shelf. It is a black brown color and I found it on sale at Shopco for 15 dollars. I really like the shelf as a side table it offers book space and extra storage for random things. The other side table was found at a thrift store. My husband likes to have little "piles" of his things, so under the cubby of the side table I put a large flat basket so he can continue to have a place for his miscellaneous stuff.

Wall Art - 1. The metallic pointy bucket things (I have no name for them but they're cool) where found at Michael's Craft store. Most craft stores have weekly coupons where you can take 50% off one item. Sometimes they keep the coupon on a flyer by the cash register.

2. The three frames on the wall were from thrift stores and they have pressed flower petals inside. For more details look at the post "Do it Yourself: Wall Art" from January 09.

The Rest...

Pillows - The shams for the pillows were clearance from Bed Bath and Beyond and I filled them with mismatched random pillows bought at Ross for under 6 dollars.

Duvet cover - Ross really has great bedding for cheap prices. Our duvet cover was 19 dollars.

Sophie's tip: Do thrift stores scare you?? I know many friends who get overwhelmed or even weirded out at thrift store shopping. The amount of money you can save by occasionally shopping at thrift stores is ridiculous, so get over your fears. Take someone with you who has gone before and knows the ropes or better, always take a list of items to look for.

I love shopping thrift because whatever I am getting is unique, also, when I walk away with a good deal I feel a serious sense of accomplishment.

Bathroom Creativity... Cheap!

This is one of many projects in process. This project was really easy and CHEAP!

Supplies

Frames: 1-2$ ea. at DI (Thrift)
Bottles: 2$ ea. at DI
Shells: Free, from beaches all over.
Ocean Prints: 1$ for 12

The prints are from a dollar store calender filled with pictures of the ocean!
Just cut out the pictures you like to fit the frames you have.
I got the bottles because every time I would look at the pictures of the ocean I would get "message in a bottle" by The Police stuck in my head. My idea is to find a lot of different size bottles and put them all over the bathroom.


Sophie's Tip: Prints can be expensive especially if they are already framed. Look through all sorts of calenders to find different ideas. It is a inexpensive and easy way to fill frames. Just remember to avoid the "wild stallions on the beach" calenders... I'm so weirded out by those.

Tiny Garden.. Accomplished!

So, I finally got my tiny garden started. Yes, it is VERY tiny. I found this kit on sale for 5 dollars, it has everything you need to plant basil, parsley and chives. I didn't understand how it was such a light container and yet the box said it included soil.
I was skeptical.
I bought extra soil.
I was shocked when I added water to the soil pellets... soil magically was appearing! I was thoroughly amazed for an hour!
Next I planted my seeds and now, I guess we will just wait.
I am excited for that day when I will want to put chives on my potatoes and and I will only need to reach over to my window sill to enjoy fresh herbs.

Hosta is an indoor plant that does well in a lot of shade. To me this means if I can just water it everyday then I have really low odds of killing it.
(You can probably tell one reason why I wanted plants.... my kitchen window looks out at that gorgeous gray gravel!)


Sophie's Tip: When starting a tiny garden you can get very overwhelmed and excited at the store. You will want to buy and grow a lot of things all at once. My tip is to start small, especially if you are a first time gardener. Done this before?... then go crazy.
Want an even easier trick???
Buy the herbs you want already grown... at about 3 dollars each, and enjoy them right away!

More Nursury Ideas...

I just can't get over this stuff..

Things I love:
1. Mismatched furniture. Who says you need all your furniture to match? Who says everything has to come in a set? huh?
2. Simplicity in design. I love how a group of wall decals or small frames can pull a room together.
3. Colors. I love the use of colors in these pictures. One day I will get my brain to think of color schemes like these.

All these photo's are from an amazing website called apartment therapy. It's wonderful.

Tiny Garden

I want a garden but I have no space. I am looking for inspiring ideas....

How To: Diane Von Furstenberg Headbands

Diane Von Furstenberg is a famous fashion designer. If you are familiar with Whitney from The Hills, DVF is the company she works for. In the spring line, all of the runway models were sporting these sweet spring inspired headbands.




So... my sister, in all her craftiness, decided to remake DVF headbands for her 'oh so stylish' little girls to wear on Easter.

Supplies:
floral tape
ribbon
headband from dollar store
silk flowers

She found these fairly basic dresses and the headbands are the perfect accessory.

So chic for 3 and 6 year old's!

Here is the model herself..

Fabulous.

Sophie's Tip: Flowers in children and babies hair can NEVER be "too big".

Bathroom Revamp

I am in the process of gathering inspiration to revamp my bathroom. We live in a older apartment. The colors on the floor of the bathroom are neutral and dated. I obviously can't paint so...
What to do?....

I would LOVE to have a chandelier in my bathroom one day.

I like beach themes in bathrooms... typical? Yes.Love all of this.

This bathroom has clean lines and I love the framed picture of the flower.

I love walls that are covered in pictures.

The colors of the walls and the cabinets in this picture match my bathroom colors. I like the idea of getting an accent rug with interesting pattern.

Sophie's Tip: Before starting a project search the internet and your favorite magazines for inspiration. Brainstorm your favorite ideas. Don't be afraid to mix and match what you like, your bathroom doesn't have to look just like a picture in a catalog. Pull ideas from here and there and then draw out a sketch of your idea. I can be a very indecisive shopper, so it always helps me to have a picture in my head of what I should be looking for.

Be a Professional PHOTOGRAPHER... In only a couple of minutes

1. Get Inspired - While visiting my sister in Michigan I decided to have a photo shoot with my 5 year old niece. I decided to look at some of my favorite photo websites for inspiration. I love the edgy design ideas of Winkfotos. Her pictures are bright with color accents and do not look overly posed. So out came the tutu's and the converse.

2. Click Picnik - I always wanted to be able to produce rad pictures but when looking into photo shop I was disappointed to find some of their cheaper programs for around 100.00
Here is my solution: Picnik.com

The great part is it's completely FREE!

BEFORE:

3. Edit your photo - First I selected the Edit tab and messed around with color. I used this to up the temperature of the picture. Then I used the crop tool to get rid of some excess space.

4. Add fun apps - Next under the Create tab I selected the applications "Boost" and "Soften". To finish it off I added the text in the corner.

AFTER:

Have you always wanted to explore the creative facets of photography?

I have.

Now go create!!

(If you know of any other good sites that are fun, cheap and easy to use Please leave a comment with the link!)

Joy

I could not be happier! I heard a little heart beat inside of me today and now I get to tackle my spare room little person style.

Some upcoming projects will be baby based and here are some of my current inspirations...

Love the shelves and the wood on the walls.

I love the modern feel of this room. I can't decide which I like better the cool rocking chair or the coral arm chair.

This crib is classic. I love the pattern on the wall and the dress hanging on the door.

Could that giraffe be cooler? I LOVE the mismatched matching in this room.

This room I stole from Abby. I speaks for itself.

Love these letters!!.. I will post on how to make something like this..

Have a happy day!!

Pots and Pans Peg Board

Step 1: Pick a color any color...

(Painters Touch Spray Paint 2.79)

Step 2: Select your hooks.

(Set of hooks 6.49)

Step 3: Paint your peg board.

(Peg Board 5.00)

Step 4: Mount board on wall.

I used 5 sturdy long nails. I used 3 at the top and 2 at the bottom to secure.

Step 5: Place your hooks. Then hang your pots and pans.

TA DA!

This project was fun, easy and fast. It is also a total space saver. My apartment is small and now cupboard space to spare.

Sophie's Tip: Spray paint the back side of the board. Many cork boards come pre-painted white and if you are lazy, like me, you don't want to take the time to sand it down and paint over the top. The back is more grainy so the paint sinks in a bit (but because of that one coat worked great).