Basket Case

Last week, a random situation presented itself and after I dealt with it I thought, “Hey!  I should write about that!”  So I will and here it is.  It’s a story of some woven baskets I found last week at Dirt Cheap for $3 each.  I’m pretty sure you can still buy them in store at Target.  I’ve seen them in the Dollar Spot and they’ll run you back $5 a piece there.  Somehow a few of them trickled down to Dirt Cheap…well, somehow in that they were very misshapen from being smooshed somewhere along the line.  In their condition, they could barely stand on their own much less be a drop zone for something. 

But, I tossed them into my cart at Dirt Cheap because I had a plan to take these baskets back to their original glory…a plan I was 95% positive would work.

The Story of a Footboard

Right after our wedding and honeymoon eleven happy years ago, we moved into our first house together and slept on a twin mattress on the floor together because that’s all we had.  I still wouldn’t mind sleeping on a twin mattress with Anthony but I doubt it would be as comfortable now as it was then, with the high probability of a toddler sandwiched between us.  A couple of weeks passed during which we were on the hunt for a queen bed and mattress and that hunt ended with a bed/dresser set we found at a local thrift store in Ohio.  We bought our dining room table and chairs at the same time and paid $100 for one set and $150 for the other.  I can’t remember which was which.  Then we bought a mattress at Big Lots for $500 and finally cashed in on adult status. 

We painted our master in our first house pale blue and then I got to work adding some white – curtains from Walmart, lamps from a clearance rack at Ollie’s, and bedding that was wedding gifted.  It was simple and serene and perfect for us newlyweds.

Master Bedroom: The Reveal

Now that we have our eyes and minds on our new house, it’s good that our current rental looks like the home we wanted it to be.  I am calling it finito.  We are done tweaking this place and patiently (well, usually not so patiently) awaiting our closing date in mid-March.  Even with the closing of our new house though, we’ll still be living in our rental until we can get a few big things done before move-in day (which will probably be May-ish).  While we wait, I’m happy to report that we’ll be sleeping in a master bedroom that no longer looks like a cardboard box with the kind of swag (ahem…curtains) that’s not so appealing…


but rather one that is full on SWAG:


Before I dive into the details, I just want to say that this room is an excellent example of decorating with things you find on sale/secondhand.  As much as I’d love to run into a store, buy a bunch of gorgeous things that all swim together in the same interior design sea all at once, and come home to put a room together in a day or two, that’s just not in the cards for our budget over here.  It takes time (and patience!) to hunt things down that all fit together and make a room feel polished.  But the end result, both the room and the contents of your wallet, are worth the challenge the hunt can be.  Remember that the next time you’re staring longingly down Pinterest’s endless boards of rooms decorated to perfection with the latest and greatest trends.  I know I need to.  ;) 

The very first thing we did to break out of the box was paint the walls white and add a bold green accent wall, which made all the difference in the world in this room.  Or maybe it was taking down those curtains that made all the difference in the world.  Or both.  Yep, probably both.

We Have Some News…

We have some news…

It’s kind of big…

Not too big but big enough…

Master Bathroom Makeover Under $100

Hello!  Who’s in for a master bathroom reveal?  :D
This one won’t win any awards for most jaw-dropping transformation but nonetheless, it’s a transformation for the better and that’s all that really matters, right?  ;)
Before, our master bathroom was laden with that tan paint that coursed throughout the house (while not bad persay, not the best color for this house and it’s characteristics), some frilly curtains, baby blue fixtures, and horrible lighting.

While we weren’t going to dish out the money to change the tile, painting the room white (Pure White by Sherwin-Williams) was an easy way to make the blue feel a little more intentional.  The curtains came down as soon as I could get them off and, since the window itself is frosted, there really isn’t a need for window treatments but I made some anyway.  The full tutorial on that roman shade is here. 
After all of that refreshing plus some decor on the walls and new gold hardware (leftover from the kitchen makeover) on the cabinet, we are here: