Christmas Bookshelf Styling On a Budget

December 19, 2014 by Scott in home

Do you have one of those friends that no matter how long its been since you've seen each other, things never change between you? Over 15 years ago, I met my very best friend while in college. Our friendship was one built on You've Got Mail, box pasta, chocolate donuts and coffee. Lisa Owen is one of the most talented people I know--creative, organized, driven and a fantastic all around woman. Finding someone who is creative and organized is a tough combo to come by sometimes. When it comes to organizing and styling your home, she has some fantastic ideas. She recently posted her home on Facebook and I knew I must share it with you. All of us can relate to decorating and styling on a budget (especially those of us who rent). Without further ado, meet Lisa...

Sarah asked me to share some tips for Christmas decorating on a budget. When it comes to decorating for Christmas, it has been a year for DIY projects around my house. Last year my husband surprised me with the wonderful Christmas gift of built-in bookshelves surrounding our fireplace so this year, I am enjoying the fun of figuring out how to make them festive...without breaking the bank. I don't know about you, but open, blank bookshelves can be overwhelming especially when working on a budget. I like subtle touches of Christmas in my house which is the approach I took with my bookshelves. With lots of openings to fill and a few things just waiting to be repurposed, I managed to add Christmas trimmings for about the cost of two Venti Peppermint Mochas. (And since you aren't breaking the bank, you may want to reward yourself with one of those Peppermint Mochas!) If you find yourself like me, on a budget, I have a few simple tips.

christmas decor on a budget :: bookshelf styling :: SurvivingSarah.com

Here are my three simple & inexpensive suggestions:

1. Add fabric ribbon to existing items already in your space. You may be surprised by how many things you can dress up this way (it’s not just for boxes).

christmas decor on a budget :: ribbon around books :: SurvivingSarah.com

2. Find live seasonal plants to add color & fun to an existing planter. Or swap out an everyday planter for one that adds to your holiday style. I went for the $5 poinsettia and put it in an antique mercury container that I already had on hand.

christmas decor on a budget :: christmas flowers :: SurvivingSarah.com

3. Wrap up boxes you have laying around your house with fun, festive paper and decorate to your liking. I stole an ornament off of my Christmas tree, added an evergreen sprig and tied them on the wrapped box with jute--all of which I already had at home.

christmas decor on a budget :: wrapped up boxes :: SurvivingSarah.com

And there you go, holiday ready--subtle and simple-- for less than $10.

christmas decor on a budget :: SurvivingSarah.com

Thanks, Lisa! I don't know about you guys, but that feels manageable to me who is not so DIY inclined! Go shop your house and see what kind of things you can add without breaking the bank. The good news for you is that she is launching a new blog in the new year! I will make sure you let you know about it when that happens because I know you will want to follow along.

What ideas do you have for decorating for Christmas on a budget?

Merry Christmas!

For Rent Part 3

November 11, 2014 by Scott in home, projects

How To Be Creative With Restrictions

We are in the middle of a series about rentals. You can read Part 1 and Part 2 if you missed it. In Part 2 we talked about creating a space that reflects who you are. Today, I want to extend that conversation because part of creating a space in a rental (or a home with a tight budget) that reflects you means you must be creative. Most rental spaces come with restrictions—wall colors you don’t like, room arrangements, strange kitchen layout, outdated bathrooms. You get the picture. The first thing I suggest doing, is contact your landlord or property management person and ask if you can change anything. You never know unless you ask. This goes back to Part 1 in that we need to change our perspective towards the temporary. We need to stop viewing that space as temporary and dwell where we are. If you get the go-ahead from the landlord, go nuts. In our current rental space, we got permission to paint (everything is now Benjamin Moore Revere Pewter). That alone made a huge difference in our space. You just have to remember that if you paint something bold, they may ask you to repaint before you move out. I would love to paint the ceiling in our girls room a pale pink and the French doors in the kitchen a light blue. I need to take my own advice and ASK permission! Next we replaced outdated fans with new light fixtures (which we will take with us when we move). You can see those in Part 2. Besides paint, repositional wallpaper is a great option for temporary spaces. I’ve seen some removable wallpaper products online and in stores. Check out these from Target. We have thought about hanging this in our hallway bathroom. Personally, I'd like to use the mint color diamond pattern in there. It’s just another way to be creative with restrictions.

Part of getting creative is working with what is naturally good or pleasing or beautiful in your space. You want to accentuate that. Our home has some great bones. Both the kitchen and the master bedroom have French doors that lead out onto the deck. White curtains hang effortlessly to frame the French doors making it feel like a retreat. The living room has built-ins that surround the fireplace. We styled the built-ins and the paint color makes the crisp white trim pop. The master bathroom has a glass surround shower and clawfoot tub. We accentuated these things. We painted the bathroom a light creamy gray over the pink that was working against it. Find ways to show off what is intrinsic to the home.

Something else I’ve learned about dwelling where you are and creating a space with restrictions is to not be afraid. When we finally finished renovating our dream home, it wasn’t but a few months before my husband broke the news that we needed to sell the house and move to Atlanta. My heart sunk the bottom of the ocean. All of the sudden what was supposed to be my forever, permanent home felt very temporary. I was afraid to do anything in the space especially poke holes in my brand new walls. It took months before I allowed myself to dwell in our dream home even though I knew it was going to be temporary. To really be present in your current space, don’t be afraid to put holes in the walls. Again, you may live somewhere that hanging pictures or curtains are now allowed. If so, then work with what you’ve got by playing up accessories in your space or use Command strips. But if you don’t have the hole-restriction, then for heaven sakes, hang your pictures and curtains. We hung white curtains in our rental home it made the space look so fresh and clean. We immediately hung pictures. At the end of the day, you may need to fill in those holes before you move, but your space will have reflected you much more while you were there.

And lastly, get creative by being flexible. Often in rental spaces, you didn’t get to pick exactly how you wanted the layout of the house. We moved from a 5 bedroom (plus bonus room) home to a 3 bedroom home. Our first inclination was to put our girls in the back bedroom leaving the other bedroom as an office. We really felt like in a space this small, that it was more important to have a third living option rather than a rarely used guest bedroom. This third space had a sofa in it for any overnight guests. We also have a queen size blow up mattress if needed. You know, it’s not ideal. We would love to have a space dedicated to guests, but in this small rental, it just wasn’t the best option. We really wanted to USE every inch of our home. The girls had a room, we had a room and also an office. This worked well for the first 6 months. Then, we realized that our girls CANNOT sleep in the same room together with their toys. These people were waking at 5:30 to play, fighting by 6:00 and momma in the fetal position on the closet floor by 6:03. Not a good situation #thestruggleisreal So we opted to be flexible. We didn’t love losing our third space but that seemed like the best option at the time. We sold the girls’ twin beds and bought bunkbeds. Now they sleep in the smallest room with only their clothes. That move allowed us to make the old bedroom into a playroom. Part of me feels funny that they have 2 whole bedrooms dedicated to them in such a small house but it has also worked out nicely. They can create and play without stressing momma (I don’t do well with messes). So what did we do with our desk you ask? We got creative. We sold the desk that Scott made and bought a computer armoire off Craigslist to put in our kitchen. Bye-bye coffee station turned command center. Hello, Ballard Designs work station. It’s not ideal to work in the busiest part of the house, but it’s all about being flexible.

I have a whole Pinterest board dedicated to For Rent. There are some great blog posts there along with inspiring pictures to get you motivated. Part of surviving Sarah is learning to be content. I am naturally a discontent person. I like change. I want to push things to be better. I can be frustrating (even to myself) so learning to content with where I dwell is a big deal to me. At the end of the day, I want (you included) to enjoy where you are. Enjoy the process of creating something. Don't rush it, but take your time. I tend to want to get to the end--of races, books, movies or circumstances, but isn't life supposed to be about the journey. Doesn't God tend to reveal Himself in the process? The same is true with your home. Enjoy the process of creating a space that reflects who you are. I want your space to absolutely reflect who you are and what you love. I hope you’ve liked this series. Let me know some of the ways, that you have been creative in your rental space.

For Rent Part 2

November 03, 2014 by Scott in home, projects

How To Be You In Your Rental Space

I started a new series called For Rent to help you find yourself in the home where you are.

It wasn’t long after we decided to move back to Atlanta that we realized we would need to downsize. We were mere children living inside a nearly 5000 sq ft home. However we often looked more like people crashing there than living since most of the rooms were less than occupied.

In preparation for moving and downsizing, we made the decision to hold lightly to our stuff. I went from room to room and listed out all that we had. Then, I asked myself these questions: “Do we need it?” “Do I love it?” I did the same tasks with the contents of our kitchen cabinets, closets and toys. We weeded down probably 60% of our stuff. We either gave it away or sold it or in some cases gave back hand-me-down furniture.

By the time we got to Atlanta (took ages to sell our dream home), we walked into a 1850 sq ft rental house. We practically had just enough stuff. Since I had disposed of most of our furniture, I was left with stuff I liked. So we put it to good use. We made good use of what we had while reflecting who we are.

For instance, what was once a coffee bar in our dream home is command center for kids and life in the rental home.

What was a dresser in our master bedroom now serves as a media piece of furniture in the rental.

Our fancy sofa from the dream home living room made our little rental living room look perfect.

We (I mean the handy husband, Scott) pieced together two salvaged pieces of wood to create a desktop to sit on top of two filing cabinets we already owned.

We made good use of what we had. Once we settled in, I took note of what was missing. Turning to Craigslist, we found an armoire (already painted SCORE) for linen storage in our bedroom. Next, we hit up Ikea for a dining table, dining host and hostess chairs and a dresser. Lastly, we needed rugs since most of our rugs we sold since they were too big. The runners came from Home Decorators and living room rug from Target.

Another way to inject who you are into a rental is to paint and change out light fixtures. We asked permission from the owners before painting. We actually didn't ask permission about the lights however we knew we would put their old fans back in place before we moved out. The kitchen and living space was a dingy yellow color and the master suite was PINK. Actually, MAUVE. I typed all caps because I want to yell it at you! Can you believe that?!? If you know me, you know those don't reflect me. We painted the entire space (minus the turquoise hallway which still needs to be painted.) Benjamin Moore's Revere Pewter. This color is so versatile and makes everything look good! Honestly, the light fixtures really sell this place and make it look like us. The living room and dining room chandeliers came from Southeastern Salvage in Chattanooga.

One thing I learned through the whole moving process was to enjoy where you are. Whether you are in your dream home or temporary home, enjoy where you are. Maybe step one is actually changing your mindset or perspective. I wrote a little about that in the previous post. In my rental experience, I am able to enjoy where we are much better when I don't view it as temporary. Do what you can do to enjoy your time there however long or short it is. Make good use of what you have. Be creative. Don't just buy something or accept something because its cheap or on sale or it was a family piece. You will love your space more if you are surrounded by what you like.

When you are renting, it’s tough to want to spend money on stuff and furniture for a home that may be temporary. To make a space reflect who you are, start with what you have and then go from there. Make a list of what you have. Do you need it? Does it serve a purpose? Can it be replaced easily? Do you love it? Keep what you love and move on from what you don’t. In Elsa's famous words, "Let it go." It helped my space be me when I got rid of stuff that stressed me. There were pieces of furniture and artwork that just didn’t fit me. It's okay that you don't like something. We all don't have to like the same thing. Maybe you think I'm crazy for painting over the pink. Maybe pink walls are your jam. We are all unique and have personal style. There was something freeing about narrowing down our belonging to what was us. When I walk into our rental now, I feel the whole thing reflects our style. Any home can feel like home if you inject it with who you are.

For Rent Part 1

October 30, 2014 by Scott in home, projects

When we moved from Atlanta to Tennessee a several years ago, we needed to rent a house while we renovated our dream home. Scott tried his hardest to get me to rent a RV and park it on the property of our dream house. Seriously? We had an almost 2 year old and a very pregnant, emotional, hormonal woman. Do you see the problem there? We had some issues finding a rental home in the first place, and after searching and searching (side bar: it's hard to find a rental home in a small town because it's always by owner or local agency rather than on zillow), we finally found a tiny 2 bedroom town home. I. Mean. Tiny. We were in need so tiny it was. We had to rent it from some local-jocal (said it the most southern hick accent I could muster) who was also known as the local mob boss (a detail we did not know about until after the papers were signed). Cue the Godfather. That rental lasted all of two months when we woke to gunshots fired at our doorstep in the middle of the night. It was a case of domestic violence and when it was clear that the assailant worked for the Godfather and the Godfather had no plans of punishment, we moved AGAIN. A sweet college friend of mine rented her house in the historic downtown just a minute away from our dream home. Perfect situation. But one thing was wrong, I viewed our rental time as temporary. And honestly, I think most people who rent treat that time as temporary. The house was absolutely charming. It was build the 20's with a swing on the front porch. It had great potential to be a home for us. But we moved in and rather than thinking how we would be there almost a year, we lived as if we were visiting for the week. Let me just say that I think that perspective made the waiting process more difficult. It made the wait feel like eternity because we never settled down. After we moved out, a dear friend moved into that house to rent. And you know what? She decorated it like she was there to stay. It looked so beautiful. The wall colors (which we weren't allowed to paint) weren't my taste (and probably not her's either) but she embraced it and dwelled in it.

When we moved to Atlanta not too long ago, I decided to do the same thing as my friend. I knew we would live in this rental for a year maybe longer, but I chose to not view it as temporary. I chose not view it as a holding card for my next house. I chose to dwell. To remain. To be all in.

So as I begin this series called For Rent, I want to challenge you to change the way you view your rental or your current home for that matter. Maybe you are dreaming about what's next to the point where you can't enjoy what's now. Here's what we are going to talk about in this series called For Rent:

How to be you in your rental space

How to be creative with restrictions

That leaves me with you. Are you someone that dwells or someone that waits for what's next?

Ikea Hack Nightstand

October 02, 2014 by Scott in home, projects

One thing I love about living in Marietta is that we are a quick 20 minute drive, door to door, to Ikea in Atlanta. I'm pretty sure we made a weekly run to Ikea when we moved here. I remember the first time that we experienced Ikea. We went down to Ikea on Halloween night (this was before we had kids) and spent at least 3 hours there! We ate dinner, shopped, fought, sought counseling and ended the date with a cinnamon roll. We almost always end up fighting by the time we enter the warehouse portion of the store. However, we now pretty much know what we want when we go, so counseling isn't always needed. I bet everyone has a room in their house that is the last place to decorate or put together. For me, it has always been our bedroom. I have yet to really put together a master bedroom. Even when we lived in our dream home, the bedroom wasn't complete. We had minimal furniture and few decor pieces. It mostly just about being functional. I don't know why that is. Maybe I know most people that come to my house, aren't spending time in my bedroom. But regardless, our bedroom is a place that I want to feel comfortable and relaxed. It's a place to go after surviving each day.

When we moved here, we sold, gave away, got rid of almost 75% of our stuff. We completely downsized. Our last house was nearly 5000 sq feet and our rental is 1850 sq feet. We sold our king size bed and now use our guest queen bed. We assumed our rental would have small bedrooms like most homes built between 1940-1970, however, we totally scored. The owners of our rental added a master suite on to the back of the house. We could have totally kept our king bed. Sigh.

Given that all we had was a queen mattress set for our bedroom, we knew we needed some furniture. After ordering a metal bed frame and upholstered headboard from Wayfair, the next thing to buy were nightstands. The only problem was that we didn't have a lot of money to spend. So what do you do when you have a need for furniture + a lack of money? You go to Ikea. After spending some time researching Pinterest, I decided that we should do an Ikea hack on the RAST chest. I found inspiration here. This chest has 3 drawers and is only...wait for it... $35!

After purchasing and persuading my husband to put the chests together (I like to make him think I am incapable of assembling Ikea furniture), we got to work painting and staining. (You will have to forgive me but I neglected to take any process pictures for you.) We had leftover white paint and stain from other projects. We stained the sides and top of the chest Minwax Mission Oak and painted the drawer fronts white. Then, we bought new hardware from Home Depot. I believe we spent $36 total on hardware. So each nightstand cost us about $55 each! Not too shabby!

I am really in love with the look of these. My only complaint is that they are a little short. My inspiration link built them up a bit, but my husband didn't want to have to do that. The drawers are not deep which works well for nightstands.

Our current master bedroom is definitely further along than our last one yet we still need to hang pictures! As you can see, I still have lots of work to do in this room to make it more cozy but at least I have nightstands ;-) Are you dreaming up any Ikea hacks?