House and Home

A few months ago, I mentioned that we almost always use cloth napkins at our house. And after reading the comments, it sounds like many of you also use cloth napkins.

However, I did receive a few emails and comments that suggested cloth napkins were too expensive.

I got our cloth napkins as gifts so I’ve never really priced them out… but if you are looking for REALLY cheap {possibly even free} cloth napkins, you might want to check out this simple tutorial for No-Sew Cloth Napkins.

I can’t believe never thought about making my own cloth napkins from old shirts! Wouldn’t it be fun to mix and match colors and patterns to make a set? What a great gift idea too!

And if you don’t have any old shirts you are willing to cut up, I’m sure you can find a bunch at your local thrift store for probably $1 each.

Oh, and if you have unused t-shirts you want to re-purpose, you should read what I do with ours!

photo credit

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I know you know that I’m frugal… and that I LOVE to get great deal whenever and wherever I can… right?

Well, I thought it might be fun to show you a few pictures of our Master Bedroom furniture… all of which cost me less than $100!

When we first got married, we purchased a complete, matching set of bedroom furniture. It was very nice… but I never really loved it.

Then, one day, I found an old iron bed {see pictures above} at a junk sale for $70 and knew I wanted it for our room. So I sold our 1-year old bedroom furniture on Craigslist {for MORE than what I paid for it new!} and set out to find additional furniture pieces to complete our master bedroom.

Here’s what I found…

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I already mentioned that I got the bed from a junk sale… and that red door behind the bed was actually in the basement of our first house. I loved it so much that it made the move with us to our farmhouse!

I wanted a little sitting area in our bedroom {see below}, so I found a cute “women’s rocker” on Craigslist for $10 and I made the little night stand out of an old wine crate that I bought for $1 at a garage sale!

The black ladder is actually only half of a huge ladder I found a few years ago. Some black paint and a bunch of nails makes it the perfect place to store my necklaces!

Dave and I both like to fold a lot of our clothes, so we each needed our own dressers. I bought the green dresser from our old neighbors for $10 and the white one from Goodwill for $7.00.

After a little paint and distressing, they fit perfectly in our farmhouse bedroom!

Oh, and I found that little black stool for free on the side of the road {I painted it} — all the accessories are either from garage sales, junk yards, or other places in our house.

So here’s the price breakdown:

• iron bed = $70
• red screen door = $0
• rocking chair = $10
• night stand = $0
• ladder = $0
• green dresser = $10
• white dresser = $7
• black stool = $0

I won’t even tell you how much we paid for our first bedroom set {a lot more than $100} but at least I got our money back when I sold it! Plus, I absolutely LOVE our new bedroom “set” so it was worth the extra effort it took to pull everything together!

What are your favorite frugal ways to find furniture?

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Here are a few more inexpensive decorating tips:

• Get your disorganized bathroom in top-shape in no time with these hints from Apartment Guide.
• Is your kitchen an unorganized mess? Apartment Guide provides simple tasks and storage ideas to keep your kitchen spotless.
• Like Apartment Guide on Facebook and follow them on Twitter for real-time tips and updates on making the most of your space.
• Whether you’re living, looking or moving, Apartment Guide offers how-to tips for making the most of a space on a budget.

Apartment Guide and owner Consumer Source, Inc. have partnered with bloggers like me as Official Apartment Guide Bloggers. As part of this program, I have received compensation. They have not told me what to purchase or what to say about the products used, and believe that consumers and bloggers are free to form their own opinions and share them in their own words. Consumer Source’s policies align with WOMMA Ethics Code, FTC guidelines and social media engagement recommendations.

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Whenever I work with my organizing clients their #1 question is usually “what type of storage containers should I buy?” And while I agree that storage containers are a big part of any organizing project, I ALWAYS tell them not to buy anything until I’ve taken a look through their house first.

The majority of the time, I can find something they already own and re-purpose it as a storage container for their specific space. And although I LOVE saving my clients money, I also love the fact that these storage containers often serve as decorative pieces around their house — so much nicer than bulky bins and tubs!

For the next 3 months, I’ll be partnering with Apartment Guide to serve as an Official Apartment Guide Organizing Blogger! I’ll be sharing lots of tips for living on a budget — and I’m starting this month with creative, decorative, and inexpensive storage solutions…

Here are a few of my favorite ideas from around our house! 

Bathroom:

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We have a very small master bathroom, however it is packed full of decorative storage — my favorite of which are these gorgeous wicker baskets that we’ve filled with extra toiletries, towels, toilet paper, etc.

These baskets not only serve the functional purpose hiding our “clutter”, they also look fantastic!

Clothes:

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If you have a small house and/or limited closet space, you might have to get creative with your storage sollutions and come up with decorative ways to conceal your clothes clutter.

We have a small armoire in our living room that acts as a make-shift mudroom.

And we have really cute bins in our nursery for clothes that are too big, extra baby supplies, etc.

 Both of these storage ideas were extremely inexpensive and added tons of decorative storage.

Jewelry:

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I’ve shared several decorative storage ideas for jewelry in previous posts, but I’m still partial to using old ice molds and muffin tins to store my own jewelry!

I also LOVE using ladders to hang necklaces and other “hang-able” items.

Both storage solutions keep the jewelry at my finger tips AND serve as fun decorative pieces for our bedroom!

So even if you have a REALLY small space, there are still plenty of ways to keep it organized, functional, AND nicely decorated without breaking the bank!

What are your best decorative storage Ideas?

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Here are a few more resources for small-space decorating:

• Get your disorganized bathroom in top-shape in no time with these hints from Apartment Guide.
• Is your kitchen an unorganized mess? Apartment Guide provides simple tasks and storage ideas to keep your kitchen spotless.
• Like Apartment Guide on Facebook and follow them on Twitter for real-time tips and updates on making the most of your space.
• Whether you’re living, looking or moving, Apartment Guide offers how-to tips for making the most of a space on a budget.

Apartment Guide and owner Consumer Source, Inc. have partnered with bloggers like me as Official Apartment Guide Bloggers. As part of this program, I have received compensation. They have not told me what to purchase or what to say about the products used, and believe that consumers and bloggers are free to form their own opinions and share them in their own words. Consumer Source’s policies align with WOMMA Ethics Code, FTC guidelines and social media engagement recommendations.

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As much as I LOVE putting up our Christmas decorations… I also love taking them down again.

Yes, it takes the better part of an afternoon to gather them all into my storage bins and bring them downstairs; but after I’m finished, the house feels so open, light, and un-cluttered. 

I packed our holiday decorations up this past weekend and just left some greenery and pine cones out — but those will stay up all winter long. Everything else is now stored away in the basement until next year.

Here are a Few Tips for Packing Up Christmas Decor

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1. Do it all at one time.

Yes, I left some of my greenery out for the rest of the winter, but everything else gets packed up in one afternoon. I don’t like to drag things out so I just do it all at one time… make a big mess… and then clean it up.

I know people who do one room each day for a week — but then they have storage bins sitting out all week long. Also, if you do it all at one time, you can remind yourself of everything you have… which will help you with #2 and #3 below.

2. Declutter as You Pack.

Whenever I put my decorations away, I always end up purging at least a few things. The other day I shared how I declutter with clothes baskets… and I definitely put a few Christmas things in our clothes baskets this year!

3. Store Like Items Together.

I use 4 large clear tubs to store all our Christmas decorations {everything but the trees}. One bin is for all the greenery, one is for ornaments and tree decor, one is for Christmas linens/dishes, and the last one is just for everything else.

My bins are all the same size so they stack easily; and since they are labeled, I can quickly and easily find exactly what I need within minutes.

4. Clean While You Pack. 

Whenever I take my decorations down, I take a few extra minutes to dust or wipe down each surface. Then, after I put the bins back downstairs, I vacuum and sweep the floors.  It’s just part of the process for me and makes the house feel that much cleaner and un-cluttered when I’m finished!

5.  Stock up for Next Year. 

I had my eye on a few Christmas decor items in the stores this year — but I always wait until after Christmas to buy them at a ridiculously reduced price. I also stock up on Christmas napkins, paper plates, cups, etc. after Christmas and store them in the “linens/dishes” tub.

My house is now “back to normal” for another year… and I’m glad to have that project behind me!

When do you pack up your Christmas decorations?

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I already showed you a few pictures of our Christmas decorations, but I thought it might be fun to show you a few other fabulously decorated homes from around the web — not to make you feel horrible because you don’t have a perfectly decorated home {if this is you, just read yesterday’s post} but instead to get you in the holiday spirit and be inspired by other people’s gorgeous homes.

I’m always amazed by how creative other people get with their decorations — especially since I mainly decorate with trees, garland, pine cones, and other natural items. Below are a few of my favorite rooms – and no, I don’t think they are necessarily simple OR practical… just beautiful!

Wouldn’t you just love to have a grand staircase like this one from the Martha Stewart website? I LOVE the look of dark stair treads and white risers.

Or what about this fabulously color-coordinated room from Modcodesign.com!

I have a soft spot in my heart for the color red, so even though I’d never dare to spend money on a somewhat impractical red couch, I just love how it fits so well in this room!

Of course this entryway is probably not doable for the normal home… but talk about making an entrance! Someday I’d love to have our entire front porch completely decorated for Christmas with lights, garland, lanterns, trees, etc… someday!

I love a good “green and white” decorating theme too — so this rustic room from Country Living Magazine immediately caught my attention. Wouldn’t it be fun to decorate a log cabin like this!

I appreciate the simplicity of this white-on-white fireplace. Now all I need is a fireplace and I can probably pull off the same look

Here’s another white room — this is how I would decorate my cottage for Christmas… if I had a cottage!

These are just a FEW of the many holiday decorations that caught my attention while surfing the web this past month. And like I said earlier, I don’t think they are “simple” but I’ve sure had fun dreaming about what it would be like to live in such lovely rooms.

However, I assume most of these rooms were “staged” for the photo!

What are your favorite types of holiday decorations?

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I know it’s still the day before Thanksgiving — but since I’m over nine months pregnant and since I wasn’t able to put up many decorations last year — I decided to get a head start on holiday decorating this year.

And I’m SO glad I did!!

We’ve been enjoying the twinkling lights of Christmas trees and garland in every room since November 16 — I love it so much I may have have to change my tradition of setting up the Christmas decorations the day after Thanksgiving… we’ll see!

Here is a mini tour of our Christmas decorations so far.

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This is the new tree I got just last week. It’s a 7.5 food slimline tree that would have cost over $300… but I got it from a local thrift store for $40 and it was already set up with all the branches perfectly spaced out!  It even came with the box for easy storage after Christmas!

This tree is in our office and is in the direct line of sight for anyone who walks through the front door.

Since we don’t have a fire place {I have plans to make one though}, I hung some old knitted stockings on the barnwood shelves. I actually really like the look!

Since that tree is our “main tree” this year; that is the tree I put all of Dave and my childhood ornaments on. We’ve each gotten at least one ornament every year of our entire lives, and we also have a bunch of ornaments we made as kids too.

We currently have over 80 of these ornaments, but for some reason, the ones above are a few of my favorites. I got the Cabbage Patch doll ornament in 1988 when I got my first Cabbage Patch doll; the sparkly Christmas tree was one I made in preschool; and the wooden bell was given to us on our first Christmas as a married couple.

One of the main ways I like to decorate during the holiday season is with natural items like pine cones, berries, greenery… and candy canes! OK, so candy canes aren’t really natural, but I have a bunch of HUGE fake candy canes that I use to decorate various places around our house.

I’m also a big fan of the tall, skinny Alpine trees — and have at least 5 of them floating around different rooms of our home. I often just put white lights on them and call it good, but I decided to string some cranberries and big gold bells on this one.

The book case is in the corner of our living room and just needed a few splashes of red, green, and gold to look really festive!

Told you I love these big candy canes! 

The girls are loving the lighted garland and candy canes that I used throughout the upstairs and down the banister. They started taking pictures immediately when they got home from school!

I have so many more decorations to share… but I think I’ll wait util AFTER Thanksgiving to post more pictures! For now, I’m just thrilled that I was able to get all the decorations up before our baby girl arrives.

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One of my favorite hobbies is to paint and distress furniture — which is interesting, because it’s not something I EVER saw my parents do, and I honestly wouldn’t even consider myself to be overly creative or crafty.

However, my desire for “old farmhouse style” on a very limited budget forced me to get creative and start making my own “distressed furniture” from cheapy Craigslist finds! 

And over the past five years, I’ve become a much better painter, learned many new techniques, and figured out how to REALLY streamline and simplify the whole process — betcha that doesn’t surprise you though

Here are 3 of my favorite SIMPLE furniture distressing techniques:

1. Stain/Glaze Technique: used on green armoire

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I found this armoire on Craigslist and I immediately snatched it up. Yes, I know it’s ugly and made out of particle board, but it was only $20 and I was able to transform it into a make-shift mudroom!

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Clean the wood/board with denatured alcohol to remove any oil, grease, and dirt.

2. Remove doors, hinges, knobs, etc.

3. Paint 2 coats of whatever color you want the cabinet to be. Let Dry!

4. Use an old rag or t shirt to rub a dark brown stain or glaze over the paint

5. Make sure you really work the stain or glaze in with a “random” motion so it doesn’t look too perfect.

NOTE: If you use glaze, it will probably “harden up” quite quickly and then you’re finished. However, if you use stain, it will NOT soak in and will become very sticky. Once it gets sticky, move onto the next step.

6. Use a foam brush to apply one or two coats of polyurethane directly over the sticky stain {The stain will not soak into the paint so unless you do the polyurethane over top, your furniture will stay sticky!}

You can see the difference before {left} and after the glaze. I love the deeper green color after the glaze!

TOTAL TIME: 

About 3 hours plus drying time.

2. Dry Brush Technique: used on our changing table

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This was another fantastic Craigslist find. It’s an absolutely gorgeous, solid wood, Bassett dresser, and I loved everything about it… except the stain {very yellowy and NOT my style at all.}

However the structure was great, I loved the chunky wooden knobs, and it was literally the perfect size for our nursery — so I painted it red and then distressed it!

INSTRUCTIONS: 

1. Clean the wood/board with denatured alcohol to remove any oil, grease, and dirt.

2. Remove drawers, knobs, etc.

3. Paint 2 coats of your “base color” {mine was red}. Let Dry!

4. Use a VERY dry brush and get a VERY small amount of white or lighter colored paint on the tips of the bristles.

5. With a light “stroking” motion, quickly and gently “dry-brush” the white paint over the base color… always going in the same direction.

6. While the white paint is still a little damp, you can go over it with a steal wool to get an even more distressed look… or just leave it “as is”.

TOTAL TIME: 

About 2 hours plus drying time.

3. Steal Wool Technique: used on our nightstand

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Sorry, I don’t have any “before” pictures of this one!

This nightstand is another solid wood piece I snatched up for only $10 on Craigslist — and it was already stained a really, really deep brown. I loved the stain color but wanted to lighten it up a bit so it didn’t blend in with our floors.

INSTRUCTIONS: 

1. Clean the wood/board with denatured alcohol to remove any oil, grease, and dirt.

2. Remove drawers, knobs, etc.

3. Choose a contrasting paint color — if your furniture is a light stain, then choose a dark paint. If it’s a dark stain, choose a lighter paint.

4. Paint 2 coats of paint over the entire piece {I obviously left the top unpainted but that was just my choice}.

5. Wait until the paint is ALMOST DRY and then use a piece of steal wool to gently rub off the paint on the corners, around the handles, or anywhere else you want to look distressed.

I used the same technique on this night stand too.

TOTAL TIME: 

About 30 minutes plus drying time.

The Materials I Use:

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I almost always use Behr paint from Home Depot — and I ALWAYS stock up on Labor Day and Memorial Day because they have great rebates at that time. You can just purchase a bunch of un-tinted paint and then when you’re ready to paint something, go back to the store and have it tinted.

I use semi-gloss or satin for all my furniture projects, and rarely waste the money for primer!

I use whatever brushes and rollers I can get free after rebate from Menards — and I’ve never had any issues! I do always look for the 2″ angled brushes for furniture though.

For furniture, I use these 4″ foam rollers because they allow me to get into tight places, and they leave a really smooth finish.

And as you can see, I don’t spend a lot of money on paint trays and buckets — just simple paper plates and disposable food containers!

See, I told you it was simple!

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I know a lot of people are intimidated by painting anything… let alone furniture. But I want to assure you that you can do this!

Just find a piece of furniture for super cheap at a thrift store or on Craigslist and give it a try. If you totally fail, you haven’t wasted much except your time. And I guarantee you’ll get better with every piece you paint!

Have you ever tried painting furniture?

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