Closet, Kitchen and Beyond

Closet, Kitchen and Beyond...where is she going with this? Well since you asked I thought I would dive into the part of our lives we tend to be the most proud of and also put the most money into...our homes. You see our homes are our sanctuaries, our own spaces and a common place for entertaining. The common saying of, "Welcome to home ownership" often is referring to the fact that owning a home is work, it is money and it is an investment that unfortunately is not getting the bang for its buck like it used too. With the garbage economy in mind stop and think about how much money could be saved by avoiding going out by choosing to stay in. Similarly, think about how happy you would be with the thought of redecorating every single season without running slap out of money? What beautiful world that would be...your world can be beautiful too!

Home Decor: okay if any of you have been to Target in the last 6 months will notice that everything...everything in this store is cute and wonderful but it is also expensive. And for whatever reason Target claims up and down about how it is cheap and blah blah well guess what my definition of cheap and their definition of cheap are really really different. Here are a few ways to spruce up your house without emptying your wallet. The majority of what you are about to see in this post is done at my house. Because when we moved into this house we had just finished flipping it for 7 months..which means we were broke. I will start in the bedroom...(head out of the gutter please..thank you!)

Bed: Okay beds are EXPENSIVE...I mean have you seen how much beds cost? Headboards, footboards, frames, blah! All of that together is a pricy little get up that I am here to help you make it cheaper. If you have been to my house, which if you haven't its okay you're not missing much. But the husband and I inherited all of the furniture we have...we literally did not buy a single piece of furniture in this entire house. We also did not have a choice. So if you find yourself without a choice, here is an option. Plywood, old quilt, fabric and a staple gun. I know I know...huh? Instead of buying a fabric headboard make one. It literally is one of the easiest things I have ever done. In fact the head board I covered with fabric my freshman year of college is the same headboard that we have in our bedroom now. Indeed it has four layers of fabric, but it has yet to be replaced. And the best part about these headboards is the fact that when people do stop by to visit your house etc they will go absolutely nuts over these bad boys; and little do they know it can take you less than a half hour to make them.

Fabric Vs Sheets: Okay the pivotal question..which is better? Either or honestly. However there are some distinct differences between the two. Unless you are covering your headboard with a flannel christmas sheet you may run into the problem that they are thin and you can see through them. This can be problematic if you are covering that Mary Had A Little Lamb quilt from your childhood. However fabric tends to be thicker and more durable. If you use batting (which I do not recommend because it is expensive) you can cover a headboard with a white sheet at that point because batting is white. I would totally go for the use a quilt concept because you may already have one, but if you do not they are cheap at places like thrift stores...you see where this is going! Fabric can be bought at places like Tony's Fabric, Garden Ridge, Old Time Pottery..honestly the list is much longer than that but you get where I am going.

Now to the part you all will love the most..How do I get it cheap? Okay here is how. Remember a few posts ago about those people in your communities that have really nice stuff that they donate..well those same people also buy fabric but don't use all of it creating a remnant. Fabric comes on big rolls, and can cost anywhere from $5 a yard to $200 a yard...depending on how fancy it is. Remnants are usually in the back of the store on tables where you have to SIFT...you see how all of the previous information is coming into play at this point. Sometimes you will find 2.5 yards of this fabulous material but you need 4 yards..walk around, pick other fabrics up, dig for it...you will be surprised as to what you will find...either the other part of the remnant itself or something you like even more...Once it is determined to be a remnant it is marked down...major markdown. I covered both of my headboards in my guest room for $25, and that gave me almost 8 yards of fabric. The fabric that I used (pictured above) was originally $18 per yard...I need not do the math for you; it was a deal.

All in all if you want your house to be as perfect as you imagined you have to be creative. Do not reinvent the wheel, make the wheel work for it. Your money is hard earned and you deserve to have nice things, sometimes it takes you to make them nice instead on depending on someone else to do it for you. Make sure to look in the paper, pay attention to commercials...fabric stores will typically put the remnants on sale because they have too many. Once you open your eyes to the world around you there is nothing stopping you from making not only your closet fabulous, but your home as well. Every single part of my house has been a creative journey...literally every part. I will go into more detail in later posts but I thought I would give you something to think about. If you need more information about how to recover your headboards, or how to do it from scratch just post a comment, I will be happy to go into more detail.

I will leave you with this thought...In the words of a fantastic person, "Be kind to one another."