my steal of a deal

When I started this blog a year and a half ago (my blog is almost a toddler?!) one of my intentions was to blog about the progress we were making on our house. You see, we have only been in our sweet little 70s brick rancher for about two and a half years now. Since you see I gratuitously added "70s" into my description, you can tell the house has needed what we like to call "updating" (also known as ripping out the ugly).

However, in that time I have only shown you one major update, and I didn't even show you the final result. My bad. Here is our finished wall (just a year and a half late...) By the way, this project only cost us $75 and we had a $50 Lowes gift card so $25 smackeroos to add what feels like 1000 more square feet of openess!

Ignore the ugly chairs, I do plan on recovering them in a lovely white cotton duck fabric...eventually.

Now for a little home decor. See all that lovely expanse of linoleum in our dining room? Yeah, I hate it. Our plan is to put tongue-and-groove wood flooring down eventually (read: years from now) but until then I have been on the search for an area rug to break up that ugly mass. We are talking years of my time invested in finding the perfect balance of rug-I can't-live-without to money-I-can-justify-spending. (Sorry for the overuse of dashes there.) I finally finally found one that I liked at Big Lots! There were only two left and neither of them had price tags. All the other rugs around them were between $50-$75 though, which is fabulous for a 5'x7', no? But I chickened out and went home rug-less.

I called my friend Taylor and explained the whole situation in detail and she did just what I needed her to do: convince me it was the rug for me. Or at least to buy it, try it, then bring it back if it stinks. So I marched myself back to the store, grabbed one of the two remaining, and went to the cash register. While I was standing there I noticed a small tag on the rug that displayed this magic number: $35. Heck yeah! Ring that puppy up! So he did, and do you want to know what it said?

Sit down now if you aren't.

It said $10!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, you read that right. I made some joke about the Big Lots police knocking on my door later that day demanding their $25 difference and then high-tailed it outta there!

So here is my chocolate brown and cream herringbone 5'x7' gem of a dining room rug in action:

And here is your close up:

So there you have it, post numero dos on home reno/home decor. Maybe the next one won't be a when my blog enters the teenage years...

inexpensive etsy 10

It has been a while since we have had an etsy update! That is probably because etsy is not good for my budget. However, the name of the game is "inexpensive" so I have scoured etsy for the best deals this week on vinyl decals. I love them! They are easy to install, way better than painting, easily removeable, inexpensive, and cover a range of styles from traditional to modern. These are the ones I like the best!




This is one of my favorite bible verses from itswrittenonthewall. I see this above a doorway in my house!














I LOVE this one from back40life. This is exactly how I would picture this verse...in a very serene part of your house. Maybe the room you do your daily quiet time in? I want it!


















Singlestonestudios version of Proverbs 163 definitely appeals to a more modern aesthetic. It is super cute though!

















HAPPY SHOPPING!

inexpensive etsy 8

Halloween can be a little controversial. I prefer to think of it as a fun day to decorate your house and let your kids dress up and eat candy, end of story. So here are a few super cute halloween-y things I found on etsy this week!



One of my favorite things to do growing up was to help my mom paint the windows in our house for Halloween! (We used tempera paint, don't worry!) Basically this transformed into a full blown love for decorating throughout the seasons. I think this pillow from TheMaterialGirl would look awesome at my house!







I fell in love with this little cloth pumpkin from SeaPinks as soon as I saw it. This is one of those pieces that could last all the way through Thanksgiving too!








That is all for now! Happy shopping!!!!!

inexpensive etsy

For those of you who don't know, I am completely obsessed with a website: www.etsy.com. It is an online store of stores basically. All the things you find listed on Etsy are HANDMADE! How often do you find that nowadays? I think it is incredible. I also like the fact that you can support local and nonlocal artists. Prices range from $1 - $5,000 for everything from home decor, pets and plants, to food, music and vintage pieces. You can find it all on Etsy.


A few of my favorite purchases include this wall decal from LeenTheGraphic'sQueen's shop which I recently put in my house on a wall in the front entry (sorry, no pic of the actual thing). It is a dandelion blowing in the breeze. It reminds me of my grandfather that I lost went I was 11. He hated dandelions! He was an avid gardener and he always said dandelions were not flowers, they were weeds. It might seem strange to you that I would put something in my house that he didn't like, but it serves it's purpose: to remind me of him daily!

I also adore this collar that I got for Maggie, our miniature dachshund. (She loves it too!) She is a princess. Just ask her father. I have actually bought her several collars all from the same store: Lucky Fiona. I love this place.



And last, but not least, my favorite thing to buy on Etsy is jewelry. Believe me, it is available in abundance on this site! A lot of it is super nice for not a lot of dough, which to me is the best combination! I got this piece from MoonFace's for $9.50 - shipped. How cool is that?

So if you are in the market for something new for you, or perhaps a gift for a friend (especially if we are friends!), check out Etsy. Just don't blame me when you get hooked! Oh, I will have Inexpensive Etsy updates periodically, so look out!