Design on a Dime

My job with PwC didn't begin until July 25, so for the first 2 months Zac and I were married, we were living on just one income!  I definitely didn't want to wait 2 months to decorate our house, so I decided to get creative outfitting our home.  We have two living areas and only had hand-me-down furniture for one of the two rooms so I had a big project on my plate.

The first addition to the room was an old coffee table from Zac's mom.  Zac and his roommates used it during college and the table had the scratches, stains, and burns (yes. burns.) to prove it. I sanded it down and restained the table with Minwax Dark Walnut  stain, and it came out looking like a new table!

Next I bought:

• estate sale couch for $120 (it looks new and is super comfy!)
• accent pillows for $10 at JCPenney (duh.)
• curtains on sale at JCP for $20
• a 5' x 8' rug on clearance at JCP for $55
• random frames from Hobby Lobby and around the house for $10
• one can of gold spray paint for $3

And for those $218 spent the room came out looking like this:

 Not bad for such a small investment, huh?

I was definitely satisfied with the outcome but knew I wanted a chair for the room, so I began searching for the perfect chair on Craigslist!  I looked every day for a few weeks until I came across this baby for only $60:

I found essentially the same chair on Amazon for $353.74!

So for a grand total of $278, we have a lovely front room that gives our home a bit of personality... all for LESS than the price of the new chair! That's what I call design on a dime.

One thing I have learned from Zac is that patience pays off.  Being on a budget certainly does not mean you have to sacrifice style. I was able to create a room that mirrored my unique appetite for design at a price within our budget... with a little patience, you can too!