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10 Ideas For Prettifying Your Home (And For An Absolute PITTANCE!) ♥
in I Want... Inspiration!, I Want... Life!9 Feb 2011 | 17 Comments
Along with ceasing to view pizza as a perfectly acceptable breakfast option and discovering exactly what ''hippopotomonstrosesquipedalian'' means, prettifying Casa De Frock & Roll (or, as it's more commonly known, ''my home''!) has always seemed like an impossible goal!
Now, it's hardly because I have expensive tastes (flying frying pans, no!), but creating an inviting living area or a sumptuous bedroom is a task that I've often perceived as being hideously daunting: I mean, where do you even start?! With some kind of throw? Would acquiring another fairy ornament magically transform everything? Eeesh! The CONFUSION!
Armed with such pressing questions, I decided to dedicate a solid week to conducting some hardcore homeware investigation, and here's what I discovered: it's ENTIRELY possible to prettify your home/apartment/treehouse with a few clever pieces, and for an absolute pittance! Here's how:
1. Fill A Beautiful Jar With Shells
It's simple, it's inexpensive, and golly does it look surprisingly chic! Snap up a jar from your local bargain store and fill it with beach shells for a brilliant addition to ANY old cabinet, book shelf or dining room table.
(Why, who's that make-up less, messy haired muppet picking shells at the beach to fill her jars?! Oh wait, that's ME!)
2. Invest In A Pair Of New Cushions
Sure, the word ''invest'' may inappropriately suggest that you'll have to part with a small fortune to superbly spruce up your couch, but you completely don't have to! Target is FANTASTIC for stocking a wide variety of cushions in varying colours and textures, and the best bit? You can usually snare some for $10 a pop. (I picked up two oatmeal-hued suede cushions on the weekend for $20, whee!)
3. Devise An Eye-Catching Scatter Tray
Pick up a glass or ceramic platter from a second-hand store, plonk those fancy wee glass marbles on top of it it (oh, you know the ones!), add some candles and voilà!
4. Revitalize With A Rug
It's the quickest way to freshen up a floor!
5. Replace Your Curtains
Hey, it doesn't have to involve anything too dramatic: even switching your shower curtain can add a nifty new twist to a tired old bathroom!
6. Dress Up A Room With A Striking Clock Or Mirror Piece
7. Use Frames To Create A Stunning Feature Wall
Because these days, you can frame just about ANYTHING and transform it into an exquisite piece of art! Post cards! Prints! Glossy magazine editorials! Pages from old calendars!
8. Trial Some Temporary Wallpaper
Affordable and easily removable, it's ingenious as it is awe-inspiring.
9. String Fairy Lights Or Miniature Lanterns Across Your Ceiling
10. Artfully Arrange A Handful Of Sticks In A Vase
Okay, so once upon a time I used to scoff at the whole ''sticks in a vase'' trend like a complete buffoon, but ooh, have you tried it?! It looks sublime!
♥
When it comes to delightfully decorating your abode, what's your favourite tip? (And do YOU know what ''hippopotomonstrosesquipedalian'' means?!)
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Comments (17)
Love love :)
27 Feb 2011, Robyn, www.marvythee.blogspot.com
I really would love a copy of that picture at the top with the colourful pillows, do you have a larger copy? Its exactly the colour scheme I love!
23 Feb 2011, The Dame, http://the-dame.com
I have been working on sprucing up my space. I've got a room to myself. I am thinking of getting a goldfish/beta fish to keep me company, so I could definitly have a pretty pebbles in the bowl. One thing I would add to the list is fancy curtains. Right now, I have blinds and uber-sparkly, floralized valances.
12 Feb 2011, Autumn, http://www.barntalkblog.wordpress.com
At the risk of sounding like an art school loser (which I am ;) ) writing out beautiful quotations or poems and stiick them on the wall. Looks particularly pretty in calligraphy
11 Feb 2011, Siobhan, www.facetsofthefabulous.blogspot.com
1) Add a fresh coat of paint - works wonders!!!
2) Loving these ideas!
11 Feb 2011, Susan
Julie - ME EITHER! I searched for it and can't seem to find a non-confusing definition, and yet, it's an actual word! Puzzling stuff!
And oh my goodness, you MIND READER! Next to my huge jar of beach shells lies a little bag of (unopened) shiny, turquoise (my favourite colour!) stars, which I'm going to buy another jar for this weekend and pour them into!
P.S. Your unicorn wall is AWESOME and thank-you so much Julie, believe me, I've missed writing them, and I've missed your incredibly sweet comments!
Laura - Oh, shucks! Blush, blush, blush! Thank-you kind Laura!
Kathryn - Great idea! A nice, colourful length of fabric sounds like the perfect antidote.
Euforilla - Yes! PLANTS! What a fabulous suggestion! I definitely need some of those.
Ashley - Awww, thank-you so much, Ashley! How sweet you are! (And I loved commenting on your blog!)
Miss Peregrin - It's mine too, and thanks a bunch! I'm so excited about your move.
Ellie Di - You're so, so welcome!
Kez - It's finally starting to get there! It's crazy, I know, but 2011 is THE first time I started seriously thinking about prettifying my apartment!
Melanie - Oh, how exciting! Good luck with your decorating, and guess what?! IT IS! My boyfriend literally just grabbed a handful of sticks from the garden and popped them into a huge turquoise vase - too easy! (And it looks surprisingly excellent!) Something that I forgot to mention as well (d'oh!) is that they look fantastic with a quick spray paint - I'm going to paint mine silver!
Janie - It truly is! And thank-you so much, Janie!
Gillian - A marvellous suggestion. Thank-you! (And TYPO! Oh, how I love TYPO!)
10 Feb 2011, Corrine/Frock & Roll, www.frockandrollonline.com
Another cheap and cheerful idea are paper lanterns with fairy lights inside. I brought a string of red ones from Typo and put them up along a curtain rod, very cute!
10 Feb 2011, Gillian, http://gillpill.tumblr.com
All of these are such great ideas. It's crazy how much a difference cushions can make!
10 Feb 2011, Janie, http://monstergirlwrites.blogspot.com/
Thank you so much for these tips! I just moved into a new apartment recently, and we've been gradually decorating. I'm dying to do the frame thing for the bedroom...and I think the sticks-in-a-jar thing will be super easy as well!
10 Feb 2011, Melanie, http://www.adorability.org
all fantastic ideas!! I've tried most of them and recommend all of them! So much fun and affordable too! Gets the creative juices flowing. I bet your place looks gorgeous! Xx
10 Feb 2011, Kez, http://andsoiwasthinking.wordpress.com
I'm right in the middle of doing a haven-making course, and these are some great ideas to help me along! I so wish we had a couch so we could buy pretty pillows for it. They really do bring a room together if they're the right colours. It's also the first time since I've been living out of the house that I've had real curtains - it makes SUCH a difference!
Thanks for the creative ideas, luv.
9 Feb 2011, Ellie Di, http://applesandporsches.com
I love this! Home decoration for cheap is my new crack at the moment. I'm trying to soak up all the ideas I can for when I move to NSW. Some of these are DEFINITELY on the list!
9 Feb 2011, Miss Peregrin, http://missperegrinssecrets.blogspot.com
Welp, I didn't know what the word meant but I didn't like not knowing so I looked it up. I thought it was some sort of hippo-bird hybrid.
I love fairy-lights! I have them strung up around my window & I adore the light they give off. Etheral and such. I actually love decorating with sticks and shells. But instead of in jars and vases, I have them spread around my bookshelf. I've missed your articles so!
Also, thank you for visiting my baby-blog! I squeed in excitment when I saw you left a comment. ^.^
9 Feb 2011, Ashley, http://mermaidswamp.blogspot.com/
Ah, the suffering! I still live with my parents (damned juvenile disoccupation crisis...) and I long so much for a place of my own to rearrange and decorate at my will...
I mend by browsing websites and making collages of stuff and ideas to be always ready.
But I can say (low maintenance) plants: I've got three in my bedroom, in matching vases, all this green cheers me up!!!
9 Feb 2011, Euforilla, http://euforilla.blogspot.com
I love fairy lights. Must get some. And I've been trying to find somewhere in Tokyo to get a decent rug for my room (I think it's going to have to be Ikea because everywhere else just has bland neutrals).
I also have a bit of wall that is crappy boards just nailled over it. I'm thinking of heading to Nippori fabric town and getting a length of fabric to cover it. Prettifying and also warmifying!
9 Feb 2011, kathryn, http://www.project-kathryn.com
I don't know what it means, but I know one thing: I've missed my Frock n Roll fix <3
9 Feb 2011, Laura
1) I have no freaking idea what that word means XD.
2) Have you tried filling up a jar with paper stars? Sure, it'll take eons to make the stars but I remember that my classmates in high school used to gift these jars to their boyfriends and they looked so pretty and colourful! I'm all for the fairy lights, they look incredible no matter what time of the year. Finally, I did this with my wall and it is the best thing I could ever do for my wall, painted it myself. I got a gallon of paint, I already had brushes and everything I needed so I didn't spend on painting supplies and 3 days later my unicorn wall was born :D.
I've missed your articles Corrine n_n.
9 Feb 2011, Julie, http://juliettemaxwell.com
