December 10, 2009 • 8:01 pm 0
May 13, 2009 • 5:15 pm 5
My boyfriend moved into a new appartment recently, so the fine art of apartment decorating has been on my mind a lot lately. As usual, I’m reminded of how much I can’t wait to move into my own place again (I’m one of those return-to-home-after-college casualties), but such is life when you’d rather crash at your parent’s house than default on your student loans. At least my room is an 8′ x 12′ place of solace. The best place in the whole room? My vanity!
Ladies: do not underestimate the power of a vanity in transforming a room from a space into a santuary. I think a huge part of why I love my vanity so much is that the entire project cost less than 100 dollars. I took the desk I used to use when I was in high school and covered the top of it with Martha Stewart craft paper ($4). I added a mirror from Fred Meyer ($20), a magnifying mirror from Ikea ($10), and then gave the vanity a shabby chic look with knobs and a stool from Target ($10, $37). Craigslist, Goodwill, flea markets and garage sales are also great places to find one-of-a-kind accessories for a vanity.
Filed under: Decor, Home, decorating, Fred Meyer, Ikea, Martha Stewart, mirror, shabby chic, Target, vanity
May 1, 2009 • 8:39 pm 4
April 10, 2009 • 10:04 pm 2
I’m always surprised by how expensive greeting cards can be, so I was thrilled to find these handmade Easter cards by allinthecards.com at Target for only a dollar each. Add up the cost of the paper, the gemstones, the glitter and the ribbon– I couldn’t make these myself for less than a dollar! And how could I say no to this cute little turtle?
Filed under: Holidays, Home, greeting cards, Holidays, Target
January 31, 2009 • 2:21 am 5
I may not be as easy on the eyes as this gorgeous JCrew model, but how can you not love this elegant wool dress? I’m pretty sure it retails for about 180 dollars, but I only paid only 60 after sales/discounts (happy dance! happy dance!) Hands down, one of my best bargain finds… ever. I don’t see the dress online anymore, but JCrew is offering 30 percent off of a variety of other final sale items. Between this dress and my white coat, I have had unbelievable luck at JCrew this winter. It’s definitely worth checking out.
Filed under: Clothing, Dresses, Dresses, JCrew, Nordstrom Rack, Target, wool
January 27, 2009 • 1:38 am 4
When it comes to “real life,” I’ve been told that I’m very detail oriented. I must be rather detail oriented when it comes to fashion, too, because I’m obsessed with details like braided tank top straps. I’d actually been on the hunt for a shirt like this one, but couldn’t find one that I loved/could afford, so I was elated when I found this gray cotton tank for $7.48 at TARGET. On sale. As if regular price, 15 bucks, wasn’t good enough. The drapey cotton silhouette kind of reminds me of something by Rachel Pally.
January 18, 2009 • 7:54 pm 8
When I decided to redecorate my room back in September, I didn’t realize how expensive my project was going to be. Even small items, like picture frames and photo prints, ate up an unexpected portion of my budget– but then I decided to get crafty. I found these black picture frames at Target in the back to school section. They were sold empty, two to a package. Cheap a.k.a. not super sturdy or durable frames, but they were on clearance, and I paid less than five dollars for two packages of frames.
When I got home, I searched through magazines and other scrap material that I had scattered around my room. For the top frame, I used a Bumble & Bumble shopping bag from my last trip to the hair salon. I’m minorly obsessed with these stylish black and white shopping bags, so much so, that I kept the bag because I thought it was too pretty to throw away. For the bottom two frames, I used magazine cut outs. I used a collage-type image for the middle frame from Portland Monthly magazine, and a photo from a fashion spread in Nylon magazine for the bottom frame. Aside from the actual frames, which were dirt cheap, all of the other materials I used for this project had been previously used. Talk about good for your wallet and the environment.
Filed under: Decor, Home, Bumble & Bumble, crafts, Nylon, picture frames, Portland Monthly, reusing, Target, wall art
pretty + cheap 