Saturday, February 12, 2011

Our place

My friend Amandah has been stressing a little bit about decorating her place and committing to a style. Everyone's been there right? I know I have. I guess it's easier for me to decorate our place because we don't own it and I don't care if I bash nail holes in the walls (that's what putty is for). Also, it doesn't matter to me if we're only going to be somewhere temporarily. I need to decorate it to make it feel like home to me. I'll show you some pictures of our place and then tell you how I made something or where I got it, along with some tips.






















Starting with the main picture. We just recently got the round rug from overstock and I love it! I had looked high and low for a round rug, but to no avail. Finally overstock helped me out. I've been on the look out for a round coffee table, but for now it's Finn's baby arena. One thing that I have learned with decorating is that it's a process, it doesn't all have to happen at once.

I find things I like for way cheap at thrift stores. Even if it doesn't have a place right away, I hold onto it if I really like it until I find somewhere for it to go. The green chair under the Salt Lake Temple picture? I found it for $5 at DI and am in the process of recovering it. Make thrift stores your best friends. I'd say 90% of the things in our place are from thrift stores. End table? Thrift store. Furniture? Thrift store. Frames? Thrift store. Dishes? Thrift store. You get the idea. Best thing about thrift stores? When I don't like something anymore I just sell it on KSL or take it to DI and we're not out any money. In the top right picture, the people that lived in our place before us left that cabinet. I painted it white and modge podged paper to the front of it (there used to be two plants on the cabinet, but of course I killed them). The clock is from Michaels and I painted it blue.






















All of the pillows in the picture I recovered. Sick of your pillows? Visit the fabric store. I'd say changing up our pillows really helps me not get bored of the same old thing. I got our duvet cover from Downeast. The copper bowls, fruit hanger, and canisters were all finds at thrift stores.






















Display artwork and other items that mean something to you. This skiing picture is probably one of my favorite pieces. Dennen and I found it in Italy when we went to Europe. I like it when people ask about certain things in our home when they are from our travels. The item seems much more personal. Start with framing some pictures that you've taken on trips that you really like.






















My mom gave me the wooden chairs and I recovered them. I found the tables at a thrift stores and painted them blue. I modge podged paper that I liked onto the frames. Don't be afraid of color. Our place is really dark with the wood paneling and color really helps it feel brighter. It may look like the color fairy barfed all over our living room, but I like it that way. It makes winter not feel so dreary.






















Become a collector (not a pack rat). Decorating and thrift store shopping are hobbies that I love! And when I say "not a pack rat," I mean get rid of stuff you don't like anymore. If you haven't liked it for a long time, chances are that you're not going to like it in the near future. Get rid of it! I always try to get rid of something if I get something new. As much as I'm constantly finding things at thrift stores, I'm also taking stuff to DI. Dennen and I have become mug and cup collectors as you can see... All of our mugs are from thrift stores that we got for 50 cents each. We found a bunch of cool plates too. Dennen got me the llama South American poster for Christmas and it's another one of my favorites. The doily looking flower thing is a rub on decal that I got on etsy.

One last tip. Don't be afraid to copy! Newsflash... No one is really that original. If you like something that someone else has done, do it too. Chances are they probably didn't come up with the idea themselves either.

Hope this helps Amandah!

9 comments:

leia said...

nice post. you mind if i link it to our thrift shop's facebook page. i think the people might dig your pointers.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Newton-Et-Cetera-Shop/140772082642148

Unknown said...

Thanks! No problem, feel free to.

Michelle said...

Our walls are still bare in our front room, ha ha! If you guys make it out here you seriously need to help us decorate. Thanks for the tips! I sure love the way you decorated your place. It's so you guys.

The Hendricks said...

THANKS HILARY!!! It DOES help! i think one of my biggest problems is i want it to look good right this second. all at once which over whelms me. Too bad i haven't been on cool trips like you. ill just take one of my back yard ;)

Kim said...

Your house is awesome. You are so creative and cool! I wish I could be more like that! I got the awesome headband in the mail. THANK YOU so much for that. I am going to wear it to church today and be the cutest gal on the block :) Thanks again, you are awesome. Wow, I just noticed that I used the word awesome 100 times in this comment, sorry... It's just because you are so...awesome :)

MSmith said...

Key words I saw you use, "Don't be afraid...." Aunt Denise always says, "If it's not right, just change it later." Amen It's fun to shake things up.

Drew and Sadie said...

your place is way cute! I love your style of decorating!

Kelly said...

You're so creative!Hey guess what! I love my headband. Thanks alot.

Anonymous said...

YHou are very artistic, creative, and have a fun way of decorating.
grandma jane