Have I Ever Mentioned that I LOVE to Decorate?

One thing I love about moving is that a new house means I have a fresh slate to decorate; and I do LOVE to decorate!

The drawback to decorating is that it can be expensive, especially if you seem to be starting from scratch. When we moved from our Ohio home and into our motor home, we had planned on being on the road for several years. Instead of paying costly storage rental, we parted with many of our furnishings and only kept the most cherished of our belongings. 

When we surprisingly settled in Huntsville a year later and faced furnishing a home with basically nothing, I turned to Freecycle and decorating with thrift store finds. I couldn’t have been more thrilled with the results.

One short year later, when we decided to move back home to Ohio, we kept very little. Sure, I kept my table and chairs, our bright green Lazy Boy couch that I snagged at a thrift store when we first moved in our house, and a few odds and ends. Even then, we were pretty much starting over. That’s okay, because as much as I loved how our little house was decorated, I was ready for a change.

I love the idea of soft fabrics, flowers and simple, worn touches sprinkled throughout our house. After careful consideration, I decided a Shabby Chic decor would be a perfect compliment to our country home. Or at least that’s what my eclectic-whatever-appeals-to-me-style resembles.

The blue curtain at the end of the room is on the way out, by the way.

To achieve the result that I had in mind, I’ve once again turned to thrift stores and this time, my husband has recommended that we visit some of the antique stores that our area offers as well. I love to window shop in the antique stores and then try to find similar furnishings at the thrift store or flea market. This allows us to copy the look that we love without placing a strain on our budget.

I found this ugly chair recently at a thrift store. I know it’s not the most appealing chair, partly because of the low price of $4.99- (especially for a piece of that is solidly constructed)- and partly because when the nice man came over to help me load it up he actually said “You aren’t really buying that *bleeping* ugly piece of *bleep*, are you?” Hmmm...maybe someone needs to tell him that his response may not be the best for business, ya know?

I have to admit that the pattern didn’t thrill me, but I loved the style and the woodwork. The idea is to cover it eventually, but at the moment, it’s kind of grown on me. Go figure.

The ottoman doubles as extra seating and cost a mere $2.99- again, my thought had been to cover it, but since I’m decorating with a lot of shades of red at the moment, I’ve decided I’ll keep it a bit longer as well.

This antique chest is our real bargain. My husband and I have been scouring antique stores since July but haven’t found one for much less than $150. We found this at a flea market for only $35- marked down from $45! Don’t you just LOVE sales?

It now holds the cherished afghans that my great grandmother and grandmother made for me years ago. It’s also a great way to show off my husbands’ adorable handmade teddy bear.

I found this bookshelf last week for only $20.12! Did I mention that thrift stores have an odd way of pricing things? What's up with 90 cents, $1.91, or $20.12 anyway?

The shelf serves two purposes- 1) it displays our books and other knick knacks and 2) it allows me to give some height to the room by displaying one of my large, oversize wall hangings and some picture frames. We aren’t permitted to nail into the walls so this is a perfect solution to my dilemma.

My room wouldn’t be complete without an area rug- I snagged this thick, shaggy one for $20 bucks. Isn’t it great?

Finally, the item that we really splurged on, what I’m using as a sofa table- this little table with the black chairs was spotted by my husband and I in the corner of a little flea market. It may have cost $60 for the set, but we thought it was a pretty great deal.

I’ve dressed the table up a bit with some fake flowers and some more of our much loved pictures.

We had thought about painting the chairs, but decided that the black was a nice contrast with the rest of the room.

I didn’t even mention my slipcovers! As of right now, I have four! They are the best invention for fickle home decorators like myself. Oh well, I’ll save that for another post.

Do you want to shop at thrift stores but aren’t sure where to start? Make sure you check out my post, 10 Tips for Making the Most of your Thrift Store Shopping Experience.

Do you love to decorate? What is your favorite source for finding inexpensive, home furnishings and accessories?