Thrift Store Find: Nightstands

I am super excited because I finally found a pair of nightstands for our bedroom! Everything I found online was to expensive and there was nothing unique about them. I found these nightstands for only $18!

I plan to paint them white, but maybe pink. I love the detail on the drawer fronts. I will try to find some new hardware also! It's so nice to not have my lamp on the floor anymore!!

My Union Jack Painting

A few weeks ago I did an INSPIRATION post with images of the Union Jack pattern. I had planned to decorate my bedroom in pink and orange. I decided I wanted to just paint my own Union Jack painting to hang over my bed. I started by making this design in Photo Shop...
I wanted there to be a heart in the center with the word love on it. I have always also loved pink and red rooms, so I thought why not add red to my bedroom also?
I am fortunate to own a projector that I purchased many years ago. It has helped me with many projects. I purchased my canvas, paint and small paint roller from Hobby Lobby. It only cost me $22 because everything was on sale! I already had blue painters tape, which is perfect for making the flag sections of the Union Jack pattern. To start the project I made the room really dark and then traced the design onto the canvas...After I traced everything I laid the canvas on my dining room table and started rolling all the layers of paint on...The red took about 6 coats of paint! I decided to just free hand the word love on the heart so it would be my handwriting. I am pretty happy with the end result.For only $22 it was a great way to create a focal point for over the bed. It added the extra color I needed on the plain white walls and pulls the color scheme together. The small pillow in the front I have had for about 6 years. It was from Target and I have always loved it. It didn't work in my last house, so I am glad I finally had a room it matched!

(I can't find nightstands for my bedroom! Once I do I can finish the decorating and post pictures! Stay tuned...)

My Living Room {A Work In Progress}

I hate posting pictures of my decorating when a room is not finished. Things have slowed down decorating wise for me though, so I figured I should reveal something. This is the living room currently. Here is the view as you walk into the living room from the front door...I really had no plan for this room when we moved in. I knew that my teal vintage chairs had to go in the room, because they didn't fit anywhere else in the apartment. We had no living room furniture at all and not a big budget! It all started with the huge ottoman we found at a thrift store... We used the ottoman for weeks as a couch as we searched thrift stores almost daily looking for a sofa! Evenutally we found our green beauty from a thrift store on the Air Force Base, which also meant it was FREE...The couch has grown on me. It's really comfy and the size is perfect for the room. I am not up for the challenge of reupholstering it, so the green has to work for now. I will however be recovering the ottoman with hot pink fabric and painting the wood frame white. I have no artwork for over the couch and my lamps are a little small for the space. I just have to use what I have for now though. I also decided to hang the vintage curtains I found in our living room. It really added some color on that wall...
The room has so much green and blue. Not what I planned at all. Once the ottoman is recovered though I think the look of the room will really change. I would love to get a huge shag rug to complete the room. Probably just white or cream. I know the dogs would love it! On the other side of the room is where I placed some of my IKEA bookcases...
Here you find more colors! This is also where most of our Vinylmation collection ended up. At first I just placed a few in the bookcases, then a few turned into a lot. I just really wanted to enjoy them daily. The bookcases are mainly full of photos, vases and my Marilyn Monroe books...
It took me probably a total of 5 hours to arrange everything in a way I loved. Arranging displays is one of my favorite things to do. I plan to post detailed pictures of my bookcase display later. For now I keep searching for artwork and pillows for the couch area...
I really want to add more pink to the room. (Poor Cody) I am open to suggestions for artwork over the couch. I think I will end up painting something on my own. I can never find anything I like in stores. I have ideas of course, but not sure what feels right yet. We'll see....

Painting My Bathroom & Vintage Curtains

Usually when you rent a new place the walls have been freshly painted for you. Not my apartment. There are nails in the walls, tons of holes, dirty hand prints and scuff marks everywhere! It is really getting to me and grossing me out. The only room in the apartment that is white, is the bathroom. The other rooms are all this weird off-white almost beige color. Can you see me rolling my eyes? I am not able to paint here. I did take it upon myself to repaint the bathroom white. There were so many holes and dirty marks on the walls that I couldn't live with it and Cody agreed.The bathroom is one of my projects this week. Above you can see a photo of the bathroom. It is small, so very hard to photograph. I decided to use my lime green shower curtain in the space. I plan to put black and white accessories in the bathroom along with my dearly loved Michelin Man. I am having paint with drawls! I crave color! I believe because of all this lack of creative outlet for me, my next house will be OVER THE TOP.

Cody and I may have found a couch. I am kicking myself for not taking a picture of it!!! First thing you need to know about this "couch" is that it is pretty ugly. It is a vintage sofa that is a light turquoise color with a green floral pattern on it. The lines and shape of the couch are very cool. It is also very comfy. The best part is that is it FREE. One of the benefits of being part of the Air Force is there are thrift stores on the base. One of them is FREE. The only reason we didn't bring the sofa home with us is because it wouldn't fit in our car. We hope to have our friend with a truck help us get it this Saturday! The only catch is, it may be gone. I feel it will be waiting there for us though, because honestly Cody and I are probably the only people crazy enough to take it. I was able to bring these curtains home....Needless to say, I think my living room is going to be very interesting looking when I get done decorating it. It will be awhile before I piece it all together. It is much more tricky to decorate when you are on a tight budget and now IKEA is over 2 hours away from me. I am just thankful I have self control when it comes to my VISA card.

Our Wyoming Apartment - Kitchen

Since I can't paint my apartment kitchen, I decided to just add colorful things. I decided to use my teapot and pyrex collection as my color inspiration.Then I added some vases and other cute vintage items I already had. The kitties have been "saved" many times. First I had them for sale in my old antique booth. Then they were going to be in a garage sale, but I decided to keep them. Then last week the smaller one fell off my dresser and broke. What would the world do without super glue?

The kitchen also now has a Disney / Alice in Wonderland theme going on also. I have placed pictures of us from our Disney vacations through out the kitchen. The print I designed was inspired by this Jonathan Adler pillow.I prefer really modern kitchens, but I can't have that right now. I enjoy having the personal touches in our kitchen. It's a happy little space.The kitchen is as cheerful as I can make it without painting the walls. I will post more photos soon!