Pictures

My home was done on a budget, a tight one in fact. My husband is very frugal, almost to a fault at times but I gotta love the man who can build a home for his family with his own two hands.

I love Pottery Barn. Plain and simple. I have a love affair with their website and their catalog and heck even PB Kids. It's probably a borderline sickness. I rarely, if ever buy anything from them. See they are just way out of my reach. I want a home that looks like a Pottery Barn designer came in and took charge but I had to accomplish that on a tight budget.

My entertainment center was a JC Penney clearance item, score! My living room rug was a house warming gift from my mother, another woo hoo. The ottoman in the living room was purchased from my sister-in-law and recovered in faux caramel leather and my zebra chair was an overstock.com find!

I believe you can have the home you really want with a few simple tricks.
1. De-clutter.... get rid of the magazines, the stacks of newspapers, the shoes sitting around. Buy baskets, boxes, ottomans with storage or even better DEEP CLEAN and donate to Goodwill, your taxes will thank you!
2. Shop within your home. Take something from one room and move it into another. It will feel new to you and you will not have spent a dime!
3. Have a focal piece in each room and make it something you truly love. In my dining room for example, my husband built our table for me for our first Christmas together. I dearly love it and it is an awesome conversation piece. In fact, I built my home around that table.
4. Don't over personalize. This can be a tough one for a lot of people, but do you really need 10 wedding pictures of you and your husband on your walls, or something Grandma Millie gave you 5 years ago for Christmas?? I don't think so. Live in the here and now. Keep your most priced possessions and pictures out but try to limit them to personal spaces such as bedrooms.