Heidi — Budget Wise Home
May 1, 2012

Favorite Things

Wood Expressions

This has been a month full of birthday parties for our family.  My two oldest boys and my husband all have April birthdays, and yesterday was the last one (sorry for disappearing).  A few months ago, I came across Wood Expressions on Etsy and instantly fell in love with their beautiful hand turned wood items.  They were kind enough to to send me a mini cake and cupcake pedestal from their shop–just in time for the birthdays.  Here is a look at the yummy spread we enjoyed yesterday for my husband’s birthday.

 

 

 

My husband’s birthday fall the day after my son’s birthday, so usually by the time it rolls around, I am so exhausted from the kids party and festivities, that he gets a little short changed.  Most years, we just put some candles on the leftover cake from the day before and call it good.  This year I stepped it up and got him his own mini birthday cake.  These stands gave me the perfect way to display the yummy treats.

 

Here are a few more lovely cake stands from their shop.

I just love cake stands and pedestals because not only are they great for displaying food, they are fun to use in decorating.  You could use them for candles, corralling jewelry, and more.  And these items are top notch!  They are very lightweight and the detail and wood grain are incredible.  They are so beautiful to look at.

Here are few more of my favorite items from their shop.

Wooden Elm Bowl

Wooden Tea Light Holder

Orange Ash Wood Bowl

Wooden Oak Vase/Bowl

Head over to Wood Expressions and check out more of their beautiful wood products.

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April 27, 2012

DIY Look For Less

Cozy Breakfast Nook

Happy Friday!  I’m super excited to show you this stylish little breakfast nook, featured in this month’s Traditional Home Magazine.  It’s classy but has just enough elements to keep it from looking too formal.

There are so many textures going on in this space–which is always key to any design.  I’m LOVING that silver table base!  It’s a showstopper for sure.  The chairs bring in some warmth with the wood tones and the industrial pendant keeps the room casual.  And, of course, I always love some great patterned drapes.

 

Here is the look for less.

 

This wouldn’t be a true “diy for less” if I didn’t throw in a fun paint project.  You can re-create the look of the table by spraying the base with a silver metal spray paint.  Simple and fabulous!

Have a great weekend and I’ll see you back on Monday.

 

Sources:

  1. Fioretto in Sprout Drapery Fabric
  2. Bamboo Blinds
  3. Hanging Pendant
  4. Chairs
  5. Table
  6. Silver Spray Paint
  7. Round Area Rug

 

Posted at: 5:22 am by |Filed Under: Look For Less | , 2 Comments
April 26, 2012

A Bit of a Disaster

Today I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed by the amount of stuff I need to get done.  And the current state of my craft closet is not helping.  My entire shelving system came crashing down about 3 weeks ago and I just haven’t had the energy to tackle this mess.

I had everything totally secure with lots of wall anchors, but all my fabric put it over the top.  I added a bar to the bottom of the unit to hang all my fabric, and for a while it worked beautifully.  But my fabric stock has gotten really big lately and it added A LOT more weight.  I should have known it wouldn’t hold.

Yesterday I was looking all over for something I think is buried in the mess and I can’t get to it.  So today, the madness must end.  I’m going to install a new hanging bar, separate from the shelving unit, and then reattach the shelves.  I wish I had a better picture and beautiful project to share with you, but I’m just keeping it real.  I’m in a state of chaos.  Wish me luck!

Posted at: 9:00 am by |Filed Under: Heidi's Projects | 3 Comments
April 25, 2012

Special Delivery

Look what arrived on my doorstep yesterday…

 

…all the makings of a beautiful sun room!

The fabric looks even better in person and I can’t wait to get sewing.  I added a fun stripe to the mix to give some contrast to the busier patterns going on.  It might be showing up as a lumbar pillow on the yellow chair.  We’ll see.  I’m really loving how the fabric story is coming together.

Posted at: 9:00 am by |Filed Under: Heidi's Projects | 1 Comment
April 24, 2012

Favorite Things

Joss & Main

I love great home decor bargains!  I rarely pay full price for anything because deals are all around.  I’ve blogged about some of my favorite sites before like The Foundary, and Gilt, and today I’m adding one to the list: Joss & Main.

It’s the same concept, but I find that there are consistently more affordable options.

There are multiple sales events going on at the same time and each lasts about 3-5 days.  This is a great place to snag designer items at a deep discount.  It’s free to join–just enter your email and that’s it.  If you’re looking for something specific, but aren’t in a hurry to buy, this site (along with the others I mentioned above) are the way to go.  You can save a lot of money by having patience and waiting for a great sale.  I usually like to browse the sales every couple days to see what’s new.  Happy shopping!

Posted at: 7:09 am by |Filed Under: Favorite Things | Money Saving Websites | , Leave a Comment
April 23, 2012

Affordable Artwork

Happy Monday!  I hope you all had a great weekend.  Today I’ve got a few helpers with me to show you an easy and affordable artwork idea.  Enjoy!

Posted at: 9:00 am by |Filed Under: Decorating with Books | How-To Videos | What to Put on my Walls | Leave a Comment
April 20, 2012

DIY Look for Less

Imperial Trellis Fabric

I have just made the greatest discovery ever!  My most favorite fabric in the world now has an affordable look-a-like version.  Kelly Wearstler’s Imperial Trellis is such a classic, but at anywhere from $130 to $200 per yard (depending on the color), it is so far out of my budget.  But it is so very beautiful.

 

I’ve always wanted to do a big headboard or upholstered chair in this fabric and now I can.  Fabric.com now has an indoor/outdoor fabric in an almost identical pattern.  It comes in four different colorways.

Green

Aqua

Navy

Red

Although you don’t get the nice linen texture of the real thing, you simply CANNOT beat the price tag……..$8.98/yard!!  Unfortunately the fabric is currently back ordered (I see I’m not the only one who has made this amazing discovery), but should be re-stocked in a few weeks.  I will be keeping my eyes peeled on this one for sure.

Have a wonderful weekend and I’ll see you back on Monday.

Posted at: 5:04 am by |Filed Under: Look For Less | Leave a Comment
April 19, 2012

A New Kind of Switch

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Leviton. All opinions are 100% mine.

As seen on the DIY Network, Leviton’s newest product: Renu is the smart new way to update the look of a room in a snap, now and later.

Renu<sup>®</sup> > Brands > Solutions from Leviton Web Site

The Renu® collection includes:

-Switches
-Combination switches
-Wallplates
-Dimmers/Remotes
-Tamper Resistant Outlets
-Tamper Resistant GFCI Outlets
-QuickPort Connectors

Leviton Image.png

They are available in 20 different paint colors!  Isn’t that fun?!  Renu® products can blend in or contrast with a room’s walls or trim. Renu® turns the electrical device into a decorative, easy to change accessory.

I have my kitchen and bedroom lights on dimmers and I love the lighting options it creates.  Dimmers can dramatically affect the whole mood of any space.  I’ve been meaning to change the other bedroom switches to dimmers as well.  I would pick out a navy blue switch for my boys room, since the switch is directly on the navy stripe.  This way it will blend in and disappear.  It’s so great to have more color options than just white.

Light Switch

Leviton is hosting 3 twitter events and the dates and times are as follows:

Wednesday, April 18th 9pm EST
Thursday, April 26th 9pm EST
Wednesday, May 2nd 9pm EST

Just follow @Leviton and #Renu for the twitter events and participate, and you’ll have the chance to win some Home Depot gift cards!  Leviton is offering 2 sets of Broadway tickets as a grand prize for the twitter party on Wednesday night! Join in on the fun and see if you’ll win!

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April 19, 2012

A Colorful Sun Room

I told you about my sister’s new house yesterday, so today I’m sharing some of the design plans with you.

Right now we are working on the main level which includes the kitchen, living room, and bonus room.  I call the bonus space the sun room because there is great natural light.  We decided to turn it into a cozy reading space.  Luckily, my sister is just as fond of color as I am.  We are a great team.  The living area has a coral and turquoise scheme, so we wanted to carry bits of those colors into the sun room, but also introduce a cheery yellow into the mix.  Here is the plan so far.

 

The beautiful coral fabric was our jumping off point.  I convinced her to go with this bold pattern for the curtains.  They are going to be gorgeous.  The chair and console are just stand ins for the real things.  She found an amazing console/buffet and a tufted chair & ottoman from our local classifieds.  She is going to paint and glaze the buffet a light turquoise and the chair is going to be reupholstered in a similar looking yellow suzani fabric.  She ordered a large cherry blossom wall decal from etsy to go above the buffet.

All the fabric is ordered, so now we’re just waiting.  I’m doing all the sewing and she’s doing the painting.  We are having a blast!

Posted at: 5:48 am by |Filed Under: Design Boards | , 2 Comments
April 18, 2012

The Search For Curtains

My sister just barely bought her first home and we both couldn’t be more excited.  I’ve been helping her with the design for the past month or so and it is coming along beautifully.  She has scoured thrift stores and online classifieds to furnish almost the entire house.  I’m so proud of her.  She found some amazing pieces that are getting a new lease on life with paint.

She has a fantastic living room space with a super high, pitched ceiling, and great natural light.  I’ve been on the hunt for the perfect drapery fabric for a few weeks, but with no luck.  I convinced her to go with a subtle linen horizontal stripe pattern, but it’s hard to find.  I found a couple options, but the fabric is too expensive for the amount that we need for her tall windows.  Then last night a light bulb went off!  I remembered seeing a bunch of fabulous painted stripe curtains around the blogosphere.  I’m going to pick up a few of these panels from Ikea and paint the stripes on myself.

This is the look I’m going for, but a little more subdued.  I don’t want it to be too bold because there are a lot of other patterns going on in the space.

I’ll keep you updated on the progress of her house in the coming weeks and months.  We’ve got some fabulous things planned and I can’t wait to show you.

Posted at: 4:25 pm by |Filed Under: Heidi's Projects | Leave a Comment
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