Living with what you love

I'm living by this philosophy in our home this year. I will live with what I love and tweak the things I don't. I will surround myself with things that are meaningful, inspire me or just plain make me happy. I will cease the day and tackle the those pesky projects on the to do list and reap the rewards of living in a home that reflects who we are. I want to shake things up a bit and take more risks when it come to decorating.

Now don't get me wrong. I'm not buying new furniture. I'm not starting from scratch. I plan to switch little things up here and there. And I don't plan on spending lots of dough. Did you hear that hubs? Don't start having heart palpitations. I find that it's usually just small changes that can make a big impact and satisfy my urge to change things up. It could be as simple as a new lamp, a new wall color, switching out accessories or simply rearranging the placement of furniture.

And some of the tweaking has already begun...and just these subtle little changes are making me very happy. Life is too short to not love our surroundings. Can I get an amen!?! :)

These vintage mason jars really make me happy. So I grabbed them from the guest bedroom closet and placed them on the windowsill in our kitchen. Added some fresh flowers and they instantly freshened up the space. Love them! Total cost: $6 for the flowers.

We had this cute little table in our backyard which had a dead plant sitting on it. There I go again..killing plants. I decided I wanted to try this table inside. Hosed it off, let the sun dry it and brought it inside. I put the one we used to have in this little corner outside. Placed our white pitcher on it, filled it with fresh flowers and threw a book underneath it just for fun. Love this little change.

Total cost: $7 for flowers. Already had the other things.

Finally found the right lamp for the console table in our little family room...well found the right one with the right price tag I should say. There are plenty of $2oo lamps that I like. :) Both lamp and shade are from Tarjaay! Little change..big impact. Well..at least I think it makes a big impact. Truth be told..it took Jim three days to notice that we had a new lamp. :)

Total cost for lamp and shade: $60

I have found that sometimes grouping items you already have can mix up the look a bit. I like this new little grouping on our kitchen counter.

Really feeling the need to create lately. I made this moss wreath yesterday and then adorned it with little paper butterflies that I cut out from scrapbook paper. I decided to hang it in front of our old shutter. Loving this new whimsical look.

Total cost: $20 for wreath form and moss. (found at Joann's) Used scrapbook paper that I already had.

I bought this little stand at Homegoods over the summer. I bought it to hold my printer and had intentions of painting it white to match my desk. Well...5 months later and finally.. mission accomplished. I will admit that I did a very poor paint job. I was too lazy to sand it and simply painted it white. No primer..no sanding. But...I do enjoy a worn and chippy look. Good thing!

	umm..yeah.. please excuse the dust. :0

After I painted it and put it in it's place I still felt like it was missing something..it just looked too blah. Then I remembered this image that I had seen in a Pottery Barn magazine. Love those fun and funky numbers.

image: potterybarn.com

I decided to look for metal address numbers at Home Depot. Score! Bought some in different finishes and fonts. Added them to the little stand. Love it! Mine are not as funky or mismatched as the PB image but I still really like the look.

Total cost for printer stand makeover: $25 for white paint and numbers.

See..it really doesn't cost a lot to shake things up a bit. I've got a few other changes up my sleeve.. like some new paint colors for the walls.. yippee! Really excited about getting rid of our icky semi-gloss paint.

"Surrounding yourself with good things uplifts the spirits. It makes ones day happy."

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