Decorating On A Shoe String Budget

Firstly I just wanted to say "I love you" to my mom who is in the hospital right now. The doctors have no idea what is wrong with her and she needs a lot of prayer right now. Can I encourage you today to let the people you love know how much you love them? It's never a wrong time to say I love you!

Something I have been thinking a lot about lately.......
photo courtesy of BHG

How to have a beautiful home with little or no budget. Of course I want to tell you to go to my shop http://www.southerncharmhomedecor.com/ and buy something but.... I won't do that today. Today is about a shoe string budget. My home for instance is filled with beautiful things. Some of those things I paid quite a bit of money for and they were well worth it, for instance my 20x20 frames (absolutely gorgeous!) but some of my pretties are all handmade D.I.Y. projects from a shoestring budget. And they all look great together and nobody knows. So please take a look at some of these ideas and go ahead and give them a try, you might just surprise yourself. Do you like the look of gallery wrapped wall decor such as these? Need to fill a wall in a hallway or bathroom or like to change the look of your walls regularly? Try this..

Gift Wrapped
Create artwork to ooh and aah over by covering inexpensive 12-x-12-inch artist canvases with attractive paper patterns. Wrap the canvas like a present with a 1- to 2-inch overhang. Attach the paper to the front with double-stick tape, and secure the excess paper to the frame's back with electrical tape.

I have seen this done with scrap booking paper and fabric and it always look great. Clip you a 40% off coupon for Michaels from your newspaper and head on in to get your supplies. Canvas is pretty inexpensive and you can use your coupon for that. Scrap booking paper has some beautiful patterns and just recently I saw the most beautiful fabrics at a local Wal Mart while on my way to purchase some games for the kiddies. You can wrap the fabric easy too. When you are ready for a new look, tear of the old and start new. The canvas can be reused over and over. This is especially good for the kids rooms as they never like anything for too long.

photo courtesy of BHG

What a pretty look! This room makes me want to stop and enjoy the surroundings. The prints on the wall pictured here are photocopies made from books or calenders. What I have done before is use the frames from old existing prints in my home that I am tired of and purchased a pretty calender with pretty English garden flowers (like pictured here) in muted shades and cut the calender photos down to fit my frames. Or you can take a book or magazine that has prints you like and take them to a local store with a color copier (Kinkos, UPS store etc.) and copy away you some free home decor. Simply cut down your copies and place into existing frames at home or very inexpensive ones can be purchased from the dollar store on up depending on your budget. Have a frame you don't like? Spray paint goes a long way ladies. Like the window treatment but don't have money for new curtains? Take some of your prints and a paint swatch if you have it (I always save mine when I have paint mixed and keep them in a folder) and take a trip to a fabric store and yes even the larger Wal Marts have some great fabrics and hit the clearance bin first. Find you a pretty panel on the cheap and don't even buy a curtain rod. Purchase some upholstery tacks and just tack that bad boy up. I have hot glued my hems many times as I don't sew and you can't even tell. This scene can easily be copied on the cheap.

And don't forget.... white, black and red make great accent colors. A trip to the local thrift store and some spray paint in whatever of those three colors you choose can bring you many many possibilities for new decor additions without much cost.

Now more than ever I believe it is so important to make our homes a haven. A place of security and calm to ease troubled minds. We can do it!!

Prom Dress Shopping

This is me and Lexi in front of Macy's on Saturday. It was our first and last stop. We had planned on a wonderful and long day of shopping but it ended up being wonderful and short. Ha ha, but we had such a fun time. What a big mile stone in both of our lives.... I thought you might like to come shopping with us so I brought along the camera.

I didn't like this dress but she loved the color. It is a good color for her but a bit to informal for the prom I think.

The orange looks good on her but no way Jose on the cleavage!! The black and white damask purse back there is mine.... I love it and I bought it from myself!!

I really liked this one. Very pretty. And she is so skinny it makes ya sick doesn't it?

Here is the back...... Oh la la!! I like this dress.

Here is another pretty one. I like this one very much too. The other thing about looking for a prom dress is this.... She is also doing a Queen of Diamonds pageant on Saturday March 14 and she is wearing her prom dress to the pageant. So the dress has to do double duty. Normally we don't do pageants but it is a fundraiser for the school's baseball program and they needed girls to participate badly and she was asked by one of her friends who plays..... so she said yes. So we were having fun trying on dresses and thinking our decision was going to be a tough one.


But STOP the PRESSES!!!!

Without question, as soon as I turned around to see her my jaw dropped. This is THE DRESS!

This is the back. Aye chi wa wa..... hot mama. It was made for her, it fit her like a glove. She doesn't want to try on any more dresses and I agreed. This was the dress. Plus, it was perfect for the Queen of Diamonds pageant because it's all diamondy. What do you think?

Look at her face.... she just knows this is the dress for her. She looks excited and happy.

There's only one problem with the dress. It is a wee bit over our budget. We had an idea of what we would like to spend and then a ceiling of what was the absolute most we could spend. This dress was over the limit. What to do? We have had layoffs and I just closed my physical store. Sales have been slow so I could not spend the extra money. So I said... Call your father. We are divorced and we never call and ask him for money so I said, hey this is an emergency. Call your dad and see if he will give you the extra money. It wasn't a lot so she made the call.

This is kind of funny. The only place in the dressing room she could get reception was in the corner. I knew this because my other kids had already called me to tell me that Braxton had sprayed Pledge in his eye. I was like..... Where is your father? Then he caught them calling me and telling on him and he started yelling at them not to tattle on him and they hung up. Ah, good times. Braxton is fine by the way.

Still talking..... we he or won't he???

If he says no we are thinking of this dress.

And still talking..... Sheesh. I got bored and decided I was having a pretty good hair day and thought I would preserve the moment.

Alright! Thumbs up, he said yes!! The dress is hers. Yay.

She put it back on to make sure and doesn't she look beautiful? She looks very happy. She worked very hard to earn prom money. She babysat and cat sat.

It is just gorgeous and I think she doesn't look 16 here at all. Oh, my sweet baby is turning into a woman. So this is the dress and we love it! What do you think? So much fun shopping for the dress. I hope she has a wonderful prom.

Yearning for Spring

When I came across these red porch rockers I fell in love. The exterior of my home is beige with natural stone so these red rockers should really pop. A few plants, some interesting tables or benches and my porch should be an inviting place to sit and sip. The fun part for me will be doing this on a budget. I am going to build (okay, I'm having my husband build) some cute small bench seating chairs like in the picture and I am going Goodwilling for some interesting rockers. Since I plan on painting them anyway they don't have to be in great shape. Some new paint, some pretty cushions and I'll have some great rockers that are rockin red. The key is to discover something that inspires you and go for it. Looking at this porch makes me want to go outside and relax with my kids or watch them play.

I just can't wait until these little beauties are popping up!! Oh, Spring hurry up and come.




Every year about this time I become itchy for Spring and really bored with my home. I start moving accent pieces and artwork around. New pillows for the couch or bedding. I switch out picture frames and make a few design changes to keep things fresh and current. I am a sucker for anything sentimental so if you have visited the http://www.southencharmhomedecor.com/ website you will have noticed many 20x20 painted wood frames with quotes on them. Well, I have a collage of them in a hallway and a couple in the laundry room even. I have been switching those around too. Sometimes you can just move around what you already have and maybe purchase one or two new items each season to keep you home looking great.




I love this seating arrangement! Before my husband was laid off 2 years ago we were getting ready to build a new home that had a stairway a lot like this one except we were planning on building built in bench seating into the stairway. Oh, it was going to be so perfect. But if you have a stairway like this one and many homes do..... this look is totally doable for you. You don't even have to re paint the walls, if you already love your color then make the fabric work around your color.

The seating? Easy. You know your man loves the home improvement store so send him there with a list. These legs can easily be purchased along with the decorative trim details you see along the bottom and then just nailed on to the frame. The frame can very easily be built with a few cuts and a nail gun. When we built our fire place mantle we went to the home improvement store and bought some wood decorative accents, nailed them on and painted away. A high end look for practically pennies. As for the cushion? Well, you can go to the fabric store in my area and they have foam cushions all ready to go. Just place your cushion over a piece of wood and stretch out your fabric and staple gun it on. Paint or stain your wood bench and then place the cushion on it with matching or coordinating pillows. I don't sew but I do staple and glue gun. I also know it's pretty inexpensive to pay a seamstress to sew pillows for me. Get yourself some foliage from a local nursery and you are done. What a great place for the kids to lay and talk on the phone, share a private conversation or just sit back and unwind. Not to mention having a great first impression of your home when guests arrive. Or you could just go to the furniture store and buy one... but you'll pay a whole lot more for it.

David Bromstad (one of my favorite designers!!) says blue grey is just coming into it's own. I love this color paired with chocolate browns too. I think people have been under stress and they are looking for calm when they get home.This color palette is definitely calming. Grey-blue, beige and white is always a winner.

Here's my chocolate brown. A grey-blue bedroom with chocolate and beige. I could do without that picture over the bed though..... we won't discuss that.

Do you ever get the Spring itchies? If so what do you do about it?

Tumbleweed Wine & Martini Glasses

Too Cute! The minute I got these in at the physical store they started selling like hot cakes.

I have one of my own and I always smile a little as I pour my wine. A little wine...... a little fun, we deserve it. I will be loading quite a few of these wine and martini glasses onto http://www.southerncharmhomedecor.com/ this afternoon. They are such fun gifts and you know I had to have one for me too. They come in really nice gift boxes and the presentation of the gift is really fun. Do you have a fun or special glass that you like to use or give?

I loaded some beautiful nightlights yesterday along with some other really fun gifts. I have a couple of these Ibis & Orchid nightlights and I have given several as gifts. I love mine and the people I have given them to have always loved them so much that they bought some from me for gifts as well. Gift giving doesn't have to be expensive, these Ibis & Orchid nightlights are only $14.99.

When I am thinking of someone I am buying a gift for I always try to make the gift something fun and usable. We are so serious these days aren't we? These are serious times for certain. Even in my family we have had to deal with lay offs and isn't that a tough thing to go through? So I always look for something that will make the recipient smile and be useful at the same time. I love my nightlights, in the evening this little birdie illuminates the kitchen. In the hallway is a beautiful hummingbird on a hibiscus flower and it is just so beautiful!! Ladies, never forget to laugh and surround yourself with things that make you smile. Life is short, so enjoy it!





I have so many new items to post onto the Southern Charm Home Decor website since I have closed our physical store that it makes my head spin. But check back with us frequently as I will be loading new items every day. My 2 year old Braxton sure keeps me running so I have to load around Braxton's schedule. You ladies know how that goes right?



This is me and Braxton at our local park. It is finally going to be warm here on Friday so we are already planning on a picnic lunch and a fun day of playing after being trapped in the house for 2 weeks! He is just dying to get out again and slide. He is such a cutie isn't he?

Thank you again for visiting my blog and thank you for shopping with http://www.southerncharmhomedecor.com .

Color Inspiration

Do you like black accents? I have an ongoing love affair with Black Accents.
This room is incredible! I'll bet this room would not be too hard to copy. I have seen copies of the lighting at the home improvements stores. The rug? Not too hard to find I'll bet. Find a black and white pattern you love ( DAMASK!!) and sew you some pillows and even better. Look in the phone book for seamstresses to sew you some slipcovers for a couple of chairs. I know several in my area who charge way less than you would think to sew these items for you. Curtains can easily be done with black fabric, iron on hemming and clip rings to hang your lovelies on a rod. Easy!!

The natural lighting drew me to this. Most of the back of my home is solid windows for this very reason. Open those blinds!!

Like the look of paneling but don't want to commit? Can't afford it? Well send the man to the hardware store for some of those small molding strips you can see in the photo and have him cut and nail in several boxes like you can see. It's not hard, my man and I have done this in our dining room and it was easy. Then paint those walls and wa la, instant paneling. A high end look without the high end price.

Being a Southern Girl, I can fully appreciate the need for a beautiful and comfy porch. Front AND back. Nothing on this porch is expensive, it's the color palette that draws you. Paint those floors or get you some throw rugs out there honey. Soft cushions and some greenery, and most importantly, don't forget the iced tea!!

Better Homes and Gardens decoraters voted this shade of blue the best kitchen color to paint. Notice the paint on the ceiling? I hate to cook but I love my kitchen. Odd. Remember, kitchens don't have to be boring and if you are going to spend lots of time in you kitchen like I do, paint it a color that inspires you.

Oh, this blue is gorgeous. I don't have any blue in my home but I am always drawn to pictures of cozy rooms with pretty shades of blue. I have actually been thinking of painting my laundry room this shade of blue with white trim. This shade is perfect for a small room, so says the designers at BHG and I may have just been inspired enough to try it. Paint is a great way to liven up a room, go for it. Don't be afraid to put yourself out there and if you just aren't sure then ask a professional and just do it. I have done an online consultation with Misti of www.studiomdesigns.blogspot.com and everything she suggested was right on!! The Nester of www.nestingplacenc.blogspot.com is fantastic too and does online consultations. I know y'all have you a digital camera.

So, what colors inspire you?

Photographs courtesy of Better Homes & Gardens

www.southerncharmhomedecor.com Thanks for shopping with us and supporting a mom!!

Southern Charm Home Decor is at the Nesting Place!!

www.nestingplacenc.blogspot.com is now a blog that Southern Charm Home Decor is currently advertising with. A great blog with wonderful decorating ideas and lots of great ladies you should really get to know. I am excited to be advertising on The Nesting Place and if you haven't checked out this blog, what are you waiting for?

I have had to close our physical location so we are now currently only selling online. Which is really a blessing in disguise. I have four wonderful children and my mom had a stroke and now needs constant care. So thank you to all our wonderful customers for supporting a mom and not just a big box.

Have a wonderful day!!

http://www.southerncharmhomedecor.com/

We will be adding new items all week long so please keep checking with us.

20x20 Beautiful Things Painted Wood Frames

The most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart. - Helen Keller

This frame has consistently been one of my best selling frames and for good reason. It's just so perfect.

The color is even perfect. It's such a subtle shade of green that it just fits in almost any setting. What a perfect gift for family, friends or hey, yourself!! I have several of these in my home and I love them. I even have two matching ones in my laundry room! Hey, I have four kids so you know I spend me some time in the laundry room. Why shouldn't I have a pretty room to fold clothes in?

Visit www.southerncharmhomedecor.com to see all of our great frames and gifts.

We will be adding many many new items to our website all week long to please keep checking back for updates!