Interior Design: Decor on a Budget

Ladies and gents, allow me to take this moment to unveil my latest work of art - the abstract painting you see in these photos was done by none other than yours truly. Do you like its 3D effect? I am so pleased with myself, I could write an entire blog post on just that. But I will try to stay on topic and not ramble. ;) The 2' x 4' canvas was from Hobby Lobby, and with this amazing deal it was a whopping 40% off! I used oil pastels, which I already had, so total cost was $20. Can you believe it? Twenty dollars for a work of art!

Check out this ombre lamp in the season's hottest color. Can you believe it's only $17 at Target? It's also available in coral. What a fun way to {literally} brighten your space, right?

Here we have another DIY 3D wall art idea. Instead of purchasing a large mirror for our dining room wall {which can cost upwards of $600} the hubster and I bought 6 packs of this from IKEA and designed our own mirror. We always get so many compliments on it, and people are amazed that we put it together ourselves! Total cost: $60. I will not stop until I have covered the entire wall with these tiles!

I love candles. For better or worse, I have them scattered all over our apartment. {Remind me to tell you a funny story about our smoke detector.} So it was a no-brainer when I found this lovely red glass votive holder at Target's 50% off Christmas sale. Total cost: $3. {Similar one here.}

Let's talk about pillows. Who wants to pay $50 for a pillow? I sure don't! Once again, Target to the rescue with these suede and these velvet beauties. Total cost: $32 for a total of 3 pillows! I realize the solid color is looking a little bland, despite the wonderful color contrast, so I will be adding more texture and prints to this ensemble with this, this, this, this and this.

Let's get to the point: home decorating is a fun frustrating endeavor. 1.) More so if you're on a super strict budget. 2.) Even more so if you're newly married and starting from scratch. 3.) Even MORE SO if you have a million ideas. 4.) EVEN MORE SO if you've got strict rental rules and regulations to stick to. So when you find yourself in all four categories {like me}, the thought of decorating being fun quickly vanishes, and reality sets in: decorating is tough stuff. 

But I am here to tell you, {and hopefully I've been able to show you} that with the help of stores like IKEA and Target, it's not so bad after all. Most importantly, you have to realize that it's perfectly okay if you don't have an impeccably decorated home. As the late Albert Hadley once said, "Make your home as comfortable and attractive as possible and then get on with living. There's more to life than decorating."

XOXO