Busy Bees

I haven’t posted in ten days, which is absolutely unacceptable for me. Sorry for the hiatus. I’m back and I’ve been busy so there’s something to show for my absence.

I’d been feeling pretty stagnant and in need of some major changes. Usually, I rearrange furniture, paint rooms and turn our apartment upside-down at least twice a year to get my fix and it had been too long since the last time I indulged. Thankfully, the old mattress just got replaced, which gave me a much needed kick start. Over the past week, I got creative and gave the living space a much needed face lift on the cheap.

The first update was the balcony. There’s not a whole lot you can do with an apartment balcony and it was looking pretty bare. The only things out there were an iron table and chair set, a bird feeder, and a dead tree. So a few hanging plants, a large palm and two new seat covers from Lowes really made a difference I hung an old autumn berry Target wreath on the storage door, moved a candle lantern out there, and voila!

Next, the living room. I had been slowly updating it over the past year with small finds like a Moroccan pouf, antique candle sticks, and new knobs on the TV credenza. However, it needed something to pull it all together and give it a whole new look. The apartment layout doesn’t lend itself to much furniture rearrangement in the living room so I opted for a new area rug. I spent an entire day visiting every store I could think of. I hit Target, Walmart, Pier 1, Kohls, JCPenney, Costco, Home Depot, Christmas Tree Shoppes, Bed Bath & Beyond, Macy’s, Belk and Ikea but everything I found was either too expensive, didn’t have the right pattern, or was of low quality. I was about to order something off Overstock.com (which has awesome rugs for great prices by the way) when I found quite a few gorgeous rugs back at Lowes. In order to stick to my budget, I was prepared to purchase a smaller size than I had originally wanted but as luck would have it, I scored a huge 7′x10′ high quality rug on clearance for just $98.

The transformation was exactly as I had hoped. It’s amazing what one rug will do.

{BEFORE}

{I only have this pic from last year. I was so excited about putting down the new rug that I forgot to snap a before pic.}

 {AFTER}

{Hydrangeas from the farmers market always help.}