Living Simply
We can’t all have the high rise condo with five thousand square feet or the beautiful cabin on 60 acres. Most of us live in simple homes with small budgets. We do what we can to make our homes worth showing off but sometimes that takes a little extra work. Here are a couple cheap options for the rest of us.
Give the walls a fresh coat of paint and don’t be afraid of unique designs. Do your friends gush over your clothes and your unique sense of style? Do you have a color or print that you absolutely must have on at least once a week? Feel free to incorporate that into your home. I would advise against bright pink polka dots all over you walls but you can add a little bit into the room without overwhelming it. A light touch is necessary. Had paint the door frame of your bedroom with your polka dots but leave the door white to let people know they are about to enter your personal territory but not a clown’s dressing room.
Get a set of futon bunk beds. If you plan on having close friends staying over but don’t want to make them sleep on that ancient pullout couch that your parents gave you in college you should really consider that favorite childhood sleeping arrangement. Bunkbeds with stairs effectively double your sleeping space without taking up any more floor space or needing a dedicated guest room. There are a lot of well-designed and classy options for adult bunk beds nowadays too.
Reclaimed wood furniture is the most expensive thing I am going to suggest but I fell in love with it the first time I saw a piece made from the wood of an old railway bridge. The age and history of the wood was very obvious and beautiful. If you are a nostalgia buff like me you can really appreciate something like this. The girl that wanted the pink polka dots? Not so much. It’s not super cheap but if you shop around, there are some artisans that safe wood from old barns and bridges and will happily pass the savings on to you. Expect to pay about as much as you would for a similarly designed mass produced piece of furniture but get something of much higher quality. Dealing with artisans means you can haggle and barter too. The people at Target don’t like it when I try to haggle and barter. If you sign on for a chair, table and a set of bunk beds you will make an instant friend of the artist. They like solid contracts for multiple pieces and they may be willing to cut you a deal to lock in the sale.
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