"Thrifty"...the new fabulous

I’m moving into a new place this weekend and you know what that means?? Decorating!!!

I love moving to a new place…the actual moving sucks…but the decorating and arranging and creating a whole new space with a cool vibe is one of my all time favorite things. I briefly considered interior design as a career…and then life gave me a reality check that I’m not really that creative and I would suck at decorating for anyone but myself. So I’ve made myself content with creating super awesome spaces for myself…getting bored with them…and doing it all over again. J

This poses a problem sometimes though. As I’ve said before I’m “balling on a budget” which means there’s usually minimal money left over for frivolous things such as decorations. What? White bare walls are totally retro and “in right now”…haha, right. Thankfully I was raised by a single mom with no degree, no “real job” and three small children. I know it doesn’t sound that positive, but it taught me to be super handy and thrifty and to think outside the box when it comes to making something look expensive using minimal cash.

I’ve spent the better part of my morning browsing through blogs and my newest obsession, Pinterest, to get some inspiration and super cool ideas. I may have gotten a bit side tracked looking at clothes… but now I’m seriously itching for a good thrift day.

I’ve found that for me the key to actually be able to find useful stuff when thrifting (instead of just bringing home more junk to clutter my house) is to browse around on the internet to get myself in the right frame of mind. Like this morning I saw about 20 outfits that I liked that had one thing in common…a skinny belt around the waist. I had most of the stuff to make the outfits…but the belt was what made it look good…now I know I need to buy a couple cute belts from the thrift store and I’ll have all kinds of good outfits. Another example, I saw a picture of jewelry displayed on a tarnished silver tiered serving tray (think what they serve crumpets on during high tea) that I loved. I see those serving plate things in Goodwill all the time…so now I’ve just got to keep my eye out for one and BAM!...instant charm and character on the cheap. J

Well, I’m off to finish the un-fun part of moving…so I can get started on the fun part. I love having an excuse to go shopping…even if it does mean digging through grungy piles of stuff to find that hidden treasure.