Top 5 Places for Affordable Home Decor

So, I'm slightly obsessed with buying new things for my home. I'm constantly switching things up, moving things from room to room, and I am NEVER done. I think I'm just going to have to face that fact. Or in reality it's more like my husband is going to have to face that fact.

But since I'm constantly on the lookout for new stuff and new ways to spruce up my house, I'm pretty much always on a budget. I could go all out and buy one amazing new thing every couple months, or I could be smart about it and get several inexpensive things that play well together and make a big difference. In my years of budget-friendly decorating, I've discovered that there are a few key places to look for really great deals. Here are my personal top five places that I'm always sure to check out.

1.  Target

Oh, Target. What woman out there doesn't have a deep, burning love for good ole' Target? I can't tell you how much stuff I bought for our new house here. Lamps, pillows, wall decor, bedding...I actually bought our dining room chairs here. It never fails, every single time I run into this place I end up in the home section....and every single time, I find something I NEED. What is it about this place? It's like a black hole. I get sucked in and I come out $100 poorer.

2. IKEA

If you don't have an IKEA in your area, I'm sorry. I had heard the legend of IKEA for years before I finally stepped foot in one, and I've never looked back. I actually have one about 15 minutes from my house now, and let me tell you, it ain't bad. IKEA is seriously outrageously affordable. This is another place we got quite a bit of stuff for the new house. My desk chair, which I'm obsessed with, an end table, wall decor....the list goes on and on. And they seriously have basically every single thing you could need in your house. Plus, the display floor where you walk into those fully furnished little apartments is just too much fun for me. It's heavenly, I'm telling you.

3. Hobby Lobby

I know Hobby Lobby has had its share of controversy lately, but man that store has some good home decor! Seriously, if you don't shop here, and there's one in your area, I dare you to go inside and not find something you absolutely must have. I seriously just went in there looking for a Christmas tree and found the most adorable wooden sign for Grayson's bedroom...how did I even end up in that section? It's a mystery to me. Even better, they have 50% off sales every week...and if it's not on sale this week, odds are it will be the next. Amazing. And dangerous.

4. Kirklands

For some reason you don't hear about Kirklands as much, but I'm a fan of the store. This isn't a place that I go into and find something I love every single time, but I have found several really good deals here. A lot of stuff to sit around on shelves, some artwork for the walls, they even have a bit of furniture. This is also a really great place for seasonal decor. Plus, it always smells really good in here. That's gotta count for something.

5. Discount Stores

What I mean by this is stores like Home Goods, TJ Maxx, Ross, etc. These stores can be hit or miss, but sometimes you can get a pretty amazing deal on something pretty good. I've found a lot of regular decor items here, but I've also found sheets, dishes, comforter sets, and gifts for friends and family at these stores. My favorite, and probably the most consistently great, is HomeGoods. It's hard to go in that store without filling up my basket.

There are many, many other places that I shop semi-regularly, but these are definitely my go-to stores when it comes to home furnishings. But that being said, I'm ALWAYS looking for new stores to try. So if I left out your absolute favorite place, please fill me in! I'll love you forever if you give me a new favorite store...but my husband might not be your biggest fan, just a heads up.

The Purge

Now that we are maybe, potentially, hopefully moving, I am more aware than ever of the large amount of stuff that we have. I mean, really. How is it possible that two adults, a baby and a dog have so much stuff? And I feel like a very small portion of what we have is anything that I actually want.

I think maybe my taste is changing? That has to be it. Because I seriously look at all our many, many belongings and I feel kind of meh about the majority of it. The new stuff I've been buying is totally different than what I've bought in the past, which is fun...but it means I've got a real random mix going on around here. I would say if there were a word to describe my style it would probably be "eclectic", so the randomness doesn't bother me too much....but I think I need to kinda figure out what I'm going for.

Also, my closet. Sigh. I have SO many clothes. And shoes. And I never, ever feel like I have anything to wear at all. I have been super inspired by Sarah from Tucker Up, who I had the pleasure of meeting completely randomly this weekend. We actually ran into each other at a pizza place...what are the odds?? Anywho, Sarah has totally inspired me because she did not shop for an entire YEAR. Can you imagine? She basically just spent the year shopping her closet...and when I started thinking about that I realized how I probably could do the exact same thing. I'm not saying I'm going to not shop for a year - let's not get crazy - but I'm gonna see how long I can keep it up. I've sworn to myself that I'll wear every single item in my closet, and if I hate it, it's out.  I've already found three pairs of jeans and a sweater that went straight to the donate pile after spending the day in them and feeling not so hot.

So my plan is to do a complete and total purge during this moving process. Or non-moving process if we end up staying here. Either way, I want to simplify and keep only the things I really love. I'm kind of a weirdo because doing stuff like this is really exciting to me...like, now getting dressed every day is fun because it's a challenge. So hopefully that will motivate me to keep it up. If nothing else it should help my marriage, because think of all the money I'll save!

Ha, who are we kidding....if we move into a new house I'm sure I'll make up for it buying new stuff to decorate with. It was a nice thought, though.

Oh, and these photos have nothing to do with anything. I just found a bunch of pics on my camera that I forgot about...so why not?

I'm Bad at Planning

So, apparently I'm not so good at planning ahead. I thought this was an area I was getting pretty good at, but after the past few days I would say not so much. Since Friday, my mom and I have spent basically all day every day Christmas shopping. I'm not exaggerating. I have no idea why I waited until like 10 days before Christmas to start my shopping....I'm just gonna go with bad planning.

It's safe to say I won't be doing this next year. I am so tired. So very tired. My brain is fried and I can't think about anything but gifts. I'm pretty sure I'm going to dream about shopping tonight. Normally that would be heavenly, but I have to say....I'm kind of tired of shopping. I literally never thought I would say, type, or think those words. But I'm pretty much over it.

(I googled "tired after shopping" to see what kind of hilarious images I might find, and it gave me this little gem. I really love it because this is exactly how I look when I'm exhausted: fully clothed in jeans and heels, laying uncomfortably on a sofa with my head on my forehead, surrounded by color coordinated shopping bags. Pretty accurate depiction.)

On top of just the physical act of walking around store after store for three days straight and the exhaustion that it causes, we also get to throw a little baby into the mix. A seven month old, wiggly, temperamental, BORED baby. On a normal day he doesn't like being stuck in his stroller while I shop. Imagine how he feels after three days of it. Not so pleased. That kid has figured out the whole "throwing a fit" thing...and he's been practicing it. At the moment it typically just lasts a few seconds and then he can be distracted by one of his little snacky things or a toy, but I've got a pretty good indication where we're headed in the near future.

Anyway, now that I've bought a bajillion gifts, I am faced with the task that I really dislike and I'm really not so great at: wrapping everything. I don't think it would be so bad if I didn't care what my gifts look like, but I want them to be beautiful. My mom is like the world's best gift wrapper, so she's set the bar pretty high. Like, she uses ribbon to make beautiful bows and everything looks better than when the people at the store wrap it for you. So I want my gifts to look like that, but I want to spend minimal time and effort on them. I'm torn, really.

Am I the only person who did this to myself? Are you guys all those brilliant people who planned ahead and finished your shopping in October and now everything is wrapped and sitting under your pretty little Christmas tree? If so, please tell me your secrets...I can't handle another year of this. It makes me want to cry.

Wish List (hint, hint)

I like to think of myself as a very generous person. I love giving gifts, and I always pick up something sweet for Arsen, Grayson or Addie whenever I'm out shopping. But as much as I love giving them, I sure do looooove getting gifts, too!

The bad thing is, I'm slightly picky. I usually write out a list and give it to Arsen and my mom, since they buy the majority of my gifts. That way they know exactly what I want, but they still get to go buy it and wrap it up for me. Opening gifts, even if I know what's inside, is seriously one of my greatest joys in life.

Last year I came up with the idea of creating a wish list on Pinterest, that way they would have an easy link straight to each item that I wanted. So I'm back at it again, even though I realize no one will even be thinking about me at all this year, and Grayson will be receiving approximately a billion gifts. Oh well, a girl can dream, right?! So I thought I would share a few of my top picks with you guys today.

Forever21 Cozy Southwestern Pattern Cardigan

World Market Leopard Faux Fur Throw

Aldo Klarysa Boots

Anthropologie Giraffe Trinket Dish

Stella&Dot Union Square Scarf

Anthropologie Mesa Weekender

Old Navy Fair Isle Sweater Scarf

Anthropologie Luminous Dots Pillow

Stella&Dot On The Mark Necklace

If only I had all the money in the world to buy myself all of these things...sigh. I know it's super materialistic, but it's fun to fantasize a little, yeah?

So tell me, what's on your holiday wish list? Is there something insanely cool out there that I just don't know about? There's a good chance, since I'm getting old and I'm outta the loop these days. So fill me in!

A Few Fab Finds

Happy happy Friday people! Is it just me or was this week crazy? My poor little body and mind are so confused about what day it is. I feel like it's Tuesday, but no! It's actually Friday! Glorious Friday! Pretty exciting stuff. So. Anyhow....

Over my days and days of shopping with my mom last week, I found several super good deals that I want to share (brag about, whatever). I'm a sucker for a good deal, so much so that Arsen thinks I'll just buy anything if it's on sale. Not exactly true, but I do love feeling like I'm getting a bargain.

We went to Marshall's randomly. I'd actually never shopped there before, and I was pleasantly surprised. I found a few things that I was pretty happy about.

I LOVE these sandals, and they were only $14.99. Love.

I couldn't decide which color I liked better in this t-shirt. I'm a big fan of green, but the orange is more neon-looking in reality, which I really liked. For $7.99 I figured I might as well just get both :)

So apparently I'm really into stripes. But I love this tank, it's super light-weight, which is important when it's 8 million degrees outside. Which it will be for the next two months or so here in the great state of Texas. $9.99. Not too bad.

After Marshall's we ventured over to Old Navy. I never used to shop at Old Navy, ever. But in the town that I went to college in, we literally had like five places to shop. Old Navy was one of them. When I was forced to shop there, I learned that they have a lot of great basics for really cheap. So now I'm a fan. I got this cute dress (with more stripes):

These shorts:

And these little headbands:

I spent something like $40-$45 I believe. Not too shabby.

I also got new nail polish at Kroger when we were buying groceries, and I'm obsessed with it. This isn't the best way to showcase nail polish really, because I bite my nails and my hands look like they belong to a 12 year old. I barely have any nails to paint. But you get the gist.

Now, I realize I could greatly improve upon this type of post by modeling my fab finds, but...I just can't. I get super awkward when I have to take photos alone. Like, I don't know where to look or how to hold my hands, and I end up just laughing like an idiot or having a super fake smile. So I'm pretty sure I'll never be one to do "fashion posts". Just the thought of it makes me cringe.

So that's a pretty good haul for somewhere around $100. I don't care how much money we (Arsen) end up making, I will always be that obnoxious person that tells you what a good deal I got on everything I own and will see how far I can stretch whatever amount of money I've got. I think it's charming. Right?

Now that I've inspired you with my great bargain hunting skills (ha), I hope everyone has a super fabulous weekend! I'm SO excited to spend some time with one of my favorite girls and catch up on our exciting married lives. My how things have changed....anyway, have a great weekend friends!!!

Sometimes Husbands Are Helpful

A few days ago I asked Arsen if I could go shopping and buy some things for the house. This was via text message, and his response was "20 Bucks". I text back, "Heh?". As in, "Are you kidding?". He wasn't. Fun hater.

So, I was forced to get creative. I went to TJ Maxx, but couldn't find anything there really. I thought about heading over to Ross, but I was getting a bit discouraged. I was walking to my car to go home, but then I noticed that the dollar store was right next door to TJ Maxx. So I thought, why not?

I went in and started looking around and immediately found these fun, colorful baskets. I've been needing baskets for a few things around the house, but when I go to buy them I can't make myself do it. You can't really find decent baskets for less than $10 or so, and that adds up quick. So these were perfect. I picked up five.

 

As soon as I got home I thought of the perfect spot for one of them. Under our kitchen sink we have a gazillion cleaning products, and they're always a big jumbled mess. So I put one to use.

Much better! I've got plans to use some of the others to organize my craft stuff upstairs. But I feel like that's going to turn into a much bigger project, so I'm putting it off just a bit.

I also got a few other fun things at the good ole' dollar store. Check it out!

I got a bag of candy as well, but didn't really feel the need to take a pic. If I'm being honest, I ripped into the bag the minute I walked in and didn't even think about it until it was too late.....

But for all of the things I got my grand total was a whopping $10.83. Are you kidding me???? If I would have bought all of these things at Target or WalMart, I'd have spent, what, like 30 or 40 bucks? WHY do I not shop here more often?

So the moral of the story is my husband being greedy (smart, whatever) with our money turned into a super successful shopping trip and a lesson in shopping smarter. So thanks Arsen, ya did good.