When you're cash poor, you can't buy new furniture or hire a decorator.

No Brainer, right?

Who doesn't like new things? I don't love old looking things, but I can't always afford new to buy new stuff even though I want to.

 This blog is like an experimental documentation for me. I will be trying to make the old looking, outdated things we have updated, decorating on the cheap, and personalizing decor to my  and boyfriend's) taste. and showing the projects that flop, as well as the ones that work well.

The first few posts will probably be about painting. I have a storage unit full of old furniture and decor that doesn't really work with the design aesthetic I have in my mind, and the storage unit is a great place to paint, so that's where I'll start.

Ikea PJÄTTERYD zebra canvas gets teal highlights

I love this canvas. I have had it for 5 years because I had to have it when I came across it while wandering around Ikea with my mom. It has not even been hung on the wall before. When I bought it, I was in my red and zebra decor phase. I will find some pictures somewhere.

Found an old picture of my cat Bailey sleeping on my bed in front of the red wall
you can also see the edge of my zebra comforter on the left side.

I miss my sweet old cat. 

I do not miss the red wall. 

Here is Bailey in my red Ikea chair, which is in front of the zebra canvas and to the left of the red clock from my last post.

red chair, zebra canvas, red PS 1995 clock and some mess and cat again. 

I never actually hung the PJÄTTERYD zebra on the wall because my bedroom didn't have any walls that it fit on. it had  sloped ceiling on both sides.


Now that I have moved into a tiny cluttered apartment, it is just sitting in storage unit until we move next month.

I know what my color scheme will be, so I wanted to add something to the black and white zebra. so decided to give it highlights.



Before:

Ikea PS 1995 Custom Color

I had a red and zebra decor phase when I lived with my parents. There was a red accent wall involved. Red accent wall, and the rest of the walls were light grey, and a zebra bedding set. The design concept I envisioned never fully came together. it never really worked and I never actually finished it. My parents moved out of state last year so I moved in to a 2 bedroom apartment with my boyfriend Keith and his friend James. My parents had to sell their house before they moved and obviously they had to paint the walls to make the house appeal to buyers.

 I have to say was actually pretty glad i didn't have to live with red, black, and white accessories anymore. Everything pretty much just went to live in my storage unit for the last 6 months.. This decor phase was a definite improvement on my high school age, SPONGE BOB room. Yep.. I think there are pictures... somewhere. OK, so with the red room came accessories. and during the 2010-2013 time frame that I liked that motif, zebras became extra popular, and so did the color red. (to be fair i liked red and zebra before it became a theme in popular culture, I had been looking for a red and zebra pair of high heels for yearzzzzzz.. since 2008) Ikea. oh I love Ikea. its like walking into a Hip European space ship. I had the old bright red Ikea PS 1995 clock, it is made of metal, is galvanized or something, has doors that open the wrong way, and a shelf inside. The new YELLOW version on the site says it is mostly made out of this, "Steel,

Anti-corrosive phosphate coating, Pigmented epoxy/polyester"

Yellow Ikea PS 1995

 My new color scheme is much more mellow than red and zebra.. and I get to decorate an apartment  that has to accommodate two men too. Currently we have a decorative mixture of movie/video game posters, throw pillows, area rugs and Mountain bikes. we are moving at the end of April though so we will get a bigger space and it will hopefully be easy to make it more cohesive.

 The decor color scheme is going to be more jewel toned.. but mainly teal accents. Teal, mint green, and turquoise shades are my favorite. I also love cerulean blue, that color was always my favorite Crayola marker color. So the Ikea PS 1995 red clock is getting spray painted teal.

I took a picture halfway into sanding it.  I sanded the clock a bit to get the color to stick to it and cleaned the dust off with water and a paper towel... I like my projects to be atleast KIND OF done the right way.