The Cheap Diva

Put Bling to Work for You with Z Gallerie

Take your desk from dull to dazzling by introducing a bit of bling from zgallerie.com into the style mix.  Sparkle and shine in small doses can enliven a room just enough to keep things interesting.

Paperwork just got glamorous thanks to these Crystal Diamond Paperweightson sale for $9.99.  These super sized diamonds would look equally attractive adorning a desk as well as a bookcase shelf.

Glamour portraits (I'm thinking of prom shots or wedding photos in particular) deserve a fabulous frame like these Ratanya Frames on sale for $11.99-13.99.  The wide frame and scattering of gemstones complement eye catching color photos, but the frames might upstage black and white photos.

Ripping mail open with your hands tends to ruin both the envelope and your manicure.  Open  junk mail the elegant way with this Marquis Letter Opener for $14.95.   

Beat the Cold with Hot Styles from Bed Bath and Beyond

Cold weather home accessories include everything from tacky afgans to stuffed snowman draft dodgers for doors.  In spite of the abundance of abominable home accessories, your sense of style doesn't have to go into a deep freeze during winter.  During a (virtual) shopping trip to Bed Bath and Beyond I discovered that even the most utilitarian winter products can warm your home with style.

No fireplace?  No problem.  This Fireplace Cast Iron Log Holder for $79.99 would look just as chic cradling rolled up blankets/throws, or magazines.

When I think of space heaters I automatically think of cheap looking boxy units that justify their ugly presence by preventing me from freezing my assets off.  Naturally I was suprised by the contempory style of this streamlined DeLonghi HHP 1500 Mica Space Heater for $89.99.  This is one space heater that I wouldn't be embarrassed to park in the middle of my living room.

 

For a super cheap way to keep your home warmer try this attractive Door Draft Dodger for $14.99.  It blends in with just about any style of home decor.  On a more practical note, the surface is washable so you can prevent your draft dodger from getting too dingy.

Holiday Decor from Bed Bath and Beyond

Yankee Candle always offers a holiday themed gift set, but this is the first time I have seen holiday scents available as reed diffusers.  These Yankee Candle Holiday Scent Reed diffusers in Decorative bottles for $19.99 a piece provide the same wonderful scents as their candles.

If you are busy, pressed for time or just plain lazy, try this 48" Pre-Lit Christmas Tree adorned with 20 ornaments and a tree skirt all for just $19.99.  Top it off with an angel or star, throw on a few ornaments of your own and suddenly it looks like you spent a lot more time holiday decorating than you really did.  

This set of 3 Snowflake Stocking Holders for $19.99 hold their own as a very versatile piece of holiday decor.  Yes they can hold stockings, but they could also be used to hang small framed holiday photos if you attach a ribbon to the back of the frames.  Or you could hang large ornaments or a small wreath from the Snowflake holders.  Feel free to mix things up and get creative with your holiday decor.

Decorating Webisodes show You How to Deck the Halls

Halls, the upscale department store known for it's spectacular holiday decorating displays is sharing some of their style secrets in a series of short webisodes called What the Chic.  I found the decorating episodes to be more memorable and useful than the short fashion webisodes, but since every webisode is 90 seconds or less it wouldn't be a big time commitment to watch all of them.  The Christmas Trees and Tablescapes webisodes were definitely worth watching.  The host of the webisodes tells corny jokes and sometimes comes across as trying to hard, but the webisodes are so short that by the time he started getting on my nerves the segment was over.

Cool Snowflake Designs Enhance Holiday Decor

Snowflake designs fall somehwhere between jolly red nosed Santa's that look like they may have been drinking too much egg nog and super formal holiday decorations that scream "look but don't touch!"  The snowflake designs from Crate & Barrel aren't as cutesy as Santa Clause or as serious as more opulent decor. 

If you are reluctant to use this stylish Snowflake Embroidered Blue Dish Towel for $4.95 to dry dishes, you could always buy several of them to use as placemats instead.

Tis the season to forget about strict diets.  A tin of  these Snowflake Pretzels for $19.95  are the perfect party snack for holiday gatherings.  The coating is described as a "creamy white confection" on the Crate & Barrel web site which I suspect is another way saying they are coated in pure sugar.  Yum!

When the snowflakes start to fall outside, warm up your home decor with a Snowflake Hurricane/Candleholder for $8.95 to $24.95.  The holders are not sold with candles which is kind of nice.  When you buy your own pillar candles you can choose unscented candles or a scented candle with a holiday theme, like peppermint.

Stay on Target while Decorating for the Holiday Season

Holiday decorating is tricky.  Sure you want to get into the spirit of the season, but you have to get past a lot of tacky tinsel and unconvincing plastic evergreen trim to find decor worth displaying in your home.  Fortunately for you, I have been shopping at Target where I found decorations that are both stylish and in the spirit of the season.

This mirrored Mosaic Tree comes in three sizes ranging in price from $9.99 to $14.99.  The small mirrored pieces embedded in a white cone is about as streamlined and glamourous as a tree can get.

This white and gold Santa in Sleigh for $80.99 isn't what I would call cheap, but it sure is a lot more tasteful than the cheap plastic santas that pop up like weeds this time of year.

Normally the sight of an empty food platter is a bit depressing, but this Christmas Holly Divided Platter for $14.99 with the words "Celebrate", "Rejoice" and "Be Merry" printed on the bottom gives guests a reason to smile even when the dip is running out. 

Be Thankful for Stylish Table Accents

This Thanksgiving one of the things I am most thankful for is the wide selection of Thanksgiving decor that doesn't feature a turkey on it.  Traditional Thanksgiving designs are still available, but there are also plenty of holiday appropriate tableware piece that reflect more contemporary tastes.

Crate and Barrel Mathilda Coasters $12.95

Low carb diet be damned, it's just not Thanksgiving without mashed potatoes and gravy.  Treat your tasty gravy with the respect it deserves by serving it in a decent gravy boat.  I'm not sure how the Apilco Opera Porcelain Gravy Boat for $23.99-$35.99 got its name.  Maybe because the elegant curves and creamy white color work in harmony with everything from traditional to contemporary tableware. 

The traditional Thanksgiving color palette of deep reds, muted golds and deep pumpkin spice can start to look a bit somber after a while.  To make Thanksgiving even more festive, try mixing things up with Fiesta Square Dinnerware from $7.99 to $40.00.  The mix and match pieces include brighter versions of traditional Thanksgiving colors, such as sunny yellow, delicious orange and hotter than hot jalapenos red. 

Bar Ware at Bargain Prices

Entertaining at home is more intimate than gathering at some noisy bar and you get more for your money by entertaining at home.  The cost of alcoholic drinks at restaurants is ridiculous.  For the price of a couple of drinks I could buy an entire bottle of decent wine.   One money savvy hostess I know saves money on beverages by having a wine tasting party where the all the guests each bring a bottle of wine to share.  The hostess supplies the appetizers and the ambiance while the guests supply the most expensive part of the party, the wine.

To make your next cocktail gathering feel posh without paying a high price, check out these festive offerings from zgallerie.com like these chic and practical Faux Croc Bar Tables for $149.95 a piece.

If you can't afford fine wine at least you can dazzle your guests with your style.  Even the cheapest bottle of booze will take on an air of elegance when topped off with the unstoppable glamour of these diamond shaped bar accessories Crystal Bottle Stopper for $16.95.   

When it comes to glassware what I really want is something that has the look of a limited edition fancy high end glassware but at mass production assembly line prices.  Is that too much to ask?  Apparently not.  The silver interior and intricate design of these Puccini Glassware -Peacock $51.80 for a set of 4  create the illusion that they are a lot more rare and expensive than they really are.

Desire to Inspire Blog Review

 So many lifestyle blogs are focused on things I don't care about (celebrities) and things that are irrelevant (high priced fashions that only look good on supermodels) that there are very few blogs I bother reading.  I am happy to add the home decor blog   http://desiretoinspire.blogspot.com/ to my short list of blogs worth reading.  Home decor blogs tend to always be a little too something.  Professional design blogs can show rooms that are a  little too slick and impersonal.  Amateur blogs that encourage their readers to submit photos of their space make me want to run out an hire a professional interior designer so I won't end up with the kinds of clueless cheap and amateurish looks that I see on the amateur blogs.  Desiretoinspire.blogspot.com has just enough professionally designed interiors to offer us non professionals real lessons in style.  On the other hand this blog also features more personal posts like pets on furniture which allows readers to submit pictures of their favorite furry friends sitting on their favorite piece of furniture.  Like any style blog or magazine it's all about inspiration, not literally copying the ideas you see.  For example, displaying plates like in this picture could be accomplished with fewer plates, or more colorful plates against a butter yellow wall near a kitchen area.  Check out Desire to Inspire and see what inspires you.

Home Decor Goes Beyond Halloween

Halloween is sneaking up on us like a zombie and the selecion of cheap tacky Halloween related decor is just plain scary.  At a time when money is tighter than a black cat costume, the smart decorating choice is to invest in pieces that lend themselves to the Halloween theme without looking outdated the day after Halloween.

I can see this elegant Midnight Candelabra for $29.95 taking on a spooky air when adorned with fake spiders and blood red candles.  For a more sophisticated less spooky look, imitate this picture by using silver candles.  A black candelabra looks spooky on a red tablecloth, deluxe on a rich emerald colored tablecloth and bold on a black and white print tablecloth.

Pumpkin themed decor can easily serve as decor throughout the Fall, just as long as it's not a grinning jack o lantern.  Unlike a bright orange pumpkin, this white 3 oz. Pumkin Shaped Candle for $12.50 blends in with any decor.  Once the candle has been burned down, the chic little container can be used to keep your candy stash handy.

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Rich ruby red table lines like this Martha Stewart Collection Classical Holiday Damask Collection from $6.99 to $49.99 can enhance different moods depending on what they are paired with.  Topped off with a black candelabra (like the one pictured at the top of this post) or a bunch of black dishes creates a sinister effect.  Top off a red tablecloth with white dishes and gold accents, like a gold vase, chargers to go under plates, or a gold trimmed centerpiece such as a mini sleigh worthy of Santa, and the mood reflects a different holiday altogether.

Wall to Wall Style from Bed Bath & Beyond

I was suprised when I first heard a decorator say that you shouldn't decorate your family entertaining/media room with a bunch of family photos, but they do have a point.  An entertaining area should have the kinds of props that act as an open invitation to anyone who enters the room.  Entertaining related decorating accents that reflect your passions, such as album covers from your favorite band, give the room a playful vibe while pictures of cute smiling toddlers turn the room into a sentimental journey. 

Record Album Collectors Frame $29.99

I can see this Wine Enthusiasts Cork Board Kit for $39.99 in either an entertainment room or an elegant kitchen.  What makes this wall decor so personal is that it's a do it yourself kit that allows you to display your collection of corks from your favorite wines.  The kit comes complete with frame and glue.

 

To create a distinctly more grown up attitude to your entertaining area, try wall art a bit more on the sexy side.  This Martini Girls Mermaid canvas Wall Art for $39.99 lends a bit of old fashioned pin up glamour to your bar/entertaining area.

Warm up to Organic Living Candle Jars

Thanks to Organic Living Candle Jars you can fill your home with the scent of  Halloween candy corn long before trick or treaters start hoarding real candy.  Their long lasting soy based Candy Corn candle for $7.99 provides about 18 hours of the sweet scent. 

The Organic Living Candle Jars come in a variety of scents, but with Halloween just around the corner it's more fun to have your house smelling like candy corn than an ocean mist or driftwood and sand.  On the other hand their birthday scented candle might put me in a cake and ice cream frame of mind but minus all those annoying calories.

Learn the Art of Saving at Z Gallerie

Enhancing your home decor with a little bling just got a little cheaper thank to Z Galleries' 20% Sale.  Home decor accessories regularly priced at $20.00 or more are now 20% off.   Z Gallerie always has a nice selection of shiny jeweled unapologetically glamourous home decor accents no matter what the current design trends are.  For a more subtle look, their stylish selection also includes plenty of pieces that don't look like they popped out of a jewelry box.   

Tierra Tray $29.95

 I'm not a big fan of expensive candles that eventually leave you with nothing to show for your money but a burnt wick after being lit.  After enjoying hours of the suble sophisticated scent of this soy based candle in this  Glass Icon Chandelier Candle for $24.95 what you are left with is an attractive decorative glass that can be used as a pencil holder or small vase after the wax is removed.  Collect enough of them and eventually you could use the empty glasses as a set of elegant drinking glasses.    

Instead of buying some bland boring jewelry box, why not buy one adorned with dazzling gems?  This Jeweled Jewelry Box for $29.95 reveals your glamourous side even when your own jewelry is hidden away inside.  Real or fake, diamonds really are a glamour girl's best friend. 

Ava Living offers Personalized Decorating Advice for Free

Wouldn't it be nice if you could get free personalized decorating advice from an interior design professional who tailored their suggestions to your style, your personal space, and your needs?   At avaliving.com you can enjoy the benefits of hiring a personal decorator without the high cost.  In addition to decorating articles, avaliving.com has has a free service called Designer Room Reviews where you can submit pictures of different rooms of your home and get feedback from a professional designer about what is working about the room.  The designer also makes suggestions about paint color, furniture arrangement or anything else that would enhance that room.  It's like hiring an interior designer over the internet and never getting a bill!

Unlike glossy design magazines and slick web sites, the rooms featured in the Designer Room Reviews don't look like they came out of luxury mansions or historic homes.  They look like the types of rooms that real people with real life budgets actually live in.

Home Decor that isn't Hampered by High Prices

Recycling may make the world a more beautiful place, but it's wreaking havok on my kitchen decor.  Because of the small, almost microscopic size of my kitchen and lack of garage, I collect recyclable plastic containers in large garbage sacks that sits on the kitchen floor in plain sight.   I came across a solution to this home decor dilemma while reading an  article which suggested storing recyclables in attractive baskets that enhance the home decor.  An attractive clothes hamper from Bed Bath & Beyond with a lid offers discreet storage for containters waiting to be recycled or dirty laundry of course.  

At $79.99 this Faux Leather Hamper isn't exactly cheap.  Luckily it comes from Bed Bath and Beyond which frequently sends out 20% off coupons to customers who sign up for their mailing list.

This elegantly designed Arched Mahogany Hamper for $79.99 includes a removable laundry bag for convenience.  This handsome piece almost looks too tasteful to be storing cheap plastics or dirty laundry, but of course looks can be deceiving.

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Yes I did manage to find an attractive hamper for under $60.00 and here it is.  The removable lining of this Lamont Carved Willow Hamper for $39.99 provides the perfect background for the floral design carved into the front of the hamper.  It's design touches like this that prove that the humble hamper can make a style statement. 

Candle Holders are Clearly a Style Statement

Instead of lighting your home with heavy looking dark wood or wrought iron candlesticks, lighten up with crystal clear home accents from zgallerie.com.

Lighten the mood, literally with this Bijou Tealight Holder for $19.95.  The mirrored glass sides of the holder support a clear glass shelf that supports five tea lights and the glass crystals which dangle below.  The crystals, which look like they could have come right off an elegant chandelier, provide a nice contrast to the streamlined look of the rest of the piece.

The sections of these Cristallo Pillar Candle Holders, starting at $37.95, faceted like gem stones, make it clear that a candlestick can be simple and simply fabulous at the same time.  The faceted wider sections on the stem of the candlestick add enough visual interest to keep things interesting while still keeping the design versatile.

Sometimes glamour comes in small packages.  No  matter how tight you are on space, you can easily make room for this 7" Chandelier Tealight for $12.95.  This mini chandelier could easily fit into a corner, or any other space that won't accomodate a full size chandelier. 

McMansions On Parade

Years of enjoying the free open to the public semi annual home tours sponsored by local home builders has made me something of a free home tour connoisseur. The interiors of the more deluxe homes designed by professional interior designers provide plenty of design inspiration. Looking at too many luxury homes in a row causes all the homes to blend into one overwhelming faux Italian villa/overstuffed couch/beige wall/walk in closet McMansion blur so I limit the number of homes I tour in one day. By selecting about 7 of the most expensive furnished homes listed to tour I come away feeling inspired, not exhausted.

A brochure for the free tour of homes complete with an extremely vague and misleading map, usually appears in the Sunday paper shortly before the tours starts. I always make a point of printing out pages from the home tour web site that include detailed directions to the various houses. Years where I relied solely on the brochure map I ended up lost, cruising aimlessly through expensive subdivisions. The residents of these upscale subdivisions looked at me in my outdated economy car with the suspicious gaze of someone who thought I was casing the neighborhood for a house to steal something other than decorating ideas.

Wear cheap slip on shoes since you may have to take them off at the entrance to each house. Now that you have entered the McMansion of you dreams, stop dreaming and start taking notes. These houses were decorated by professional interior designers. Carry a camera and little notebook to jot down ideas or do a rough sketch. Just don’t get too snap happy with the camera. Cameras are not always allowed in some of the more expensive homes.

Some of the grander homes will actually make you feel better about you own home. I have seen bathrooms in million dollar homes smaller than the bathroom in the one bedroom apartment I was living in, endless sets of stair to all the various floors that provide a more strenuous workout than a marathon, bedrooms the size of walk in closets, and back yards so small the view was dominated by the neighbors air conditioning unit 10 feet away. It‘s comforting to tour these huge homes and realize that living large doesn’t always mean living better.

Drink a Toast to the Environment with Green Glass Glassware

Thanks to Greenglass.com empty bottles that would have ended up in landfills are showing up on dining tables instead.  The Green Glass Company takes empty glass beer and soda bottles and recycles them into drinking glasses, vases, and votive holders.

Capture the feeling of a lazy summer day with this Mist Tumbler/Clear set of 4 for $40.00.  The nature inspired design is sandblasted into the glass so, unlike painted on graphics, you don't have to worry about the design rubbing off.

You're not the only one who appreciates a refreshing drink now and then.  Thirsty bouquets thrive in this Vase/Cobalt Spring for $37.50.   By turning a bottle upside down and  removing the bottom, the designers have created a vase that looks more like functional art than a beer bottle.

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For the record The Green Glass Company has products in colors besides blue, but it's hard to resist cool colored glassware like this Goblet/Royal Clear/ Honu sold in a set of 4 for $65.00.  Blue glassware lends the feeling of a cool summer breeze, or in this case, a refreshing dip in the ocean.   

Take a Memo in Style

Having limited space to contain what seems like an unlimited amount of stuff is such a common style challenge that designers are forever coming up with stylishly clever storage solutions.  This Display-It Storage Mirror for $599.oo from Pottery Barn rotates 360 degrees so you can easily pin new pictures on the memo board, stow your stuff on one of the shelves or admire yourself in the full length mirror.  Granted the price istn't exactly cheap, but sooner or later it's bound to go on sale.

Even the most mundane memo takes on an air of elegance when attached to this White and Black Memo Board Frame for $24.99.  It's impossible to spot in this picture, but their are two pockets at the bottom of the board for storing your less that picturesque odds and ends.

With this multitasking Memo Wall Clock for $39.99 you can post notes of your appointments and know at a glance if you are running on time.  If you prefer a clock with actual numbers you can always attach a memo with the number 12, 3, 6, and 9 in the appropriate places.  That way you will never have to write a memo to yourself to buy a clock you can actually read!

Gilt by Association

While taking an interior design class I learned about the art of illusion. How to make budget friendly furnishings look rich was one of the most valuable lessons I learned.

Cog Double Glass Mantle Clock $59.95

The instructor, who was a professional interior designer, shared her secret to creating an upscale look by the clever way she displayed her clocks. She displayed a collection of bargain priced clocks all on the same wall with one rare and expensive clock placed in the center of the group. Her guests never suspected the collection was full of budget friendly pieces purchased though mass retailers. Anyone who visited her home just assumed all of the clocks were valuable, because that one valuable clock lent an air of importance and elegance to the other clocks. I call this affluent by association. If you display one high quality valuable item amid a bunch of cheaper similar items, it gives the impression that the cheaper items are valuable as well.

The whole affluent by association opens up a world of possibilities. Instead of limiting you display of collectibles to eye candy meant to be touched and not used, why not display stuff you actually use like it was a valuable collectible? Some well designed oven friendly and microwave safe baking dishes or refrigerator ready pitchers are as posh as they are practical. These commonly available dishes could easily be mistaken for the kind of vintage dishes collectors snap up at antique stores. A china cabinet filled with elegant dishes designed for everyday use mixed in with actual collectible dishes similar in style, strongly implies that everything in the cabinet is a valuable collectible. The closer in style the collectibles are to the everyday dishes, the stronger this illusion is.

Framing an ordinary object by placing it in or on something exquisite elevates the look of that object. A cheap pillar candle resting on top of a beautiful candlestick does not look cheap, it looks like the perfect complement to it’s holder. Artsy postcards picked up at a museum shop for a few bucks looks like a million bucks when placed inside elegant matted frames then arranged on a wall or table in a stylish manner.

A simple monogram added to plush bath towels or a nice bed throw adds a nice personal touch as well as a touch of class to your decor. A plain bed throw looks like an ordinary blanket until you add a monogram and place the throw across the bottom of the bed neatly folded on top of the bedspread with the monogram displayed for a five star hotel effect. Monogramming isn’t always cheap. Wait for great deals on the towels and bed throws so you can splurge on a fine monogramming job done by a local embroidery company.

You don’t have to be rich to decorate rich. By including enough well chosen upscale touches throughout your home you can easily create the feeling of living in luxury every day.

At Crate and Barrel the Accent is On Style

If you love style but you are on a budget chances are you will get bored with your decor long before you have the cash to completely redecorate.  Home accents, like rugs and pillow, offer an affordable way to update a space that could use a little freshening up.  Crate and Barrel offers the kind of home accents that add some real personality to a space. 

The exotic pattern of this Yasmine Rug $79.95-$699.00 offer a bountiful bouquet of beautiful colors to brighten your home.  On a more practical note, the dark brown background is great for hiding stains!

Yes it is possible to capture the nautical spirit without going overboard with seashells and boat motifs.  The crisp stripes in sand and vivid blues of the Zachary Pillow for $24.95 evokes the look you would expect to find on a luxury yacht.  Cruise into summer with style by pairing the pillow with white or sand colored stain resistant cushions on a couch or chair.   

When I think of pattern I often think of striped or floral patterns like the ones pictured here.  It's easy to forget that patterns comes in many forms, like the herringbone weave pattern of this Seluma Magazine Basket for $29.95.  The advantage of creating visual interest with a neutral colored accent that with an interesting texture is that it's easier to coordinate with other pieces in the room since clashing colors and patterns is less of an issue.  On other words, if covering your floor in an exotic floral design is a bit bolder than you're comfortable with, texture is a virtually foolproof way to introduce pattern into a room. 

Putting the Home in Home Office

The wonderful thing about a home office is that you can literally make yourself at home and create a working environment that is tailored to your personal needs. Sometimes space limitations may require you to combine your working space with some other type of living space. When a home office is part of a bedroom or living room, it’s essential to integrate the home office trappings into the décor in a way that doesn’t look like you have an office cubicle parked in your living room.

Spotlight Credenza $549.oo

A stylish home office typically revolves around a stylish desk. The bigger and bulkier the desk the harder it is to integrate into the home décor. For my current home office I accidentally bought a console with two drawers instead of a traditional desk. A console is narrower than a desk and often used in areas like hallways. This mistake turned out to be a happy accident because my home office is located in a bedroom and the narrow console blends in with the furnishings much better than a wider desk would have.

It’s not necessary to buy a desk with huge drawers large enough to fit piles of business related files. Buying cabinets and other containers to hold files allows for more flexibility in how you arrange your furniture in a room. Some file cabinets are designed to look like dressers to blend into the home environment more easily. To keep smaller sets of files close at hand without a filing cabinet, you can buy a stylish tote bag specifically designed to hold files. Or you can simply run out and buy a roomy tote bag and insert a file holder inside the bag.

No matter how stylish the furnishings, between printers, computers and office supplies, it’s difficult to disguise the home office aspect of a room completely. What you can is downplay the office vibe by coordinating pieces in a way that reads harmonious home décor not hard working home office.

In my home office/bedroom the black console that I use for a desk sits in between a black cabinet with mirrors on the front doors, and another cabinet that is completely covered with mirrors. The silver pulls on the drawer of the console subtly tie in the mirrors while the black framed memo board hanging above the console, the wall clock with the black and silver frame and the black paper tray sitting on the console create a coordinated harmonious look. In the corner of the room I have a rocking chair with a silver chrome frame and black vinyl cushions. The end table next to the bed and the cabinet at the end are also all black. The black furnishings work because the walls, carpeting and other furnishings in the room are lighter in color which prevents it from feeling like a cave.

One of the cheapest ways to make your home office feel more homey is to reduce the amount of paperwork sitting around. There have been moments where it looked like I collected papers as a hobby because I had so many piles of them sitting around. Once I started going through papers and organizing them into files or throwing them out I found it not only improved the look of the room it improved my productivity as well. It’s easier to find what I need when I don‘t have to move mountains of papers to find it.

Wall Shelves that Reflect Your Style

By displaying your odds and ends like they were valuable works of art, you can transform your clutter into a style statement.  Wall shelves by Speigel are a clutter lovers best friend.

I can easily see this Mirror with Shelf for $79.00 doing double duty in an entry hall.  It's perfect for checking out your appearace before heading out the door and a place to drop your keys (preferably into a stylish bowl) when you come back.

Hang these Reversible Mirored Shelves for $29.00 a piece with the shelf part toward the bottom or towards the top, depending on how you want to display your stuff.  The way the shelves are hung in this picture creates visual interest by having them located diagonally from each other and having one shelf at the top of the mirror and one at the bottom. 
The arrangement of the shelves is actually more interesting than the rather boring objects they are holding.

The Short Mirrored Ledge for $29.00 not only shows off your decorative accents, it could easily stand alone as a decorative accent by itself.  I can easily envision a set of lovely family photographs in stylish silver frames resting on one or more of these shelves.  I can just as easily envision my bank account dwindling as my wall decor improves, so I'm afraid Spiegel is going to have to wait a while (like until my income doubles) before I do any major decorating makeovers. 

Enjoy a Cheaper Cocktail Hour Thanks to Crate and Barrel

If it wasn't for limited funds and limited kitchen cabinet space, I would have collected enough cocktail glasses to supply a small restaurant.  For me a well designed cocktail glass is a thing of beauty that elevates everything from fine wine to Kool Aid into an elegant drinking experience. 

The more social drinkers you have to accomodate the cheaper the glasses.  At $11.95 a piece, these Marcel Wine Glasses might be more appropriate for a romantic dinner for two than a party.    

Different types of glasses are designed to enhance  flavors in different ways.  Since anyone who is not a bartender or Martha Stewart never actually keeps track of which glass goes with which drink, you can easily get away with serving almost anything in these lovely Groove Cocktail Glasses for 95 cents a piece.  At about a buck a glass, these glasses are perfect for larger gatherings.

With the Jive Cocktail Glass, shape and texture are used to dramatic effect that packs quite a style punch for glasses that sells at $2.50 a piece.  So the next time you have a get together, drink a toast to Crate and Barrel for providing you with nice looking glassware at a very nice price. 

Don't Lose Sleep Over the Cost of a New Mattress

Normally it's pressing issues like who is going to be the next American Idol and where I can find a pair of shorts that won't make my but look huge that keep me awake at night, but lately the source of my insomnia has been my mattress.  A spring has poked its way through the mattress padding forming a hole and making its presence felt every time I try to sleep. 

I have been putting off mattress shopping because I don't want to spend a lot, but thanks to Memorial Day sales, I can afford a new mattress and have enough money left over for new sheets as well.  One store I looked at had mattresses on sale for $100.00 less than their regular price.  I plan on hitting another store or two to compare prices and get a feel for how much I should expect to pay for regular beauty sleep.  

From the mattress shopping I have done so far I can tell that the cheapest mattresses aren't always the best deal.  One mattress store I looked at charged extra for shipping and the mattress frame when you bought the cheaper mattress.  With the slightly more expensive mattresses they threw in the shipping and bed frame for free.  After adding in the shipping and bed frame the cheap mattress turned out to be about as expensive as the higher priced mattress.

When shopping for mattresses it's a good idea to lie on the bed for at least 10 minutes and lie in the positions, such as on your side, that you normally sleep in.  As a courtesy it's a good idea to wear slip on shoes since mattress coverings are white and the mattress salespeople would probably like to keep it that way.  Mattress salespeople also tend to frown on you jumping up and down on the mattress to test it's firmness.  Don't ask me how I know this.

  

Decorate Your Nest with Bird Themed Decor

Some people think interior decorating is for the birds.  Those people are right on trend.  Many people are spending more time than ever at home and some designers are taking the whole nesting trend quite literally, using leaves and birds as a design motif.  I for one am delighted to see a summer decorating theme that doesn't involve sea shells and sand. 

It's easy to feather your nest without breaking the bank with these bird themed pieces from Cost Plus World Market like these Metal Wall Hooks for $18.99 a piece for example.

 These Patterned Wood Vases for $29.99 a piece reflect the beauty of nature both in their use of natural materials and in the striking silhouette gracing the front of the vase.  These vases are not waterproof so if you simply must fill them with something try dried branches.

Toss pillows are one of the quickest and easiest ways to update the decor.  When perched on a neutral background, these Towel Stitch Avian Theme Toss Pillows for $19.99 a piece brighten up even the most boring seating areas.

HGTV Design Web Site Eliminates the Need for Cable

On a recent vacation I loved the fact that the TV in my room had cable and I could watch the Home and Garden channel (HGTV).  I loved the makeover shows on HGTV so much may have spent as much time watching HGTV in my room as I did sightseeing in the city I was visiting.  If I wasn't too cheap to pay for cable TV it would be easy for me to become addicted to HGTV. 

Thanks to the internet, I can get my makeover fix without having to pay for cable.  HGTV.com has pictures from my favorites shows, like Divine Design and Ask Genevieve,  as well as brief video clips of their shows.  In under 5 minutes the video clips talk about the design challenge, shows you the before picture and then the after picture with an explanation from the designer as to how they solved the problem.  I am perfectly satisfied with these short video clips because all I really want is to see how so so rooms are transformed into super stylish rooms.  For tons of free design inspiration, check out HGTV.com today. 

If You Love Magazines You'll Love Uma

I subscribe to so many home decorating magazines that if you walked into my home and spotted my magazines you might think an aspiring interior designer lived there.  Nope,  my decorating talents are confined to decorating my own place.  Naturally I want my magazine storage to be just as stylish as the magazines themselves.  Luckily I found some seriously stylish stuff at iloveuma.com.  If you count the top and the triangular space in the middle, this Mimosa Side Table for $119.00 offers four, count em, four places to rest your glossy magazines!

In this Magtable Coffee Table for $178.00 magazines hang down from slots leaving the surface of the table free for you to kick back and put your feet up or plop a few easily moved serving trays filled with whatever pleases the eye.

The Ringo Magazine Holder for $40.00 is perfect for tight spaces and small areas where a big magazine rack would fit.  The minimalist style of the rack almost disappears and lets the magazines take center stage.

The Container Store Makes Organizing Easy

At containerstore.com they have enough organizing merchandise to satisfy even the most disorganized person.  Some of their most useful organizers are the more revealing organizers that allow you to indentify your stuff at a glance. 

These Drop Front Shoe Boxes for $5.99 and $7.99 open at the front of the box instead of the top.  Being able to open it from the front means you won't have to unstack a bunch of shoe boxes to get to the pair of shoes you want which will inevitably be on the bottom of the stack.

Even when you aren't strutting around in your most fabulous jewelry, you can still show off your favorite pieces with the Mosaic Box for $39.99.  The dividers in the removable tray prevent your jewely from rubbing up against each other and possibly scratching each other.  The clear lid allows you to see your jewelry without exposing it to dust or curious pets looking for a new chew toy.

The storage area in my small bathroom consists of one standard medicine cabinet on the wall, a little, and I do mean little, counter space around the sink and the space under the sink which is enclosed by the bathroom cabinet.  You will notice I didn't mention anything about the cabinet area under the sink having any drawers.  If you are in a similar predicament, consider this Acrylic Vanity Tote for $19.99 as a simple solution for keeping your stuff easily accessible when you need it and easy to stow away under the sink when you don't.

Buy One get One Half Off Deal at New York and Company

There may be countless apparel web sites on the web, but when it comes to wearable, affordable and stylish clothes, there are only a handfull of web sites that consistently deliver the goods.  New York and Company definitely makes my top 5 list of women's clothing retailers worth checking out on a regular basis. 

Right now New York and Company is having a Buy One get One Half Off deal that includes EVERYTHING they sell.  In other words you could buy the City Style Zebra Print Tunic for $39.95 and then buy the coordinating City Style Bermuda Shorts at half off of their regular $26.95 price.   

The brim of a summer hat should be wide enough to shade your face but not so wide it looks like you are wearing an umbrella.  Even  women who don't normally wear hats will find the proportions on this City Style Floppy Straw Hat for $14.95  flattering and easy to wear.  The cutouts and beaded tie add some pizazz and distinguish it from the more basic boring straw hats out there.

The practical advantage of this City Style Colorblock Satchel for $34.95 it that with the light to dark range of colors allows the bag to transition easily from warm to cooler weather looks.  The not so practical advantage of this hand bag is that it allows you to wear horizontal stripes without looking like you gained 20 pounds.