Cost-cutting Country Decor

Since I traveled from my Long Island beachside home to a friend's upstate Farmhouse yesterday, I've decided to continue my budget decor theme, but with a country twist today. The same rules of repurposing and honoring nature apply to any good country-themed home, but if you don't have time to scour yard sales and flea markets, then here's a few ideas:

With great chairs averaging a few hundred bucks a piece, save a little dough by forgoing individual seating on one side of your dining table in favor of a country style bench like this one from Poppy Cottage on Etsy ($450.00).

Follow the DIY journey of this reclaimed wood barndoor-inspired headboard on the Our Vintage Home Love blog, or snatch up an old door from ebay (like the one pictured above) for $150 and simply prop up behind your bed.

These Vintage Metal Parts Bins from NapaStyle come in 4 authentic colors and are $39 each. A similar item would be much cheaper if found at a flea market, but haggle-free, to-your-door vintage decor has its price.

Set of 2 Recycled Magazine Baskets add a colorful, eclectic feel to any country decor ($87.99 at sears.com)

The Shiraleah Woven Wool Throw brings a touch of softness and texture to any country-inspired living room ($138 from Amazon).

A convenient little side table made from recycled oak wine barrels ($151 at Wine Vine Imports, available in several finishes).

Perfectly sized for an entryway, bath or kitchen, this recycled Brown Rag Rug was handmade from recycled cotton (available through Back Porch Country on Etsy for $54).

Cost-Cutting Coastal Decor

Achieving coastal style in your home without breaking the bank or trashing the planet seem to go hand-in-hand to me. A beachside aesthetic is most authentically achieved by combining found objects, secondhand cast-offs and a few new pieces, which is most certainly a budget-friendly mix. And since nautical decorating styles pay homage to the beautiful beaches and oceans that surround us, it only makes sense to chose home decor items that are green enough to honor the great blue. If you don't have the time to scour garage sales or go beach-combing, you can still achieve the look of a seaside retreat with pieces like these:

Sweat-shop free and made from recycled cotton, this throw would add instant nautical style to any plain sofa In2Green Sea Star Eco Friendly Throw ($115 from Wayfair).

Bring the beachy look of rattan to your dining table with this sustainable Bamboo Double Wine Holder from World Market ($9.99).

This would be a great DIY project with an antique bottle and found wire, or order this set, filled with sand and tiny shells, from BeachBumChix on Etsy for $20.

Storage, ottoman and coffee-table in one, this eco-friendly natural seagrass Holbrook Trunk from Pottery Barn is a multi-functional wonder at $299.

A budget-friendly dose of coastal lure: Driftwood Lamp (on sale for $149.99 at Cabella's).

Cover a lot of ground with this eco-friendly Lhasa 8' x 10' Natural Tan and Beige Wool/Jute Area Rug (on sale for $292.39 at Overstock.com)

For hallways, I love the mix of blues and khakis in this Recycled Denim Jute Runner from West Elm ($99).

Kitchen Envy

They say the kitchen is the heart of the home, it is also the room that sees some of the highest return on investment for renovators, and churns out the very sustenance we need to live. That's a lot of pressure for one little old room!!

I'm working with a client right now on Long Island who is trying to achieve her "dream" kitchen on a slightly nightmarish budget, but the results are coming along beautifully and she'll be much closer to the dream than ever as construction wraps up this week. As we ruminated over every countertop, hardware, cabinet and backsplash detail, I couldn't help but fantasize a little further about my own future ideal kitchen (which will undoubtedly be on just such a budget). My cost-cutters will include minimal upper cabinets (if any), salvage yard finds, and reclaimed wood counters that I can abuse to my heart's content. But like my client, I pine for lots of white and farmhouse details. Feast your eyes on a few of my favorite inspiration kitchens:

(from House Beautiful)

(found on www.trendey.com)

(from http://seacottage.blogspot.com)

(from a friend who knows the specs of my dream kitchen and how much I love bread, actual source unknown)

(found on Country Living)

(Elle Decor image from Arcadian Lighting's guest post on The Vintage Wren)

(from Natural Home & Garden, also featured in one of my former posts on reclaimed wood)

(from freshhomeideas.com)

(from Remodelista)

(from the Cortizo Decor blog)

Monday Color: Lemon and Aqua

Today's Monday Color combination draws its inspiration from the summer sun blazing in clear blue skies, which we've been fortunate to see a lot of this season. It is also the palette I'm using in an Upper West Side family room set against clean white walls with abundant light wood tones, so a family of five can revel in that that fresh and carefree summer feeling all year long.

Images above:

1. (Very top) Jersey Shore, capturing bright sunshine, warm sand and aqua skies, from bomobob on Etsy.

2. & 3. (Very top) Benjamin Moore's Yellow Raincoat and Tropicana Cabana.

4. A daring yellow and aqua living room found on The Lennoxx

5. Perfectly balanced doses of both colors energize this dining area.

6. A darling nursery bosting fresh bursts of sunshine and aqua.

7. A coastal-inspired bathroom found on southernhospitalityblog.com.

8. Found on The Tomkat Studio and photographed by Laura Winslow, this vibrant partyscape nails today's color combination.

9. Birch Fabric's organic cotton sateen Bubble Stripe in Fresh (available through Fabric Worm).

10. Sparkle Flies Cotton Flannel Hook Rug (available through Layla & Grace).

11. A Star is Born Mousepad from Zazzle.com.

12. A whimsical oversized resin deer head with yellow antlers from White Faux Taxidermy on Etsy.

13. Land of Nod's Now Clip It, Clip it Good Lamp in Aqua (what a name!!).

14. The Filmore Sofa from Thrive Furniture in Sunny.

15. The leather Rhys Chair from Anthropologie in Caribbean Blue (which will be included in aforementioned family room).

16. Prospect (Color: Lake) from the Thom Felicia collection for Calico Corners.

Round-up: White Organic Cotton Sheets

My last purchase of white organic cotton sheets from Target was a good value, but the quality matched the price. "You get what you pay for" I can just hear my mother saying right now. So, I'm in the market for a new set of pure white organic cotton sheets (which I believe every bed should have!) and here's what I've narrowed it down to:

West Elm's Frayed Edge Organic Cotton Sheet Set ($79 Queen Set, on sale)

Loop Organic's White Pleated 300 TC Organic Cotton Sateen Sheet Set ($196 Queen Set)

I've spent many a restful night on The Company Store's Organic Cotton Jersey Sheets; they truly are like sleeping on your favorite T-shirt. ($58 for Queen Flat and Fitted Sheets, $44/Pair of Standard Cases).

Coyuchi's luxurious 300 TC Organic Cotton Sateen Sheets are a splurge, but well worth it (Currently on sale for $84 for Queen Sheets, $30/Pair of Standard Cases)

And last but not least, the Organic 350 TC Sateen Sheet Set from Pottery Barn ($129 for a Queen Set)

Streets to Walls

A client recently asked me to incorporate graffiti into a space I'm designing and my first reaction was "oh boy, how cheesy." Having befriended a graffiti artist or two in my days - both the anonymous law-breaking sort and the gallery-friendly - and being a huge fan of all street art myself, I truly had mixed feelings proceeding with this idea. Earlier in my design career, I did encourage a client to hire an artist I knew to paint some old chairs and the elevator of his loft and everyone loved the appropriately funky results. Regardless of my personal opinions, integrity remains intact when both artist and client are happy about any commission, such as they were in this 2004 project:

As a friend recently started sketching up what I've dubbed "graffiti-inspired signage" whenever I speak about it in my client meetings, I started to see that the results are actually going to be far from cheesy and now I'm really excited. In honor of this internal shift, I decided to sleuth around for other interior graffiti art that I felt was aesthetically pleasing, despite the inherent oxymoron.

California-based Ilan Dei juxtaposes subdued modern furniture with a surprise graffiti piece inside, as found on his blog.

Definitely not something I could live with for more than one night, graffiti artist Tilt was commissioned to do his thing in one of five rooms in France's Au Vieux Panier Hotel that hires different artists to re-do each room annually.