Renting? ... Make the best of what you have :)

So I don't think anybody is really happy with renting. We have been renters for the past 5 years (well more if you include college) and while it hasn't been awful, of course we'd rather own. When you own a home you get to put your stamp on it to reflect your style and personality. If you hate the floors, cabinets, walls, light fixtures you just rip them out and change them. When you rent, even getting a paint job approved is impossible.

So here's to making your house a home....for the time being.

We moved into a new townhome about 2 months ago and there were two areas I really wanted to atleast somewhat decorate right away.

First, the built-in entertainment center aka 'eyesore'. Lots of shelves means lots of pictures and other display items. Luckily I'm more of a pack rat when it comes to home accessories, so the only thing I bought was the 'wallpaper' background to add some interest in tie in all the colors. I'm drawn to a more eclectic style. While this isn't my 'dream bookcase display' (being on a budget and all) I used what I had and as Tim Gunn would say "made it work!"

Second was the upstairs loft. It is a big open space where we would put a play area and an office space. I was inspired by this photo because of the already white walls, the great rug, and the pops of color.

I added just a few items to what I already had. I made a framed ABC poster (but don't look too closely...the Q is missing....oops!), bought the two giant paper clips from TJMaxx and added wall hanging hooks to them, and bought the rug from west elm.

Instead of clogging the space with more bookshelves, I used the ledge at the top of the stairs as one instead.

Other ideas to making a house a home is adding curtains, area rugs, and painting/altering furniture to make it your own.

That's it for now. Have a great day!