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12 DIY Reader Bathroom Renovations (Full of Budget-Friendly Tips, DIYS + Real Cost and Timing)

design by sarah gibson

You don’t have to do a gut job and start from scratch to make your bathroom feel new. But per your request and our love for sharing your amazing projects, may I present the next installment of #showEMyourDIY with these rather awesome bathroom renovations – with real information on timing and a lot of cost breakdowns.

Fair warning, a lot of these renovations dealt with a contractor for part of the process. This is because bathrooms are incredibly hard to 100% DIY when it comes to things like plumbing unless you or someone you know has a killer skill set (which some of these had). No one wants to take a chance on having no water or any sort of “flushing issues”, am I right? But fear not because there are some incredible ideas that you can use and do yourself.

Now I know I just said that most of these bathrooms involved paying for some contracted labor but I wanted to start out with this beauty by Rachel and Matt because they DIY’ed their powder room/home 100% themselves. They did have some expert help from their construction dads but youtube how-to videos were key helpers in this enormous undertaking. I mean color all of us impressed with this before and after…

After a complete gut of the main floor (where they reconfigured it to include a mudroom/laundry room, powder room and eventually bigger master bath:)) They had an almost zero budget to design/decorate the powder bath. So the $1,700 Rejuvenation vanity Rachel had her eye on was sadly not going to happen. They had to get creative and think of a really good DIY because she did not want to buy anything she wasn’t going to love. A trip to Lowe’s got them those awesome spindle legs and with leftover wood from their dining room built in made the total price of the vanity $32. Ya, $32. Then the sink was found on an impromptu trip to Ikea where she got it on sale for $50. DEAL. The choice to go monochromatic with the green paint (Pristine Wilderness by Sherwin Williams) was a last minute decision out of creative burnout but she and we love it.

For the other DIY projects, the batten board trim cost around $100 of MDF between the 1X2’s and 1X4’s and the tricky installation of the wallpaper would have cost $75 but ended up being $150 (learning curve tax). The grand total after the space was roughed in and plumbed/electricity installed was $800. It looks incredible and all done with their own two hands.

Second up, we have Coley’s incredibly vintage filled masterpiece…

after image source: left | right

Needless to say, it was a transformation. At first, I was a little confused on the layout from the before photos, so I asked her to go into it a little bit. This is what she said, “It was one large room and yes, it had a big window. We closed the window and added a smaller one over the tub and added walls to create the bathroom layout.”

Coley got crafty with these tiles because she couldn’t find a long skinny tile wasn’t over $30 a square foot. The way she got around that was purchasing 12 x 24” tiles and then having them cut to size. It ended up being $3/sq ft plus $500 in labor to cut and lay tile. WAY more budget-friendly. Then her big DIY was that beautiful clawfoot bathtub (everyone’s actual dream tub?). She found it on Craigslist for $200 then painted the outside and legs. The paint and brushes came to a grand total of $30. It looks awesome and makes that space. Then when you add the vintage dressers, cabinet, lights and mirror (all sourced by her and at amazing prices) it’s a bathroom I would love to relax in for an undetermined amount of hours:)

Now, this renovation from Kelin of Hydrangea Treehouse is a true stunner.

This bathroom is small at only 5′ x 8′. But it was going to be her and her husband’s master bath so she had to play with the layout to make it work for two adults. They ended up moving the toilet to the shower niche, and with the extra space next to the original sink it allowed the room to install a double vanity (a must for them). Then to give themselves a shower they made the tub a shower/tub combo.

According to her, it was a half DIY, half hire-out small bathroom remodel. “I designed the space and hired out a contractor to tackle the big changes such as electrical and plumbing. After their job was done, I installed the wallpaper over a weekend with some help from my husband.”

This renovation took about three weeks for the contractor then an extra weekend where she DIY’ed the wallpaper. Apparently, the wallpaper installation was supposed to be a part of the contactor’s workload but at the end, he didn’t want to deal with it and the curved walls. This sounds a bit crazy, but we think it’s good for people to know that it can happen.. The good news is that it didn’t get Kelin down because like I said she DIY’ed it over a weekend using youtube tutorials and in the end saved a little bit of money. The rough total cost of this renovation was 20k. That is $13,000 in labor and $6,000 in materials. Not cheap but it turned out so beautiful!

Moving along, Leigh gives us another incredible wallpaper story but wait there’s more…

Not that a Pepto Bismol shower isn’t cool in its own right but Leigh had a different vision for the guest bathroom in her new home. So an almost total gut job it was. “We ripped everything out except for two vintage medicine cabinets located on the side walls.” What is extra cool and special about this bathroom is that that awesome vintage bathtub was taken from their master bath and repurposed in here. It’s so important to remember that when you are doing any kind of redesigning (renovation or decor) that simply reusing what you already have in a different room can give it new life. Obviously, not all of us have such cool materials (like a vintage mint green tub) to work with but it’s still good to consider. Plus it’s free and earth-friendly:)

Leigh and her husband used a contractor for everything but installing the toilet (you go guys!), wallpapering and the very cute design. The materials cost about $1,300 and the labor about $4,000 so the total renovation was about $5,300.

FUN BONUS STORY: Leigh was unbelievably sweet in sharing the story of how they got their house. Some of you might remember that when Emily and Brian were buying their house they had A LOT of competition (like higher than asking cash offers). What they decided to do was write a letter to the homeowners pleading their case and making it personal. Lucky for them it worked and Leigh remembers that when they were putting in the offer for this house. “We beat several all-cash offers and I have to thank Emily for her post or we might not have our dream home today.” First off I got chills when I read this and I know it made Emily’s day! So for everyone looking to buy a house don’t forget that while money is definitely very important, people want to sell their homes to people who are going to love and care for them.

Moving on (house buying pun intended), I would hold onto your hats because Sarah of Room for Tuesday has done a bunch of killer bathroom DIYs you are going to love. Below we have two of her awesome bathrooms from two different homes. The before and afters are just too good so get ready.

The bathroom above is from her previous home but the style still obviously holds up:) Sarah and her husband Emmet gutted and installed it all. My personal favorite detail and DIY is the shower valance. It’s such a chic way to up the style of a shower curtain look. The timeline on this renovation was 6 weeks because Sarah was participating in the One Room Challenge which has a strict deadline. So she nailed the deadline and design all for $5,000. So awesome.

Now, this bathroom is a guest bath in their new home. Yep, you heard that right. This beauty isn’t even their main bathroom. It is, however, chock full of great DIYs, and my potential favorite is how they customized their readymade vanity. This bathroom is so pretty, so unique and Emmet MADE that burlwood table. I know. We are all trying to think about how we can get an Emmet of our own now. But jokes (or not:)) aside, this renovation took them about three months and $15K in total cost. While that’s not inexpensive, the scope of the project with the amount of those beautiful materials and moments make this price tag is totally reasonable. Had they not done the labor themselves the number could be double. Moral of the story is that you should absolutely head to Sarah’s blog for all the DIY details.

Next Kristin Dion took her guest bathroom and decided to use it to its full potential.

When Kristin was planning her guest bath remodel she decided that since they never used that tub (like not once in ten years), she would take it out to make room for something actually useful…a washer and dryer. Now the DIY here is the plywood counter and shelf. The space isn’t crazy large so maximizing the space is crucial. Especially when folding laundry is involved. Ideally, she wanted a butcher block counter but at a price tag of $1000, she found cheaper plywood, stained it and voila! It looks awesome and all up only cost $125. Muuuuuch better.

Sarah brings us a breath of fresh and colorful air with some very cool DIYs.

I think we need to start with the shower side because WOW what a change. At first glance, you may think that Sarah replaced the shower and wall tile but look again. Instead of dealing with the intensity and $$$ of tile replacement she used “a Rust-Oleum epoxy kit to paint the shower, tub, and tile that extended throughout the bathroom”. She also switched out the fixtures to make them more modern. Then for the floor tile, she used plain old regular wall paint in a super cute pattern then sealed it with a clear sealer. It made such an insane difference and looks so much happier.

You may also notice in the shower window there is a very cute copper pipe and wood shelving unit that she DIY’d herself. It helped to maximize the space and add style.

Another huge DIY improvement is that faux shiplap treatment and the new vanity. For the shiplap, she took sheets of MDF and then cut them down to her preferred size, painted then installed. The treatment was also a great idea so that any remaining damage from removing the medicine cabinet is easily covered.

Lastly, the same wood used for the shower shelf was used for the long shelf along the back wall and since the medicine cabinet was removed she replaced the sink with a vanity that has storage.

All great, all user-friendly DIYs and landing at a total estimated cost of $1,200. Quite a transformation for that budget!

When Kelly remodeled her bathroom she decided to channel her inner artist.

You may think the walls are covered in wallpaper but look again. Kelly HANDPAINTED that print. This is how she said she did it, “I bought some Dalmatian fabric, and a stencil making kit, and then made a stencil of the dots.  I then bought a tiny little sample pot of paint from home depot and went to work.  I had to constantly wipe the stencil in order to make sure that none of the black paint got on the white wall where it shouldn’t.  I had to start in sections and then go back to fill in the gaps. All in all, it cost me about $20-25 and makes a huge impact.  I love that the brush strokes show in the dots.” The painstaking work paid off and at a crazy affordable price.

Brianne and her husband were another power couple who DIY’ed almost this entire bathroom.

They had a total budget of $5,000. This needed to include a plumber to move the rough-in plumbing to new locations. But since she has an eye for design and closeout deals (which is how she got their shower door, vanity, and the shower faucet system) and her husband is extremely handy there were able to gut and remodel themselves. The open storage next to the shower is great and funnily enough, I recently saw this tile on Pinterest and kinda loved it. Then a couple of days later Brianne sent me her bathroom. Coincidence? I think not. It has a vintage feel, brings in a lot of pattern but isn’t overwhelming.

Tamlyn and her husband decided to buy a home/working farm and boy have they been working…

This wonderful powder bath did not exist when they moved in. So to create it, they “stole space from a poorly laid out bathroom and what was the shower/ tub combo.” Tamlyn has the same belief as Team EHD, powder baths are places to take risks and that is what she did with this cutie. So they installed a glass tile on the floor and a custom walnut paneling. It obviously paid off. Her and probably our favorite part is that awesome working transom window. Now for the brass tax. The estimated total cost of this bathroom was about $8,000 which included a contractor to handle the plumbing. Ready for her next transformation?

This guy is their master bathroom and it’s beautiful. Once again they had a contractor that handled the plumbing and a few other bits. But Tamlyn and her husband worked alongside him, handling tiling, lots of trim carpentry, lighting and electrical and little detail work like changing out door hardware, floating shelving, etc. The total estimated cost of this bathroom was about $15,000. That matte black penny tile looks so awesome.

Now, I don’t know about you, but all I want to do right now is makeover my bathroom ASAP because A. it needs it and B. how could I not be inspired to get on it?? I hope you are feeling the same (maybe even empowered to DIY?) because your bathroom should be the sanctuary you deserve. I think we should all show at least vow to indulge in a bubble bath this weekend (well those of us that have bathtubs). Thank you to everyone that submitted and let us know in the comments what you DIY you want to see next. Happy Friday!

Love you, mean it.

WAIT. If you are looking for more even renovation goodness including posts and shopping options head to the rooms and shop page.

The post 12 DIY Reader Bathroom Renovations (Full of Budget-Friendly Tips, DIYS + Real Cost and Timing) appeared first on Emily Henderson.

Arlyn’s Moody Dining Room Reveal Is All About the Insane Power of Paint

Welcome back to Day 3 of Arlyn Takes Over the Blog With Her MOTO. Last day, promise. You can have Emily back right after I’m done parading my dining room around your eyeballs. Thanks for hanging in there, but I left the best for last. For anyone just joining, there’s been an intro post and a living room reveal so far, and today is my dining room, a.k.a. my favorite room in my whole home.

You got a sneak peek yesterday of the above, but now it’s time to turn the corner and show you the rest…

But first, let’s acknowledge the “before”:

Cute, but the furniture was too small and the whole thing fell a little flat. Sure, there wasn’t much in here (this was right after we moved in), and I could have jazzed up what I already had, but I had other plans…

As I mentioned in the intro post, this room went through quite the design transformation. My moodboards started out as one thing (light walls, dark furniture) and then I flipped everything. After I went with a white color in my living room, I knew I wanted this to be the drama moment in the front of the apartment. So often people say their powder room is the “jewel box” of the home, but well, I don’t have a powder room, so this is my jewel box.

The wall color—Inchyra Blue by Farrow & Ball—absolutely makes this room IMHO. I wasn’t sure if my landlord would go for it, but I had already mentally built the space around it, so I sent off an email with a hope and a prayer (and a promise to paint it back) and all went well. Phew. It reads a little more teal in these photos because of the light, but it’s so wonderfully chalky and this very happy place between blue and green. It has a certain je ne sais quoi. The decision to paint the ceiling was a no-brainer. The curve of the cove ceiling would have made for an awkward transition if I left the top white/beige, so I went all in and boy am I happy I did. It feels like the room is hugging you. It’s good for the soul, the chicken soup of rooms.

With regards to the furniture, my approach was “design a living space, then make sure there’s a table and chairs” so I started with the dining bench first and foremost because every living space needs a sofa(ish) piece. (FYI, the idea to design it like a living space came from knowing I would do far more than just dine in here…I sit in here and work sometimes, I perch on the banquette and chat with Charles if he’s in the kitchen or vice versa…I really wanted this to be the “salon” of the apartment, if that makes sense.)

I honestly can’t remember how I found this, but it’s a new piece designed by Angela Chrusciaki Blehm for Chairish. Maybe it was Instagram, maybe it was an email, maybe it was directly on the retailer’s site, but either way, it was one of those moments where things clicked. I know it’s not for everyone, but the whimsical ribbon pattern was just wild enough to break up the seriousness of what this room could have been. The color is white and slate-y blue (sometimes the light makes it feel a little more cobalt), which felt like a good place between the wall color and the sofa in the living room. Emily called it “editorial” and yeah…let’s go with it!

To balance the dark, moody paint color, I opted for a light and subtle table and chairs and Article had just released their new Ventu line that fit exactly the length I needed. It also comes as an 8-seater, but 6 was just right in here. While I don’t typically go for the whole matching dining set thing, there was enough going on in here that the tone-on-tone of the light leather chairs and blonde oak worked to break things up a bit.

As for why I chose to put nothing above the banquette, well…maybe I’ll fill that wall one day, maybe I won’t. I like to leave things open so I can grow into a space because design is never really finished, is it? If every single nook and spot is taken up, where will all my future treasures go? Besides, with the gallery wall on one end and windows on the other, I wanted a place to really just see the paint. Negative space is just as powerful as filling a space.

Because I didn’t really need any more pattern or color, I kept the rug (from Lulu and Georgia) simple but textural. The weaving alternates between white and gray, so the eye still registers it as “interesting” without being overwhelming. And because it’s made of wool, it’s pretty stain resistant naturally (just needs a little blotting and good as new).

Okay, let’s discuss one of my biggest headaches in this room: the light fixtures. I said this Tuesday, but this room is tricky because the lighting is centered on the room’s footprint, while everything else is a bit askew, centered to the wall between the kitchen opening and hallway door. That meant I needed to either be okay with a pendant/chandelier falling SUPER to the left of the table or find another solution. About a week or two before this shoot, as I entered straight-up panic mode, I was on Schoolhouse’s website and found this beauty. It was a God send, no joke. If I connected one canopy to the current junction box, and installed the other to the ceiling, it would miraculously be centered on the table. I have to imagine this is why they make these types of light fixtures. To help desperate people like me who can’t/dont want to move junction boxes. THANK YOU SCHOOLHOUSE FOR COMING TO THE RESCUE. It’s made of ceramic “bells”, brass plates and pretty white oak connecting pieces. This fixture is insanely special in person, and I’m very much in love with it.

Before moving over to the gallery wall, here is the IKEA Besta unit I teased about. I worked with Semihandmade and Park Studio to give this baby the makeover of her life. For anyone who doesn’t know, Semihandmade makes fantastic custom cabinet doors to retrofit onto IKEA furniture and kitchen cabinets, and here, I went with the beaded front in desert gray from Sarah Sherman Samuel’s line with the brand paired with the Mackinaw handles in large from Park Studio. Man do these elevate a big box piece into something very special. I’d love to add a custom-cut wood top one day, but I’m happy with it as-is.

This holds all our board games, some books, some tools, serving pieces like platters and cheeseboards, and all my small appliances. It used to be my media console, but it works so well in here to keep everything within reach when I need it.

A few other talking points because it’s impossible to get me to stop: those lamps…I found them almost nine years ago when I first moved to South Florida from Orlando (my home town). I was out to brunch with new friends/coworkers and we decided to stroll through an antique market happening on Lincoln Road in South Beach. I spotted these, fought about them with a friend who claimed to see them first (she didn’t), I won, ran to an ATM to take money out of my savings (don’t do this, very irresponsible), and then…they sat in random corners of several apartments before they made it onto this console. They finally have their time to shine. The circa 1960s Murano glass and bulbous shape is modernized with a black shade (hot tip, for you…black shades freshen up older silhouettes).

photography by charles dundas-shaw

The silver pineapple—an ice bucket!—is another vintage piece from the ’60s. I found it on a work trip to Belgium a few years back when I was researching a story about antique shopping in Europe (oh, just some work dreams come to life). I was enjoying a cherry tart in an antique dealer’s ridiculously charming kitchen complete with roaring wood-burning fireplace when I spotted it and bought it on the spot. I left behind a pair of pants to make sure it fit in my carry-on. Sacrifices. Worth it.

Gallery wall time! Hats off to Jess who came over the night before my shoot and stayed up with me until almost 2 am to hang everything (I gave my neighbors the heads up after profusely apologizing in advance for the banging). I did not ask her to stay that late, she’s just a literal angel (who also has mad gallery wall skills…her living room proves it). Going top to bottom and left to right really visually enlarges this room and makes the ceilings feel SO tall. Anything that draws the eyes up will do this.

My favorite piece on this whole wall happens to be my favorite person in the whole world. Up there in the top right corner is a photo I took of my Charles (husband) that I had Framebridge print and frame. You can’t see it here, but in the opposite corner is a photo he took of me, so our images are hugging this wall of art. The line drawings are from Wit & Delight’s shop and such a fun graphic punch. I love so much of the art on their site, but I only have so much wall space.

The big black and white piece to the right of the sconce is a macro photo of pencil shavings Charles and I took and had printed years ago; it speaks to both our passions: writing for me, sketching (and photography) for him. Right underneath that is a piece that consists of little compliment notes from all my amazing coworkers. It’s a tradition we started in the office for birthdays, and it makes me very, very happy. Oh, and the stickman drawing is Orlando’s! My first weekend in LA after moving was his book signing at West Elm (where little did I know Grace was at, and I met Michael before we ever dreamed of him working here). He gave out these to the first 200 people; this is #170, Grace evidently has #49…typical Grace.

Reveal: Arlyn’s Bright & Happy Rental Living Room Makeover

It’s here! The day has finally arrived that I get to show you my home, which by the way is like reading your teenage diary in a crowded room of other writers, standing in your swimsuit. It’s scary. It’s awkward. Please love me.

That’s me. Arlyn Hernandez, Editorial Director here at EHD, smiling through the discomfort of having my photo taken (bless you, Sara—our wonderful Photography Director). Hopefully, you were here yesterday and were able to make it through my extended design sermon about the process of pulling together my living and dining rooms. Today, I’m sharing the reveal of the former, and tomorrow, the reveal of the latter. Though I’m writing this a few weeks before you read it, I promise you I didn’t sleep yesterday waiting for today. Before I get into it, all I want to convey is that I very much love these rooms, and getting to flex design muscles (cultivated from over a decade of pecking away at a keyboard writing on the subject) was SO.MUCH.FUN…and also, very hard and eye-opening. I bow down to Emily (Henderson and Bowser), Julie, Velinda, Grace, Erik…all the stylists and designers on our team that do this on the regular.

As a reminder, here’s where we started:

Good bones, furniture that once worked in another home, a rug hell-bent on depositing all the world’s lint on my collection of black pants. It still made me happy even if it looked like a consignment shop. But I knew it could be better. I knew it could be properly designed to feel more in line with the building’s 1920s narrative, plus half my furniture was now in new homes (sold prior to moving across the country from Florida to California).

Here she is. Man does this make me happy. Okay, where to start?? Well…I guess let’s begin where I began…the sofa. I mentioned this in the intro yesterday, but I wanted this sofa for three years (and a blue velvet sofa in general for twice that). When I started at Apartment Therapy as Design Editor in 2016, I had recently purchased my Crate & Barrel Lounge II (in the before photo above), and then Maxwell Ryan, AT’s CEO and founder, released this sofa that he designed for Interior Define. WHAT?!? It was basically a dream, except I had a brand new couch at home that my then-fiance Charles (now husband) and I picked out together. I moved on, assuming this would likely never happen. BUT THEN I got the chance to do a Makeover Takeover, and it was the first thing I picked out.

I didn’t move here with the intention of selling off my previous sofa, but honestly, it felt so wrong in this space. It wasn’t that cool combo of modern + antique in my 100-year-old apartment. It just felt out of place. Convincing Charles to let me get my dream sofa was an uphill battle, however. He LOVED that C&B sofa (still mourns it to this day, actually), but after many a desperate soliloquy on the subject, he caved and said he trusted me to do what I thought we needed to in here aesthetically. You see, he’s in architecture, so it’s not like he doesn’t understand design, but I couldn’t download my brain into his so he could see “the vision.” Anyway, like I said, he resolved to trust me, and after seeing the finished product, he sees the light. He proudly says to anyone who steps foot in our home “this is all her” and I’ve found out through the grapevine that he’s been peddling photos of this room and the dining room to anyone who will listen/look (so cute).

So YES, sofa. I opted for the single bench cushion (I believe it’s an upgrade in the 98″ right chaise model). It fits perfectly between the windows and sconces here. Almost like it was made for the space (::cough cough::). There were a ton more options to customize this couch that I didn’t see online, so if there’s an Interior Define store near you, I highly recommend going in. They’re SUPER helpful and walk you through everything.

The black sculptural side table was something I bought off Wayfair to put between the armchairs, but it turned out to be gigantic. A happy accident, because I didn’t have a side table next to my sofa yet, and this worked great there. It’s very heavy and stable (it’s concrete) and added a bit of modernity to some of the more traditional things in here.

Speaking of “traditional things,” oh man did I go back and forth with a rug in here. I originally dreamed of finding a huge 9×12 vintage stunner at the Rose Bowl for like…$50. That didn’t happen. After mocking up what was probably 70 options in Photoshop, I spotted this rug from Lulu and Georgia, and I love it so much. This is not remotely what I ever thought I’d get for this room, but it was a happy surprise. The pattern is a low-pile shag in a light gray, beige and blush (online it looks like there’s purple in it, but there isn’t…it’s gray). Any other color might have competed with the bright blue sofa, so this was just the perfect amount of punch.

The coffee table (a huge upgrade from the rolling cooler that was here previously) was a Black Friday score from Anthropologie. You can’t really see it here, but it has a marquetry pattern on the surfaces of the tiers, and when the light hits it, it kind of glimmers. The table was tricky because I wanted to check the following boxes: round to break up the straight lines of the sofa and other furniture, two tiers for storage, light in color to not domineer the design, and be not-too-big-not-too-small. Its 37.5″ diameter turned out to be perfect.

Oh these chairs. I had seen the original design (by Pierre Jeanneret in the 1950s) pop up over the years in luxury design projects, but then by nearly blinking, they were EVERYWHERE. I saw these at the Rose Bowl back in December (being sold new by Makers & Smiths), and I just frankly didn’t care. I loved them. There’s a funny thing that happens with trends. When something first starts becoming popular (but before it infiltrates), it’s exciting to hop on board, but then you do, and all of a sudden, you have the same thing that millions of others also have. But also…who honestly cares if you love it, right? Anyhow, I passed on the chairs that day, not wanting to spend an additional few hundred dollars just weeks before Christmas, BUT THEN I saw they were being sold at a further discount on Instagram and I scooped them up right away (after getting the A-OK from the mister…we both live here…he gets a say, too). Anyway, I love them so very much, and they were just the angular, sculptural thing I needed to edge everything up. The little wood table is from Target and very, very good.

Very quickly, that fiddle leaf fig, I got it at Costco…for $30. Not sure if they still have them, but such a score. All the rest of my plants I got either at The Sill here locally, or at Mickey Hargitay Plants in West Hollywood (such good stuff at amazing prices).

You might have spotted this through the armchairs in other photos but this is my big DIY moment in here. I think every room should have something in it that feels handmade. Something that feels personal, that was birthed in your head to leave that “stamp” that could only be yours. This is mine. It’s just 3/4″ birch plywood from Home Depot cut to size, stacked and glued. The original inspiration came from here, but my sweet Charles used his mad drafting skills (I believe he made it in Revit) to mock up a customized version for under the picture window. After several weekends of sheer how am I building this bench without any tools panic, Sara offered up her brother Shade to build it for me. Thank you, Shade! I love it. The rugged plywood is a nice juxtaposition to the “fancier” things in here like the velvet and brass. The cushion I sewed myself with a terra-cotta velvet I found at Mood (don’t look at it too closely).

Okay, time to talk art and decor.

As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, I really wanted something above the sofa that felt like “us.” While a big piece of art would have been pretty (and another opportunity to bring in color and pattern), it felt a little devoid of personality. I wasn’t staging this room for a shoot…I was designing it to live in every day. On top of working in architecture, Charles also dabbles in photography, so we had a bunch of photos of us and our family and friends that were just sitting on our phones or his computer, likely never to see the light of day. That is until we thought to do this big 40″x40″ grid collage. I worked with Frame It Easy to build a custom-sized frame (they make it, well…easy to get frames in whatever size you need right online), then just got these 4″x4″ photos printed through Artifact Uprising that I attached in a planned grid with mounting foam squares. It’s the first thing I see when I walk through the door, and it makes my soul so happy. Seeing all the people I left on the east coast—my mom and dad, my nephews, Charles’ parents—our courthouse wedding snapshot…this right here is my heart personified in a piece of art.

The curtain decision, like everything else, was an internal battle. I so badly wanted something impactful. After I settled on a white paint color (White Dove by Benjamin Moore), I had to redeem my hypocrisy with something of color. Low and behold…I ended up buying these white curtains from IKEA instead, and well look, I ended up loving them. They look SO much more expensive than they really are ($40 for a set of 2), and because there would have been so many panels in here, anything with a striking pattern (like the English floral or toile I wanted) would have been Overwhelming with a capital “O”. To edge it up a little, I used my favorite curtain rods and rings in matte black that were left over from my old apartment (I had to buy the extra-long one for that front window, though, but it was still only like $60).

Oh and the pillows…where I FINALLY brought in the color and pattern aside from the sofa. The blockprint floral pillow and embroidered tassel pillow were both sourced through McGee & Co., the copper crushed velvet one I got on sale at West Elm, the textural blue lumbar was borrowed from Jess at the last minute and the mustard yellow lumbar is from Lulu and Georgia (though sadly no longer available).

Here was my solution for the whole TV-off-center situation. An articulating, pivoting wall mount. Drilling holes in my rental walls made me insanely nervous, but nothing some spackle and sandpaper can’t fix. This has really changed our TV binging viewing experience for the better. It pulls out FAR—much farther than in the GIF above—and can turn to reduce glare from the windows in here and the dining room. Boom, problem solved (plus, there’s a part of me that loves that the TV is not the focal point here).

Ah, that Article sideboard. I’ve loved it ever since I saw it in , long before I worked here. It’s not technically a media console, but I don’t have a cable box or anything (just some Firestick cables) so it’s totally fine. In the name of honesty, there is typically a big white box that holds a power strip and excess cables from the TV and the soundbar that’s not in this photo in the name of “pretty” off to the left, but a jumble of cables just wasn’t cutting it for this shoot. One day, when I figure out my cable management, maybe I’ll show you what I did to make things better. (Also, look away from the dining room, that’s for tomorrow…)

The fireplace is non-functioning so that firewood is just for show, but man do I love its character. The little wreath on the top tile makes me chuckle. And while I think if I owned this place, I’d give this a little refresh, I don’t know…I kind of love it as-is. The sconces were generously supplied by Hudson Valley Lighting (also, generously installed by Jess) and they are so sturdy and well-made. The double light (x6) keeps this room BRIGHT at night (a dimmer helps). I contemplated doing something rad and modern, but landed on something more appropriate for this building’s era and I’m really pleased with how they look all together.

I got this mirror through Schoolhouse and it’s so nice in person. It has this wide lip around the edge that makes it feel extra special, and it was insanely easy to hang (it came with a French cleat that had a built-in bubble level…easy peasy). Oh, oh, and that little stool…Jess came to help me MULTIPLE times before this shoot (I seriously do not deserve her as a coworker or friend), and when she saw this she swore it was a flea find. NOPE. It’s from Target. It straight up looks like something from a cool antique market and it’s one of my favorite pieces in here.

In my “before” photos, I had a vintage mid-century chest here that I found at a vintage market in Boca Raton, Florida. I love that piece so so much, but I painted it blue many moons ago, and next to the blue sofa, it was too much. Plus, it sat a little high and I could barely open the window, so now it’s in my bedroom and holds an overflow of books and candles. I picked up this console from Target to fill its void and it works perfectly here.

That weird phone on the bottom right-hand corner? It’s an antique from Puerto Rico (where my family is from). I did not, however, get it from my Puerto Rican family; instead it came via my sister’s Bostonian-French-American mother-in-law who’s a thrifting wizard. She thought I should have it, though my sister will tell you another story (sorry, Frances, but it’s mine and you’ll have to come to LA to get it “back”). The rest of the pieces I’ve had forever (including that giant stack of Luxe Interiors + Design magazines—I used to be the Executive Editor there, so it’s a reminder of my career journey). Oh wait, that cool round rock sculpture thing is new (from West Elm), and the terra-cotta vase is actually a very chic oil diffuser from the brand Vitruvi. It comes in a few different colors and is the only diffuser I’ve found to blend into decor seamlessly and in a very good looking way.

By the way, Target has a nice line of candles from Project62 that are insanely good. You see a sliver of one here, but they’re all in ceramic vessels and the scents are so strong, you can smell them even without lighting them. I’m sold.

And finally, this year’s birthday present to myself, because yes, I am that type of person: two custom commissioned embroidered art pieces from Samantha Gluck. If that name sounds familiar, it’s because she’s a designer that did projects with Emily in the past. We ran two house tours from her last year, and in her own home, she showcased a crazy cool embroidered wallhanging she made herself. I sent her an email to see if she’d be willing to make something for me because I was obsessed, and she kindly agreed. I gave her my color palette (neutrals, blues, greens, terra-cotta), she sketched this up and we went through the design process together to land on these two. She’s amazing, and so are these pieces.

And that’s it! I leave you with another sneak peek into my dining room to get you excited enough to come back tomorrow to hear from me, Arlyn, YET AGAIN. Thank you Emily for handing over the reins of the blog to me for three days in a row to share my home with the readers. Thank you readers for sticking around and getting down to the bottom of this behemoth post. I hope you love my home as much as my husband and I do. It’s our refuge from the crazy streets of LA (that has quickly become “home” this last year). If you have any questions at all, let me know. I’m happy to answer whatever about whatever. Come back tomorrow to see my dining room…I promise it’s good (well, to me, at least).

1. Blockprint Pillow via McGee & Co. | 2. Copper Velvet Pillow | 3. Embroidered Tassel Pillow via McGee & Co. | 4. Sconce via Hudson Valley Lighting | 5. Custom Metal Frame via Frame It Easy | 6. 4″x4″ Prints | 7. Curtain Ring | 8. Curtain Rods | 9. Curtains | 10. Table Lamp | 11. Black Side Table | 12. Velvet Sectional via Interior Define | 13. Coffee Table | 14. Basket (as tree planter) | 15. Rug via Lulu and Georgia | 16. Caned Side Chair | 17. Wood Side Table | 18. Yellow Bud Vase | 19. White Vase | 20. Girl Print | 21. Candle Holders | 22. Mirror via Schoolhouse | 23. Black Frame via Framebridge | 24. Slow Down Tea Towel | 25. Stacked White Planter and Tree | 26. Bleached Wood Tray via McGee & Co. | 27. Black Vase | 28. Carved Wood Accent Table | 29. Brass Hand | 30. Blue Glass Vase | 31. Andirons | 32. Walnut Sideboard via Article | 33. Bench Cushion Velvet | 34. Black Planter (similar) | 35. Lidded Candle | 36. 3-Wick Candle | 37. Canvas Floater Frame | 38. Custom Embroidered Art by Samantha Gluck | 39. Stone Oil Diffuser via Vitruvi | 40. Brass Snuffer | 41. Rock Match Striker | 42. Metal and Rock Sculpture | 43. Console | 44. TV Wall Mount | 45. White Dove by Benjamin Moore | 46. Sheepskin Throw | 47. White Knob Planter

***Photography by Sara Ligorria-Tramp for EHD

The post Reveal: Arlyn’s Bright & Happy Rental Living Room Makeover appeared first on Emily Henderson.

Introducing…Arlyn’s Living & Dining Room Makeover Takeover

I can remember mine and my husband Charles’ faces when we first walked into this apartment. We had spent the last few weekends apartment hunting only to be disappointed by a multitude of reasons (“cat-fish worthy” photos as compared to real life, value, parking, etc.), but then we walked in here and we instantly knew. There was a (non-working) fireplace! Original oak floors! Coved ceilings! Laundry room! We made it down the hallway into the first bedroom and quickly said to each other with pure giddiness in both of our eyes and voices “this is it. We have to take this today.” It was clean, pristine, spacious and in our budget. It was NOTHING like our apartment in Florida that we had loved, but in a way that’s like replacing a dog that you had to put to sleep with another dog, but like, a totally different breed so it didn’t feel like you were trying to recreate something. Wow, that was bleak. We put in our leasing application that day and, a year later, I still come home nearly every day so grateful that this is what I get to call my first LA home.

When we moved in a few weeks later, with everything we brought in a PODS container from our condo in South Florida, nothing felt right (the stuff, not the apartment…that felt gooood). My old place was a modern-ish open floorplan that I filled with mostly streamlined stuff (it was the first home I shared with my then-fiance so we picked some things out together) as well as some leftover pieces from other apartments, so in here, in a 1920s Mediterranean building with 100-year-old “character,” my gray tweed Crate & Barrel sofa and industrial dining table felt foreign, similar to when Elle Woods shows up to that Harvard party dressed as a Playboy bunny and everyone in circa-2001 khaki cargo pants and preppy sweater sets spots her, scoffing. My apartment was scoffing at my stuff (not really, she’s nice, this is just a revisionist version of the story for dramatic effect). I wasn’t necessarily attached to anything besides some art and vintage pieces, plus I had sold a lot of stuff before the move to make it easier to trek across country, so there were huge holes to fill in both functionality and style.

Anyhow, I’ll talk more about style tomorrow when I show you where I landed with everything (I can’t wait!) but there were some things to figure out to get me from “before” to “after.”

I am warning you up front that this is a LONG post. I’ve been writing this post (and tomorrow’s and Thursday’s) for months in my head, so I have a lot to say. But there are a lot of takeaways, so I hope you stick around (or, you know, just skip ahead to see my moodboards and all the “befores” to prep for tomorrow).

Let’s start in the living room:

Living Room:

Here she is. I loved the ceiling but didn’t realize it would highly affect the paint color choice (i.e. anything too bold would probably feel a bit suffocating because it would have to go on the walls and the ceiling). That picture window was also a huge selling (leasing?) point, and while I never envisioned covering it with any kind of drapery, turns out, at night, the whole street could see what I was eating for dinner with one glance.

What you’re not seeing here is the rolling cooler we ate dinner on every night for five months. I started calling my then-current apartment style “cooler chic.” It was an interesting time that honestly I’ll probably cherish forever. “Remember that time when we first moved to LA and we were newly married, that we enjoyed many meals on that cooler we bought to keep food in during Hurricane Irma?” I should have left it so you could see my living room in all its glory. There were also random stashes of things in corners (you can spot art and a lamp in that right corner…that’s just the start).

Here was my biggest issue: how do I lay out this long, narrow room with limited wall space? There really was only one wall I could put the sofa on because of the fireplace, and because of the windows on each side, it only made sense to put the sofa in the middle of the wall. This, in theory, was totally fine, except my TV was on the opposite wall but off to the side, so anytime we watched TV, we had to pivot on the couch and look basically across the room. There were many discussions about putting the TV over the fireplace, but because of the slope of the ceiling, our 55-incher would be almost top to bottom from the ceiling line to the mantel. I taped it out and man did it feel crowded, so for now, the TV was staying off to the side.

Yes, I could have scooted the sofa over, but as you’ll soon see, I knew I wanted a sofa with a chaise (for lounging, napping…), and the chaise would either be in the pathway between the living and dining rooms, or smack dab in the living room. It would also leave a strange half-occupied wall to figure out and the entire other side of the living room that would feel incredibly empty. Not to mention the fireplace, which was in the center of the room, would then feel very strange where it was. Nothing here was ideal in terms of modern layout. NOTHING. Back in 1920, setting up a room around a flatscreen wasn’t exactly top priority, evidently.

This is the other side of the room, with the fireplace and TV I’ve mentioned. See what I mean? Ay. This IKEA Besta unit would eventually get a bit of a makeover itself, but we’ll see more about this when I get to the dining room.

The lighting, in general, was also a little too “Home Depot chic” for my tastes. For the record, Home Depot does make plenty of great stuff, but these half-boob uplights weren’t gelling with what I knew in my mind would be the finished product for this room.

Finding inspiration for this room was HARD. I had wanted a blue velvet sofa for the better half of a decade, but every time I searched “blue velvet sofa living room” on Pinterest to get color palette ideas, I’d come across the same thing: blue sofa, red vintage rug OR blue sofa, neutral Moroccan rug. There was hardly anything in the middle, and I just didn’t really want either of those things. My floors are a bit orange, so the red would have exacerbated that, and the whole velvet+shag rug thing felt like design déja vu (and a little too cold for me). I LOVE color (it’s basically all I write about here if you haven’t noticed) but I was very stuck on what to do in this room. Where I landed is a surprise even to me, but I’m very happy with it (tomorrow can’t come fast enough).

While nothing is quite spot-on to my style, these are some of the rooms I used as a guiding light when I felt a little stuck:

image sources: top left | middle left | top right | bottom left | middle left | bottom right

Like I said, there really was nothing that made me go “THAT’S IT. THAT’S THE SILVA’ TUNA!” I just ended up picking things I really liked and hoping they went together. In the words of Emily Henderson, “pretty always looks good with pretty” so that became my motto for this space. If I liked it, it would work (as long as the scale was right and it was mostly in my color palette of blue, terra cotta, mustard and neutrals).

Ready for some moodboards? I ended up either donating, selling or repurposing in another room most of what was in here since it all looked like a bit of a hodgepodge of furniture.

Here’s take one:

I built this entire room around that sofa. I knew I wanted it from the first mention of “Arlyn, you wanna do a MOTO?” It was designed by Maxwell Ryan of Apartment Therapy for Interior Define, and as AT’s former design editor, I actually spent a bit of time on that very sofa during meetings in the NY office when I visited. It felt like it was part of my story, plus it was GORGEOUS and deep and came in rich velvets, so it was a definite “need it.” This was actually a bit of a “conversation” with my husband, who so dearly loved our old Crate & Barrel sofa. I actually did, too. It is THE MOST comfortable sofa in the entire world (the Lounge II, for anyone wondering), but I always dreamed of an English rolled arm sofa, and this space felt ripe to receive one. Plus, something a little larger would have helped the long space.

The old seagrass rug I had was visually great (from RugsUSA years ago), but it had many a stain on it and left so much lint on your clothes even after four years of vacuuming it weekly. The idea was to bring in something graphic yet neutral, and while the above wasn’t quite it, it was moving in the right direction.

In terms of wall color, I thought long an hard about whether this room even needed to be painted. My landlord had selected a warm light beige for the entire apartment, which in theory was totally fine, but just felt stodgy next to some of the pieces that started to come in (particularly my bright blue velvet sofa). After writing countless posts about how white walls are boring, I felt like a total hypocrite even considering white, but hear me out: it’s what this space needed and I ate my words for lunch yesterday, don’t worry. I tried greens and blues and peach and yellow, but it all felt overwhelming against the color I ended up picking for the dining room (more on that in a bit, I promise), plus this room gets a lot of green in it from the plants outside. I do sometimes regret not just GOING FOR IT in here and doing something crazy dramatic, but truly, sitting in a light, bright happy space every morning and night makes me happy. If I want drama, I go to the dining room. 

Next(ish) board:

Honestly, this is pretty close to the finished product, and trust that there were HUNDREDS of iterations between what I just showed you and this, but if I brought those in here, you’d be reading this post until next Tuesday.

Also, seeing this, I totally forgot I intended on bringing in a mobile somewhere. I think there’s one sitting in my Etsy cart, actually, ha. Well…another time. Those chairs…I’ll talk more on those tomorrow, as well as the draperies (well…I guess I’ll talk more about it ALL tomorrow…can’t wait).

While I liked the big piece over the couch (I think this one is from Juniper Print Shop), I just felt like this whole space looked straight out of a model home. Like…who even lives here? It didn’t have enough of me or Charles in it. It was pretty, but devoid of life. You’ll see tomorrow how I turned that space over the sofa into one of my favorite things in this whole room.

Okay, dining room time…

Dining Room:

Here’s my happy dining room that I actually quite love. It’s probably my favorite spot in the whole apartment (then and now). The light is soft, not too bright, not too dark, the cove ceiling is a detail I would have never imagined having back in Florida…there was so much potential here, though that doesn’t mean it wasn’t without its tricky issues, mostly the fact that some things were centered to the room (the overhead lighting and the sconces), but everything else was centered to the wall between the doors.

Putting the table smack dab in the center of the room meant it would get in the way of the entrance to the kitchen, so I decided to center everything to the wall between the kitchen entrance and the hallway door, even if that meant all the lighting would feel off. Somehow, I’d have to find a solution for the ceiling fixture though, because the chandelier would come down to the left side of the table. It’s tied up here tight to the ceiling, but when I eventually lowered it, it was SUPER obvious that it was off center to the table. There were many times where I just thought “eh whatever, it’s a rental, it’s fine, who cares” but then I’d catch a glimpse of everything all helter-skelter and it drove me nuts. The solution would come at LITERALLY the 11th hour, but up until then, I stressed and stressed about what to do, wavering on how much I pretended to not care.

Besides the layout, let’s talk furniture: those chairs. No, that’s not some cool edgy shaggy fabric…it’s batting from a project I’ve left unfinished for four years. I found these chairs for $20 a piece at ReStore back in Florida. I actually never intended on keeping them as they aren’t totally my style. I bought them as a furniture “flip” except that actually means finishing something. These sat in a corner of my old apartment for THREE YEARS (I had other chairs as actual dining chairs that I ended up selling before the move), a constant mocking to my darling Charles who painstakingly removed all the rusty staples nearly 156 months before they made it across the country…still unfinished. I contemplated keeping them since they’ve been with me for so long. I even started writing a post about whether I should keep them for their “weird” factor or just finish them and sell them onward to a new home, but just like those chairs, I never finished that post. I am not proud. Anyway, I finally decided they weren’t what I really wanted, so they now sit in my master bedroom, awaiting the day that I’ll finish them and move on from them (ha, here’s to hoping).

I’ve had this server piece for probably six years. Another ReStore find I scooped up for about $50. It’s solid wood, the big drawer is velvet-lined and according to the branded logo inside, it’s Thomasville. The casters don’t really stay on, but otherwise, it’s in perfect shape and I love it. I had plans to paint it black once, but I’m glad I never went through with that (very “on brand” for me). As you might have seen in my living room moodboards, I planned on bringing this in there, but I changed my mind along the way because functionally, it made more sense in here. The table and rug (both which were too small for the space) were sold, which meant this room was essentially a blank slate. Standing in an empty room, trying to figure out what I wanted this space to be…that’s when I decided to design this as a living space that just so happened to have a dining table and chairs in it. I’ll explain what this means in a bit (and definitely more in the reveal post on Thursday), but the finished product is something I’m VERY pleased with, so I guess you can say the technique worked out!

Along the left wall of the dining room is this bank of windows:

Even though the wall on the left doesn’t stick out that much, it still felt like a “nook” and I knew I wanted to use it to bring in more storage. My kitchen has a decent amount of space, but I have A LOT of small appliances and platters and baking toys (a bit of an enthusiast), which was all being stored in my IKEA Besta TV console as well as the other two-door unit under the front window. Carrying my Instant Pot or food processor or lasagna pan clear across the apartment was real cute for about a day, but it got old very fast. After a little measuring, I found out that, somehow almost miraculously, both Besta units would fit nearly exactly into this niche, right under the window molding (the windows open inward, so it was important that nothing sat above the sill). The glossy white doors felt stark against the moody paint color I knew I wanted in here (keep reading to see), so I planned on sourcing something a bit darker and with more character to retrofit (thank goodness for companies like Semihandmade that let you repurpose and elevate your IKEA buys).

Moodboard time…

This was my first stab at a finished product for the dining room. I do still like this, but it’s VERY different than where I ended up. Because of my whole “design this like a room then put a table in it” technique, I knew from the get-go that I wanted to bring in a dining settee/banquette for some really comfy seating. I also have long loved that Serena & Lily honeycomb chandelier, but while it looks centered in my mockup, it definitely landed closer to the far left chair with its heft. I ordered it anyway…

I pictured the gallery wall filling up the wall closest to the hallway door, top to bottom, left to right. Somewhere on my Pinterest boards from years ago are photos of dining rooms either full of art or full of books and I couldn’t wait to do something like that here. This is the advantage of “closed” floorplans. You can do whatever you want when you don’t see everything from another space without having to think too hard about how it will visually affect the other room.

Semihandmade had a photo of a hacked credenza on their site, so I just used this for color reference (those are the beaded fronts in desert gray designed for the brand by Sarah Sherman Samuel).

Somewhere along the line, I decided I didn’t want a dark-on-dark wood table and chairs, and because I’ve always loved caning, I tried this look with an Article table and chairs from Industry West. It was alright…even tried these chairs from Design Within Reach in person, but I really wanted something a little cushier, which led me here:

Well that sure was a sharp right turn from the last design street we were on, huh? Yup. Once I spotted this settee from Chairish, with its spirited ribbon pattern, everything changed (clearly). I was getting a little bored of “safe” patterns, and this was just nutty enough to inject some funk into the room. Next came the decision to go darker and moodier, like such:

image sources: top left | top right | bottom left | bottom right

The paint color is landed on almost instantly, which I’m SO OBSESSED with, is Farrow & Ball’s Inchyra Blue. It’s a little blue, a little green, a bit chalky…it instantly transformed what I thought this room would feel like. I envisioned taper candles dripping wax over long, dimply light dinners, brass light fixtures gleaming in the candlelight, friends throwing their heads back in sophisticated laughter over a perfectly timed joke I made (yeah, right). But because I didn’t want this to be a scene out of Beauty & the Beast (too Rococo or castle-like), I brought in a dining set from Article that was way more modern to balance the look. I LOVE IT SO MUCH.

A few things changed from here to the final result, and in person it just feels so lush and inviting. The paint color is everything I dreamed it would be, and like I mentioned, I found a solution for the chandelier/centered on table dilemma.

Alright. This is where I leave you for today (3,300 words later). There is so much more I can say, trust, and I will…when I reveal the rooms, so please come back tomorrow and then the next day to see the final makeover of the living and dining rooms. I CANNOT WAIT. See you tomorrow, folks.

 

 

 

The post Introducing…Arlyn’s Living & Dining Room Makeover Takeover appeared first on Emily Henderson.

Mountain House Monday: I’ve Got Some Furniture Updates + The shoot is VERY SOON

We are one month out from the big magazine shoot and all of a sudden we have some major changes we are dealing with. It’s not that I wasn’t happy, it’s that I thought that I might be more happy. I want it to really represent my style and my intent for this house. So there were a few things we had going on that is now up for analysis. Is this the best ___ we could have? Could we have a better __? Sound a little crazy? Maybe. But when your work is going to be in a national magazine, representing your style, you want it to do just that, represent your style. So here is a brief update on what I’m searching for and what might be changing. Decisions are being made at a rapid pace people, which is never ideal but FYI decisions are always made at a rapid pace in this situation, so we/I shouldn’t be surprised. Ready to see what’s going on in this head of mine?

The Living Room Sofa

I’m on the hunt for a vintage living room sectional. I want something 70’s and vintage and weird. But it also needs to be something super editorial and while simple and comfortable, something that really says ‘me’. I found one on Chairish but we taped it out and it’s too big, so I’m still on the hunt for that perfect ‘weird vintage Emily sofa’.

The Family Room Sofa

The family room sofa is great as well, but yes, maybe it could be more our style. Something slightly larger, in a more kid-friendly fabric. I’m on the hunt.

Fabric Choice For Banquette

We are up at the mountain house right now choosing fabrics for the banquette and you guys definitely played a role in this. I want leather and linen, done in an interesting way. But not something too trendy or impractical and yet I NEED it to be comfortable.

We will make the decisions TODAY.

The Loft…

This space was a play area but we think it should be a home office, as I’ll be writing the book two this summer. Pretty darn excited about that idea. And while we previously called this the yoga loft (because I did yoga here once, for 20 minutes) it would be a dreamy place to write.

I know this is a half-assed ‘Mountain House Monday’ but that’s because we are up there shooting the bathrooms this week and scrambling to finish the rest of the spaces. It doesn’t stress me out in a bad way – it’s actually SO MUCH FUN. But yes, deadlines loom and I really want it to represent what we originally envisioned for this house – a Scandi- Rustic – Refined – Contemporary – Minimalist – Family – Friendly – Calm – Cabin – Chalet. You know something simple and easy. Ha.

It’s challenging and yet so fun.

Watch on Instagram stories today. We’ll give you a sneak peek. xx

The post Mountain House Monday: I’ve Got Some Furniture Updates + The shoot is VERY SOON appeared first on Emily Henderson.

The Link Up: Who Wants to Win Some Free Nisolo Shoes? (+ Recipes, Podcasts & Vintage Heaven)

Photo Source | Design by Mario Milana

Atlanta was awesome (did you see the intro and reveal posts this week?), but boy does it feel right and good to be all together again. Hope you had a great week and are ready for a lot of great links and recommendations…

First things first, as we need to all band together and help the insanely WONDERFUL Pen + Napkin (the charity we worked with for The Rummage Sale last year) raise enough money to help a family in need. Emily and our team are teaming up again to help a single mom and her four children who have survived domestic violence and homelessness create a home they feel safe in and love. The goal is $7k, and anything that isn’t used here will go to future projects with Pen + Napkin (i.e. other flash makeovers). Please donate whatever you can HERE. 

The next VERY important piece of info is that Nisolo is going to give away TWO pairs of shoes. Yes, you read that correctly! One pair of Ecuador Huaraches and one Emma d’Orsay (the team modeled those in this post from earlier this week). To enter, head here and leave a comment (i.e., not on this post) with which pair you want and why. But also don’t forget that EHD readers have a 20% discount through July 18. Just use code: EHD20.

Interested in this weeks edition of Jaw-Dropping Home Tours? Designer Mario Milana and actress Gabriella Campagna’s home is a stunning oasis of modern design that if given the chance to go inside, would never want to leave…or maybe that’s just us but we doubt it.

Arlyn is SO excited for this new cookbook from one of her favorite food accounts out there (especially when she does Whole30). Teri from No Crumbs Left always has fantastic recipes and just seems like a generally wonderful spirit. She pre-ordered it and cannot wait for it to be released on May 21. 

Staying on that cooking train, Sara refers to her cookbooks a LOT and really tries hard to use them instead of Pinterest. She was a reluctant purchaser of Gywneths’ cookbook, The Clean Plate but it’s wormed its way into her heart. This seed cracker is her current favorite covered in avocado or dipped in hummus. It’s earth, nutty, and savory. Plus, it’s like a weird/fun since an experiment to make.

You may have seen on Emily’s instastory the completely adorable matching pajama sets Julie, Bowser and Sara were sporting in Atlanta. It’s cool, we weren’t at all jealous. They just looked so cozy and they confirmed it was true. Here is the link to the top and the bottom. We all might be buying a set. EHD pajama day Em??

Michael binge-watched an entire season of Boise Boys in one day last weekend. They are such a funny odd couple of friends doing some AMAZING remodels in Boise, Idaho. The design is great and the guys are sweet and entertaining.

Grace loved this article and definitely related to it a lot. In design school, she wouldn’t start any of her projects until midnight. It was quiet and therapeutic and just overall felt like a much more productive time—like she had all the time in the world…until the roosters brought her back to reality.

What I Wore This Week, Atlanta Edition

I am going to keep this one short and sweet, because I traveled both last week and this week to Atlanta so time was a little tight to pull off a new fashion post. But since this week was full of action, we figured we’d show you what I wore during a week of traveling, interviews, and photo shoots. Let’s get into it.

Monday

Shirt | Pants | Shoes | Jacket (similar) | BFF necklace 

I’ve given up looking cool while traveling, especially when I have to get up at 4:30 am, so sweats and sneakers it is. Those Lou and Gray sweats are still so soft and comfy but what I really love is that the elastic doesn’t cut in at my waist (why would anybody design sweatpants with a tight waist band???). I, of course, wore my favorite sneakers, though I did regret not having socks on going through security and felt a bit embarrassed (whoops). Also, I am pretty sure I’ve had that same carry on for six years and it’s a piece of garbage so I should probably think about getting a cute one. Suggestions??

Shirt (similar) | Jeans | Shoes (similar) | Sunglasses

Once I landed in Atlanta, I had to meet the client that afternoon and while I warned them I would be in my travel clothes, I decided I wanted to look a bit more pulled together. I quickly changed into my favorite Rag & Bone dre jeans and the smile shirt that you guys have seen a thousand times. The dre jeans are straight leg with a low waist (I wear a 27), are very comfortable and even though I’ve gained some weight (too much travel, not enough soup!), they still feel roomy but also flattering.

Tuesday

Shirt | Jeans | Shoes (similar)

This day, I was on camera for 25 TV and radio interviews but only from the waist up so I wore my comfy jeans, with my Ulla top. You are going to see a lot of Ulla Johnson here. The reason is that I LOVE and wear the hell out of their clothes. They are very expensive, and I do pay for what I buy because I am a huge fan (although I should reach out…Hi Ulla!). For me, their pieces are perfect because they are special without being too loud, and are flattering without being tight. I just feel really good in them which is important for being on camera. I need to feel comfortable and confident.

Dress (similar) | Shoes (similar)

This dress is also an Ulla number that I’ve now worn to 1 billion occasions. I wore it to the press party on Tuesday with all the other designers and our friends at Invitation Homes. Sadly, they no longer make this exact dress but the good news is I was randomly in a Banana Republic and saw this very similar one. You are welcome.

Reveal: A Budget and Rental-Friendly Living and Dining Room (With 80% Thrifted Finds)

Oh, I do love a reveal day. My childhood love of show-and-tell has turned into a real career obsession. I am so excited to show you the living room we designed for the Invitation Homes Make It Home Show House in Atlanta. After yesterday’s messy design fail post today feels like waking up from an “I lost my wallet in the airport” anxiety nightmare, only to wake up and realize that everything is not only fine but we are really, really happy with it. It’s almost entirely locally shopped, 80% vintage, pretty budget friendly, and yet still cool and interesting.

Large Black Vase | Round Mirror | Mobile via Antique Factory | Blush Table Lamp | Rattan-Wrapped Candleholder | Surf Shack Book | Stacked White Planter via Citizen Supply | Vintage Typewriter Table via Park West Vintage | Vintage Iron Coffee Table Base via Decades Antiques and Vintage | Vintage Lady Oil Painting via Highland Row Vintage | Ceiling Fan courtesy Schoolhouse

Since we didn’t have a homeowner, we got creative carte blanche. So to help us focus, we created a muse: someone whose style needs and wants we could channel. To make it easy, the EHD team—myself, Emily Bowser and Julie—volunteered to become the collective muse and designed it if we lived in Atlanta. When challenged with a budget, and only days of shopping locally, what would we buy for ourselves, our home? What would we put on the walls? What sofa would WE risk upholstering in JUST TWO DAYS??? We had SO much fun shopping for “ourselves,” and so it’s a real mix of styles, pieces and colors that, put together, we absolutely LOVE.

Alright. We like it. You get it.

Now, I’m going to walk you through what we did and what you guys can do whether you rent or own to turn your house into a home (which was the whole intention behind this show house…to create spaces that felt like “home” regardless of whether you’re a short-term or long-term renter, or even an owner).

First up…

The Color Palette:

We added life to this white space with the blue and clay palette and a broken stripe rug we sourced through Lulu and Georgia.

For renters, most homes that you lease, you can paint if you paint it back to the original color (though be sure to double check with your landlord as some leases have STRICT no-paint policies) so while it’s okay to paint, if you are fine with white, then I say stick with it and add color through your furniture and decor. We chose this clay and blue/turquoise combo, of which we haven’t done before but we LOVE. If you aren’t into this color combo and wondering where to start, then choose something that you love (a color you are comfortable being around all the time) and google “color wheel.” You’ll want to pick a color on or near the opposite side of the wheel to balance (orange—or in our case, clay—is a direct complement to blue). Then you pepper those colors evenly around the room. A trick to make sure you don’t end up having a room that looks like a kindergarten is to vary the hues a little. We didn’t go straight orange and blue here, but instead used the two colors as a guideline and slid around the color spectrum a little within those two areas.

Personal Art is the Best:

Vintage Sofa, Squiggle & Lady Print via Highland Row Vintage | Round Pillow | Green Lumbar Pillow | Striped Lumbar Cover | Clay Pillow | Pink Throw | Rug courtesy Lulu and Georgia | Blue Vase | Mint Side Table | Black Sconce | Vintage Magazine Holder Side Table via Park West Vintage | Wood Box & Floor Lamp via Decades Antiques and Vintage | Wall Display Box | White Frames | Black Float Frame

Art is probably the most difficult thing for people to commit to. There is a strange amount of pressure to have it represent us. While there are a lot of good online art options out there, too often we either don’t buy anything and the walls remain empty OR we buy something generic just to fill the walls.

We wanted to show people how they can create meaningful art by putting heirlooms, collectibles, or souvenirs into ready-made frames. If it’s two dimensional (paper) and special to you, MAKE IT ART.

We did vintage postcards (maybe your grandma is a hoarder?), vintage matchbooks (such a fun thing to start collecting on trips) or even records that mean a lot to you (assuming you don’t want to play them). It could be old love letters, a cocktail napkin from the night you were engaged, as well as Polaroids, photo strips, etc. The point is ANYTHING that is two-dimensional can be framed as art. Sure, you want to think about the color palette and whether you like it visually, but if you collect and search long enough, you can put together a gallery wall with anything you have. Remember that you don’t have to frame EVERYTHING. Just narrow down what works well together in any given space (and know that you can always use other framed mementos in other spaces).

HOT TIP: If you want a piece to take up more space, think about putting a small matchbook or Polaroid in a really large frame with a big mat. It’s a modern cool way to frame that gives it more importance.

HOT TIP #2: Putting three-dimensional items in Lucite or display boxes (we got the one above at IKEA) like we did with that vintage squiggle sculpture. This could be a pretty rock, feathers collected by kids, or a vintage button collection.

Since we didn’t actually collect these over time, we shopped beforehand on Etsy and then scoured the antique stores in Atlanta (most of this came from Highland Row Vintage). These do NOT have to be hallway art or relegated to a den. Mix them in with a couple of larger pieces (like that vintage painting we found) and it really looks like a curated collection.

Thrift Hard:

Vintage Leather Safari Chair via Decades Antiques and Vintage | Blue Side Table | Vintage Bookshelf and Vintage Wood Coasters via Highland Row Vintage | Round Stoneware Tray | Mint Vase | Bookends (via West Elm, not available online)

This is where you put on your “how can I make this random thrifted stuff cool” brain. We wanted to see what we could do with the time and budget limitations so thrifting and vintage shopping was crucial and we DID. We found the arched shelf at Highland Row Vintage ($95 + spray paint), the circus-elephant-drum-turned-coffee-table at Decades Antiques and Vintage ($165 + glass), black window bench at Decades Antiques and Vintage ($130), and two other side tables (the magazine table by the sofa was $27, the vintage typewriter table to the right of the fireplace was $115) all that same week as the install and upgraded with basic ideas (like spray paint and surfaces where necessary—i.e. the glass on the now coffee table).

Orange Abstract Print (via IKEA, not available online) | Vintage Picasso Poster via Highland Row Vintage | Vintage Black Bench via Kudzu | Curtains | White Ceramic Planter | Gray Planter | Plants via Citizen Supply | Mostly Plants Book | Terrain Book | New Kitchen Basics Book | Standing Mobile via Antique Factory

HOT TIP #3: Lean art in front of a window if it’s not giant and therefore doesn’t block too much light. It’s okay. Breaking the rules is fun. (If you plan on drawing the drapes, it’ll be a nightly annoyance, FYI, so think through how you plan on using the space before trying it…regardless, it’s just leaned art. No holes were made that need to be filled…just play around. The design police aren’t going to come knocking if it doesn’t work.)

Reupholster Risky (But Cool) Vintage Pieces:

Vintage Chairs via Highland Row Vintage | Side Table | White Planter via Citizen Supply | Birch Frame | Black and White Print (via IKEA, not available online)

We found these chairs for $325 for the set of two at Highland Row Vintage and reupholstered them for $800 (this was a RUSH job, so unless you need chairs in two days like we did, it should be far less) in a fabric that cost about $200 (we needed 12 yards). Altogether, the cost was just over $1,300 which, no is not CHEAP, but without the rush on the upholstery, would be a good price for totally unique chairs. (Also, for anyone local who is looking for an upholsterer, we used Antonio from 23 Upholstery; he doesn’t have a website but you can reach him at 678.993.6711.)

NOW, THE SOFA…

This beauty was found last minute at Highland Row Vintage and cost $650 in its original condition (we posted pictures of the before in yesterday’s intro post). Add the fabric (which had to be sourced from three different Joann’s because…#lastminute) for $500 and the RUSH upholstery cost of $850 and it equals = $2,000 (probably a few hundred less without the last-minute request for reupholstery). It’s definitely more than a major retailer but it’s way less than most vintage sofas on the market. While I think it’s amazing, the one thing I would change is to have the seat cushion innards be feather-wrapped foam, not just the stiff foam because it’s SO BOUNCY. My kids want a trampoline. This is probably not what they meant.

Do I want that sofa for the mountain house loft space? YES. I love it so very very very much. It has the exact level of uniqueness, simple lines and whimsy that makes my organs have a happy panic attack. This was a “HECK YES” since the first photo my team texted me earlier that week.

Repeat Design Elements—Over & Over:

Here’s what we repeated: Thin black metal (via the coffee table base, the bench, the lamps, the mirror, the vintage bookcase, vintage mobile). Warm wood and leather (vintage safari chair, objects, side table). Circles. Teal, terra cotta and even hits of yellow. Repeat themes and elements in different ways to make a space feel unique but cohesive. I suppose this is the recipe for the “effortless” look that we all want, but that is far from effortless. This is also how a room will look and feel balanced, cohesive and yet eclectic and unique. (FYI, that fan was courtesy of Schoolhouse and in a white, it doesn’t stand out too much; rather it blends into the ceiling but when your eye catches it, it’s at least cool and modern.)

Vintage Leather Safari Chair and Large-Scale Abstract Painting via Decades Antiques and Vintage | Clip Light via Antique Factory | Faux Suede Blue Box | Mixed Marble Round Box | Marble and Copper Dip Bowl | Misc. Wood Objects via Vintage Shops.

The space was shared with the dining nook so we dressed that out, too, working in the same theme and color scheme.

Chairs via Craigslist (similar via Etsy) | Table | Counter Stools courtesy Industry West | Curtain Rod | Curtains | Pendant | Vintage Tea Set via Park West Vintage | Black Vase | Faux Suede Tray

We found the dining chairs on Craigslist for $350 and paired it with the IKEA pedestal table. To repeat that teal from the living room, those awesome Industry West caned stools break up the neutrals over here. Of course, what makes that shot is the almost unthinkably small vintage black and white tea set that we picked up at Park West Vintage in Marietta.

As you can see, the same elements are repeated there—wood, black, white, and a combo of classic/streamlined and sculptural/vintage.

This job was incredibly fun. So stimulating. Challenging in the ways where you feel like you stretched as a person. I’m so proud of myself and my team (Emily B., Julie and Grace, who isn’t pictured here) for flying across the country, design blind, into a major deadline, full of fun, panic and ultimately style success.

Thank you Invitation Homes for being innovative and creative enough to come up with and seamlessly execute such a partnership. Being given creative freedom on all fronts makes this project so rewarding, for everyone involved. If you’re in the Atlanta area and want to see this room (and all the others, more info on that below), there’s a free open house tomorrow, Saturday, May 18 from 2 to 6 pm (register here) in Kennesaw. GO SEE IT. I won’t be there, as I’ve trekked back home, but you should still go if you can. 

Like I mentioned, there are other rooms in this Make It Home Show House designed by five other designers/bloggers that are also worth checking out. Here are all their Instagram accounts so you can follow along:

Kevin O’Gara of Thou Swell
Erin Marshall of Live Pretty on a Penny
Brittni Mehlhoff of Paper and Stitch
Brittany Hayes of Addison’s Wonderland
Rhoda Vickers of Southern Hospitality

Again, thank you Invitation Homes (and some of the other brands who donated product like Industry West, Lulu and Georgia and Schoolhouse). If you’re in the market for a pet-friendly, high-quality, updated home to lease in desirable neighborhoods, head to their site to see all the 17 markets they are in (they are literally all across the US from Atlanta and Tampa and the Carolinas to Minneapolis, Seattle and SoCal with 80,000+ properties). It’s a very cool concept, particularly as it seems to get harder and harder in some parts of the country to be a homeowner.

OH and if you’re not in Atlanta, you can always take a virtual tour of the home here and see more behind-the-scenes and exclusive footage from the show house on the Invitation Homes Instagram account.

***photography by Sara Ligorria-Tramp for EHD, art direction by me, design and styling assistance by Emily Bowser and Julie Rose

The post Reveal: A Budget and Rental-Friendly Living and Dining Room (With 80% Thrifted Finds) appeared first on Emily Henderson.

Intro: We Finally Did a Showhouse (+ A Pretty Epic DIY Sofa Fail)

One of our top requested subjects is lease or renter ideas, i.e. how do you make a home feel like yours even when it may not be, without putting real resources into it? So when Invitation Homes reached out for us to makeover a room in their Make It Home Show House (in a lease-friendly way) in Atlanta, we said YES. We’ve been approached about doing showhouses before and likely will do at some point, but this seemed extra interesting to me because it was meant for approachable, budget-friendly design and decor ideas. So instead of shopping online and just having a bunch of awesome new stuff shipped, I tasked my team with coming up with “ideas” for you all—things like DIYs, thrifted upgrades, and just more fun and creative ideas in general. We didn’t have a client per se, there is no homeowner (yet), so we could kinda do whatever we wanted as long as it would work for a potential future family.

So in today’s post, you are going to get a sneak into our messy creative process with a pretty EPIC DIY FAIL, while tomorrow, you’ll get the full reveal.

Here’s how it all went down:

The first step here (and for basically any room) is finding inspiration and gathering “good ideas,” things that people can go forth and make themselves. Emily B. wanted to create a DIY sofa. We have seen this floating around and thought that it was simple and we could do a version that would be easy to replicate. What I forgot is that A. We aren’t carpenters and B. The job is in Atlanta so we wouldn’t really be able to control, test, or troubleshoot it too much. But we took the risk because that’s what creative people do…ISN’T THAT HILARIOUS??

image source
image sources: left | right

But we were in Atlanta where the style is fairly traditional, not modern like this and we wanted to fit the style of the house. So we doubled down. We loved this inspiration shot, both the black stripe, the striped rug, the gallery wall, the sconce incorporated—and we loved that it was traditional, but with an edge.

image source | design by juniper home

But that wasn’t risky enough. We then thought that it’s been a while since we mixed a stripe with a floral. Again, since there was no real client and we were doing this as a “showhouse,” we wanted to do something more editorial.

So we went shopping and found a few combinations that, well, excited us:

Great. We drew up the sofa plan, booked a carpenter in Atlanta and with five days to spare, we overnighted the fabric to the upholsterer.

We knew that mixing striped with floral would be a risk, so we had the upholsterer sew all stripes and a solid option, in addition to mixing stripes and florals. Unfortunately, there was a bit of a breakdown in communication and he made two floral seats, no back cushion and doubled the size of the bolsters.

The whole thing looked hilarious. But Emily B. and Julie weren’t laughing and neither was I at the time…

Meanwhile, they kept shopping for the rest of the vintage pieces. We had looked on Chairish and Craigslist before we went and tried to get any vintage stores to send us pics of the pieces, but ultimately we knew that they just had to go early to find the pieces and figure out how to upgrade them, refinish, reupholster before the deadline. They got there a week early which meant that triggers had to be pulled almost immediately for any upholstery jobs.

Early on, they found this amazing vintage sofa:

But we had our genius and beautiful sofa coming, so we didn’t need this…

They went around and took a ton of photos at all the stores, essentially photographing anything that is awesome and sending it my way to upvote or down vote.

Julie and Bowser found two chairs for $300 and, well, thinking that we had the sofa locked down, they pulled the trigger. But, of course, they had to find enough yardage in a color that we LIKE, as well as an upholsterer who would turn them around in time. ALSO, ATLANTA HAS INSANE TRAFFIC AND “RUNNING AROUND TOWN” IS NOT REALLY A THING YOU CAN DO.

They also found a ton of awesome other pieces the could potentially work:

They also started to pull together our ideas for the personalized gallery wall which we wanted to end up being a wall of art from in and around Atlanta full of super unique things that are framed in readymade frames.

They were finding some great pieces, but on Friday afternoon, they saw the first iteration of the sofa and they started to panic, shielding me from the stress since I had a major shoot that day. Then on Saturday morning, after a huge commercial shoot at my house, I get a text from them that said, “we don’t think the DIY sofa will work.” They were obviously bummed to give me that news, but I appreciated the honesty because I wasn’t going to be there ’til Monday and we had to shoot this room on Wednesday so if there were any major changes (like say, a SOFA) we would need to do it ASAP. Sometimes, you have to make an uncomfortable call, but it’s sooooo much better than not making that call at all.

We played a game I often make us play called “staple-gun to your head” where I go around and ask people what they would do if they had a staple gun to their head and had to make the decision RIGHT NOW. We all unanimously said, “buy the awesome vintage sofa and reupholster it.”

So they had to find 20 yards of fabric (on a Sunday…most fabric stores are not open unless it’s big box like Joann’s) and get it upholstered by Tuesday. Cool, easy feat. Thank you for being stressed out for them…

See? It’s a messy process and yes we learned some lessons. We learned that we probably shouldn’t have tried to execute a major DIY that we’ve never done before, in another state, on a very tight deadline. It was too much of a risk. The base was actually totally fine and workable, it was just a miscommunication about the upholstery and if it had been in LA, we likely would have been able to catch it earlier and rectify it.

Meanwhile, our carpenter’s mother-in-law is taking it and using it so at least it didn’t go to waste.

I got there on Monday afternoon and the room was getting there. They had found SO many great pieces that actually looked good together. Art directing from afar is challenging but we are starting to get our groove and I really loved everything they had chosen. I felt like the chairs were a bit too small for the sofa so we rearranged them and realized that the room worked better, but that we needed another chair.

We spent the next day shopping and pulling it all together—which was fun but stressful. I love a last minute install, it’s kinda what stylists do and I was having serious Secrets From a Stylist flashbacks.

We aren’t the only ones doing this Make It Home Show House; there are five other designers/bloggers doing other rooms and this week, I’m here meeting them, doing a ton of press and tomorrow we are revealing our room. Follow along:

Kevin O’Gara of Thou Swell
Erin Marshall of Live Pretty on a Penny
Brittni Mehlhoff of Paper and Stitch
Brittany Hayes of Addison’s Wonderland
Rhoda Vickers of Southern Hospitality

So check out all their accounts to follow them along and yes, COME BACK TOMORROW for our big reveal. I leaked some sneak peeks on social but hopefully not so much that you don’t want to come back.

How do I like how it turned out? Am I happy with it? Come back, tomorrow folks. Meanwhile, if you are in the market for a house for lease (rent) or just want some general lease-friendly tips, head over to invitationhomes.com

See you tomorrow!

The post Intro: We Finally Did a Showhouse (+ A Pretty Epic DIY Sofa Fail) appeared first on Emily Henderson.

The Ultimate Budget Home: Rugs & Lighting Under $200, Art Under $100 and Decor Under $50

photo by tessa neustadt | from: sylvia’s living room surprise makeover

Moving into my first adult lady apartment all on my own was one of the most exciting times of my life. I remember daydreaming in the weeks leading up to the handing off of keys about how it would look and what life would be like there. And in my dreams, let me tell ya, it was good. Very Domino magazine 2006 with its ghost chairs and painted walls and fresh peonies. It was the kinda space where you made things other than grilled cheese sandwiches and offered friends glasses of wine without worrying whether they’d spill them on your white couch. My reality, however, was that I lived in a shoebox-sized apartment that could be viewed in its entirety from my bed, and my wallet was not there to support my vision, lol. (I also shared a wall with a falafel shop so there were smells, YAY!). So, like many 20-somethings at the mercy of hand-me-downs, the offhand IKEA purchase (which I totally thought was fancy because I bought it with, you know, actual money) and a strict “no paint” rental policy, the look I ended up with could be described, at best, as “cobbled together.” What I’m getting at here is that furnishing an apartment from scratch—whether it’s your first or you’re moving to a new city— is, well, hard. I wish I’d had a resource to know where to find the things I liked at a price I could afford because I spent a lot of time sitting on the floor. To hopefully save you from that same fate, Arlyn and Ryann have covered how to outfit your living room and dining area on a budget and today I’m here to talk rugs/art/lighting, etc.

Rugs Under $200

1. Los Altos Striped Dhurrie | 2. Navy Herringbone Cotton Flatwoven | 3. Woven Rug | 4. Gray Block Printed Cotton Flatweave | 5. Norcross Handwoven | 6. L’Baiet Nina Beige Oriental | 7. Wool-blend Rug | 8. Cut Diamond Printed | 9. Blue Moroccan Trellis Bosphorus | 10. Montauk Collection Handmade Flatweave | 11. Ariana Vintage Floral Trellis | 12. Latham Rigo Jute | 13. Keagan Gray | 14. Blue Chunky Loop Maui | 15. Templeton Gray | 16. Natural Hand Woven Jute with Wool Fringe Maui | 17. Medallion Loomed | 18. Sicily Blue | 19. Microplush Geo Knitted | 20. Navy Diamonds Cotton Trellis Flatwoven | 21. Tayler

Once you’ve got your basic furniture pieces into place and you’re ready to start peppering in some personality, rugs are the ideal place to start. Visually, they just take up a lot of space, so the color, pattern, and/or texture found there will serve as a jumping off point for the rest of the choices you’ll need to make. (They’re also just a great way to define different areas within a space.) The price you see here is mostly for 8x10s (give or take), so pretty sizeable. You really can’t go wrong with #14. It’s like the denim jacket of rugs—somehow it just goes with everything. I’m very into the price of #6, and #12 would be great on its own or layered under something with a bit more color, like that too-small vintage find you don’t know what to do with.

Table Lamps + Scones Under $200

1. Black Swiveling Wall Sconce With Wicker Shade | 2. Jane 7 in. 1-Light Adjustable Sconce | 3. Leggero Pole Wall Sconce | 4. 1-Light Natural Brass Sconce | 5. Double Loa Sconce with Peach Shades | 6. 1-Light Black Swing Arm Sconce | 7. Flush Mount Wall Lamp | 8. Jeffrey 25 in. Brass Wall Sconce | 9. Brava Antique Brass Down Light (set of 2) | 10. Camp Sconce | 11. Matte Gumball Sconce | 12. Metal and Wood Wall Sconce | 13. Bella Table Lamp | 14. Roar+Rabbit Figural Accent Light | 15. Marcella Mini Table Lamp | 16. Dome Modern Desk Lamp | 17. Olga Lamp Base | 18. 21 in. 2-Light Table Lamp | 19. Sarina Lantern Table Lamp | 20. Cupcakes and Cashmere Elemental Table Lamp | 21. Roxanne Moulin Table Lamp | 22. 18×12 Bamboo Table Lamp | 23. Denise 24.5” Table Lamp | 24. Chrislie Table Lamp | 25. Faux Wood Table Lamp | 26. White Marble Table Lamp With Black Linen Shade | 27. Vavda Table Lamp

We’re not saying all of these roundups are for people who rent apartments, but if you DO, you know the lighting can sometimes be…unfortunate. No overhead lighting, or just…not good stuff. Good news, all you need is a pretty lamp to fix your life. Also, whoa…lamps can be EXPENSIVE, even in the “budget” category. Most of these are $100ish or less, though we did go up to $200 for some of the sconces (both hardwired and plug-in). Hot renter tip: plug-in sconces are everything. Use them next to your bed, flanking a console or fireplace, in hallways (obviously, as long as there is an outlet nearby). I’m definitely a fan of the mushroom-y lamp. #13 is great but you can’t beat #2 in terms of price. I’m always drawn to anything woven, so #1 and #27 are winners for me, but I also can’t deny loving the simple, sculptural feel of #7 and #26.

Art Under $100

1. Organics Print | 2. Printable Abstract Water Color Print (set of 6) | 3. Moglea Print | 4. Crystal Palace No. 1 | 5. Woman’s Back Line | 6. Printable Abstract Print (set of 2) | 7. Framed Abstract Art | 8. Printable Geometric Print | 9. Yellow Flower Print | 10. Printable Indigo Abstract Print (set of 2) | 11. Printable Nude Abstract Print | 12. Rock In Style Print | 13. Minimal Line Drawing | 14. Printable Watercolor | 15. Brown Fruit Framed Print

Art is an important part of decorating any home (budget or high-end). It adds the soulfulness that makes a house a home. And in the case of a rental, it’s an especially good friend of those with a no-painting-allowed policy (been there, survived that). It’s also expensive, so, with that in mind, we focused our efforts on finding printable pieces that’ll hopefully make the cost of framing hurt a little less as well as some already-framed finds. The color palette of #1 feels very on-trend and fun, but I’m also into the simplicity of #7. When it comes to landscapes, vintage generally feels like the way to go, but there’s something really nice about #14. If you like the feel of a gallery wall but are unsure of what to hang with what, go with #2—these abstract watercolor prints come in a set of six.

Chandeliers & Pendants Under $200

1. Black Pendant Light | 2. Soso Tan and White Metal Pendant Light | 3. Utica 3-Light Sputnik Chandelier | 4. 3-Light Sputnik Chandelier | 5. Scarborough Concrete and Metal 1-Light Pendant | 6. Darin 4-Light Chandelier | 7. Teya Semi-Flush Pendant | 8. Round Bamboo and Rattan Pendant | 9. Akiva 1-Light Cone Pendant | 10. Brennon 1-Light Bell Pendant | 11. Phoebe Tiered Fringe Pendant | 12. Bitner 1-Light Dome Pendant | 13. Wood Pendant Light | 14. Two Tone Pendant | 15. Yearby 3-light Globe Chandelier | 16. Rochester 1-Light Bell Pendant | 17. Barnyard 1-Light 16 in. Warehouse Pendant | 18. Hearth & Hand Metal Chandelier Black | 19. Branches Black 3-Light Chandelier | 20. Shaded Pendant | 21. Fabric Geo Shade Pendant | 22. Knoxville 1-Light Geometric Pendant | 23. Plug-In Minimal Pendant Lamp | 24. Warnick 1-Light Globe Pendant

We understand the reluctance to replace hardwired fixtures in a rental, but it really does make such a difference (and isn’t that hard to do yourself as long as you do your research…that are hire someone from say, Taskrabbit to do it for you…you’d be surprised how inexpensive that could be). There’s a lot to love in this lighting roundup, and at under $200, the expense to have it installed is a little more justifiable. (I mean, #17 is $34!) I want to hang #5 in my imaginary desert house. #23 is a simple-but-striking twist on a simple globe pendant. I also love the idea of using two #20s in a bedroom to flank the bed.

Pillows & Throws Under $50

1. Artistic Weavers Cotton Throw | 2. Diamond Throw Pillow | 3. Textured Stripe Throw | 4. Washed Linen Cushion Cover | 5. Liana Fringe Throw Pillow | 6. Cotton Velvet Cushion Cover | 7. Stitched Stripe Throw | 8. Stellan Kilim Lumbar Pillow | 9. Charly Printed Eyelash Pillow | 10. Emeline Throw Pillow | 11. Bia Tassel Velvet Pillow | 12. Tassel Aria Throw Blanket | 13. Landscape Shapes Pillow | 14. West Village Cotton Throw | 15. Blue Stonewashed Embroidered Pillow | 16. Green Velvet Cushion Cover | 17. Black Melange Tassel Throw | 18. Cushion Cover with Fringe | 19. Bovina Throw | 20. Mud Cloth Pillow Cover | 21. Linen Cushion Cover

When choosing pillows and throws, take a look at your rug and art choices and stick to the color palette you find there. Make sure to balance out prints with a few solid options and you’re pretty much good to go. I love that #13 is playful but also pretty neutral at the same time, #16 looks way too luxe for the $10 price tag (what?!), and #12 and #19 look cozy enough to see me through many a Netflix marathon.

Accessories Under $50

1. Ceramic Footed Catch-All Dish | 2. Celestial Hyacinth Hanging Planter | 3. Large Earthenware Vase | 4. Metal Tray | 5. Metal Vase | 6. River Rock + Metal Sculpture | 7. Stoneware Serving Bowl | 8. Tall Burnt Coral Textured Ceramic Vase | 9. Marble Bookend | 10. Origami Vase | 11. Large Braided Rattan Tray | 12. Tall Stoneware Vase | 13. Raffia Tray Gray/White | 14. Stoneware Block Print Vase | 15. Fluted Plant Pot With Saucer | 16. Metal Candlestick | 17. Large Vase With Handles | 18. 3pc Glazed Terra Cotta Vase Set | 19. Stoneware Textured Vase | 20. Etched Terra Cotta Planter | 21. Ypperlig Vase | 22. Wood and Marble Paperweight | 23. Metal Planters (Set of 2) | 24. Clear Barcelona Vases

These are the little things that come together in the end to really round out a space. Pretty much every room, no matter the style, can benefit from pops of black (adds instant modernity and depth), and #7 (set it atop a stack of books), #12 and #17 are great options. I love that #3 looks like a vintage find (and also supports our recent thoughts that seashells are trending) while #1 and #18 look like they might be handmade.

Phew…that was a lot of products (132 if you were counting…I wasn’t) but I hope that there are tons here for you to pull from whether you’re decking out your first home or your 20th. Anything here catch your eye? The team is wrapping up this series soon (I think Arlyn might have a kitchen one up her sleeve for the next few weeks), but in terms of general roundups, as always, chime in if there are any specific roundups you’d love to see here.

The post The Ultimate Budget Home: Rugs & Lighting Under $200, Art Under $100 and Decor Under $50 appeared first on Emily Henderson.