At the end of this month, we will have lived in this house for three years. I have never lived anywhere for that long in my adult life. What that means is, I have always had the opportunity to nest every year or two with each new home we moved into, thus fulfilling my innate need to decorate and arrange furniture. Well, since we really love our house and our neighborhood and have no intention of moving any time soon, I'm starting to feel downright antsy for some aesthetic changes around here. Our downstairs furniture hasn't moved an inch since we set it down three years ago. I need change!
The only problem is that we are operating within the same budget we have been for the past three years:
10% back to God
98% house
2% food
That doesn't leave a lot of room for buying furniture. So, I'm trying to think creatively. Inspired by my friend Tara, whose house looks like an ad for Pottery Barn and who has the best decorating taste I've ever seen, I'm considering swapping the furniture in my TV room and formal dining room. By my mom's suggestion, I'm also considering swapping the couches in my living room and TV room, which, admittedly, would be a lot easier. Both, of course, would require the purchase of some accessories and decorative accents. I have had numerous conversations with friends and family, seeking their opinions. I have even dragged in people off the street to ask them if they think it will work (okay, not really, but if you are unfortunate enough to be invited into my house in the near future, you will probably end up looking at graph paper and pondering the purpose of the TV nook).
And the reason I've been unusually silent in the blogoshere these past few days, is because I have been out shopping. I am really not a shopper. I'm a buyer. If I can't buy something, I don't really see the point in going shopping. And since I can almost never buy anything (see budget above), I don't shop much. But I have been furiously pricing furniture these past few days so that I can formulate a game plan.
If nothing else, even if I don't actually buy anything, this new shopping education of mine may come in handy for convincing Adel to help me rearrange the furniture: "Well, we could give the room-swap a try, which would be hard work but FREE, or we could buy a new sectional for the TV room for roughly $1,300."
It just might work.
(And Tara, if you read this, I need your advice!)
1 comment:
Megan, too bad mailing each other furniture costs to much. We could switch for a year or so. :)
Ok another plan. Coupons, use the money you save from doing coupons to buy the accessories you need. Email me if your interested. I cut my grocery bill in half the last trip so if I keep doing it I will have saved roughly enough to buy that sofa you want by next year. Also, try switching around pictures and frames. Different color bath rugs (switch the bathrooms, wash all the shower curtains). My husband does the graph paper thing to but there are online room set up things that are free to use. I use it every move.
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