Million Dollar Taste...5 cent Budget

I guess you could say we have taken the advice of my grandmother...we are trying to build Rome : ) We did get one thing accomplished. Last week, we transformed the Pepto room to a warm granite color with bright white trim. It's the perfect backdrop for all of his UnderArmour nicknacks that he has collected over the last 3 years. I have the perfect black and white pictures to hang on the wall of NYC. The layout of the room is somewhat awkward due to the spiral staircase in the corner that neither one of us whats to take down, unless the right offer comes along on Ebay or Craig's List. The room most also function as an extra bedroom when guests come. We don't have a bed yet; we do have our very comfortable Airobed for people to sleep on. Personally, I don't think we are going to get a bed in the room too. So I've been trying to figure out if we should get one of those bed in the wall units to keep it stored away until we need it. But I think I'll work on getting a bed first!

The thing that makes me laugh is you really do think you are moving into a house and you don't need to change much stuff...then you get in and the list grows...very rapidly! And on top of it, you have million dollar taste on a 5 cent budget! I have about 12 projects I want to do; one of them gutting our little bathroom but Matt wants nothing to do what that right now (project 12 I guess) and all of it costs money. So I'm currently trying my best to bargin shop my way around to find storage solutions, etc for this room. I also need to find another color besides gray, white and black because that does not fit into my beach theme of living...

That's my other problem. My aunt keeps asking me, how do I define my style? Well, let's see...I absolutely LOVE Pottery Barn and Restoration Hardware (million dollar budget) and I love a more upscale beach theme; beach theme because of the cool neutral colors and the easy living of the water...Blues, offwhites, greens mixed with wood tones and texture.... I don't like stuffy furniture that you sit in and can't be comfortable and I don't want people walking into my house feeling like if they break something, I'll cry. I don't want something overly formal yet I want it to look inviting, comforting and adultish.... Formal is not a word that fits into my style vocabulary! I remember when my parents came up to look @ houses and my father looked at me and said..."This could be a formal dining room and living room." I laughed out loud! When I grew up back in Bport, my parents had a formal dining room and living room upstairs. It was the biggest waist of square footage! The living room is used by Nike, our little dog, because he sits by the window and barks at everyone who walks by and the dining room only got used if we had more than 4 people for dinner. Only in the last 4 years has the living room upstairs turned into a place we are "allowed" to sit; the dining room is now the everyday room since the wall FINALLY came down between the kitchen and dining room. I want my entire house to be livable, functional and flowing space, especially when you only have about 1200 square feet of living space. Every inch needs to count. My parents are also in the midset that every room can be different and I HATE that, especially when all the rooms open up onto each other...you need flow! So calling my parents for decorating advice is just not an option!

So today, my million dollar taste will be out bargain shopping since it is the season to shop!