Design On A Dime - College Dorms
My little sister, Jolene will be moving away to college this weekend. She has recruited me to do some interior decorating for her room, all elements will be an eclectic mix of indie-meets-modern; a vibe that I love so much. Since she told me about her apartment, I have been on the lookout for budget-friendly items (she will be a starving college student, after all). I have found old record covers for wall decor, some abstract art to set on a modern end table, all found at various thrift and consignment stores. While those pieces area all ready to be placed in the room as-is, I did find a few fixer-upers.
A look we want to achieve is a massive pile of pillows to be thrown across the bed; pillows of all sizes, colors and patterns. Okay, maybe not massive, but I am aiming for about 6 or 7. Poly-fill stuffing can get pricey, especially when you are making more than several large, firm pillows. I started scouring consignment shops for pillows, as the stuffing is already there. While shopping, I kept in mind three things: 1. Price, 2. Cleanliness, 3. Potential. I found many ready-to-be-used as is, and quite a few ugly ducklings that would need a face lift. Here is how I spruced up two of the pillows for under a couple dollars each.
I found each of these pillows for $0.99 each. The one on the left is some type of green patterned pillow that I realized had potential - a stretch, but doable. Pillows that are all around ugly can be covered by a pillow case. The one on the right is plain white. At first glance, it was boring, but this is a perfect blank canvas.
At home, I had two vintage placemats that I had purchased for under a dollar at a thrift store that I knew would make for an easy pillow case. I also had some scrap black felt.
I put the two placemats together and sewed three sides shut. I then placed the pillow inside and sewed the remaining side closed. First pillow, done. Easy. For the blank canvas pillow, I cut out a trendy mustache and simply hot-glued it on the middle of the pillow. Second pillow, done; just as easy!
These budget-friendly items can now be placed with some budget-breaking pieces; all hopefully without breaking the bank :) While I do enjoy buying cute brand-new items, I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have an opportunity to put my creativity into something.
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