A Penny Saved Is a Penny Earned

"A penny saved is a penny earned," right?

Well, I'm all for that.  How about you?  

Most of us have our sites set on accomplishing our goals on the cheap.

Well, I'm here to cheer you on in the area of interiors.

Hopefully, this blog will be an encouragement to you and give you

some great ideas for your place, spurring you on to great ideas of your own.

So, here in the first Pretty On A Penny blog, 

I'll start close to home.  My home.

Come on in, and I'll share a few things I've done at my place.

Velvet.  I love velvet.  

In my formal living room, I wanted something dramatic and

a little over the top.  However, budget was tight, so I put on my thinking cap.

These beauties are simple rod pocket velvet drapes from World Market.  

Nothing fancy, and not even lined.  $43/panel (but of course, I had a 15% off coupon!).

Since I already have shades in the windows, I didn't need the drapes to close.

That led me to decide to forego the hardware...

...and hang those babies with some simple, square upholstery tacks, 

placed at intervals along the wall.  The tacks were $9/pack of 10.

I finished off the treatment with some antique gold tasseled tiebacks 

I bought at an estate sale (a buck a piece) and was really happy with the result.  

TOTAL PENNIES SPENT (in dollars, of course!):  $75

Compare that to normal, off the rack, window treatments with hardware

that can average $300-400/window.  

Further compare that to custom drapes...Fuhgetaboutit!

Drapes really give a room dimension.  If you don't do anything else, do drapes.

On that note, here's another set of drapes in my family room.

You won't believe what these are made out of.  Felt.

Yep, plain and simple, and $3/yard at Joann (I had a coupon there, too!).

Felt is great because it holds its shape really well,

and no need to sew, either.  You can cut them right off at the bottom.  Woohoo!

The hardware here is straight up IKEA:  rod, brackets and clip rings at $14 total.

A little secret on this treatment is that I clipped the rings about an inch

below the top edge of the fabric all across the top so that it created soft pinch pleats.  

Yep, I like it.  TOTAL COST:  $32

Before                                                        After

And here's a little fireplace love.  Whew!  Much better afterward, don't you think?

I splurged a bit on this and used a metallic paint from Menards:  $23/quart, but well worth it.

The paint is a really dark coffee brown with wonderful metallic flecks in it.

It took a bit of elbow grease and some time, but again well worth it.

If you have a fireplace crying out for a facelift, don't even think twice.  Paint it.

TOTAL COST:  $80 for 3 quarts of paint and a big, industrial paintbrush.

Just for fun, here's another fireplace in the house that got some lovin', too.

This time I used a pearly champagne metallic paint, again from Menards.

I didn't go for complete coverage on this one because the mortar was a pretty slate grey.

So, I painted this one with a big roller, right across the faces of all those bricks.

Three coats, and just a couple of hours later, it's fabulous!

TOTAL COST:  $75 for 3 quarts of paint and a big, fat roller.

OK, pardon me while I sport a little pride on this one.

The story is that I had been eyeing this lovely wrapping paper at Home Goods

for weeks.  It's made out of stone, not trees.  Cool.  Every time I was in there, 
I kept thinking, "What can I do with this??"

Well, my opportunity came after blogging about the woes of a boring 

laundry room, picking out a fancy inspiration photo and working up the budget for it.

Reality check.

What is it they say, "Desperation breeds ingenuity?"  Well, I wasn't exactly desperate.

The laundry room could've waited.  But inspiration struck, my truck practically

drove itself to Home Goods, and darn if that wonderful stone wrapping paper 

didn't make its way into my cart in record time!

As you can see, I wallpapered the back wall of the laundry room

with that fabby paper and bright silver thumbtacks (AKA nailhead trim!).

  No paste, no glue.

Just paper, measuring tape, scissors and well placed thumbtacks.

The project was such a success, that I treated myself to a pair

of adorable lamps (also from Home Goods) to bump up the lighting in that room.

Color me happy.

How 'bout those pennies, you ask?

Wrapping paper - $6, Thumbtacks - $4, Lamps - $20/ea.  TOTAL COST: $50

More inspiration, great ideas and thoughtful interiors coming your way

to color YOU happy, and make your bank account happy, too!

Until next time...

- Amy