The LAST Summer Guest Blogger Friday! It's Meg from House Notes!

My summer guest blogger series, just like summer itself, has come to an end.  I wanted to say a special thank you to all of the lovely, wonderful, spectacularly entertaining women who shared their words with you every Friday this summer.  I hope that my readers have discovered some new blog finds too.

Meg is one of my favorite house reads, she's sweet, she's sassy, and she's talented.  What I really adore about her though is she makes decorating accessible to everyone.  Sometimes decorating bloggers have an unlimited budget or perks, but Meg shows you how to achieve a high end, yet still liveable look for pennies.  I'd like to call it decorating for the rest of us.  She's not afraid to roll up her sleeves and work hard to make her house into a beautiful home.  If you haven't visited House Notes yet, I'm guessing that after you see her work you'll be paying her a visit... now if I could only get her up here to help me re-do the living room.  By the way Meg?  I need that filing cabinet and the turquoise lamp too!  LOVE.


Well, hello! My name is Meg and I’m a frugal newlywed that loves the environment as much as I love decorating. Thanks to lots of bargain shopping and a few cans of paint, I’ve been able to do my part in reducing and reusing all while designing on a dime.We all love a good before and after, so today’s post will highlight some of my favorite transformations through a little Goodwill Hunting and the power of paint. Let’s get started, shall we? Lee and I had almost nothing when we got married. We did, however, have his childhood bedroom furniture. After getting his permission, I went to town with some white paint and black spray paint for the knobs and pulls. Before:

 

After:

We did the same thing for a cute $15 night stand that we spotted at Goodwill: Before:

After:

This little filing cabinet was also spotted at Goodwill for $15. I simply added some red spray paint and scrapbook paper, and voila! Better off red. Before:

After:

And when we needed a chandelier to glam up our dining room? I spray painted a $10 one from Goodwill! Before:

After:

How about another way to save the environment? My husband and I have saved quite a bit of paper by converting a Goodwill mirror into a chalkboard using chalkboard spray paint. Perfect for grocery lists! Before:

After:

Up next, my very first furniture makeover ever: a $45 armoire that my mom bought from a friend. Puke green wasn’t quite my style. Before:

After:

And finally, my favorite Goodwill transformation to date, a little project I like to call the “Economic Recovering.” My MIL tracked down these cute chairs for 11 bucks each. I could smell the potential (and thankfully nothing else):

I located my favorite fabric at Joann (in indoor/outdoor material to save money and increase its stain resiliency)on super sale for 50% off the regular price. We then researched our way to the cheapest local upholsterer, and the rest is history!

And there you have it! Saving pieces of potential from the trash and also keeping some green in your pocket. With a little bit of vision and paint, everybody wins!

I’d like to thank Michelle very much for letting me take over So Wonderful, So Marvelous today. It’s not every day you come across someone with such wit (not to mention hilarious advice and insanely yummy recipes), and I am a huge fan of hers. This blog is one of my very favorite online haunts.

If you adore a fun furniture or paint makeover like I do, feel free to visit House Notes as I transform just about everything I can think of. Thanks, everyone!