Embracing the Inner Orange

The original dining room when we bought the house.

My spin on the decor for under $500.

When I visited my friend Dianne's house it was to see her barn and her horses, not the inside of her house. Of course, she would invite me inside for a cold drink after playing with the horses in a dirty barn and arena.  She prefaced that her house was out of date and it was the last thing they would ever put money into since the horses came first.

Now that we have our own farm, I completely understand what she was telling me at the time. Either we build a barn or install new floors and a remodeled kitchen.  Barn Barn Barn!  All I could think about was a beautiful barn for my boys, especially, since we needed it to save money on boarding somewhere else. Boarding horses around here isn't cheap! The barn won the contest, so the house would have to wait.  

One day, after the barn was completed, I popped into Kirklands and they were having a fabulous sale.  To my surprise, I found out I can have an additional discount with the military.  Love that!  I found a bright floral picture that completely matched my orange carpet in the dining room.  I would rather have wood floors that are spectacular and fancy, of course, but that budget was spent outside.  Instead of new floors, I decided to embrace the inner orange. I bought the picture and it worked perfect with the carpet.

Now I have to mention that I love vintage furniture too.  I am obsessed with tables, shelves and dressers.  My whole house could be furnished with dressers. I always gravitate to them because you can use them as tv stands, storage, a credenza, and a bar.  I found a black repurposed dresser for under $200 at my favorite store in Cary, NC. The store is called The Perfect Piece and yes, it always has the perfect piece for my home. I make it a point to visit there every time I am up north in Cary.

With the combination of repurposed furniture, my collection of vintage glassware and accessories from Kirklands, I have decorated my dining room to embrace the orange carpet.  Now don't get me wrong, if I inherited a ton of money or won the lottery that I don't play, I would get my wood floors. In the meantime, I continue to find frugal ways to decorate the house, since most of my funds go into the bellies and lives of my dearest equine children.