Frugal redecorating

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned on Twitter that I was taking a Friday afternoon off from my usual work and/or cooking projects to focus on repurposing items around my house. Here’s why:

That’s a ‘before’ picture of my front hall. It has looked like that, give or take packing boxes, random piles of stuff, cat toys, and cartons of Girl Scout cookies, since we moved in more than 18 months ago. Not exactly the most welcoming feel for your arriving guests, is it?

Well, I finally got fed up with it. DP had another onslaught of guest lecturers coming in, several of whom were invited for dinner, and I just couldn’t face the thought of opening the front door one more time with that void behind me. Something had to be done.

And lo, my exasperation became my inspiration when, lying awake one night, I worked out how to pull something reasonable together out of various things that I had stashed here and there, waiting to find a permanent location in the home decor.

Here’s what I came up with:

What do you think? I think it looks pretty good. I don’t expect any calls from House Beautiful any time soon, but at least the front hall no longer gives the impression that the house is inhabited by squatters, as one of our more frequent visitors so lovingly expressed it. And the best part is that I spent a grand total of $20.00 - for the lamp base. Everything else you see was stuff that I either already had, or that SP contributed from her renovation stash (namely the Ikea embroidered lamp shade) to fill a gap. SP also contributed an afternoon of elbow grease, after I called her in a tizzy when I couldn’t find the hardware to assemble that piece of furniture: she came over with her professional drill and put it together using hardware from her collection and sheer force of will.

So overall, I feel pretty happy and thrifty. I think I’m going to keep fiddling with the details, though. Suggestions from people who are more designer-y than me are most welcome.