The Evolution of a Room: Part 3

A few weeks ago I Instagramed this photo:

I was so excited when I brought my new bike home I had to put it up and show it to the world!
I love having pictures and art hanging on the walls in our home, it makes it feel so much more homey and ours. I have a hard time with plain blank walls...

I have plans to make a washi tape frame around the bike but until I find a tape that I like or actually start looking for tape, I just used regular old masking tape on the back side and taped it in several different spots to make sure it stayed up.
I have plans to hang more things in here (that means you characacher!) but so far this is what I've got and there are also plans in my head for lighting but that will have to wait a little bit as well.

I am very happy with the makeover my bed received. Thanks to Christmas and my hubby for getting me the duvet I wanted. I was happy to see this duvet cover on my way out of JCP while Christmas shopping one night. I love the colors and pattern and the price was too good to pass up, I didn't know I would get the duvet for Christmas so that was a very happy surprise and a wonderful Christmas morning!

For those of you that are interested here is my source list for bedding and bike:
I have a really hard time spending a lot of money on anything so this whole room makeover was super duper inexpensive, like less then 100 bucks!

Art:

Bike print from CaravanShoppe
Printed at Staples with a 40% off code.

Bedding:

Sheets at JCPenny similar here (and on sale)
Duvet Cover at JCPenny clearance (no longer available)
Duvet at Overstock.com here 

I love the new colors going on in here now and I can't wait to add more stuff to make this room feel even more ours. It is evolving into a space that I love!

Apartment Decorating: Bedroom Curtains

The Evolution of a Room: Part 2

So I was writing this post and went to link to the photos of our first home and found that I never actually published that post which is why the tour when up Tuesday. And now this one is all linked and ready to roll out :)


I feel like I have said this millions of times but maybe I just think it a lot. But living in an apartment/rental can make decorating really hard. Especially if the place is like the apartment we live in now and doesn't allow holes.
In our first place the lease was really great and I could pretty much do anything I wanted regarding decor. Painting or other big changes were not an option but I could nail or drill anything I wanted into the walls. I didn't even think twice when I removed the cheap slatted blinds over the sliding door and replaced them with a rod and curtains or hung up chain link fence pipe as the rod in our bedroom.
Day one when we moved into our current place I was trying to hang a rod in our bedroom and Danny sat on the couch and read through our new lease where it stated what you could and could not do to the walls. Holes were a no! OOOOOPS! Good thing I didn't get very far.... I quickly filled in the couple of holes that I made and we never spoke of it again. Our curtains stayed folded up in the closet and our apartment stayed plain and booooooring!

 

 

While browsing around for sheets one day I saw on the clearance rack a couple of sheer panels. I have always wanted sheer curtains to go behind my regular curtains. I love the light that comes through the sheer panels while still blocking any view of the inside of my house to the outside peeping public.
Here is a picture I found on Google; not the best, but you can sort of see the look I wanted.

source

They were on clearance so I picked them up not knowing how I would be able to use them. Then after over a year of hating our new place because it didn't have any personality I pulled all my curtains out of the closet and tried to figure out how to hang them. I was really upset that I couldn't use the rods we already had but I was determined to find something and on the cheep! Then it hit me:

Tension rods!

I don't know why I didn't think of it before... I have always had this idea of using a tension rod for a sheer panel and then my pretty rod for the regular panels so I don't know why this didn't hit me sooner. I went on the hunt for tension rods. I found a couple really cheep for the living room windows. They are standard single windows. But the one in our bedroom is huge and I couldn't find a rod that would fit and not be like 20 bucks, which for me is way too much moolah.
And then I had another BRILLIANT idea! I figured if a shower curtain rod could reach across the distance between the two walls in my bathroom then couldn't that also fit my large window? It seemed to be about the same distance... Lucky for me about the same time I had this wonderful revelation our friends were moving into their new home and it had two brand new shower rods. She didn't want or need her old one so she gave it to me! I was totally stoked to try it out in my room and sure enough it fit perfectly inside my window!

I made the regular curtains for our bedroom in our first house and they had to fit over the chain link fence pole so they went on easy but it took a little pulling and twisting to get the end cap off one of the sides so the sheer panels would actually go on. I sandwiched the sheer panels in between the regular ones to achieve the look that I wanted.

When closed the sheer panels are bunched in the center so the others can't close completely but it's no big deal! I love that people walking by outside can't see into my room and Kokua and Kapone can still look out just fine. I LOVE THEM! It's beautiful in the day and keeps that pesky orange light from shining in my eyes at night!

It feels like a totally different room; I'm so happy I finally added something to spruce things up.
I will show you how I livened up the living room once I get pictures taken of those windows!

And because I can't help myself: here is Kapone nibbling on Kokua's ear. I promise, she loves this!

Have you added anything fun to a room in your house lately or had any brilliant ideas? I'd love to hear all about it!

Linking up at:

FFA Challenge #3

The Evolution of a Room: Part 1

FFA Challenge #3: Pick a Room, Any Room

Today's challenge is to pick a room that you want to focus on.  If you are nervous about it to the point that you don’t think you can go through it then pick a room that not everyone will see all the time.  But don’t be scared!

In challenge #1 you defined what you want your house to FEEL like.
In challenge #2 you defined your style more in depth, and today we are going to start doing stuff!!

Okay so the room I chose for this challenge is my bedroom! I really wanted to tackle my living room but sense that room and the dining area and the kitchen are all pretty much the same room I thought that would be a little too much for me to handle all at once. SO the bedroom it is!!

Here are the BEFORE photos and I hope to have some great AFTERS or at least some DURINGS pretty soon!!

Welcome to my boring bedroom:

Now here are some shots going around the room.

 

A few problems we have is that we live in a 1 bedroom apartment with absolutely no storage, we can't put any holes in the walls for decorations and the dogs kennels have to be in our bedroom.

 

I really love how these pictures make this room look so big! It's awesome; it doesn't feel as big as it looks in person; if that made any sense.

Well that's what I've got so far; check back for updates as the room evolves!

And because I love her; here is a picture of me and my girl Kokua: