Simple Budget Friendly Spring Tour: Part 2

Hello, friends, and welcome back my simple budget friendly spring tour: part 2! Yesterday I shared our porch, entry, master bedroom & bathroom, and Wilder’s room.  Today I am joining Marty at A Stroll Through Life to share my living room, kitchen, and dining nook.  As I mentioned yesterday, while I feel a little silly posting about my home during the coronavirus madness, I also realize that now, more than ever, we need our homes to be our sanctuaries.  My hope is to inspire you to create a space, working with what you have and finds from your yard, that feels like a cozy retreat and safe haven for you and your family.  Like most of us, I will be hanging out with my kids within these walls for the unforeseeable future, so I want to make sure that our home is conducive to relaxing, playing games, watching movies, and spending time together, and that there is also plenty of space for each of us to unwind and destress. The areas that I am going to show you today are those that we spend the most time in gathered as a family.  If you are hopping over here from Laura at Decor to Adore, welcome!  Laura is such a fun spirit, and her home truly reflects that.  If you haven’t yet, head on over and say hello and check out her lovely home. Now, let me welcome you into the hub of our little rancher. (A note about affiliate links: I use them, and I carefully select useful and budget friendly pieces for my home and I am excited to share those with you through these links. I do earn a small commission made through qualifying purchases, and appreciate that support as it helps me continue to run my blog! I’ve added shoppable links below each section for you, as well as a source list at the bottom of this post.)

I thought we would start in the living room, as this space has really become our primary hangout.  Over super bowl weekend, we finally bought a smart TV for this space, and now it’s where we hang out together for movie time, or where we watch Legacies or Lost in Space, the two shows we currently watch as a family (minus the littlest because he goes to bed, and those shows are not for him!). However, as you can see, this room certainly has a space just for him with that teepee in the corner.

Typically during the day when the kids aren’t home, our dogs enjoy relaxing in this space as you can see.

They even take to lounging on the sofa, much to my chagrin.

Of course, I’ve just let them know that the kids are going to be home for a while… I think that expression says it all. Oh crap.

And if you’re wondering where the other dog is, she found herself a cozy little corner, but I promise you she is here, too! As you can see, this room opens into the dining area, which we will get to soon.

First let’s spend some more time hanging out in here.  We just painted this room, and the warm blush feels so inviting and calming.  It creates such a relaxing ambience for our family.  For spring, I’ve brought in some neutral pillows I had on hand, as well as a bear face I also had on hand from years ago.  It felt very seasonal to me as now is when the bears come out of hibernation. I still love to use my fur throw at night in here.

On the coffee table I added a wood vase I received as a gift from a friend a couple years ago, and filled it with leftover pussy willows from a moody spring bouquet I created last month. Of course, to be fair, I only placed it here for photos… I mean, I have a toddler, you guys. This vase typically sits on our kitchen counter, and the table is generally clear or filled with trucks and trains.

Under the table, I tucked a pair of blush velvet floor pillows.  Even though it’s only 4 of us that watch movies at night in here, my older two can’t seem to share space on a huge sectional, so these have been a life saver.  Sawyer likes to  pair them up, add his pillows, and make himself a little cozy bed. We are doing no spend March, and I did not buy anything new for this tour, but I was fortunate to have my home featured on mindbodygreen and was provided with these pillows for it.

In the corner of the room sits my new home-office space I created by adding some shelves. I recently added this chair that is made entirely of recycled fishing nets by a new innovative company. I am all for brands that are recycling and saving our planet in their useful creations!

I am currently enrolled in Marie Forleo’s B School, and this little corner has become quite the work horse to me.  You can see my B School binder sitting up there on the shelf.

I also added a hand-lettered quote I created just to inspire me, some cute bunnies I made that I will be sharing the how-to for next week, and a clay flower Emmy made me in school a couple of years ago. 

As you can see, this little office corner sits right off of our entry, so it’s important to me that it looks presentable and somewhat organized.

 

Passing though the entry, let’s head on to the kitchen, which we renovated last year.  It took forever, so I just revealed it earlier this year.  It’s my favorite room in the house!

Although this space was a long time coming, I will say that in the end it was worth the wait.

Because it’s recently been finished and I am still in the honeymoon stage with it, I haven’t felt the need to change much around.  I did create a little spring shelfie action last week.

Truly, I just added simple touches with sort of a woodsy theme.

The rest of the shelves around the kitchen really stayed the same, and hold our useful items we use plus some fun decorative items and clay pieces the kids have made over the years.

Near the sink, I made one small little spring touch… can you see it?

If you looked really closely, maybe you saw the vintage amber bottle with the daffodil in the window sill.  Our daffodils are just about done blooming, but this guy was hanging on… until I cut him. And yes, that is Iowa pine dish soap… It happens to be my favorite scent, so I grabbed a bunch when it went on sale.  I don’t care that it’s not Christmas.

I really believe in decorating with what you have, things you use daily, and little personal touches.  On the other side of the kitchen where our every day dishes are, I’ve moved my Ninja and fruit to the countertop.  We use this blender every single day, so it make sense to keep it out.

I also updated my letter board, given the current situation.

Opposite this wall sits my pantry and command center wall with my huge DIY dry erase calendar. As you can see, it’s pretty blank because everything has been cancelled.

This space certainly doesn’t scream spring right now, but we’ve made a couple of small changes so I wanted to share those with you.  First of all, thanks to my friends at Cafe Appliances, for sending me the microwave to complete my kitchen!  Our budget ran out after all was said and done in the kitchen, and they came through for me. I also added this wall pocket organizer which was SO needed because before we had piles of papers everywhere.  Now we have piles of paper on the wall. 😉

 

Let’s head into the last room of this tour, which is really now part of our kitchen since we remodeled and knocked down the wall, making it an eat-in dining nook.

In here, I kept things really simple and organic feeling, to work with the mural we added during the fall One Room Challenge. The mural features a sun/moon and I thought it was a great opportunity to add a swarm of shiny butterflies I made with my Cricut. I shared a little more about that here.

The butterflies have a gorgeous shimmer to them that makes them look moonlit and romantic, and the sheen matches the color of the fuzzy pieces of the branches.

On the table, I recycled more of those pussy willow branches I already had on hand, and put 3 each in some large vintage amber glass bottles I have.  The light really pours in that window, and these bottles catch it beautifully.  I’ve always had a soft spot for vintage amber glassware.

Aren’t they so pretty?  Do you love vintage glassware like I do?

The banquette itself is loaded with the same pillows it has had since November.  I selected some gorgeous neutrals from Victoria Sturup’s shop, and they just have worked with every season so far.

Like I said, it’s super simple in here with just a couple of seasonal touches, but I love how it feels. We spend many nights around this table playing cards or other games. Now that the kids will be home for a while, I am sure we’ll be getting even more use of this space.

We did have one other addition after Christmas, but it’s not seasonal… a little mini kitchen for Wilder!  I updated it and gave  him terrazzo countertops and backsplash just like our own kitchen. 🙂

 

Well, there you have it, my friends!  Thank you so much for checking out my spring home tour.  This year is certainly going to be different from any other spring I’ve ever lived through, but I know we will all get through it and our families and country will come out stronger.  I hope that I’ve helped inspire you today to make the best of the home you’re in during this time, using what you along with some garden branches to give your home the zen-like feel you will be needing.  Wishing you all the best in health and happiness!

Sources

All paint by Sherwin Williams, colors noted.

Living Room: Leather Sectional / Indoor Outdoor Solid Rug / Persian Rug / Similar Coffee Table / Floor Pillows / Acrylic Tray / Similar Wood Vase / Chinchilla Faux Fur Blanket / Similar Bear Pillow / Similar Mud Cloth Pillow / Side Table / Desk / Desk Chair / Salt Lamp / Shelf Brackets / Similar Letter Board / Similar Bookends / Wall Pocket / Blinds /  Paint Color: Malted Milk

Kitchen (For full list of kitchen remodel sources see here): Calendar / Sink Mat / Wall Organizer / Wood Letter Board / Similar Copper Tray / Paint Color: Pure White / Door Color: Comical Coral

Dining Nook: Wallpaper / Table / Chairs / Play Kitchen / Bottles / Light Fixture / Pillows / Banquette Cushion / Blinds Paint Color: Pure White

Now be sure to head on over to Christy’s house over at 11 Magnolia Lane.  Christy is currently living in the cutest rental here in North Carolina, and you have just got to see how she’s made it a home!

Monday Lineup

   A Stroll Thru Life  – Remodelando La Casa  –  Cuckoo4Design –  Far Above Rubies – Southern Hospitality – Duke Manor Farm 

Tuesday Lineup

House By Hoff  –  Pink Peppermint Design –  ZDesign At Home – Taryn Whiteaker –  Inspiration For Moms – Decor To Adore

Wednesday Lineup

Cassie Bustamante –  11 Magnolia Lane  – Hymns &amp Verses – Modern Glam – Thrifty & Chic  – Grace In My Space

Thursday Lineup

 Our Southern Home  – My 100 Year Old Home – Sanctuary Home Decor – Seeking Lavender Lane – Southern State Of Mind – StoneGable –

Friday Lineup

Thistlewood Farms –  White Arrows Home –  The Woodgrain Cottage – Life On Cedar Lane –  Follow The Yellow Brick Home  – Making Home Base