31 days of change :: day 23 {changing someone else's home}

When all else fails and you can't decorate your own house... decorate someone else's!!

If you read my post from yesterday you know that I've been struggling to find the motivation to do much in my own house lately.  So thankfully my friend Jill volunteered hers.  Jill let me have free reign... and her entire decorating budget... an envelope with $88 and change in it:)  

I headed over to her adorable 1 bedroom apartment on Saturday afternoon to see what we were working with.  Then Sunday I took her envelope and $88 with me to do some quick shopping at TJ Maxx.  I knew I wanted to find some large wall art for over her couch, and I figured that would probably eat up the majority of my budget... and it did.  I only purchased 3 things at TJ Maxx... a cool vintage-looking framed world map for $50... a small colorful canvas print for $10... and a cute burlap pillow for $17.  Total... about $82, after tax.  So after TJ Maxx, I thought I would take a peek inside my own garage and see if I could find anything... sure enough, I did:)  My old coffee table... an old lamp shade... some sofa pillows... and these awesome pillows... All of which would sooner or later find its way to a yard sale or goodwill, so I decided I would way rather gift it all to my friend Jill!  Well, except for the purple pillows... totally indian giving those to Jill... until I want them back.  So yesterday after work, Jill bravely handed over the keys to her apartment and left me to my own devices.

Okay, okay... enough chit-chat.  Let's see some before-and-after pictures, shall we??  Here's Jill's living room before...

And... drumroll please... here's Jill's living room after...

Pay no attention to the cardboard corners on the map art work... I wanted to make sure Jill liked everything before I took price tags off.  Also... sorry for the dark "after" pictures... I started at about 6:00pm and finished at 8:00pm.  The trusty iPhone's not always the best for taking nighttime photos... sorry about that.  Never-the-less, you get the picture.  Hands down, the biggest statement piece in this room is the coffee table.  It's amazing what a simple hand-me-down coffee table can do for a living room.  I also really like how Jill's desk looks next to her sofa.  And Jill has an awesome rug that you couldn't even see before.  Overall, I'm quite pleased with how the living room turned out.

But wait!  There's more... I did a quick switch-a-roo in Jill's bedroom too!  Here's what we were working with before... (Jill apologizes in advance for the mess... please disregard...)

And here's the after...

I love, love, love that awesome vintage dresser.  Jill had just recently bought that piece at one of my own favorite antique consignment spots (Yesternook)... and I simply re-attached the mirror and moved it over to the side of the bed.  I love it there.  My purple pillows add some height and color to the bed.  The bowl-futon-ey-chair thing (technical, I know) was moved in from the living room... and that cute little turquoise chair came from the kitchen.  All simple changes, with big impact.

There you have it.  See, $88 dollars can go a long way.  The majority of the changes I made at Jill's apartment were free... rearranging furniture and shopping from around the house.  Go ahead... try it.  Happy changing!!  And thanks Jill for letting me play at your house!!
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For the month of October I'm doing a 31-day series on "change."  Go here to see the full line-up of "change" posts.