Mid-Summer Swoon {Day 4} Guest Blogger: Home Preferred

Up today in the fourth day of our fun Mid-Summer Swoon series is Noelle of Home Preferred.  I think Noelle and I connected online in a link party and I am so glad we did because she has become such a great bloggie-friend!  Noelle is the mom to five (yes, 5) children and wife to a husband who will move a dresser down a flight of stairs after 12 hours of work to make his decorating-savvy wife happy (love.that). She loves to blog about decorating, baking and entertaining ... and let me tell you, her parties look absolutely incredible (like this one and this one, oh and this one).  The party-planner-wannabe in me loves it when she posts her parties!

So without further ado, here is Noelle!

Today I am honored to be guest posting here at Swoon Style and Home! This blog has all the things I love.....wonderful home design advice and ideas, good food, and of course fashion. I love how beautifully Shanna and Jamie has put it all together on such a beautiful blog! Thank you so much girls for having me here today!!!

Well of course I too "swoon" over stylish homes, good food, and pretty fashions!! Today I will give you some "swoon" worthy style tips for your home, on a budget of course! I am a believer that we all can have a beautiful home, even on the tightest of budgets. I know because I am a mother of 5 kids, and having a pretty home was always important to me. Although the budget did not allow me to just go out and buy from the catalogs, furniture stores, etc. I learned to re-do, re-purpose, and imitate the things I would see on a very small budget.

Here are several tips to get you started or keep you going on your quest for a beautiful home......

• Fresh flowers- flowers bring life to a space! If you are lucky enough to have a garden and a green thumb, cut some flowers and bring into every room.. If not, the market has very inexpensive flowers in all kinds of varieties and colors. I used these in a vase for a spring party, they cost just under $10, and they set the tone for the table!

• Go Big-large scale accessories add drama to a space! Look for apothecary jars, large candle holders, even a stack of books can accessorize a table nicely. I found these chunky candle holders at a garage sale for $5, they were black, and I needed them to be antique white...solution, invest in a $3 can of spray paint and they were perfect, again under $10

• Pillows,pillows, pillows-I love how changing pillow covers can change the feel of an entire room. These are covered with Dwell Studio for Target.....dishtowels, yes dishtowels. They were 3 towels in a package for $9.99, I just broke out the sewing machine and some scrap fabric, and did some straight stitches for seams around the sides and bottoms. I just fold over the tops, you could velcro or button them too. Beautiful fabric covers, for under $10

• Add a little bling-I love some shine in any room! You can invest in a can of chrome spray paint and turn mundane items into sparkling accessories! I picked up this Conch shell at a garage sale for $3, and a couple of coats of chrome later, a statement in the room. I've seen these at discount retailers for $20. With the cost of the spray paint, about $3 with a coupon, my cost well under $10.

• Turn anything into art-I made these vinyl numbers in just a few minutes on my Cricut Machine, but you can buy vinyl numbers in the hardware store for just a couple of dollars each. 

I could go on and on, but I hope you have enjoyed these tips and I hope to you soon! Thanks again, Shanna and Jamie!

xoxo

Noelle