my reading corner

As those of you who follow my blog know, I am currently living with my 87 year old mother and have put my possessions in storage. My mother and I don't exactly have the same decorating tastes, and as I am living in a room she has furnished, I decided that I needed to try and make it somewhat my own while I am here. 


I am always seeing decorating blogs that say they are redoing spaces on a budget. Their budget ideas don't really jive with my budget (a pillow for $60 or a chair for $250) They make it seem as if those prices are the deal of the century. Really???


So recently I decided that I needed a reading spot in my room. A place that would feel cozy during the cold winter, but also be light and airy. This is what I came up with and my budget.

I started with a rather ugly pink chair (sorry forgot to take a before picture). I covered the chair with a slipcover I found at Ikea  in their AS IS bin. I added a pillow I already had and covered it with a blue/gray ticking pillow case found at the thrift store in Atlanta and a pillow from  the antique mall made from a 1940s tablecloth. I wrapped an old quilt top, that a fellow auction buyer gave me, around the bottom cushion. 

Cost of chair redo:
chair - free
slip cover - $1.00
large pillow - free
pillow cover -  $0.50
pillow - $9.00
Quilt top - free 


I am fortunate to have  large window alcove in the room. I use one side of it to take photos for my shops.

The window was rather bare with just some mini blinds and I wanted to soften it up. So I added some white sheers that were thrown in at auction with something else I purchased, an antique lace curtain  panel I picked up at a yard sale, and a sweet sign I won in a giveaway from Red Hen Home. 


Cost of window redo:
Curtain rod (my biggest splurge) - $18.00
Sheers - free
antique lace curtain panel - $1.50
Sign - free


Now all I needed was a good reading lamp and a few accessories

Two weeks ago as I was leaving for the auction I was thinking how nice it would be to find a floor lamp that would fit into my space. I didn't even notice the lamp until halfway through the auction when it came up for bidding. It was the perfect size and color and it was mine.


Cost of lamp $5.00.


The other accessories are items that are for sale in ImSoVintage. They will be rotated in and out as they sell. 


So for a very small budget, $35.00, I have created a sweet spot where I can read and work on my laptop. This winter, I will pull back the sheers and watch the snow fly while I drink a cup of tea.


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