Time for a Cool Change (Part 1)

I have always liked Little River Band's song "Cool Change" and the lyrics feel fitting just now. 

♫♫ Time for a cool change

♪ I know that it's time for a cool change ♫

♪♪ And now that my life is so prearranged ♬

♬ I know that it's time for a cool change ♪

For health and economic reasons, a lot of my life is very "prearranged" and I'm mostly fine with that because I know that I am blessed to have the life that I do. There are people so much worse off and less hopeful. Still, I felt I needed to make some small changes in my personal living space. I want to have a more relaxing and mentally soothing environment. 

My goals? 

To change up the look of my apartment without spending any more than $150 max. I have been wanting something less dorm-room-looking.

I decided to go with a black-and-white theme with accent colors of peach, pink, and red. Too bad I'm stuck with that ugly blue chair. Ugh! I'm going to cover it with a pink knit throw! LOL

Did I make it? 

DAY 10: I'm getting there. I am managing to totally update the look of my tiny living space by re-purposing a lot of items and buying just a few things. So far, I am almost just about done with the living room and about to start on the bedroom.

These are the stages of my living room which was very, um, bare minimalist.

I didn't even have curtains!

That Walmart futon is still good as new. The giant sunflower & pink artwork still reminds me of my late sister. I've killed any plants shown here...  Just had to toss out that Dollar General bookshelf (after almost 6 years).

This is what I had up for "curtains"... ~sigh~ 

I call the look "Boho Broke"! 

And I had that up for about 3 years maybe??? I got that fabric from someone and just thought that it gave a nice boho-chic Boho Broke (coined it!) vibe as re-imagined curtains! LOL

DAY 12: And this is how I re-used that fabric when I got actual curtains...

Living room, almost done and...
I repurposed my old fabric "curtains" to make a swag.

It might take me a while to finish. I have used up my energy and have been having a couple of bad days. It's not a good idea to use a stepstool when my equilibrium is not good. Also, I am having to be very careful of the budget. I am using the Camel app to get price-change alerts on the few items I need. One of my credit cards lets me do no-interest payments for purchases over a certain amount so I am getting a little coffee table and another set of blackout curtains for the bedroom

Oh! And speaking of blackout curtains... The ones I got for the living room are one of the best buys ever. Not only do they keep down the temp in the living room but they somehow muffle a lot of the noise from the communal patio right outside my windows. I rarely do recommendations but I have been telling my family about how much I love the Lemomo brand. My Arizona folks better run and not walk to get some! The 100% blackout thermal ones (a set of 2 panels) were $24 plus tax when I snagged them. I should have got them a couple inches longer but I am okay with them being a bit high water. 

I hope to be feeling better soon so that I can finish. Once I have the desk (a lift-top design), I plan to spend more time in the living room. The temp will be cooler because of the curtains and I already am finding the more refined look to be soothing.

Where is the budget going?

• 2 panels of thermal blackout curtains (in black) & a new curtain rod (about $27).
• 1 black Damask striped bed set and a black comforter. (about $40 for both) I already have a white comforter and a white duvet cover to switch it up. I also already have sheets in grey that will go well with either the white or black comforters.
• 1 lift-top dark brown "wood" coffee table with hidden storage (about $86 but paying in interest-free $15 credit card installments so I'm not counting against the total budget.)
• A beautiful metal green scent diffuser for the living room (about $36).
• A set of cute ceiling fan pulls with lightbulb and fan icons (about $7)
• A set of blackout curtains for the bedroom and a blackout curtain rod (about $40 for both)
• A set of queen-sized pillows, 2 protective cases, 2 white satin & 2 black satin pillow covers (about $40) I already have 4 pillows and a set of black satin cases.
• A free chair from a neighbor who is moving!

I am still quite a bit under my budget and don't expect to spend much more. I am slightly over budget but I have already decided that if I do need to spend any more, I will use the interest-free payment plan. Honestly, I think I am done.

DAY 22: I just finished the living room last night and it was a tough push-through. (A neighbor stopped by to help me with a few things, bless her.) I have put out the coffee table and the beautiful diffuser. (Bonus: because the diffuser works so amazingly well, I no longer need to buy wax and oils for the wax warmer. So... I will only need essential oils  - which are MUCH cheaper). 

The new look vs...

~sigh~

By the way, I seriously love the diffuser (below). It has a light mode with about 4 colors to switch between, At night, it's so soothing. Also, I am happy to say that the scent I have come out stronger than what I was getting with the wax warmer. This is much less messy.

Everything in that photo (except the diffuser) is re-purposed and most are very special to me. The book is special. My baby brother gave it to me when I moved here. He found it at a book sale and a character in the story has my name! The scarf is one my late niece always wore. The framed print by the plant and diffuser is one my late best friend gifted me one birthday. The frame on the left above the red vase is a card from my late friend - one of the last that I got from her - that I framed. The plant - that now crawls halfway up the wall - was a gift from a neighbor. I helped her out with something once and, when she found out I loved plants, she gave me a cutting. Most of my plants are from that one, including the 2 newest cuttings in the glasses to the left of the diffuser.

That plant... it has "mothered" about 
6 others since I got it!

I have not started the bedroom at all. I don't think I will get to it for a while unless my SIL comes over to lend a hand. I'm so freaking pooped. By the way... I did not spend any more than $190. Since my neighbor gave me a chair, I finished spending a while ago. 

I will update the post with more photos when my computer starts cooperating!

When I finish with the bedroom and get the chair from my neighbor, I will post the final photos. My whole purpose in sharing this re-do is to show that it doesn't take a large budget to refresh a small apartment. The results are already a boost to my mental health. And I don't mind eating tuna sandwiches for a while to save back the money!

Peace

--Free

P.S.: I said I was done shopping - and, trust my bank account, I am! - however... I saw this and fell in love with the idea of having one. Putting this on my Christmas wish list!