Decisions, Decisions

You might be interested in how we decided on our décor for the house. When Mr. Remodel and I got married we agreed that we wouldn’t do anything in the house that both of us didn’t like (I take that back – I mean decoration-wise. Mr. Remodel frequently puts tools and the like on my kitchen counters, which I do not like). This sometimes means that ideas or designs that the other loves is hated by the other and doesn’t get realised but this is both our home. Disappointment is passed over quickly in order to find the design that we both agree on.
Budget also comes into it. We are not millionaires and there are other things we like to do with our money aside from playing dress up with houses. We work with the savings we have and do not take out loans for any improvements so we are not left paying for it long after the work is finished.
We brainstorm ideas, look at magazines, draw on ideas we’ve had in the past if they suit the circumstance, and shop to see what’s out there to help us to realise our vision (sometimes an item in a shop will provide the idea itself). Sometimes compromises have to be made but they in turn can allow a splurge in another areas where substitutes just won’t do. Like the 2” x 6” tile border that fitted the downstairs bathroom design so perfectly but which cost $16 a piece.
Sometimes it comes down to making what we want (correction: Mr. Remodel makes what we want) because it isn’t available or ridiculously expensive. Like the shell lamp we saw in Hawai’i when we renovated a home there. $525 for a large shell drilled to a piece of wood to hang on the wall. A $35 shell from a local market of the same size and shape, $5 in electrical parts from ACE, a piece of wood from some left over lumber and hey presto! A beautiful lamp for the fraction of the cost.
Because we were back living at the beach and because we still had our tropical-looking furniture from Hawai’i, it was no surprise that we decided on an overall beachy theme. The trick was how to express that in a stylish and budget-conscious way.