Thursday, August 14, 2014

You Don't Have to Eat Your Mac 'n Cheese on Milk Crates!

Hey everyone!

Hope your having a great week! I'm counting down the days until vacation time. Woot! Woot! It wasn't easy, waiting all summer to take vacation, but I'm looking forward to spending the last couple weeks of summer with Mr. Fix-It and our 3 minis and easing into "back to school"!

Speaking of back to school...
I’ve lived in a lot of different places. Between living in a residence dorm to my current house, I’ve seen a fair share of paint chipped walls, carpet from God-knows-when and dusty old furniture. However, from my very first space away from home, I knew that I wanted to live in beautiful spaces.

One of my favourite bedrooms I had, was in a house that I shared with 4 of my best girlfriends in University. It was on the second floor of a big old house and the ceilings were sloped with dormers. With the help of my mum, we shopped for sheets, drapes and towels to create something beautiful. I wish I had a photo to share with you, but of course, those were before the days of online everything! I’ll have to head down to the basement and dig through the photo boxes for that one!

Creating beautiful spaces when you’re a student isn’t impossible even when it feels like there is next to no budget. I too, dined on many boxes of mac ‘n cheese and searched between the couch cushions for beer money. However, loving your space is so important and you can do it on a very limited budget.

You all know that I write for Wicker Emporium and they have some really, really great things that will take your boring drab student apartment to oh-so-fabulous. Their pieces are priced right and gorgeous!

Here are some tips and tricks:

Multi-purpose: Try to choose pieces of furniture that are functional. You likely won’t have a huge amount of space so look for pieces like this trunk. It not only holds tons of storage but it works great as a coffee table! Or, if you are living in a giant room that acts as your bedroom, kitchen and living space then think about a screen. It will define spaces beautifully.

Desks: Desks and students go together like peanut butter and jam. Look for something that has storage but doesn’t take up a huge amount of space. This desk could also function as a kitchen table/desk combination. Desk by day, entertaining space by night.

Décor: Colourful throw pillows, lamps and candles create finishing touches. They are beautiful, inexpensive and will create instant wow factor in student digs.

Hampers: You may not have a huge amount of time to do your laundry on a regular basis, so why not hide it away in these sizable and lovely hampers? I still use this tactic!

Seating: If you like to entertain, think about ways your humble abode can take advantage of space for guests. I really love stools that can be moved around easily. Ottomans that double as storage or large throw pillows that can be used as floor cushions are also a great way for guests to be comfortable.

Going back to school is always an exciting time. Even though I'm no longer a student, I still get those exciting butterflies as September approaches. If you’re a student or sending a loved one off to school, remember that creating a beautiful space to live will bring comfort and pride. By buying smart pieces that are functional and on budget, a starving student can also be house proud...and that box of mac 'n cheese will taste even better in a beautiful room.

Keep It Beautiful.


1 comment:

  1. Great ideas Alicia! Much classier than the student dumpster dive (which can work too sometimes!) My roommate and I in university lived in an awesome apt in the Glebe. Now we're both home bloggers so we had a lot of fun on a student budget.

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