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An Easy Way to Lighten Up Your Decor

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One morning last week, I woke up and decided that something felt heavy. It wasn’t my down comforter or the fleece plants that I insist on wearing to bed even when it’s 100 degrees outside. Actually, it was the plate display above my head.

I love this display, but all of a sudden it was just too heavy feeling for this time of year. Does that ever happen to you? You look at something that you’ve always loved and then just suddenly decide that it needed to go? I do that kind of thing all the time. Please tell me that I’m not alone.

Anyway, I plopped Zack on my bed, turned on Little Einsteins on the Disney Channel, and while still in my PJ’s, got to work on rearranging my plate display. I stepped off the bed 30 minutes later and was happy with the result. And hey, look! My photography has gotten better, too!

I had all of these plates elsewhere around my house, and I just decided that a display of classic white and off-white plates would bring a crisp and cool feel to the hot Texas summer days.

A plate display like this is so easy! White plates are readily available at yard sales, thrift stores, dollar stores, and even grocery stores. Most of mine were purchased on clearance at Ross for about 50 cents each.

When possible, I like to buy at least two of the same pattern so that I can make a cohesive display.

Do you have anything you can change up for little or no cost to lighten up your decor? Think about it, because I bet you do.

And while we’re at it, I’ve had a lot of requests (especially following my guest post at the Nesting Place) to see my DIY toile headboard. Well, here it is!

I need to put together a tutorial because it was so easy to make, but I made this before my blogging days and didn’t take photos of the process. I’m planning on recreating it on a smaller scale to show you how to do it, but it’ll be a few weeks before I can get to it.

Transforming a Jurassic Thrift Store Find

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When shopping at thrift and discount stores, it’s helpful if you can learn to think outside of the color and intended of a particular item and see what it can become. Cheese plates can become dioramas. Homemade student desks can become beautiful pieces of furniture. Discarded cake plates can become pedestals for displaying everyday necessities.

I really needed to use my what-can-it-become eye when I spied this dinosaur lamp at one of my local Goodwill stores.

As you know (and are probably so sick of hearing me talk about that you could just scream), I’m in the process of decorating my son’s playroom in a elegant dinosaur theme. Yeah, I know. “Elegant dinosaur” sounds totally fruity, but I’m not into primary colored themed rooms, so this is my way of forcing a playroom to be pleasing to both children and adults.

When I saw the clown-meets-dinosaur lamp, it kind of scared me a little bit. How could it not, right? Then, I started thinking about what I could do with it, and I immediately fell in love. I took it to the cashier and she cheerily said, “Oh, how cute! It just needs to be cleaned up a bit.” I thought to myself, “Um, yeah. That’s just the tip of the iceberg.” I told her I was going to paint it and she gave me a “Oh, thank heavens!” look.

After throwing the too-ratty-to-save shade in the trash, I spray primed the entire lamp with gray primer. Then, because I couldn’t decide exactly what color to paint the base, it went through several color variations. I started with Krylon Chocolate Brown, but it was too chocolate-y. Then, I tried a basic black gloss, but it was just a little too boring. I finally settled on Krylon Fusion Chocolate Brown Hammered and it was perfect. I added a black lampshade and the transformation was complete.

I think the paint color ended up being more bronzed and much less hammered than I expected, but I think it’s wonderful. It reminds me of a little dinosaur trophy now.

I added the newly transformed lamp to a little bookcase in the corner of the playroom, and I think it’s just the perfect touch.

What great Goodwill find have you transformed lately? What were you able to transform into something unexpected? Tell me about it! Or better yet, join Sarah’s Goodwill Party over at Thrifty Decor Chick and share your own project!