Amazing Deals

Big deal blog posts... now things are DEFINITELY looking put-together and I am SO excited about it.  The past week and a half, Kyle and I have been working really hard to make our house a home, and I would say it's been a major success.

Get excited... because, there are some AWESOME things taking place here.

One thing that was a little difficult for Kyle to comprehend was how much a throw pillow could cost.  Just going into TJ Maxx and seeing that pillows were marked down to $25.00 gave him a headache.  (Not joking here, I could see the look on his face when I showed him an amazing pillow that cost $29 *retailed for $50*.  I ended up putting everything back that I found and storming out of the store disappointed that he couldn't "go-with-the-flow" for thirty minutes.)

I immediately learned (once again) although it's nice to have your husband's opinion on home decor (or clothing) they really could care less and do not want to spend time with you while you're shopping for it... even if it's the only time you'll spend together that day.  So... HERE WE GO:

I'll start off with the AMAZING sale at Pier One the other day.  I mean.... DEALS.  I spent right under $60.00 on pillows.  But brought home some great stuff:

originally $34.95 marked down to $8.68 I  bought 2 because they are huge and perfect

(please excuse my un-manicured nails in this post)

Kyle loves this one.  It's different shades of grey felt folded and sewn in place for a pretty unique texture. Originally $29.95 marked down to $7.48

This pillow is kind of girly, but the colors were just what I needed to bring all the furniture together.  Originally $34.94 marked down to $8.68.  Seriously... a STEAL.

This one is my favorite.  It's smaller, but SO WORTH IT.  Originally $29.95 marked down to $7.48

Embroidered pillows look so nice.  This one is fab.  

Originally $29.95 marked to $14.98 (a little pricey in comparison, I know)

As you can imagine, Kyle was a little skeptical how I would make these work when I brought them home.  Regardless, he was glad I didn't drag him along with me to the store.

 TO CONTINUE.... 

I also up TJ Maxx without Kyle so I could relax and get what I wanted/needed.  I definitely kept the whole budget thing in mind, but HAD to get this:

  ** Side Note** 

I've been trying to find a lighting solution/fixture for the living room.  Firstly, the original light was [pretty much] coming apart, and was super cheap.  Secondly, it's a little more traditional than I would like... making our furniture look outdated.  All the fixtures I found online were over $200.00.  Even the ones on ebay.  Too expensive.  So, I was afraid I would end up with a cheap, trendy IKEA fixture that was still $90.00 

Back to the story... While slowly browsing through the home goods section of TJ Maxx (slowly browsing is the way you have to do stores where merchendise is clearanced-- it's all shoved and stacked on the shelves and you'll miss something really awesome if you don't take your time) I came across a half-opened box that just happened to be the PERFECT fixture I had been searching for.

HECK YEAH!  Clearance for $49.99-- compare to $120.00 

Over the weekend Kyle and I hit up DI for some other things.  Found some chairs.  Poor Kyle kept saying things like "these don't really go together, do they?", "these are going to make our house look bad, huh?", and "are you sure you are okay with this?"-- referring to the fact that we were buying second-hand, old, pretty-much-free furniture.

dining chair $8.00 (they had 5... we bought the 4 stable ones)

This little guy had some loose legs (we tightened them with a wrench-- good as new) 

At just $10.00, I HAD to put him in the back of the jeep.

(No original pictures of the other chair, but... you'll see it soon.  It's a champagne-colored, tufted, vintage swivel rocker that is so comfortable.  $20.00 and rounds our our DI purchases)

Last week we also went to IKEA and found a white, glass-top coffee table-- one of their heavier ones on major markdown.  It literally was the LAST one left in the store that wasn't a floor sample.  It isn't being made anymore SO... we snagged it and brought it home:

Originally $69.99 marked down to $24.99.  I know, right?  Long story short: our living room was full of a bunch of cheap stuff pushed together in a pile so we could paint.

And, PAINT WE DID.