The Lovely Side

I know, I know.  You probably just dropped several hundred dollars on this semester's bundle of overpriced textbooks.  But before you start fretting about spending another dime on a book you'll never actually use and will end up re-selling for a fraction of the cost... take a gander at my required reading list for the semester.  This blog aims to school you on dorm decor and rental revamp, so you can bet that my required reading list serves up glossy pages of pretty spaces.  You'll never part with these inspiring books.  I have several of them and the others are on my hurry-up-and-buy list.  So let's get started, shall we?!

Back in the day, I was once a queen of coordination.  Ideas like "mixing and matching" and "contrast" made me a little jittery.  From my clothing choices to my bedroom decor, I liked the colors and styles to coordinate.  Luckily, I grew out of that.  The older I've gotten, the more I've enjoyed getting my eclectic on.  Eclectic decor is freeing.  It's fun.  And these rooms that I've rounded up show just how lovely eclectic can be.  
Like in the photo above. It's a prime example of making mixing and matching work.  There's a bit of a color scheme to start with---the red and white bedding, the red and white curtains, and the red chair.  But there's baby blue thrown in here, and sunny yellow thrown in over there.  And blue and yellow thrown onto the big vintage sign on the wall.  The contrast really comes in with the furniture.  The red leather chair is contemporary and sleek... while the nearby ivory dresser is shabby chic.  The curtains …

Hey lovelies!  Study break time!
The RetailMeNot Insider recently interviewed me for a story on dorm decor.  The article features advice from both myself and Target Style Expert at Home/HGTV Designer Sabrina Soto.  The post is full of great tips and tricks, plus lots of pretty products. 
It's the first week of class! You know you want to take a break from hitting the textbooks and check it out. ;)
P.S. While you're there, you might want to take a gander at RetailMeNot.com.  The site is chock-full of coupon codes that are likely to come in handy for you thrifty students. 

As college students, sometimes we've just gotta "make do."  Yes, it's probably a century-old-truth that poor college students without proper nightstands have been throwing all their junk on a nearby chair.  But there's a fine line between tossing your glasses and textbook onto a random chair... and actually re-purposing a chair as a nightstand.  Because as these 15 masquerading chairs will prove it can be done with a bit more intention and finesse.

It's that time of year again!  The college town that I call home is doubling in size as students move back and take over Ames.  (Yep, that's Iowa State University's campus and beautiful campanile pictured above!)  I know that things have been sleepy here on the blog.  It's because things have been the opposite of sleepy in my regular life!

So this past weekend, I took a little roadtrip to home to Oskaloosa for my cousin's bridal shower.  I took a friend played tour-guide in my hometown.  Besides hitting up the shower and hanging out with my family, we drove around looking for the prettiest Victorian houses, explored an old college's outdoor amphitheatre and a cemetery down the road from it, ate at my favorite coffeehouse, explored an old college, and hung out for a while on the town square... where these pictures were taken.