Dirt Poor and Fabulous.

Continuous buzzing.  My head today.  Ugh.  It's a carnival.  Rapid thoughts Ferris wheeling their way around, hitting each side and then back again like a fish in a fish bowl.  I feel like a Picasso painting.... two heads as one, a nose where a mouth should be, eyes on my forehead.  There is a particular kind of beauty in this chaos.  So I am going to just accept my head as it is today, in it's kaleidoscope of messiness and just write.  So forgive the zig zags.......
I'm an accessories person.  I just love them.  I really do.  They can take any boring, stagnant room and just give it a hell yeah vibe that is so great.  I mean even with just a touch, nothing extreme, just a splash of something.... transformation. I just recently did this to my own apartment.  I threw a few things here, a few things there, hung a few fab pieces of art and boom.....my home was born.  So I'm focusing on cheap accessorizing today because like many of you out there.....I am not of a "hearty" financial standing.  I have actually started to convince myself that my bank account might be the first known Black Hole of Internet banking.  All of my money is actually being pulled through to another galaxy by some magnetic force unexplainable to mankind.  Unfortunately the bank tellers don't share my theory.  So until I can prove otherwise, plain and simple.... I'm dirt poor.
But alas followers and design lovers, we will not compromise our needs......our need to decorate, design, create and really L.I.V.E in our own space.  Our home is our canvas, well it's mine anyway.  And I refuse to give up just because I'm broke.  Yes, we are capable of convincing ourselves that a $300 pillow is a necessity.  Yes, we are capable of believing that without that lamp shade our whole color scheme will be thrown off and anyone who is aware of such torture would understand and support the purchase.  And by god, yes, we are ALL capable of knowing that we will purchase the pricey side table that will fit oh so perfectly in that empty corner because we can no longer live with the harsh continuous scream of desperation "FILL ME!  I'M EMPTY! DISPLAY SOMETHING HERE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!"
But you know what?  Not having that fabulous expensive designer throw (that I saw in a store window the other day, which costs $400 dollars, that would look absolutely perfect on my gray velvet chair) is not going to kill me.  In fact, it might actually make me stronger.  Stronger in that I walked away from it.  I turned away from that window, lip trembling, mind racing WHY WHY??!, and forced myself to research other, cheaper options.  These acts of strength have not only helped my financial black hole but have pleasantly made me realize that this kind of research, is, well, it's just so fun.  It really is.  You wouldn't believe how many fabulous alternatives there are, if you just take a little time.  And I'm telling you, you will get lost in bargain shopping la la land.  And like all of you, I adore having a home with style, a direct representation of who I am.  And like many of you, I tend to be drawn to the most expensive and obscene anything.  But guess what, i can buy without breaking the bank.  Or, I can be creative and make my pillows, or distress a cheap armourer on my own.  I can shop the bargain bin and do it PROUDLY.  So I encourage you, fellow creative comrades, design guru's and those who collapse in the midst of those devil disguised price tags..... to take a field trip from your everyday charge card and go out, stand tall, find the sales, dig through the bargain bins and don't be afraid to get your hands fabulously dirty.

http://thriftydecorchick.blogspot.com/

http://junksophisticate.blogspot.com/

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/chicago/roundup/roundup-15-thrifty-frugal-inexpensive-ideas-095961

http://www.suwinskiforuscongress.com/home-decorating-on-a-budget/.html

http://rainbowheartstar.wordpress.com/2008/02/03/another-entry-in-the-domino-decorating-contest/

http://www.myhomeideas.com/decorating/design-ideas/1-porch-3-ways-10000001808329/bohemian-chic-10001391714180/

http://www.hgtv.com/decorating/dining-rooms-on-a-budget-our-10-favorites-from-rate-my-space/pictures/page-8.html

http://www.bhg.com/kitchen/remodeling/makeover/budget-kitchen-remodeling-2-000-to-5-000-kitchens/