My friends, Russell and Melissa, purchased a home in San Ramon, California 2 years ago. San Ramon is located in the east bay and boasts highly rated schools and low crime rates – which inevitably comes with a huge price tag. It didn’t leave a lot of leftover cash for renovations or finishes. The 40 …
Let’s face it, throw pillows are often laughably expensive. Finding a decent throw pillow to adorn your living room sofa can cost you between $20 – $60. That’s acceptable if you only plan on buying 2 pillows for your entire life. Most of the time the pillows are made with polyester fillings that lose their …
I love copper. It’s like the masculine version of gold and the rustic alternative to stainless steel. But boy is it expensive. And there are a lot of imposters out there. Look at the color first Real copper boasts a rosy brown shine that is difficult to recreate with spray paints or plastic films. Even …
Live plants are really amazing. Most houseplants can propagate from a single leaf or shoot, allowing the possibility of growing them for free. Many people are afraid to get living plants because they’re afraid of killing them, but most houseplants are incredibly easy to maintain. While there’s nothing wrong with artificial plants if you are …
Before After I recently rearranged the furniture in my bedroom and it ended up leaving a very empty wall. I didn’t want to add too much to it because I personally like sleeping a space that isn’t too fussy. And like always, I didn’t want to spend a whole lot of money. Here’s what I ended …
While I’m big proponent of building things yourself and repurposing old furniture, inevitably you will have to purchase something for your home. Here are some tips based on my own experience for making sure you buy something that lasts and won’t cost you more money down the road. Buy solid wood furniture whenever possible. Because …
When designing I am always trying to achieve visual order and balance in both color and composition while maintaining a room’s functionality. Do you ever wonder why homes in magazines look so beautiful? Sure a lot of it is lighting and camera angles, but there are a few tricks that designers and stylists use to …
People are always curious about what I did to make my living room look the way it did and they’re normally shocked at how little money I spent. I did not have a lot of money for furnishings when I first moved into this house and it was an anxious season of my life as …
Most California homes don’t come standard with air conditioning especially older homes. I’ve considered getting air conditioning for my house a couple of times but there are really only a few weeks in the year where it gets uncomfortably hot in the California bay. It just wasn’t enough to justify spending $3000 on a central …
