One of my goals for 2013 is to make my home “more beautiful and personal.” My sub-goal is to add more color. So, I’ve been working on adding color to my living room this year. So far, I’ve managed to do it all with a $20 gift card I received for Christmas. Score. {I also bought the supplies for this necklace with that same gift card!}

Excuse the iPod pic, but here’s what my living room looked like right after we moved in:

And here’s what it looks like at this very moment:

only at the moment you read this, there are probably toys strewn around & a fort being made with at least 5 of the pillows…
kids are the best decorators.

Do you recognize this stool?

It looked like this when I bought it at a yard sale – they originally told me it was $20, but I managed to snag it for $5. Picture me running like mad from the yard sale with this thing slung over my shoulder and dropping 5 bucks in the driveway to ease my conscience of stealing. Or you can read the true, slightly boring story here.

And then I painted that baby and stuck it in my guest room.

But now it’s a gorgeous shade of blue-ish teal-ish {Krylon’s Bahama Sea} and I’m in love. And here is the first rule of decorating on the cheap. The very first thing you should do if you want to add color on the cheap is to buy a can of spray paint and pull the trigger at everything in sight. Maybe skip that last part about “everything in sight.” But the first part still applies. Paint is a gloriously easy way to transform things.

After I painted my stool, I decided to attack other items in the room.

Remember the Ballard-inspired Rock Mirror I made a while ago? I still had an extra mirror exactly like that one, so I covered the mirror part and painted the frame.

I also had another frame lying around that I wasn’t using for anything, so I popped out the picture and glass and painted him too. Nothing is safe when I have a can of paint in my hands.

These berry stems were from Hobby Lobby with my gift card too. I just bought a stem, divided it in half, and stuck each piece in vases I saved from my wedding. {That canvas art is something I won from my friend, Laine. I love it!}

And here’s the entire wall:

I still would like to change out the wall art on the other side of the room. It’s not horrible, but I’d like something a bit more personal and unique. Until then, that’s the state of my living room!

Have you ever spray painted random objects in your home? Do tell!