ACCESSORIZING THE KITCHEN ON A LIMITED BUDGET

The fun part of making over a room is adding the accessories.  It's like the frosting on a cake.  In my last post, I shared my kitchen makeover.  Today I'll continue to show you how I accessorized my kitchen on a small budget.  The accent colors I chose were white with touches of yellow.

For me, the process starts several months before the makeover begins.  I create a mood-board with ideas and inspirations.  Pinterest is also a great place to get ideas.  I then begin to watch for items at  garage sales, thrift stores and in the clearance section in stores.

The items above were all purchased while thrift store shopping.  I place the collected items in box, and pull them out as I decorate.

Here's an example of how I use these items.  The canisters I found at Goodwill and the metal coffee wall art was from a garage sale last summer.  The utensil holder is a vase left over from our daughter's wedding.  It was bought 1/2 price at Micheal's.

The napkin holder and napkins were purchased from a garage sale for .25 cents each.  They were both brand new and still in the package!  The napkins I had tucked away in a drawer.  I had forgotten about them, and was excited to find them when I needed a little more yellow as an accent.

The accents above the cabinets were all second hand items with the exception of the little chicks on the left and the plate on the lower right.  I bought the plate at the dollar store a few years ago.  The chicks I bought new at a hardware store (2.99)  to add to my spring decor this year.

 

 Wanting white accents, I took this thrift store chicken and spray painted it white.  Spray paint is a thrifty girl's best friend!

I also shopped the house for things I already had.  My diy  monogram plate worked perfect in the space.  One new purchase for the room was letters spelling out - EAT - purchased, of course, for 1/2 price at Michale's.  A funny little lesson learned - I placed the EAT letters neatly above the cabinets and thought it looked great until my children came home and said "Mom, why do you have a FAT sign in the kitchen?"  I had hadn't noticed that the lip on the cabinet hid the bottom the E and it looked like FAT.  I guess it would be a good reminder for me to stick to my diet, but decided to add a few block to raise it up and spell the word EAT as I had originally planned.

Above the refrigerator, I placed a .49 cent thrift store basket along with my .99 cents lemons.

 A .49 cent thrift store vase and flowers I already had were place on the counter to add just a touch of yellow.

This ceramic pot place in the dinning room is over 30 years old.  I made it before I was married, and it holds the slip of a plant that was given to us when our son died.

Pots line the window seal that were found at a thrift store as well.

The coffee art work I had on the wall by the coffee pot previously.  I hung it above the window, accenting the coffee themed curtains.  This was a  thrift store find some time ago for $4.99.

My daughter gave this metal cup hanger that she found at the dollar store.  I just added the cups from my dish set. Total cost $ free.

New dish towels hang on the oven door.  They were only $1.25 each from Kohl's, using a 30% off coupon on the already 50% off towels.

I made a soap dispenser using a Ball jar my mother gave me.  I used the pump mechanism from an empty soft soap.  I spray painted a metal lid and drilled a whole in the center of the lid.  To keep the pump in place I simply applied a liberal amount of hot glue to hold it in place. 
 Total cost = free!

In the dinning area, I added a couple of plates to my made over shutter.
The plates were bought at TJ Maxx for $2.99 each. 


Here's a break down of the total cost for accessories. 
3 lemons @ .99 = $2.97
wire basket = .49
Faux window plants 2 @ .99 = 1.98

( I saw these plants in the store for $6.99 each!)

small white pot for window plant = .49
Canisters set of 2 for $8.99 
Napkins = .25
Napkin holder = .25
EAT letters $1.25 each = $3.75
Small white vase = .49
Towels 2 @ $1.25 each = $2.50
Plates 2 @ $2.99 = $5.98

Total cost for accessories $28.14

For the total cost of the makeover I needed to add the price of the
Curtains = $4.99 
and
1/2 gallon of paint = $15

Making the total cost of the project 

$48.18

( I did not include in this price things I shopped the house for - using what I had.)

That made for a makeover for under $50 !