My $200 Challenge

Our house looked like it has been hit by a tornado. No thanks to our week long, on and off, cough/cold/fever. Our house looked sick too. All our stuff, trash or not, were all over the place. Our kitchen sink still had unwashed dishes. Our last week's laundry hasn't been folded; it was on our couch the whole week.

So yesterday, my husband and I cleaned the whole house. Laundry was folded and kept in the closets, throw pillow cases changed to new, vacuumed the whole house, cleaned the kitchen, trash were gone, and the dining table looked like a table again. Of course, after all that cleaning, the house smelled really really great, it looked brighter, and was sparkling neat.
It looked too neat, too white. It looked bare.

We've been living in our suite for 7 months, but until now, we still looked like we just moved in. Our house only has the necessities: sofa, bed, cooking wares, dining set, etc.

Before we left Maryland, we said to ourselves, we better just keep our shipment light, we'll buy all the rest of our stuff in Guam. Besides, they call this island "duty free shopping island." Then we got here, and to our deepest disappointment, everything here is expensive - and scarce! Of course, everything is imported from off the island. We should have known!

We don't buy a lot of stuff yet too, most of it we'd rather try to look for when we get back to stateside, or at least once we move out to a more spacious house next year (hopefully a house with wood walls so we can easily put up our wall arts). We are avoiding wall decors that need to be drilled onto the wall since we will move again anyway.

So now, every time we see a commercial from Target, Walmart, Ikea, Lowe’s, etc., we feel a little pinch of sadness, a grain of angst, and a drop of anticipation in our stomachs.

Hence, after seeing our oh-so-clean-yet-bare-looking space, I had the itch to at least do some decorating at home. Thus began my $200 dollar challenge.

Store 1: I went to SM (siyemps, SM - they've got it all for you!) where I will buy new throw pillows, and decorative twigs. I also found a contemporary wall clock that’s really unique. Also bought a couple of woven abaca rolls that I plan to use to frame the photos for the wall. Also found, ahem, new pants, hehehe.

Store 2: Then went to Ross, where everything is on sale. I bought a couple of plant stands on sale, I plan to just spray paint it to match the other black furnishings we have. Also found two decorative vases for the twigs.

Store 3: Home Depot. I was hoping I could find some contemporary seating and shelving here, but I didn't. I ended up buying a lot of stuff for gardening. I bought an indoor plant, four flowering plants, several pots, gardening gloves, spray bottles. I still find it amazing how a little pot of plant could enhance a space.

Well, I ended up with a little change, and I did fill out the trunk of my car but it was really not a lot. I still think it's best to do your home-decor shopping in Quiapo.
:)

* photos courtesy of the www thru google.