Thrifting My Dream Cottage Home (on a Budget)

Hello friend and welcome on in! Today I'm bringing you along as I thrift pieces to slowly build my dream cottage home, all on a budget and all in a rental. We'll be hunting for charm, character, potential, and maybe a few hidden gems if we're lucky. So let's get thrifting! I've made it home and I'm so excited to show you what I ended up bringing back. I have a vision for how I want this space to feel, but I'm not entirely sure yet if these pieces will bring that feeling to life. The first thing I want to show you is this lamp I thrifted for my son's room. The bedrooms in our rental don't have overhead lighting, so lamps are a must, and when his string lights in his room died, this suddenly became quite urgent. When I bought this lampshade, I knew right then and there at the store that I didn't actually love it. I wish the shade angled out more, as it just feels a bit dull. But when I thrift, I usually grab what we need and know that we can refine things over time as better pieces come along. So for now, I'm going to try and work with this one. I've seen some beautiful DIY pleated lampshades on Pinterest that feel very cozy and cottage-like, and I'm wondering if I can recreate something like that here. I was tempted to go by new fabric for this project, but instead, I'm challenging myself to use something from my own stash. So let's see if there's anything here that might actually work. The first option I found is this beautiful floral print. I love how this fabric has so much black on it, matching the bottom to the base. Absolutely perfect. So this is definitely a good contender. The next option I found was yet another beautiful floral print. I absolutely love the neutral florals on this print and how it's such a good match to the very bottom of the base. So this is how this one's looking, to give you an idea of what it might look like when it's done. And then I did have to remind myself that this lamp is for my son's room, and so perhaps florals wouldn't be the best pick. Just a bit too girly. So instead, I did find this neutral fabric that is a pretty decent match to the bottom. So I think this is what I'll go with, and we'll see how it turns out. To get going on this project, I first measured the height of my lamp, and then cut all of this fabric into tiny strips. I cut my strips at one and a half inches, and then afterwards, I folded those strips in half and ironed them down to kind of thicken up the fabric and then also provide a smooth finish and a way to hide that raw edge when it comes time to glue it onto the lampshade. This will all make more sense in just a moment as I get going here. So here's what the prep work looks like, and hopefully I cut up enough little strips because I definitely did not do the math. The construction phase of this lamp is actually incredibly simple. It's basically just hot gluing one end of the fabric to the bottom of the lamp and the top of the fabric to the top of the lamp. So surprisingly, this project came along very very quickly. And crazily and thankfully enough, I had just enough strips to complete this lampshade. I'm definitely not feeling good about that lampshade right now. I'm gonna have to give it some space and come back to it in a bit. But for now, I want to show you my next thrift. It might not look like much, but I'm actually really excited about what it could become. I recently started thrifting pillowcases for a sewing idea I've been wanting to try. I think this newest creamy white pillowcase is just the right color. Here are just a few others I've thrifted to get started on my stash for this project. The plan is to attempt my very first quilt. I've never made one before, so I am a bit nervous, but also so excited to see if I can pull it off. So let me show you my inspiration for it. So the plan is to make my first quilt for my son. He's only 18 months old, so I feel like that's the perfect beginner-friendly size of a quilt as he's so small. And then as you can tell from these pictures, all the quilts that I've gathered are composed of simple squares. Another very beginner-friendly way to get started into this. But not only is it beginner-friendly, but I also just love the style and the cottage feel that it gives. So this is definitely what I'm going for. And then as far as the styling goes, I think this looks absolutely adorable in the living room, hanging off of a chair as a statement piece. This little chair is something I've been working on in my own living room, and I feel like if I shuffled things around, I could definitely make a potential quilt in the future for this space as well. Now as far as styling the quilt in my son's room goes, this is what I'm thinking. I absolutely love the look of the wooden beds. I feel like it gives the perfect cozy cottage feel. I love this little Christmas tree in the middle, and that cute little dresser, and these three little beds next to each other absolutely melt my heart. So this is definitely what I'm thinking and what I'm going for. Here's one more that I think is just too, too cute. Though after looking at these inspiration pics, I do feel like I need to start gathering some fabric pillowcases with a bit more pattern to them for an even cuter quilt. The last thrift I want to show you is for a space I'm still growing in, and honestly not the most confident in. When I picked this apron out, I didn't actually love this side, but the tiny florals were too sweet to pass up. I'm hoping it gives me a little extra motivation in the kitchen. And while we're in here, I want to troubleshoot that lamp, but first let me show you what I'm attempting to make today. I'm trying out a four ingredient banana oat bar. It's simple, just mashed bananas, oats, peanut butter, and chocolate chips, but I'm hoping it becomes one of those easy homemade staples that we can put on repeat in our kitchen. I've been pushing myself to try more homemade snacks instead of grabbing store-bought ones, so we'll see if these make the cut as being a staple in our house. While these bake, I want to revisit that lamp because what I had in mind and what I ended up with are two very different things. So this is actually what I was going for when I was talking about a pleated lamp. A beautiful lamp that gives off that cottage feel. But as I look at these, I do notice this one is my least favorite, and I do think perhaps it's because of the shape. As these other lamps, they do come out at more of an angle. So I'm hoping that's my issue, but I'm honestly having a hard time pinpointing it all. I'm not quite sure if it's the fabric, the shape, the way that I glued them on with not enough distance between the two. I'm just not quite sure. I do think it's a bit of the shape, but I would love to hear your thoughts and ideas as to how I can revive this lamp. I did come across one other idea that I had never thought of and I wanted to show you. I don't know if you've heard of this before, but did you know you can actually paint these lampshades? This girl painted hers with little bugs, which I absolutely adore, as my son also loves little bugs. So perhaps this could be another option, as maybe just the pleated lamps are a little too girly, or maybe they're not fitting for a little boy's room. I'm not sure. You'll have to let me know and weigh in on this conversation to help me pick this project back up. As for now, I think I'm just gonna put it out of my mind and have a little snack and treat myself. Friend, I want to thank you so much for joining me today. If you're interested in more cozy homemaking, intentional motherhood, and budget thrifting, I'd love to have you stick around and subscribe. I hope you have a great week, and of course, I'll see you next time.