THE LOOK FOR LESS

Yes, I'm pretty sure that's the name of a show on the Style Network or E! (I love the exclamation point), but I'm stealing the name for today's post.



I love catalogues. I look at them as free magazines, and I thumb through and mark the pages that catch my eye. Do I usually buy things from the catalogues? No...but I do use them as inspiration to create a room I love at a fraction of the price.





For example, I love Ballard Designs.....but not their prices. Like many of you, I just can't fork out that kind of money to decorate my home. So I thought today I'd focus on a few key pieces in a Ballard room and show you how to recreate them for less.

Here's the room:

Pretty right? I decided to single out 3 pieces in the room that give a big impact and see if I can recreate them for less (wait...if I pick 3 things are they still being singled out...or three-ngled out?...sorry).

Here's how much the Ballard items cost:

Ballard Curtains : 84 inch length ar $89 each.

Ballard Clock : 25 inch width is $129.

Ballard Console Table : $349.

Total cost for Ballard items: $656.

1) CURTAINS:

I didn't find anything today that was an exact replica of the Ballard curtains, but the curtains below give the same feel.

Ebay (curtains found here) $42.97 for 2 curtain panels with free shipping

Overstock (curtains found here) $19.99 for 2 curtain panels

I also liked these and these from JCPenney's website, but I couldn't copy the pictures for some reason.

2) CLOCK:

I looked all over the internet and I found the best clock prices on Ebay. I'm sure there are other places that have good deals, but this is what I found today.

Ebay (clock found here) $27.99 plus $7.00 shipping

Ebay (clock found here) $36.00 plus $11.00 shipping

3) CONSOLE TABLE:

I usually look at flea-tique stores or Craigslist for furniture pieces. You can get such amazing deals on quality pieces that you wouldn't otherwise be able to afford. Here are some tables on found on Craigslist in different parts of the country. Any one of them would look amazing painted black.

(Note: I'd also shown some items I found on Craigslist in various cities, but I was silly enough to copy the code directly from the link and the photos disappeared once the posting expired. Live and learn!)

Total cost of MY items? $155...versus the Ballard cost of $656. You know what my mom always said, "Where there's a will there's a way...".