Armoire Design and Decor Ideas

I recently discovered Chairish, and was invited to style an armoire from their collection!

Chairish is a fun, gorgeous and easy-to-navigate site for vintage design and modern design lovers alike. Chairish offers the chance for those who maybe have collected one-to-many decor options (hides) to sell their vintage furniture and decor to one another - and of course, buy some more too, while you're at it. ;)

What makes this different from other online options is that Chairish "exclusively features curator-approved treasures in a full-service and trustworthy environment." So you know that the item you're going to receive is true vintage, in great shape, and worth your investment.

You can check out all of the armoires they have available at the moment here. The collection is always changing and really does feature something for everyone's taste.

So, how would I go about decorating an armoire? Check out what I picked!

See the entire design on Polyvore, and click the items to go to Chairish here.

When styling an armoire, I think bigger is better. More than bigger, I think TALLER is better! Take the back most item to the ceiling (or close to it) to bring your eyes up. This will make the room feel taller as well!

I picked out a painting to get this affect. I also love vintage items, so I selected a soda crate from Chairish.  Everyone needs a wooden crate. I'm serious! I love to stack vinyl in mine, or hide cords on the ground with them. You can see all of the different wooden crates at Chairish here.

I put ivy in the crate to give it a little "life." I'm notoriously bad at houseplants, and would definitely forget to water it up there, so I would use faux. It's far enough away that it won't be obvious!

After that, what fun is decor without a little color? I picked out red terracotta bottles for that added kick. Bottles are SO handy, because you can put a little plant in them, some string lights, feathers - really, anything you can think of. Or, you can just leave them as is! Bottles of every shape and size, I found at Chairish.

Another fun thing about decorating an armoire is that it can be seasonal, too! Using the same grouping concept, think of the seasons:

- A box wrapped in Christmas paper replaces the wooden crate, your square shape.
- A fun print of a vintage Christmas scene, in the frame
- A few springs of evergreen tree replaces the ivy.
- You can replace the bottles with that old, vintage santa figurine. Items that you didn't know where they should go before are PERFECT for the top of an armoire.

The ideas are endless!

Thank you to Chairish for reaching out and inviting me to style an armoire!

{Review} My K-Cup Reusable Coffee Filter

Back in September of last year, Influenster sent me a Keurig 2.0, free of charge, to try out and share my opinion, which seems like forever ago! You can read my review here, along with the pros and cons of what I thought back then.

I am pleased to say that my Keurig 2.0 still works like a charm, and I love to use it for a quick grab-and-go cup. My absolute favorite has actually been making tea and hot chocolate with it, though. It's infinitely simpler to get hot water from the Keurig and let it fill over a tea bag than other methods.

The one thing that the Keurig 2.0 just couldn't address right away, that made other, older Keurig's more popular that didn't use the DRM, was the fact that you couldn't use a reuseable coffee filter cup, because the seeing "eye" wouldn't recognize it as something that could be used in the Keurig. In fact, it was my number one con when I wrote about it beforehand.

About 2 weeks ago, I got an e-mail from Influenster, and they were sending me the Keurig 2.0 My K-Cup Reusable Coffee Filter to test out with my Keurig 2.0. Yay!

Included was a bag of Green Mountain Nantucket Blend ground coffee, which coincidentally is my favorite K-Cup flavor. 

 Included inside the K-Cup Filter box were directions for different series of Keurig machines. Smart!

The K-Cup Reusable Coffee Filter cup has some heft. It's definitely made of a nicer plastic and quality mesh. That little disc that's kind of a purple-ly orange is what the Keurig "eye" reads to let it know that hey, this is a Keurig product, and we're good to go here.

When you open the cup, there's a nice little suction that is in place to help all of the pressure go to your grounds. There's a little green "max" line for your grounds too. I didn't even come close to that, but felt it was enough. Locked it up, and into the machine it goes.

 Well, this isn't the most attractive picture, not Pinterest worthy by any stretch (nice brown blob on the words! :( ) But it does show you that your lock icon should align with the bottom, the K on the right, and the eye on the left. It's important to line this up (the cup is designed to make this the most "right" way to put it in) so that the eye can read the cup.

And we're off! Placed it in, selected my options, and my cup started a'brewin'.

 Now, this is where it gets a little ugly. Sorry Keurig, in advance. I've been drinking coffee for a pretty good long time, so I feel like I have a decent handle on how much grounds, how much creamer, etc, etc for a good cuppa joe. Instantly, I knew something was wrong. The smell was not right.

My water was fresh, it was preheated, I didn't overfill or come close the fill line...

This ring immediately appeared, along with a floating ground or two right after brewing. Anyone that drinks coffee knows that sitting coffee tends to leave a ring around the cup where it sat... but this was immediate. And the smell. whoa. Metallic and sour? I did rinse the cup too before I put it in there too, you know, so I didn't get any residue. No soap, just water.

Even after adding creamer, it was still a no-go. I washed it down the sink.

I am totally willing to give this another try, I think I'll try with even less grounds though and see if that doesn't help.

So Keurig, a bummed out 5/10 on this one. The concept is there, and I am going to try it again, but until then...

Thank you Influenster for giving me the chance to try it out!

(Disclaimer - I was sent these for my review for www.influenster.com. I was not compensated in any other way to give a negative or positive review of these products and was allowed to keep the products in return for my honest reviews.)

Shopko Shopping Scores

It's no secret that I love to get a great deal. I love to be complimented on home decor or an outfit and tell that person about the clearance deal or garage sale that it's from. It's the thrill of the hunt!

So when I had to pick up a few things tonight, I thought I might pop into our local Shopko and see if they had what I needed. If you've never heard of this place, it looks like they're only in 13 states, so chances are you might not have one around you. They're a interesting mix of what I can only describe as a Kmart/Sears, with maybe a little Big Lots thrown in, with a Meijer or Walmart type mix. I have actually talked about them before here on the blog too, here.

I popped in, grabbed what I needed to grab (the Scent Killer spray and wipes) and then started to cruise the clearance. The clearance is never in one place, it's all over, often on the end caps but in the aisle too, with bright yellow stickers hanging off, so it's pretty easy to spot.

Now when Meijer goes to clearance, I find myself often saying "That's the clearance price?" or even at Kohl's, they used to go to a super-deep discount but either I never get there at the right time, or it's not what it used to be. But when Shopko goes to clearance, they're not afraid to go to 90% off. And because my town is pretty small, it's usually not picked over and there's plenty to go around.

Enough talking... let's get to the haul, shall we?!

You'll have to excuse the crappy lighting, as it was already getting dark (boo) by the time I got home. But, there is 34 items here. Can you guess how much I paid?

$150?
Nope...

$75?
Nah...

How about... 34 items for $42.88 including tax?
Seriously!

Here's the breakdown.

Iams Mini-Chunk Dog Food
This is the kind that we like to feed Jay, a good mid-to upper grade food.
Original Price: $10.49
Clearance: $5.49
I paid: $4.41

Q-tips, qty 500
Exciting stuff, eh? We needed them, so I grabbed them.
Original Price: $2.99
I paid: $2.40

Fiskars Fiberglass Nylon Gardening Trowel
Season is nearly over, but they'll be great for next season.
Original Price: $3.99
Clearance: $.39
I paid: $.31 (yes, 31 cents!)

Fiskars Fiberglass Nylon Gardening Spade
Original Price: $3.99
Clearance: $.39
I paid: $.31 (yes, 31 cents!)

Miracle-Gro Liquafeed Universal Feeder
It attaches to your hose, and then evenly disperses the Miracle-Gro to your plants or grass via the hose or sprinkler. Included the liquid Miracle-Gro.
Original Price: $24.99
Clearance: $2.49
I paid: $2.00

3 Pack of Microwave Popcorn
Original Price: $1.00
I paid: $.80

3 Pack Always Maxi Sampler
Original Price: $?? I want to say it was a $1.00
Clearance: $.50
I paid: $.40

Tampax Pearl Compact 40 ct. Assortment
Original Price: $8.49
Clearance: $.84
I paid: $.68 (yes, 68 cents!)

16 count K-Cup Hot Chocolate
Gotta have this going into winter!
Original Price: $12.99
Clearance: $3.89
I paid: $3.13

Scent Killer Spray
Original Price: $12.99
Sale: $11.69
I paid: $9.40

ScentKiller Wipes
Original Price: $5.99
Sale: $5.39
I paid: $4.33

12 Sticks of Maybelline Baby Lips Balm in 3 colors
What does one need with 12 sticks of lipstick? I'll resell them. I looked them up and they go for $13.99 for a lot of 2 with free shipping. So... I'll most likely be able to pay off the entire trip with the resale of these. :)
Original Price: $4.99
Clearance: $.44
I paid: $.35 (yes, .35 cents!)

One cost $1.07, I paid .86.
 
If I can't pay off the trip with the lipsticks, I am going to try with these video games I picked up for resale too!

Game Party something or other?... for the XBOX 360










Original Price: $19.99
Clearance: $1.99
I paid: $1.60

Epic Mickey for the Wii
Original Price: $19.99
Clearance: $1.99
I paid: $1.60

2 Bottles of Marinade
I don't know what these were originally, but I paid .40 after all was said and done per bottle.

2 Bottles of Worchestershire Sauce
Same here! Only .40 per bottle so I should be set for quite a long time as I pretty much only use it for cooking.

5 Cans of diced green chiles
I make a pretty killer White Chicken Chili (recipe here) and it calls for green chiles, which I never seem to have on hand. Well, now I will for at least 5 pots of it! I paid .64 a can (.71 for one of them, I think it's how my coupon balanced out).

Shopko had sent me a coupon, $10 off $50 for my birthday, which I was able to pull up on my phone before checking out. Can you believe it?
 

 

And no, I wasn't compensated in anyway by Shopko or anyone... I just had to share my excitement! Tell me about your best score! 
 
Thanks for reading!

 

 

It's Pinspired Friday {Look for Less #2}

It's Pinspired Friday! TGIF!

Taylor Swift seems to be able to pull off just about any look, especially those highly polished, preppy and pretty looks. This one popped up on my Pinterest feed, and I was inspired to find the look for less. :)

The site the image came from didn't come with the price tag for that outfit, but it's safe to say it's probably not under $100. My version just happens to be! Of course, take it with a grain of salt - my prices don't include shipping, taxes, etc. Get Taylor Swift's look for only $71.99.

Look for Less #2 by hargrovk featuring black sunglasses

Black dress
genuine-people.com - $17

City Classified black shoes
lulus.com - $18

ALDO black purse
aldoshoes.com - $25

Black sunglasses
lucluc.com - $8.99

Moisturizing lipstick
eyeslipsface.com - $3