#4 Purchase and Decorate Our First Home

One of the long-term goals B and I hope to accomplish is to purchase [and decorate] a home of our own. There is not much that we can do to accomplish that at this point since B and I are not yet in a position to buy a home. I posted not long ago about moving to North Carolina in 2016. As we save and pay down some debt, we are hoping to purchase a new home in the summer of 2016 as well.

In the meantime, I've made it my mission to make the most of what we've got. By now a few of you have already seen the seriously outdated pictures of our little 800 square foot apartment. I have lived here since 2011 and B has lived here since 2012. This has been our first home. However, I don't think we've added enough of a personal touch. Our walls are bare and decor is scarce. Until we actually are in a position to buy our first home, my goal will be to really settle into the space we have now.

So, in order to work toward the goal now, I am determined to hone in my skills to make our apartment feel like home. After looking at the pictures I have so far, it became abundantly clear that it was time for an update. I'm hoping to post this for you next week as well. I think B was a little embarrassed that I posted a picture of the living room with that super old TV. Do they even make those anymore?

While I work to make this place feel like home, you will start to see the Tutorials tab at the top fill up. I wanted to start off as easy as possible, and, of course, I immediately thought of spray paint. This weekend, I was able to take these babies from this:

to this:

I almost forgot how big of an impact a little spray paint can make! I've seen this project on quite a few blogs and on Pinterest, so I can't take the credit. I've been loving gold lately, so this project was definitely a no-brainer. First, I laid out all of the letters, magnet side up. I bought 3 packs from Target to make sure I had enough duplicates of each letter (the pack contains one of each letter). I just opened an old shoebox and laid it on plastic tarp...which was overkill now that I think about it. These were my partners in crime:

At less than $3.77 per can from Walmart, I would definitely recommend both of these. The backs of the magnets got a layer of primer. I let them dry for 20 minutes before I flipped them over and sprayed primer on the fronts.

Twenty minutes later, I sprayed a layer of the gold:

That was probably the simplest project I've ever done. The only real drawback of using the spray paint is that there is a lot that is wasted. It is a necessary evil to make sure that you have good coverage on the sides... maybe I can think of a craft to do with my cardboard now...hmm. If you've never spray painted anything before, there are a few things you need to know:

• A well-ventilated workspace is a must. I usually use my balcony or the grass outside the apartment.
• If you don't prime your surface before you paint, the paint will chip. 
• Don't hold the can too close to the item you are spraying. You will start to see drips in the paint and those are no fun. 
• There are some weather conditions that are not spray paint friendly. Read the can very carefully. Watch out for wind, extreme heat, and extreme cold. 

One thing I love about finding a spray paint color I like it that I can use it on multiple projects. Next up, I have an old mirror that I purchased from Goodwill a couple of years back. I actually bought the mirror with a dresser as a set for $40. Then, it sat in storage for about two years. Two long years.

Please excuse the dust on the mirror. I just pulled it out of storage. I'm working on turning it into a chalkboard to hang next to the kitchen table. [Oh, and there's the TV we upgraded to two years ago. Happy, B?] I'm almost done with this project, so I'll be able to post the update and a tutorial soon. Stay tuned!