Restoration Hardware

Laura of The Simple Life and her husband Damon wanted to “finish off” their living room by filling the large blank wall next to their television. Laura found some wood shelves with metal brackets that she thought would be perfect for the space. Well, perfect that is minus the price. Laura did the math, and they were looking at around $700 for three measly shelves. Craziness! Instead, Laura and Damon spent some time in the hardware store devising a plan to get the same look for substantially less. I’d say they did a pretty awesome job!

Jennifer from Blissfully Ever After decided to give an outdated picture frame from a swap meet some love and turn it into a piece of vintage, industrial alphabet art for her son’s playroom. With some leftover paint and her own custom printable, Jennifer pulled it off for a whopping $1.79. That’s quite the saving compared to her $329 inspiration! Wowzers!

Amanda from Burlap and Denim loves the effect of lighting in design. Throw in a vintage-industrial vibe, and the girl is head over heals! That’s what propelled Amanda to create her own marquee star using rather unusual materials. Amanda’s star is not only incredibly less expensive than those offered at some of our favorite designer retailers but also quite a bit bigger!

Aly from Entirely Eventful Day wanted a beautiful weathered wood étagère from Restoration Hardware for her master bathroom. The problem? She didn’t have $700 to purchase it. What Aly did have was an old, metal, over-the-toilet shelving system. Aly refabbed the shelf with a fresh coat of glossy white paint and some wood to give it a more substantial and expensive look like her inspiration.

Nancy from Owen’s Olivia put her own creative spin on an illuminated arrow sign she saw from RH Baby & Child by making a “hello” sign out of Christmas lights. The beauty of Nancy’s DIY approach (aside from saving some serious dough) is that your sign can say whatever you like. Who wouldn’t want to see his or her name up in lights {wink}?