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The Frugal Homemaker

Your guide to turning your house into a home... one DIY project and yard sale find at a time

House crashing: Molly from Pennies ‘n Grace

May 6, 2013

Last week when I was in NC, my husband and I actually stayed with Molly and her family.  Molly writes a fun lifestyle/family blog at Pennies ‘n Grace – where she shares delicious family recipes, her amazing yard sale and thrift store finds, DIY projects, how she decorates her house with pennies, and the grace of God that makes all of life possible. 

Here’s a picture of Molly and her husband Brian and their adorable kiddos.

Molly and family

I was so inspired by her home and decorating style/ability that I asked if I could share it with you and she said yes!  Really I just wanted to document some of her ideas so I can use them to inspire some things at my house Winking smile and I thought some of you may want to do the same.  And what I LOVE the most about her house is 75% or more of her furniture, home furnishings, décor…pretty much everything in her home comes from thrift stores, yard sales, or craigslist.   Molly loves antiques, loves to tackle DIY projects, and has a rustic, vintage, but yet traditional style.

Here’s their humble abode from the outside.  I love the gray, black and white color scheme.

Molly's house

Loved this little sitting area she created on her front porch. 

sitting area on front porch

One thing that inspired me about her house is the way she uses every little space to make it beautiful with furniture and accessories yet it is 100% functional as well.  But her home never felt cramped or cluttered to me.  (Probably because there was NO clutter – definitely something I am working on achieving in my home.)

Let’s take a peek inside…

Molly's house

I LOVE her living room! It is not huge but it was cozy and beautiful and she has fit in plenty of seating for all the friends and gatherings she hosts.

living room

And I love her color scheme too probably because you can find most of those same colors in my living room.

living room

Just a side note: couches came from a yard sale, the beautiful rug was a Craigslist steal,  her Target wood rosette wreath on the mantel was a Goodwill find new in the box, and probably ALL of the accessories and décor came from either yard sales or thrift stores.  Like I said, she knows how to decorate with pennies and do it beautifully!

DIY chalkboard in living room

The large chalkboard was a DIY project made from a Goodwill find, the large white chair was $9.99 at Goodwill, and the stools came from a thrift store too and she recovered them.   

living room

living room

Loved this display on top of her antique piano.

antique piano

living room

spring mantel

Now let’s step into the kitchen.

painted white kitchen cabinets

Her kitchen used to be all red as you can see in the below picture.    But she recently painted the cabinets all white and used red as an accent and it really brightened things up.

kitchen

Canning shelf – I think she found this in a trash pile.  Forgot to mention that – yes, she also finds amazing stuff!

canning shelf

Loved her Keurig station and the k-cups in the glass jar.  I might have to do that!

storage for K-cups

Pretty fabric backed open cabinets.

open cabinets in kitchen

Her baking station.

baking corner in kitchen

Moving into the guest bath – she has mustard yellow and black in here and it is really pretty!  Her husband just finished installing that pretty tile and they are working on putting in a new sink cabinet in here too.

yellow and black bathroom

yellow and black bathroom

Hallway

DIY gallery wall

I loved all the groupings of pictures and wall hangings that she had throughout her home.  Don’t be surprised if you see something like this pop up at soon at my home!

DIY gallery wall

This is her son’s bedroom (and also doubles as a guest room when they have company).

blue boys bedroom

She did a really cute Book Nook in his closet made with a repurposed roadside rescue desk in the bottom.

Book Nook in closet

blue boys bedroom

And across the hall is the girls bedroom! 

pink girls bedroom

pink girls bedroom

See the play kitchen –she paid $2.21 for it at Value Village.  The before picture is below and Molly transformed it to look like the above picture – so cute and so much better!

thrift store play kitchen

She did a version of my spray painted coffee filter poofs as a DIY mobile over her little girl’s crib – so cute‘

pink girls bedroom

She found an adorable doll house on the side of the road but it was a little big and bulky for her girls room.  So she used pieces of it (roof, doors, windows, trim, etc.) and added to a narrow bookcase so her girls have plenty of room to play!

DIY girls doll house

pink girls bedroom

This was a mirror that broke so she reused the frame and turned it into hair bow station.  Look at all those cute flowers and bows!

hairbow storage

Now let’s check out the master bedroom.  I LOVED this room.  Seriously, so inspiring for the space I hope to create in our neglected master bedroom.

master bedroom

master bedroom

Once again, loving the wall display!

DIY gallery wall

And this wall display, and the coziness of this corner.  The mustard yellow chair was a $2.99 thrift store find.

Master bedroom

Now let’s step foot into the master bathroom.  Her husband completely gutted and redid this bathroom a while ago. 

master bathroom makeover

She found the gorgeous cabinet at Goodwill – another new in the box Target clearance item.

master bathroom makeover

They refinished and used an antique dresser as the sink cabinet.  Her husband plans to reuse the drawer fronts and make them into doors for the bottom.  Loved this – so pretty!

old dresser as bathroom vanity

master bathroom makeover

I hope you enjoyed this tour as much as I did!  You don’t have to have thousands of dollars to decorate your home on a budget.  By shopping smart at thrift stores and yard sales, being patient for just the right thing to come along, and being willing to DIY or paint a few things, your home can be beautiful, and functional for your family.  And you can create a welcoming space to be used to be a blessing to others (as it was to us!)

Molly's living room

Hope you will pop over and check out Molly’s blog – Pennies ‘n Grace. I really enjoyed her recent series on how she cleans and manages her home.  Already putting some of her tips into practice – check out this post on Daily tips to a “put together” home.

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Comments

  1. Stacey says

    May 6, 2013 at 11:26 AM

    What great style! I love how each space is personalized for the family. It is so inspiring to me to see how some people are thrifty and make things beautiful at the same time! Thanks for the tour.

    Reply
  2. Debbie says

    May 6, 2013 at 3:32 PM

    I love everything about Molly’s home! She has done a fabulous job decorating on a dime. So much inspiration to be found. Thanks for sharing her space with us!
    Debbie 🙂

    Reply
  3. Kim says

    May 6, 2013 at 3:45 PM

    Only Molly could take all of that of those things and organize them so beautifully! She does and amazing job!

    Reply
  4. Renee@ Living Laughing & Loving says

    May 6, 2013 at 4:03 PM

    How fun! What a great idea! 🙂

    Reply
  5. Leah says

    May 6, 2013 at 8:27 PM

    Wow! I love her home and decor inspiration. I will definitely be following her blog!

    Reply
  6. Jan says

    May 8, 2013 at 7:00 PM

    Molly has shown us all to pack much into a small space and make it functional, beautiful and not crowded feeling at the same time. No small task! I especially like the black and mustard yellow bath and the red in the kitchen. Color speaks to us, and we should surround ourselves with our favorite colors to cheer us up and inspire us. I don’t know about anyone else, but frankly, I get a little bored seeing white room after white room after white room! Heaven knows that the world is often a gloomy place today, and if we cannot smile inside our own homes within surroundings that make us happy, well, it would be a pretty darn miserable life, wouldn’t it! Methinks, though, that the family is going to need another bedroom soon. Three girls in one bedroom – ain’t gonna work once they start hitting their tween and teen years, especially! Yikes! LOL!

    Reply

Trackbacks

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    May 31, 2013 at 8:01 AM

    […] this $10 chair at Goodwill – nasty right??  But look what was under the slipcover!  And when I house crashed her a few weeks ago we found a clearance IKEA slipcover to go on top of it.  A chair like this (and the price!) are on […]

    Reply
  2. Friday Frugal Finds: games, pillows, and Tupperware + link up YOUR finds! | The Frugal Homemaker says:
    June 7, 2013 at 8:11 AM

    […] was super inspired when I house crashed Molly by all her fun pillows on her bed, couches, chairs, everywhere!  So I mentally added that to my […]

    Reply
  3. Easy Stenciled Chevron Painted Pillow with Tulip for Your Home says:
    May 7, 2014 at 9:42 AM

    […] it.  Yes, I have a pillow addiction. Is there pillow therapy group??  It’s really all Molly’s fault – one visit to her house and suddenly my NEED for pillows everywhere appeared.  BUT, I am also cheap thrifty so I […]

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Hi!  My name is Christina . . .

I love doing simple, frugal things to make our house feel like HOME! Come learn along with me how to have a beautiful home on a budget.

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