styling life on a budget

Big city living usually equals small spaces, noisy streets, and spending as much time OUT instead of IN!  But, for those times you just want to stay IN, why not come home to a place you love?!?  Our next design dilemma is from a YB&D guy in the big city of Chicago.

I couldn’t help but be a bit at a loss for advice as I was mesmerized by the wall behind the bar.

Paint chips.  Home Depot.  Free.  How brilliant.  And makes the space so bold and mod.  Ok, ok, let’s not all run to Home Depot and snatch paint chips.  They might come after me if these things start disappearing in mass quantities.  It does show that art can be found in unusual places.  Be inventive when you are on a budget!  He chose multiple colors but stuck with similar values of those colors and adhered them to the wall with standard painter’s tape.  So easy.

And now for the dilemma.  He was seeking advice on what to do on the other walls.  Since the paint chip wall is such a statement, the selection has to be simple so that it doesn’t compete with the feature of the room.  I suggested focusing on the headboard wall rather than the side wall.  The side wall is already home for the closet doors and putting something at the headboard will ground the bed and also offer a little balance next to the window.  It could be anything from art to sculpture to mirror.

Just some fun ideas.  A large modern Vitra-esq clock would keep with the mod vibe.  Hit the flea market for an affordable retro find.

Or, I liked the idea of using a mirrored sculptural element like this CB2 Perspective Mirror to act as art but also reflect light so that the room feels larger.  Our big city guy took the advice and solved his dilemma.  He was able to find this retro art piece depicting the Chicago L system.  Affordable and a little local flair.  Perfect.  And with a few new graphic pillows the look is complete.  Check out the finished room below.

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