Our client, okay my Uncle, recently moved into a super adorable rental property on James Island. He wanted to get it decorated nicely, but on a strict budget and within a three-day weekend timeline because we'd have to come in from out-of-town. My Aunt (Uncle's sister) and us rose to the challenge. I mean, who doesn't love thrifting for three days straight especially when it's on someone else's dime amiright?
Because of the super tight timeline, my Aunt and I started obsessively analyzing the photos of the rental property in advance and picking out items in our area before making the trip down to Charleston. Kind of risky without really knowing measurements of the space, but somehow it worked out pretty seamlessly. I can't stress how important it is to take nice photos of a property whether you're selling or renting. The photos of this home looked pretty rough and dark. If I said we weren't worried about pulling this off looking solely at the photos I would be lying to ya. (If you don't want to read the whole decorating process, you can now skip down to the before and after photos below).
Anyways...
We instructed my Uncle on things to order in advance like brass floor lamps from Target. My Aunt made a great point that instead of spending money on end tables plus lamps that it would be best for both the space and budget to just do floor lamps on either side of a sofa.
We established a theme and colors we wanted to pull through in terms of decor. We were thinking a "relaxed bungalow" vibe but it quickly evolved into a more "vintage meets modern bungalow" by the time we finished shopping in Charleston.
My Aunt found a lot of free items in advance of the trip. She's going to be mad that I'm saying this on the interwebs even though she's probably the only one reading this, but there's a little treasure trove of a dumpster in an apartment complex near her where people leave delicately-used items they no longer need for others to enjoy. She ran into a woman who was moving and leaving a lot of great things behind. I can't remember everything my Aunt got from this generous soul, but I know there was a faux tree, a bunch of little decorative items, and planters. I found a brass and glass console and a really cool vintage painting while thrifting in my area, too.
We had a pretty solid start—just needed the important things like say, a place to sit and sleep. Oh, and a good-looking coffee table to tie it all together.
Once we got to Charleston, we started by hitting up all the Habitat for Humanity ReStores, Goodwills, etc in the area. Anyone who thrifts obsessively knows these stores are a hit or miss. In order to be successful you really have to go frequently or just have sheer luck finding something absolutely fabulous at the right time. I've been unbelievably lucky before, but also have gone weeks without finding anything good. Unfortunately we didn't really cross off any of the large items on our list—just a few decorative items here and there. Also, finding a mint condition, good-looking sofa or a large neutral rug at one of these types of stores is basically seeing a unicorn—at least for me.
So we ended up getting a lot of the bigger pieces like the sofa and rugs at At Home, HomeGoods, and Target. By the third Target we visited, Jim said screw this, tapped out, and went fishing or something. 3-day marathon decorating trips ain't for the faint of heart.
I also even spent time after all the shops were closed by drinking lots of wine and painting some quick black and white abstract pieces to fill some shelves on a budget. Good thing my wine drinking wasn't a part of the budget otherwise I would have drank my Uncle out of house and home. Anyone else get a little, ahem, carried away with drinking when they're doing something creative like painting or writing?
So with my drunk art drying, the only thing left to get was the coffee table. We knew this piece was crucial in making this place look absolutely fabulous. This is where we found that unicorn I'm referring to. We were at a local consignment store and found one of the best damn looking coffee tables we've ever seen. It was definitely a bit of a splurge, but totally WORTH IT. It really made the place have a high end feel without [totally] breaking the bank.
All in all, it was a very successful trip. The before and after photos speak for themselves.
And without further adieu...
Before: rental listing photo of living area.
After: sofa is in the location of where previous renters' TV console was. Check out that super fine coffee table!
Before: rental listing photo of kitchen area.
After: toning down the parquet flooring with large neutral rugs.
Before: rental listing photo of living area with view of built-in shelving.
After: built-in shelving gets some custom artwork (read: free).
After: more built-ins redecorated on a budget.