Why "Chintzy Chic"?

"Shabby chic" is just so widespread nowadays; I had to come up with something different. I love things that are rustic, country, vintage, chic, but especially when I find those things at a bargain! In my two years of living in Iowa, I have come to appreciate garage sales, flea markets, side-of-the-road “junk,” and all things DIY. So, with this blog I will chronicle my attempts to accomplish DIY projects that are “chintzy chic”—including my wedding, home improvements, and whatever “junk” inspires me. It doesn’t have to be expensive to be amazing!

First Up, the Wedding

As you know, weddings are expensive. But I am determined to prove that you can have a beautiful wedding for less. Although I guess “less” doesn’t mean much when the average wedding costs close to $30,000, according to The Knot! It’s expensive to feed and entertain around 200 guests, but I think it can be done for far less than $30,000. Our budget is $10,000, but I want to see how low we can go. Hey, I got my dress for $38, so anything is possible! And check out the raw cotton that will be used for my bouquet (that and extra for decorations cost about $60...cheaper and easier than fresh flowers):

So that takes care of the chintzy, but what about the rustic, country, comfy part? We have a big, beautiful barn for the venue, and we have two great decorators who share our vision of a chintzy chic occasion (and are able to turn my hodgepodge of ideas into something cohesive and beautiful). I get a little carried away visiting the great wedding blogs out there (my favorite is Style Me Pretty, which is where I discovered the fabulous barn just a couple hours from where we live). But being obsessed with those types of blogs has led me to some awesome ideas that I can implement in my own wedding, including using mason jars as drinking glasses (got them all for free, thanks to the groom’s dad!), making my bouquet out of cotton, and using old wine bottles for water and lemonade for guests, just to name a few.

And Because We Don’t Have Enough on Our Plate…

We have decided to tackle some home improvement projects in preparation for friends and family coming out for the wedding. Our house is currently two bedrooms, one (usable) bathroom, but our unfinished basement has the potential to become a family room, third bedroom, and second bathroom. All we have to do is level and finish the concrete floors...

frame and put up walls and a ceiling (and take hunter green out of the color scheme)...



fix up the bathroom so that it doesn’t look like it belongs in a prison...

 

(this cell of cinder blocks is the shower)



beautify the laundry room so that it's fun to spend time there (okay, well at least less scary)...

 

and have the entire basement rewired. Sounds easy, right? (Haha.) But given our recent success in putting up a beautiful backsplash in our kitchen (photos to come), I think we can turn our basement into something great (you have to start small).

Oh, but that’s only our biggest undertaking. Tyler has decided he wants our backyard to be “an oasis.” (I have no green thumb, so that part is up to him.) And we also want to repaint the entire house (interior only) and maybe change up our furniture a bit (paint some white, get some chair covers, etc.).

We have 7 months until the wedding, in which time we want to entirely redo our house. Can it be done? Sure! That’s 30 weekends away; we have all the time in the world…