My Farmhouse-Inspired Apartment Decor (On a Budget)

I'm calling this Garden-Farmhouse style.

So as you may or may not know, I'm planning to move to an *actual* farm in Southwest Oklahoma someday soon, and in the meantime, I've become a little obsessed with farmhouse-style decor. However, I don't like the overly stylized, commercial-looking version of it (I don't like anything that makes it look like I tried too hard...because I'm paranoid about the fact that I always try too hard.) What I DO like is the airy, light, cozy aspects of farmhouse style, and the fact that you can use items you probably already own and just kind of cobble them together in an eclectic way, add a few farmhouse-y touches, and voilá - your rooms look pretty darn cool.

I grew up at least part-time in real farmhouses in Southwest Oklahoma, and let me tell you what real farmhouse style looked like in that area: eclectic pieces cobbled together. This was because you used what you had because you couldn't afford to get all new matching furniture (and if you could afford it, you didn't see the need to do so. Well, that was my grandparents' and their neighbors' attitudes anyway.) The house was more utilitarian than "decorated," although my grandma had crocheted dolls to cover the toilet paper rolls and little random wooden plaques, ceramic angels, and prints of Jesus and other inspirational scenes or words on her walls. You'd also see the occasional little wooden shelf with miniatures on it.

Fast forward to today's day and time, and to my own spin on modern farmhouse style. I love green plants and woven baskets, and they are an essential part of the atmosphere in my home, so I'm calling this "Garden Farmhouse Style," a la Jayla. On a budget, because I'm saving money to buy that farm I was talking about. : - )

Living Room

Sofa plus one chair. I don't like my rooms to be over-crowded with furniture. Plus, budget.

For my living room in my 3rd-floor apartment, I reused my Pier 1 coffee table/chest thing as well as a side accent table I got at a Sam's Club in Oklahoma City 20 years ago. They don't match each other, yet they have a similar style, which is perfect in my mind for achieving that not-too-matchy look. I left my other sofa and chair with my ex when I moved out, then bargain-shopped around Colorado Springs for a sofa and chair to replace them. I went to the furniture store (Sofamart) without having a firm color choice in mind (other than looking for neutrals and no patterns,) and scored this sage green sofa for $300 on sale. Sales guy threw in the off-white swivel-rocking armchair for another $275, and boom, I had new living room furniture that better fit my current taste for under $600.

The off-white, textured pillows came from Target (around $15-$20 each,) the plushy off-white throw was from Kirkland's (on sale for $10 I think,) and the cool navy-and-cream pillow was a $16 TJ Maxx find while I was visiting my Aunt Shirley in Southwest Oklahoma. We went to Lawton to shop at all her "favorite stores" (a dangerous proposition because she has very cool taste and enviable style, so of course all her favorite stores became mine as well.)

I already owned the Picasso framed print "Child With Dove" (which my ex hated by the way,) and I actually made the two botanical art pieces by walking around my neighborhood picking weeds and leaves off trees, pressing them between books, and then hot gluing them to printer paper. I repurposed the frames I already owned to finish off the look, and I'm happy with the arrangement I ended up with to go with the green sofa.

I am not a big fan of piles of knickknacks, so I decorated with a few plants and an earthy-looking woven basket to hold my remotes, and called it good.

I'm so glad pothos ivy is in style, because I've owned these plants for years and they are super low-maintenance.

For my fireplace decor, I took inspiration from a photo of a living room mantle in this article by Trove Interiors and did a grouping of layered framed prints I already had plus an empty frame, then added plants and a clock. Pretty easy, I already owned everything, and I really like the look.

Dining Room

Dining room arrangement. Black and white farmhouse style...why not?

The dining area of my apartment was difficult for me to figure out for some reason. I already owned all the furniture pictured and didn't want to buy new stuff, but I wasn't crazy about the idea of so many dark (and cheap) pieces all in one room together. I couldn't put the two shelves together on the back wall because it looked crowded behind the table, so I spread them wide, decorated them with as many white things as I could rummage up from my kitchen, and put a $9 off-white-and-black canvas print I got at Walmart in the middle. I made the centerpiece flower arrangement from a vase and some silk flowers I got at Dollar Tree, bought the woven round placemats at JC Penney with a coupon that made them each cost around $3, and that was that. My work here is done.

Kitchen

Apartment kitchens rock (not.)

So this was why I got such a good deal on the rent. The kitchen. The cherry wood cabinets are dark and a little depressing; the countertops are an unlovely, gritty, easy-to-water-stain chemical coating over Formica that is chipped off in several places, and the white appliances are circa 1985. (Okay, maybe more like 1995, but they are pretty old and cranky.) I've burned so many meals on the warped electric burners on the stove it isn't even funny. However, the real farmhouse I'm looking at in Oklahoma has an old electric stove too, so if I can't afford to replace it for a while, I'll be all practiced up in cooking on it after living in this apartment for a year. Ha.

There just wasn't much I could really do to decorate the kitchen, but I did replace the faucet with a much cheaper version of my Aunt Shirley's awesome pull-down farmhouse faucet:

$99 for the pull-down faucet, and I thank myself every day for splurging on it.

And I did a little bit of decorating in the back corner of the countertop:

A cheap desk lamp stands in for under cabinet lighting and helps me see what the heck I'm doing.

I got the little painting on the iron stand in Barcelona, Spain while walking down Las Ramblas with my tour group in 2011. It was already matted, so I added the basic black frame, set it on the black iron stand I bought at another of Shirley's favorite stores - Attic Door in Elk City, Oklahoma - and I love how it brings a little color into the corner of my messy, cluttered, not-very-stylish kitchen.

Another view of those bright cherry cabinets with dark countertops. Hey, at least the appliances are white.

Bedroom

I love white bedding. Yes, it is hard to keep clean. I don't care; I love it anyway.

I love an uncluttered, airy bedroom, and I tried to keep this one as minimal as possible. I bought the wrought iron headboard online...don't remember the website, but Target also sells this particular model. The white bedding was mostly from Amazon (don't remember prices because I've owned it too long, but nothing was very expensive,) and the baby blue velvet pillow I got at HomeGoods here in the Springs. I bought the distressed black night table from Kirkland's online for $109 with an online coupon, put the nickle-finish pharmacy lamp I already owned on top, and hung my already-owned Van Gogh "Les Irises" print over it.

More modern-ish black furniture, but I managed to make it work I think.

The dresser I already owned is definitely not farmhouse style, nor is the Tuscan ironwork thing over it, but I painted the ironwork wall hanging with off-white paint and just made the best of the black dresser by decorating the top with a colored glass jar, a basket, a plant, and a couple more prints that include the color blue. Good enough for me, for now.

Balcony Patio

Love the patio on this apartment. It's up high, gets plenty of morning sunlight, and here in Colorado you can just prop the door wide all day with little-to-no bug invasion.

For the patio, I searched everywhere for just the perfect furniture. It needed to fit the space, look good, and be very, very cheap. I found the bench at Walmart.com for $45. Yes, $45 for a heavy iron garden bench. (I cannot WAIT to move it to a farm in Oklahoma where it can really be seen, used, and appreciated.) For now, the bench is my own little private spot for drinking tea and enjoying the fresh mountain air. The grey seat cushion and the teal-and-navy accent pillows were also from Walmart...I think I paid $5 each for the accent pillows and around $40 for the seat cushion. The side table I got at Big Lots for $15, put a placemat on top that I bought at Dollar Tree plus a battery-powered off-white lantern from Big Lots for around $10. The cute pink and white Zinnias and Cosmos (as well as the herbs on the ledge) I grew from seed 'cause I'm basically a Gardening Goddess. : - )

Oh and the cool looking Middle-Eastern-style rug was another TJ Maxx find from the Lawton, Oklahoma shopping trip I took with Shirley. I think it was around $12, and I love how the muted neutrals and blues complement the vivid teal and navy without competing with it or being too matchy.

So that's it...my Garden-Farmhouse apartment on the 3rd floor of an Italian-style apartment complex in Colorado Springs. Lord willing, I'll be moving all this decor to a real farmhouse by the end of summer 2018!