Reside: Nashville Moms Joy Wilson

Today I am happy to have one of my sweet, dear, beautiful friends, Joy Wilson show her lovely home.  Joy's home is gorgeously decorated, but still makes you feel like you could curl up with a cup of tea and chat for hours.  Joy is a blogger over at Nashville Moms, as well as an amazing photographer (she did some pictures of Lily and me at 6 months old that I adore!), and a mama to a little beauty named Dylan! Name:   Joy Wilson 2. Blog name/Blog address:   I am one half of the Nashville Moms over at nashvillemoms.net How would you define your home decorating style?:   Comfortable/cozy/sentimental  Almost every piece in our home has a story to go along with it.  I love when people come in our home and say "oh it is so warm and inviting in here". Mission accomplished. Where do you draw your inspiration from when decorating your home?:   I love pieces that have meaning.  A hand me down piece of furniture or a framed piece of memorabilia from a vacation.  I am inspired by history, nostalgia, comfort.  I am always inspired after a trip to the flea market.  What room would you like to feature?:   Our living space.  I spend 90% of our day here in the living room/kitchen.   How do you design on a budget?:   Thrift stores, flea markets, and my mom's hand me downs! Can you give an example of an item in your home that was inexpensively decorated/purchased/thrifted/diy/etc?:  Hmm this is a hard one because so much of our home was inexpensive/thrifted/DIY.  I will make note of the frames on our mantle.  These frames were all super cheap- thrifted or found at a place like TJ Maxx for less than $10 each.  Each frame holds something so special.  The largest frame was our wedding gift from Brad's Dad.  It holds an original piece of art by Brad's Grandfather.  At first I was not crazy about the frame but it has grown on me and now matches everything in our home.  I also framed a copy of my favorite hymn- How Great Thou Art- and a piece of an olive branch from our trip to The Holy Land a few years ago.  I google artwork by Bob Dylan and framed a couple of those just for fun (my husband is a huge Dylan fan, hence our daughter's name!).  I placed a little vintage camera on here- I have a collection going of these little cuties all over the house.  The "art" above the mantle was a DIY project inspired by a similar word search I saw at a friend's house.  I was bored one day and made this out of an old cardboard box and some paint and a sharpie.  I adore it!  It covers a huge hole where a tv could go but we do not watch tv in this room so I loved being able to cover the hole.  it is cheaply done and not very fancy to look at but it is a fun conversation starter.  I his over 30 words in there that mean something to us.  Also, behind our couch is a wall of special concert posters (and one poster just for me at the very top).  Music is a huge part of our lives and these concerts are special memories to us.  We have so many more that don't fit on the wall.   Any advice for She Breathes Deeply on creating a happy "home" and decorating on a budget? :  My advice is- decorate how you want to decorate.  Don't feel pressure to do anything a certain way just because someone else does.  I used to desire a pristine home with modern furniture because that is what some of my friends did.  Or I felt bad that our couch was $299 instead of $1299.  Now- I don't care how much something costs or how little it costs as long as it helps make my house feel like a home to ME.  Don't be scared of thrift stores- there are so many treasures to be found!  Keep an eye out for online sales (we got our chevron rug for $60 during a memorial day sale on overstock.com).  And DIY anything you possibly can.  That is the best way to decorate on a budget.  notes:  I DIY'd the frame in the kitchen to serve as a dry erase board.  I got the frame for $3 at Goodwill and used paint chips for the art work in the middle.  The mint table was purchased at a thrift store for $10 and I just painted it this color.  The green chair and ottomon in the living room was purchased when I was in college (over 13 years ago!) at a thrift store for $50- that was expensive back then.  My mom loathes the chair but I adore it.  I love the old barn ladder to house blankets.  And side note- the table in front of the fireplace is a record storage table that we use as a "baby gate" to keep Dylan out of the fireplace.