Savvy or Steep?

     One of the main things on my blog will be about my "frugalista" side and attempting to design my own home, so I thought I'd share the recent deals I found putting together my new King Bed. My inspiration came from the "High Low Project" on HGTV, where desinger Sabrina Soto would show her clients the creme de la creme of furniture and decor, and then find a much cheaper and similar substitute within budget. I call my version, "Savvy or Steep?" First let's start off with my bed frame.

     The initial bed I wanted was the ZGallerie Jameson Bed but it was out of my budget at $1299 since I just splurged on a Tempurpedic Mattress. I shopped around and finally found this Skyline Tufted Wingback Bed with nailhead details online from Wayfair . When shopping online, make sure that the website you are purchasing from is reputable and try to look for specific product reviews. Wayfair is a newer site, much like Amazon and is one of my favorite places to shop at for home furniture and decor. All the reviews on this bed were great, plus there was a sale at the time, so I went ahead and purchased it and boy am I glad I did! The Eastern King was $680 when I bought it on sale and is currently $750, which saved me over $600 from the original ZGallerie bed I wanted! I absolutely love my bed. It's not just a headboard, it has an entire bed frame. For my Tempurpedic mattress I also needed to purchase a box spring. The bed is made of fabric with gorgeous tufting and silver nailheads along the sides. I actually like it better than the ZGallerie option because I didn't like the curves on the headboard. I'm so excited about this purchase you don't even know. It has everything i wanted, the soft grey fabric, tufting and nailheads!

     I also went on a hunt for the perfect and affordable duvet cover and sheet sets. I had my heart set on the West Elm Striped Duvet but they were $137 for a king duvet and 2 king shams, so I shopped around and of course Target comes to the rescue! I found the most similar set for just $30 and it came with the king duvet and 2 king shams! Ultimate steal! Unfortunately the Target sheets aren't on the website anymore, but I just saw some at the local Target in the clearance section for $10! It comes in Navy Blue as well. I thought the sheets would be stiff because of the price, but they were really soft, too. The only downside is that the striped print is only on the top of the duvet and pillow case, the back is all white, so if you fold your sheet over, it will be all white. It wasn't a big deal for me because I wanted to get a fun and contrasting sheet set to go under and that would cover the fold anyway.

     My last savvy find was the sheet set. I love how grey, white and yellow go together and I found these beautiful Dwell Studio Citrine Sheets but they were $345!!! That was like triple the price of the West Elm Duvet set which I already thought was too expensive, so of course I had to go back on the hunt. I found these amazing Elite Home Rutherford Bronze Sheets on Amazon for $43. I really wanted more of a mustard color, but it was still in the same yellow/gold color tones and I absolutely loved the geometric link pattern, so I went for it. The sheets are a little stiff at first, but after a few washes they're just what i needed.

     There are a few things I'm obsessed with: the colors green & grey, linen furniture, tufting, stripes and bold geometrical patterns, and nailheads. So excited to say i was able to incorporate it all into our new King Bed! I still want to add some splash of emerald green in there, maybe with some Euro Shams. We'll see.  

The Tempurpedic mattress was definitely a splurge, but as much as I love a deal, a good mattress is not something to skimp on. We spend so much of out lives sleeping, that I think a quality mattress is something worth spending on. Please ignore the bright green background, I'm moving to a new place in June which will have a white or light wallpapered wall and I'm trying to transition from dark furniture to lighter furniture to make the rooms look more airy. Here are before and after pictures:

     Stay tuned for my next project... getting rid of the black nightstands with a DIY Ikea Hack to go with the new bed.

My First Post - Savvy and Savory ?

Let me introduce myself, my name is Audrey and I'm living in Southern California. I’m absolutely excited to start this new chapter in my life which is part of the reason why I wanted to start my own blog. Let’s start off with the title. I wanted something that captured my love of “frugalista” shopping, food, home decorating, DIY projects, traveling, wedding and event coordination, and my own personal journey as a  new homeowner. As you can see this blog is going to be about a lot of things so it was impossible to find a title that incorporated it all, but mainly it will be about living life fabulously without breaking the bank and my delicious discoveries through food, travel and life as it happens… hence Savvy and Savory. I can’t take full credit for that name though. I bounced around a bunch of ideas with some friends, and one of my BFF’s, Krisheila thought “Smart, Savvy, and Savory” and I really loved the ring to it and play on words, so I just cut out the "smart" since savvy incorporates that and boom, there you have it.

Beyond the title, I’ve always found writing to be cathartic and I thought this might be a good way to document my finds and my life. I have a philosophy I like to call the “5 F’s”: Family, Friends, Food, Fashion and Frenchie.”  That pretty much sums up the things I love most, and in case you’re wondering, the last one is for my French Bulldog/Frenchie named Rambo. He’s going to be 4 years old this year and yes I enjoy dressing him up every once in awhile, taking a bazillion pictures of him, and letting him sleep on my bed with me. How can you resist this face?

Excuse the tangent, I’m sure I’ll be going on a lot of those, but let me get back to the point of this blog. I see a lot of blogs focused on fashion and décor I can’t afford or the lives of people I can’t relate to. I make what I like to call the “medium bucks,” and I think I am doing fairly well, but I am by no means rich. This blog is dedicated to those women who are in a similar place in their lives where they’re settling down,, moving up in their careers or still searching for the right one, renting or owning their own home… all while doing it in an affordable style. Just because I’m 30 something doesn’t mean the fun has to stop, but it also doesn’t mean there aren’t challenges, and I’ll be sharing those hurdles as well.

 A little more about me, I’m a Marketing Director at an IT Company and I love the company I work for, but I hope to one day also be a Teacher/Professor, two extremes I know. For my undergrad I got a B.S. in Communications & International Business Marketing, and I’ve been working in that industry for over 7 years now. Don’t get me wrong, I still love Marketing, but I've always had an itch to teach. I’ve always loved tutoring kids and about 3 years ago, I went back to school to get my Teaching Credentials and Masters in Teaching. Although I now have my masters and credentials, it just isn’t the right time to be a Teacher, especially in Southern California. I looked everywhere, but because so many teachers are still getting “pink slips” (laid off), when there are positions open, they hire those teachers back because new grads like me don’t have enough classroom experience. I could start substitute teaching to get my foot in the door, but with a new mortgage, I just couldn’t afford the instability of being a sub, which is why I’m still happily keeping my Marketing job. I’m decent at it, and my 2 bosses are amazing to work with, I’m very fortunate. I’m happy where I’m at, but every month when I see my grad school loan payments, and how expensive it is, sometimes I doubt my decision to go to Grad School because I’m not utilizing that degree. It’s hard to not have regrets, no matter how much people tell you not to. I just try to remind myself that someday I’ll be able to use it, whether it’s teaching elementary school kids or combining that passion with my current job and teaching Marketing at a college level, one way or the other I hope to make teaching happen.

Alright, I’m sure you’ve had enough of me. I hope you’ll share your stories too as this blog progresses. Feel free to ask me questions or leave comments, I love to help my fellow ladies (or men too if you’re reading).