*This post is sponsored by Sauder. All opinions and tips are my own. My husband and I have really been discussing our home design aesthetic lately. We are currently giving our living room a makeover. But the process can be a long and difficult task when you are short on money and long on individual opinions. Add to the fact that we are renting our home and we kind of have to work with what we have. Our “base” is pretty traditional while our tastes run more towards a modern look. The modern feel we love nods to mid century modern with a clean, uncluttered vibe that is full of natural light. We struggle with just how modern we want to go (my husband – all the way, me – a more laid back, homey modern approach). We also struggle with the use of colors. I LOVE colors, whereas to keep it looking clean, my husband prefers to have only a few pops of one or two colors. As you can see from the mantle, most of the color comes from the flowers while the other accessories remain neutral. We don’t always have fresh flowers in our house, but they are the perfect way to add more color to a room, temporarily. And you can keep them in just a few colors or really mix it up with a colorful bouquet. Our biggest hurdle has been finding affordable furniture, that fits our budget, that will have big impact on the style of our room. But I think we finally have a solution in Sauder furniture. Until we decide on what furniture we need and how to lay it out in the room, we have focused more on the decor elements of the room to get us closer to the look we want.

To keep a clean, modern look, everything should have a use. To me, that can look a little to sparse and cold. So I’ve been searching for accessories that have a modern vibe. I found this vase, which reminds me of a high end modern pottery designer’s products, at my local craft store and was able to purchase it with a coupon. With the traditional look of the fireplace, we really need to try hard to add modern touches through decor.

Because I need to buy a few pieces of furniture to make this room over, I’m really trying to watch how I spend my money in other areas of the room. By repurposing things I already own, I am able to style the area without spending money. Here I’ve used an empty whiskey bottle and a wooden candlestick holder as vases (the wooden candlestick holder actually has a little metal insert for the candle so it can hold a smidge of water to keep that flower alive for a few days). The brass candlestick holders were purchased on clearance around the holidays and provide a little shine to the mantle. And while I used to hate the wall of mirrors, it is needed to keep that room bright all day. Thanks to the position of our home, that room loses natural light just after lunch time. But thanks to that wall of mirror and a sliding glass door opposite, light gets bounced back in to the room.

I think it is also very important when designing a room, even if you are trying to keep to a certain look, to put some of yourself in the room including one or two conversation pieces. Those tend to have big impact while not cluttering a space. This George Washington pillow is the only throw pillow we have on the couch (otherwise, my kids would make a fort out of them) and it demonstrates both my love for U.S. Presidents and my husbands love of Americana perfectly.

Modern rooms tend to be clear of clutter and with everything having a purpose. The media console we have now does not provide a spot for us to hide the DVD player. So it sits out on top of the console which I think is an eyesore. In this case, I felt a little styled vignette was in order to draw the attention away from the DVD player. And look, it is holding our Apple TV remote so that counts as function, right?

The media console is one of the pieces of furniture that we will be replacing. I am in love with the clean lines and modern vibe of this media console from Sauder. And guess what? My husband and I both love the style. You know how you find a new company and get super excited over their stuff only to click through and realize that you can’t afford any of it? Well, that is not the cause with Sauder. Not only do they carry pieces that perfectly fit our modern aesthetic, but the prices are totally affordable. This company gets it. They think you should be able to furnish your home in style without breaking the bank. Amen. You can see the entire Soft Modern collection, which is TOTALLY amazing, on their website or their Pinterest page. And they have styles to suit all different tastes. With these pieces, we can achieve the modern look we want in this house but can take with us if we move again. And because the furniture is so affordable, we can change out some of the other pieces that don’t fit the look we are trying to achieve. Awesome. This room is far from finished but I am super excited with how it is coming together. I can’t wait to feel good about inviting people in to our home!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Sauder Woodworking. The opinions and text are all mine.