Sheena, Anthony, and their twin daughters – the family behind Bean In Love Blog.
Sheena at Bean in Love is wife, mother of twins (with a boy on the way next month) and on top of it all, she’s the blogger behind Bean in Love.
Sheena’s twin girls in their home-made Thing 1 & 2 costumes.
On Bean in Love, Sheena covers a lot of her busy life, from raising toddlers, to saving money (with twin toddlers), clothing alterations and thrifty fashion ideas (with twin toddlers), and craft and design projects with – you guessed it – twin toddlers. For many of her projects, Sheena gives step-by-step instructions and plenty of photos to explain the process.
Sheena and her husband Anthony are also satisfied Goedeker’s customers.
Sheena took some time out of her busy life to tell us more about her blog:
Goedeker’s: Why ‘Bean in Love’ ? It sounds like there’s a story behind the blog name.
Sheena: I came up with the name ‘Bean In Love’ while I was lying in bed one night next to my log-sawing husband. It was one of those times my mind just wasn’t ready to shut off, you know? I had been dubbed ‘Bean’ by my family growing up and it’s still my label to this day. Then I met Anthony, my now husband, in college and while we were dating his friends gave him the same nickname not knowing it was mine too. Coincidence? I think not. That’s where ‘Bean’ came from. Put that with ‘In Love’ and it kind of sounds like “being in love”. I love being in love and I just can’t shake the nickname so ‘Bean In Love’ it is!
Goedeker’s: You say in your about page that “Goodwill” is your store brand of choice. Can you explain that? What are some of your most amazing thrift store finds?
Sheena: We, like many Americans these days, are on a budget. No secret there. Because of that, Goodwill and other thrift stores have become a regular hang out for us due to their low, low prices on great second-hand (and sometimes brand new!) items. “One man’s trash is another’s treasure” is so very true! If you walk in with an open mind and a little creativity, you can walk out with lots of goodies and a happy bank account. Most of the furniture in our home hails from some thrift store or another which means that all-in-all, we’ve spent under $2500 furnishing our entire home (get a tour by clicking here)! Crazy, right? Then of course there are the clothes. If you’re patient and willing to sift through racks, you can find some name brand, quality pieces for mere change. I taught myself how to sew which also opens up a whole new world of buying great things that don’t exactly fit and altering them, just like what I did with a cute skirt that was once too big.
A few of my favorite thrift store finds are a $10 antique desk (actually, it was Anthony’s find) which I painted, a large, round mirror ($8) to which I added some paint and skewers, and our dining room table and chairs ($100 for the set).
Goedeker’s: You have done a lot of projects where you take a pricey product and make something like it. What got you started on that process?
Sheena’s custom knobs. Learn how she did it on her blog!
Sheena: Well, when I find something that’s price makes it unattainable because of the good ‘ole budget but that I love/have to have, the wheels in my mind start rolling on how to DIY it. I’m not sure what started me on that process but I love the satisfaction in being able to get the look I want for less by making it myself. In the same way that you can still look stylish by buying Target brand (or from Goodwill!) verses buying off the runway, you can make, build, and create things that duplicate or are very similar to the “real” thing. That’s exactly what I did when I created some knock-off Anthropologie knobs for the cabinet doors in our laundry room. They’re not identical, but you get a similar look for much less.
Goedeker’s: Where do you find your inspiration, besides name brand stores?
Sheena: Inspiration is everywhere! I find so much inspiration in the ideas of other people and their blogs. Younghouselove.com is my favorite and introduced me to the wonderful world of blogs. Pinterest is always swelling with ideas as are magazines like House Beautiful and Real Simple. When I watch shows or movies on TV, I’m always aware of what’s going on in the storyline AND how they decorated the house or how great that paint color is.
Goedeker’s: Have your twins gotten into helping you with any projects yet?
Sheena: Haha! It’s funny you should ask that question because I was just cutting some fabric earlier to make scarves for them when all of a sudden it started slowly being pulled off the table by one tiny, sneaky culprit. So, help? Not really. Unless they’re sleeping, that is. Most of my creating is done while the girls are napping or asleep for the night, or when Anthony’s home and entertaining them. I’m so excited for the day when they can help me because four extra hands means a lot more done but that day is not today or tomorrow. Until then though, they get to see all the progress and sneak peeks and enjoy the finished products.
You can keep up with Sheena and her family at BeanInLoveBlog.com.
