About

I’m Jane, and for several years this was my pet project, blogging about life & decor and DIY for renters and homeowners. After the birth of my daughter in 2015, I left my day job in the defense industry and slowly turned my hobby business, handmade pet beds, into a full time “real” job.

I still love DIY and interior design, but no longer have time to blog about it as much as I’d like on this blog.

How it all began:

When I was a kid, my idea of a fun weekend morning was to wake up before dawn and rearrange the furniture in my bedroom while trying not to wake my parents.

Jump ahead 25  years to the present, and that hasn’t changed.  Except for the fact that I no longer live with my parents, and I now use power tools.

I’m impulsive, zany, overly enthusiastic, and absolutely obsessed with organizing things to make the most of any small space.  Organization is crucial when you can make a tornado-level mess in 5 seconds, like me.  I’m  shy when you first meet me, but once I get comfortable with you I’m bound to talk your ear off, especially if we’re lingering over a mug of good coffee, or glass of inky red wine.  I’m also silly and quick to laugh at even the corniest of jokes, because laughter really is the best medicine.

A few years ago I started reading home design blogs, and while I loved them, they all seemed to be written by and for homeowners.  What about those of us who rent,  I wondered?   Where are all the blogs for us?

With that, my idea for a rental home decor blog took root, some brainstorming ensued, and The Borrowed Abode was born in June 2009.  I got off to a slow start (sometimes I look back and am horrified by my first few months of blogging . . . ) but all the risks I took were worth it.

At my last condo I worked to inexpensively make it just as lovely as if I owned it, but without implementing renovations or other permanent fixes.  Then, before I was finished, it was time to pack up and move again – to a cute little ranch with Ryan – in the suburbs.   With that move I kicked my long commute for good, and re-started the process of making a rented house a home.

I launched my own handmade product business in spring 2011, and shared some of the trials and tribulations of that as I grow. Now you can find my pet bed and home decor lines at Janery.com as well as on the shelves of some stores across the country.

So welcome, and I hope you’ll have a look around.   You can virtually tour my rented home, (though it may be a bit outdated),  check out some of my favorite past projects, or visit my handmade products shop.   Got a question?  Drop me a line at jane@janery.com

Thanks so much for stopping by – I hope you’ll take a moment to say hello!

Jane and Dogs | The Borrowed Abode

  • Jeannine @ Small & Chic at 8:16 pm

    So to sum up: you’re young, you’re cool, and you love dogs. Hooray! I love you!

  • Julia at 7:38 pm

    Jane – I love the new look of your site and all the work you’ve clearly been doing makes me so happy for you! You’re new layout is fantastic and suits your style nicely. Beautiful work. Thanks for always being so encouraging to me also! You don’t know what it means to me. :o)

  • slgreatsuccess at 11:06 am

    Enjoyed your website this morning. Thanks for sharing!

  • Lisa @ lists in my pocket at 1:05 pm

    Awesome! I’m excited to come back and read more. 🙂

  • Reebs at 10:00 pm

    All about Janie Fran Part II – AMAZING friend, adorable inside and out and looks super hot in a head light while camping….your blog look fab! Love you much!!

  • Reebs at 10:07 pm

    Darn it! I meant “your blog lookS fab”!

  • stephanie at 1:33 pm

    Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia is hosting a cocktail event in honor of BlogHer Conference attendees, and we’d like to send you an invitation. If you are interested, please let me know where we can email you.

    Thank you!

  • Jane at 1:45 pm

    Hi Stephanie, you can reach me at borrowedabode@gmail.com. Thanks!

  • Libby at 5:21 am

    Hi Jane,
    I’m stopping by from BYW to admire your collapsing categories and archives… nice work!
    Cheers,
    Libby

  • Tonya Lee at 9:46 pm

    I love the fact that you concentrate on rentals! Not to mention that your ideas are fantastic. I’d love to feature you on About.com as a Budget Decorating Blog of the Week. Emailing you…

    Tonya Lee
    About.com Guide to Budget Decorating
    About.com is a New York Times Company
    Find us online at http://www.budgetdecorating.about.com

  • Halejohnson at 5:45 pm

    H Jane,

    I am the Turkish woman you met at the Caffe Amouri . I like your blog and your pictures too.Just wanted to say hi.
    Holly

  • Clarissa at 6:23 pm

    Thanks for stopping by and introducing yourself today! I love meeting new bloggers 🙂 I have a teeny weeny apartment in NYC and am always looking for ways to rearrange! Can’t wait to peruse your blog!

  • Twyla Robinson at 5:03 pm

    Thank you so much for creating this blog….I just found you!  I too am obsessed with doing as much as I can with my rental.  It seems to be the default setting of so many renters to just kinda never really inhabit their space, yanno?  I can’t live like that.  I must make it my own, even if I don’t own it.  I’m glad to know I’m not the only one.  I’m also currently in an unwanted bathroom trauma due to shifting foundations, and I may also have a grouting adventure.  I look forward to reading about your adventures/misadventures!!!

  • Christina at 8:46 pm

    Hello~
    Stumbled onto your blog while searching for creative ways to store alcohol in my small NYC apartment. I’m not a big drinker, but I have somehow amassed a collection of wines, champagnes and hard liquor. I want to find a storage solution that can fit all the differently shaped and sized bottles (a bottle of gin, for example, is square shaped, while some bottles of champagne are much larger in circumference than wine, etc.) The usual wine racks I find at are A) boring, B) doesn’t hold enough bottles (I think I have a total of 25 bottles different types of alcohol), and C) does not accommodate different sizes and shapes. I’d like to make my own alcohol rack (like the PVC tubing wine rack I’ve seen on the internet), but it would have to satisfy all 3 points I just listed above. Can you offer any ideas?

    • Jane @ The Borrowed Abode at 11:32 am

      Hi Christina,

      I am so sorry I didn’t respond sooner to your comment. I’ve kind of gotten disorganized with emails lately.

      I don’t have any brilliant ideas. . . but if it were me I might consider transferring all the liquors to clear glass bottles that are all the same size, that way I’d have more similar shapes to work with. But that may not be something you want to do. I have yet to find a rack that holds fat champagne bottles as well as it holds regular wine bottles. So frustrating!

      If I come up with any bright ideas I will definitely let you know! -Jane

  • Moroccan tile at 8:00 am

     Moroccan bathroom tile ideal for bathroom floor tile can help you know what options to consider for your bathroom. Bathroom tile comes in a variety of shapes, sizes, patterns and textures and they are the basis for any bathroom design. Bathroom tile ideas can help you have the very best bathroom possible.
    Moroccan ceramic bathroom floor tile is often used because of its durability, resistance to dampness, its safety to walk on when wet and its ease of cleaning. If you select moroccan ceramic tiles for your bathroom, consider using a tile that has a slip-resistant surface for bathroom safety, which is one of the best bathroom tile ideas. If you buy and install unglazed tiles, they will need to be washed frequently because they absorb stains quite easily. Bathroom floor tile shapes can be squares, rectangles, hexagons and octagons while accent pieces can be narrow and small diamond-shaped.

  • sylverlight at 10:03 pm

    Hi! Just stopping by to let you know I nominated you for the
    ‘One Lovely Blog’ award. 😀

    http://organizedhearthwitch.wordpress.com/2012/07/21/a-lovely-surprise/

  • hd porno izle travesti sikis turbanli porno