so happy!

So, you all may remember I went to bed last night less than thrilled with craigslist, well guess what I found this morning on the way to work? (I pass a pretty awesome thrift store everyday on my way to and from work... I'm not sure if this is good for me, lol)

SHA-ZAM!
I found the retro coffee table that will be my new bench! Imagine my surprise as I was driving by Nice Twice this morning and saw exactly the piece I was dreaming about. It's super long too, probably right at six feet. And best of all! I got this for $5! (I also had to buy two wing-nuts, which cost me 50 cents) EAT THAT CRAIGSLIST OVER-PRICERS! You can keep your $100 coffee tables!

I am going to have to wait til this weekend to sand, prime, and paint this puppy, but I couldn't help doing a little bit of work on it today.
I removed the handle on the front because it was for a fake drawer. Fake drawers and fake pockets on womens pants, just about the two most annoying things ever! So good-bye handle, and hello interesting checkerboard detailing... I need to search for some fabric now... I'm gonna check my stash, but I'm pretty sure I don't have what I want. I'm thinking about using a "penny rug" and some huge covered buttons perhaps. Maybe gray wool, with lime green piping, mismatched buttons for tufting, and paint the base blue? so many, many options! Now I have the piece I can really start letting my creative juices flow.
It's even like the perfect scale for my big window... Oh I am so happy!

must find crappy old coffee table!

So, I was searching Design Sponge for inspiration and I found this amazing before and after.


I could literally pee my pants over this! I would like two benches. I want one for under my big window in the dining room/office and one by the fireplace to stack books and stuff on (designer like, not a crap pile) Long benches are pretty expensive, so I have been thinking of what I could upcycle to make a nice upholstered bench. WALA! Gross old coffee table becomes a pretty awesome bench. I even like how they added some architectural detail with little molding bits. I think I will use more toned down fabric and definitely not red... but I will let the fabric inspire the paint color.

I'm gonna go scour craigslist and see if I can find one of these bad boys on the cheap... if not, one of my favorite thrift stores has an attached furniture warehouse, and I will have to go visit Charlie. (Charlie the a sweet, sweet old German man who is in charge of the furniture warehouse. He tells me every time I come that I should be a volunteer :) if only I had time, Charlie!)

You will be seeing a bench project in the near future. The record cabinet project has taken a halt because it has been too windy to paint outside this weekend. I'm bummed because I wanted to get that done today. I may work on it tomorrow night while the hubs is in class.

Ok, but seriously, it is craigslist time!

Edit- an hour latter and I am utterly convinced that people who are posting on craigslist have been getting together to smoke crack! $100 for a comparable table to the one above, and when I say comparable I mean without glass and scratched up finish, but they want $100 because it's "solid wood"... and $100 is about the average going rate for these old tables... I'm gonna go see my friend Charlie, cuz that is stupid!

Super Post HO!

Ok, it's super post time! I'm gonna get this done list style, so I don't forget anything.

• the finished floors

The floors came out really good I think :) We still need to paint and reattach the baseboards. We are going to paint them chocolate brown. Eventually I'm gonna paint the doors off-white. The orangey red doesn't match my beautiful new floors.

• the living room curtains

CURTAINS!!! It is so wonderful to have curtains! I got these panels on super clearance. I paid about $20 for all three. I decided they needed a little something extra, so my mom and I sewed on some blue crocheted trim.

• the living room make over (unfinished, but still looks better)

And my living room is starting to look like a living room again :) No more dining table in the living room, hooray! (Can't show you the dining table, the hubs is working on a paper and wants to leave all his books there at the moment.)

The hubs is buried in the couch watching a movie :)

• recycled mid-century teak hutch turned bookshelf

I got this guy at a yard sale from a guy who loved mid century stuff. He was so excited that I did too that he was cutting prices left and right. This used to be a hutch top to a buffet. It is teak, and it's very heavy. (I'm not a big fan of rain forest woods because of strip cropping... but this is vintage not new. I'm seeing that it doesn't end up in a land fill.)


This is a cool wood picture of Cuba and Hispaniola. I got it at an auction for $1, holla!

Here is my first shore bird. I love these guys, and plan on collecting them. They will probably live on my book shelf.
This book shelf has seriously put a dent in my books on the bedroom floor problem :) I think on more low shelf somewhere outta do it :)

• new furniture (and by new, I mean a classic vintage piece)

This awesome record cabinet cost me $2 in a round about way. I bought a record cabinet that was worse for wear (stained and pealing veneer) at a thrift store. It had glass sliding doors. My goal was to clean it up and paint it. My mom decided she liked the glass doors better for storing her music books (she plays the dulcimer). She offered to trade me for this lovely piece. (Of course I agreed!) And the rest is history... Oh, and you will get to see the make over of the other record cabinet as soon as I'm done with it. :)

• and if I have time my floor plan for the dining room

Because I love you guys, I made time :) This is the kind of desk I want in there. So if you see one at a thirft store or something call me asap!

SUPER POST FINISHED... Whew, that took forever!

back online

After three months of having to drive 20 miles to my mom's for internet or wait on this small town's library to open, they keep weird hours, I am finally back online! As penance for my sporadic and lax posting as of late, tomorrow I will do a super post :) Here's everything I plan on showing you.

• the finished floors
• the living room curtains
• the living room make over (unfinished, but still looks better)
• recycled mid-century teak hutch turned bookshelf
• new furniture (and by new, I mean a classic vintage piece)
  
• and if I have time my floor plan for the dining room

Just because I haven't been posting doesn't mean I haven't been working... I have I swear!

Today I went a thrifting...

I've been a big fat slacker for a week (vacationing in GA will do that to ya). Justin and I were able to finish the floor before we left, but i didn't take pictures. I know, fail.

BUT, today my mama and I went thrifting and to World Market. (I loves me some World Market.) I got a little hot chocolate pitcher which looks exactly like this, but

without the top plastic thing and the stirrer. It's pretty cute and will be great for my special Kahlua and hot chocolates come winter. :)

I fell in love tonight at World Market. They have an oversized Indonesian bench. I have been dreaming about get a chaise lounge or daybed for a while now, and this might be the one for me.
It is cute and comfy, bonus! Plus it is big enough for my hubby, or future puppy or kids to crawl up on with me while I crochet or read. Fabulous.

I also bought some curtains for my huge window. They are reversible cream and chocolate brown, and they were clearence priced at $7 each. I think I am going to add a stripe of some mod blue fabric I have to them. (Don't worry there will be pictures) Note to self: buy a huge curtain rod for the huge window and so you can take some good pictures.

Well, pictures of the floor when I stop slacking, and until then Happy July!

Sneak Peak

Well, my lovely readers the floor is soooo close to being done! I've tried hard to keep back the unfinished pictures to do a nice long progress/reveal post, but I can't stand it any longer. I've got to show you a little of what we've been working on so hard over the last few weeks. So with out further ado...

This little strip and

this little patch by the front door is all that remains to be done!
(that and putting in four more reducers...)

Justin did this hallway last night, and I think it looks awesome... we are sooo close!

While my hubby is working, I thought it would be fun to finish up the little patch by the front door to surprise him. This is what it looked like this morning.

I measured and cut two pieces of the laminate and laid them, but I wasn't sure if I needed to stagger the next pieces or if I should just lay long pieces to the doorway... so I had to call Justin and ask. He wasn't too excited about me using the jigsaw while I was home alone (and unsupervised), so I am going to finish this up tomorrow (supervised). I think I did a good job though... and I know I could have handled it on my own just fine, lol, but it's fine if he wants to baby me a bit :)

My next big inside project is going to be to remove all the nails from the trim (kick board), paint it, and replace it. I did a really clean job removing all the trim pieces, and yes I said and meant I did it. I'm pretty handy with a hammer and crowbar :)

And then I will be painting all my interior doors because they looked fine with the former reddish colored floor, but they are this awful goldish orange color with this new floor. It's not too pretty...

I don't know when I will be able to post new pictures, but I am determined to do so before I leave for vacation. (Georgia here I come!)

$38 saved and I didn't hurt the environment!

My mama and I have been itching to check out our local Habitat for Humanity Restore, so today we went. I found the exact sconces I've been ooo-ing and ahhhh-ing for my bathroom. (new from store)They are technically outdoor lights, but I love the vintage look they have. I have a 1920's boat house thing going on in my bathroom (you know minus the finished tile and walls and floors... so I have the accessories) The best part was the price. I picked these bad boys up at a dollar a piece! They are $20 new, so I saved $38. Oh yeah, I'm good!
Here they are with my mermaid soap dish, who is 1920's reproduction cast iron. (The soap is Chamomile scented olive oil soap I bought in a Greek community in Florida... best soap ever!)Here are my seahorse hooks, which my loving husband hung up for me a week or so ago. As you can see they will get a lot of use!

This is the "classy" tube lighting my fabulous new sconces will be replacing eventually. (The sconces aren't actually new... I think they were outside before because they are a little weathered, but all the better for it. I couldn't have given them such a natural patina if I tried!)

Also, I had mentioned we have the roof redone. They did an awesome job. Greg even came by on the 4th of July because our tar paper was coming up a bit, and he was worried it would rain. I was really suprised by his dedication. The roof is beautiful. This picture does no do it justice.

...but such it is with cell phone pictures... They put in a ridge vent as well, which is already keeping the house cooler. The a.c. is running about half as much (YAY!)

However, I really do not like the gray I was painting the house with the new tan roof. I am thinking of painting a color like yellow or blue. Any thoughts? Maybe a light buttery yellow with a blue door? *ponders*

And also, I told you Justin was going to start laying the floor we ordered... Here's what it looks like after one day of work.
He pulled up what he did before and put an under-lament down. I can't wait to have one continuous floor!!! It is going to be so beautiful when it's done, and it shouldn't take him much longer. Also it will be wonderful to set up our living and dining rooms and actually be able to use them :) It makes me giddy! I want to get to the fun part already.

That's what we have going on right now... it's kind of a lot all at once, but it's going to be so worth it. I can see the big picture, and our house is gonna be amazing! Hope you enjoyed my thrifty score. Check out your local Restore! You never know what you might find :)