Lighting from Blah to Ooh-La-La!

Here we see the light fixture in my newly beautified laundry room / bathroom.

Yes, I know it's pathetic, and that it completely ruins all that we tried to accomplish in here. But I didn't want to shell out the big bucks for what I really wanted, and couldn't bear to put up something equally dorky.

So the ugly, globeless light has stayed right there, UNTIL...

While browsing through the Thrift Store the other day, (you knew I was gonna say that didn't you?!) I found this little cutie, and all my problems were solved. Ahh, good things come to those who wait :)

Just a few quick coats of black satin spray paint, and a little bit of sweet talk later (that was to get the hubs to hang it up for me...),

and Ooh-La-La! I Likey!!

Oh, did I mention it was 3.99? (You know you're getting a good deal when the bulbs cost more than the fixture!)

Love me some cute Memo Boards!

What do get when you mix an old ugly thrifted picture

(for 1.99 - Cha-ching!!)...

with some chippy paint, some cork, and a little burlap?

Why, a cheapskate's Memo Board, of course!

It looks kinda cute with my bedskirt slipcovered file cabinet, huh?

I found some vintage Easter cards, and mixed in a few old family photos, and an old sheet of music. I'm always good for some nostalgia.

I was also thrilled to find the vintage wire paper trays at the Thrift store for 1.69 for both of them! Score!!

Slowly, my little office is getting there! I'm starting to feel like I can breathe again. Besides, I can think better in a pretty space :)

Our church will be in Revival this weekend so I'll be taking another bloggy break till next week. Hopefully, I'll come back revived in spirit and recharged :)

Thrifted Coffee Table Goes Coastal

The Thrift store came through for me once again! I've been looking for a coffee table for our den for a while now, so I was thrilled to find this one for 10 bucks.

Yeah, I think somebody was a little rough on the poor thing...

But it was very sturdy, and had "good bones". Perfect for a redo!

Here she is after she got all spiffed up...

I sanded the top down real good, dry brushed some white paint into the wood, sanded it some more, then topped it off with some poly. I like the weathered beachy look!

The rest of it just good a good dose of solid white paint, and a hint of distressing on the edges.

I love it! Now the den feels much more complete. Ahhh...what would I do without the Thrift stores?!

Visit the Chari Tree to see other Finished Object Friday posts!

Skirting the Issue...

Ok. I'll admit it. I have major iss-shoooz.

With this.

It's ugly. Like makes-me-wanna-bang-my-head-against-the-wall ugly.

Can't exactly throw out the printer. Gotta have a file cabinet, too. Bummer.

Oh, wait. I've GOT it!

(lightbulb appears over head...)

A bedskirt!

Before you write me off as a total nut, let me explain. I'm not real great at sewing, so I'm all about projects with the least sewing possible. When I found a bedskirt at the Thrift store for 2.49, it hit me. The answer to my problem.

(insert clouds parting and angels singing...)

The ruffle was already there, the hem was already in, all I would have to do is cut a square for the top, cut off the length of ruffles needed, and simply stitch the ruffled sides to the square! Voila - instant (well, almost...) slipcover for my prehistoric file cabinet.

It took all of 10 minutes, start to finish. Most of which was spent on the corners. (Grrr. ) I DID think about ironing it first...then I decided I liked it all wrinkly. (My Mother's probably hanging her head in shame.)

Another one of those birds. They're just so stinkin versatile! And cute.

I had a living room table that was bugging me, too. And I plum forgot to take a before photo. It worked with my old sofa pretty well, but it looked a little too "mod" for my new one. Hey, I just found an old photo of it...

The top lifts off to make a tray, pretty cool. So (another lightbulb moment...) I got an ordinary round tablecloth from Wal-Mart, and put it under the tray.

And I can't believe how much it dressed up that whole corner of the living room. And now I have some hidden storage, too. Big Smile. So, my tip for the day - if it bugs you, make it go undercover! Use bedskirts if needed.

THIS is wicked.

Cooking isn't really my favorite pastime, BUT when my eyes fell on these beauties from Tidy Mom, I could not rest until I had baked a big ole batch. These were so good there aught to be a law against it.

You've got to bake some. All you need is a brownie mix and a cookie mix and you're well on your way. Click HERE for the recipe. She's got the recipe all printable and everything. Oh, and MAKE the ganache. You'll thank me. Your thighs won't, but that's ok. Now I've got to go spend a few hours on the wii to work off some guilt...

But, boy oh boy, was it worth it.

Bathroom Before and Afters

Yay for one more COMPLETED room!! WooHoo!

It would only be fair to warn you about the ridiculous amount of photos you're about to see...

Here, we see the before photo. Not bad, just not me.

And then here's the after...

(only it's not actually so dark looking - I hate camera flash. But I was forced to use it.)

I think I've told you before that oak is just not my thing. So the first thing I did was darken up the wood cabinet, and then we added some trim to the plain mirror, and replaced the vanity bar lights with a more traditional fixture. Those few little changes made a HUGE difference!

This photo shows the real color...

Did you know that you could brush stain right on top of an oak cabinet? Me neither. But it worked! I just buffed it a bit, put a few coats of cherry colored stain right onto the oak color. It took a while to dry (a while meaning several DAYS...) but it turned out beautiful!

Here's the before shot of the other side of the room...

Be a sweetie and pretend I moved the plunger before taking the photo. Thanks.

And after a few minor changes.

I'm loving the shabby chic ruffles, especially paired with old chippy pieces :)

A few close ups...

Does anybody else love Isabel Bloom? I only have these 3 pieces, but I love them! They were each gifts from special people, and they each have special meaning.

And how could I leave out the most valuable part of a bathroom...

the T.P. (this was often referred to as "white gold" back in the college days...)

Actually, I just thought the vintage wire basket was too cute.

There was a weird little niche just to the right of the door, that was a huge waste of space. This bathroom has precious little storage, so...

The hubs built me some awesome shelves, and then I painted them all to match the mirror trim. We're making every precious inch count!

I can't even begin to tell what an improvement that was.

Here's a close up of the shelves. Don't they look all fancy like? Just one more spray paint success story :)

Great place to store towels...

and pretties.

The pitcher is actually ceramic and was a strange mauve color, until I painted with my favorite oil rubbed bronze spray paint. I think it's funny how it looks like a metal can now. I'm convinced you can paint ANYTHING.

That concludes our little tour, thanks for joining me!

(And do excuse the poor photo quality, that is one small bathroom, and there's ZERO natural light, which all makes for a very frustrating photo session on my part.)

Some Pretties and a Roadkill Rescue Dresser

I'm so proud of my hubs. He actually spotted this chest of drawers on the curb all by himself. *Sniff* Makes a thrifty wife proud. I just wish I'd been there to see him load it into his little Honda Accord... Hehe. Um, I mean to HELP him load it...

I can't decide if he's turning into a junking freak like me, or if he was just tired of digging around in the bottom of his closet for socks and unders...

It was in PERFECT condition! Just needed a touch of updating.

And it was the perfect pair for my Thrifted picture...

Ok, so I'm joking. A little. I did use both pieces, though!

Here's how it all came together...

I took the ugly picture out of the frame, painted two frames and the dresser, and then as always, I couldn't stop without distressing them to add some needed character.

I love how it turned out!

I picked up this vintagey looking wire basket at a Thrift store for 15 cents! Makes a great home for his keys and watches.

So here's the bigger picture, if you were wondering where we put it...

I really liked the symmetry of the 2 matching nightstands flanking the bed, and quite honestly, I miss it. But we needed drawer space way more than we needed symmetry and a perfectly balanced room. I spect I'll get use to it by 'n by.

The coolest thing about finding this chest of drawers is how CLOSELY it matches my dresser!

If you stand back and squint, you'd swear they came as a set.

And since we're talking about my dresser, I want to show you this vintage nighty set I found at the same Thrift store...

I've been looking for some kind of an old lacey garment to hang on my mirror, and this one is so pretty. It has some lovely feminine details...

Poor hubs. He thought I'd bought something to WEAR.

Silly man.

I love how it softens the dresser area. Makes it look all romantic-like!

I'm on a roll now. I've ALMOST finished a few other projects, that I'll be sharing real soon. I think the lovely spring weather is helping me get my mojo back. We've got daffodils and robins!!! HaPpY hApPy JoY jOy!!

I'm linking up with Chari's Finished Object Friday.

Have a super duper weekend!