Thrift store finds... again:)

Have I already mentioned I love thrift stores? Especially lately. My mom came to the city this week so her and I headed off to Value Village this evening. I scored big in my opinion! Five super old hardcover books (the oldest is from 1865!), and two ceramic elephants:)

 

I can't wait to go pick up some spray paint and give these guys (the elephants) a nice makeover. I'm thinking maybe yellow?? Not sure yet, all I know is that it's happening soon!!! The books are super awesome, they are hopefully only the beginning of a ginormous collection that I'm planning on having by the time we build/buy our own house, (a zillion years from now... or that's what it feels like anyway.)

 

 Slowly but surely, I am starting to figure out what kind of style I like in a home. With a lot of help from the internet of course! But hey, good ideas are good ideas no matter where they come from, right? All I know is my pinterest account is very quickly becoming my own little home makeover collection. I spend way to much time on there:(

 

Another upcoming project is my tv/spareroom/den makeover:) Well, not really a makeover but a pretty good rearranging is going to happen. Right now our living room space is sort of split between two rooms, our kitchen/dining room/living room are all in one large square room. I'm hoping to turn the spare room into a more functional living room space that is still versatile enough to be used as a guest room when needed and then the kitchen/dining room will no longer be the main hosting area.

 

I will need to use quite a bit of brain power (and Rods muscles) and imagination to make it work, but I'm pretty hopeful it will be great once its done. I don't have any pictures yet but there will definitely be many once I get started!

 

Till next time! :)

New Treasures vs. Old Treasures!

Anyone that knows me well, knows that I absolutely love thrift stores. Unfortunately a really tight budget and a very small apartment don't allow for me to bring home everything I would like to:( But every now and then, I'll find something that I just can't leave behind! Like yesterday, I dragged Rod to Value Village in the evening, (just to look around I said...) well we walked outta there with two lamps ($19.99ea), a balance board, a wooden trinket holder and vaccum seal bags for blankets!!

What got me the most excited was obviously the lamps! We currently have very small lamps on our nightstands and I've been dreaming for a while about swapping them out for some bigger, better lighting. Well, here they are! Now comes the hard part though... I really want to change the color of the lamp bases and possibly the shades. There are so many options of how to do it and what colors to pick. Lately I've really been feeling bright pops of color, my house right now is mostly decorated with black stuff. very blah!

 My plan is to incorporate just the right amount of color, which might sound relatively easy to a lot of people, but for me being the person that always reaches for the black/grey/brown color palettes, its a bit more difficult.

Not only is the problem what color, but what method do I use to change the color?? I've seen tutorials on dip dyeing, painting, fabric covering, tea dyeing and I'm sure there's others!! Oh yeah, writing on your lampshade with sharpie marker (which I really liked!) So for now I guess they will stay their current color until I figure out what I want. I did bleach them this afternoon, (while Rod was at his MED SCHOOL INTEVIEW!!!!!!!! AHHHHHHH!!) sorry about the mini freak out session, but it's a pretty big deal!! Anyway... moving on...

So that was the new treasure, and here is the old treasure!



 

 

Looks pretty boring and ugly, but don't worry! I've got a plan... here's the in progress stage....

 

 

 



 

A coat of paint can make anything better! And yes, that is the fabric and cushion that are going on top when the paint dries. Here's a closeup of the fabric, it has chandeliers on it!!! So cute.

 

The true color is pretty much what you see in the center of the photo, the edges came out a bit orange on my iphone camera.

 

 And just to complete the VV goodies display, here's the trinket tray I picked up for $2.

 

 

I am planning on sanding it down, and spray painting it some fun color as well:) Yup, I'm a little paint crazy right now!! I feel like I could paint everything in my house, but I won't.........hehe!