Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Thrifty Finds - Mid August 2013


It's no secret that I'm in the midst of a mess. It might be categorized as a mess of epic proportions...


About a year and a half ago, I decided to completely redo every room in my house. It's not a huge house - 3 bedrooms, 2 living areas, a fairly small kitchen, a nice formal dining room, a couple of small hallways, a utility room, one smallish bath and one 3/4 bath - around 1750 square feet.


I began in the "formal" living room - the one that stays neat most of the time. Then I moved into the "formal" dining room, which gets used anytime there's more than just me dining, even though the table seats ten.

I've dabbled here and there, painting furniture and small things, waiting for my son and his large, sofa-eating dog to find their own place. It happened in mid July. First, we had a garage sale to get rid of stuff none of us wanted. 


Next, I moved some of the stuff Hannah wanted into the front bedroom, as a sort of holding room until she gets it, and I get the other rooms put together. One will be a bedroom - maybe mine, maybe a guest room. The other will be an art room and office.



People, I had stuff in the garage, in the den, under the beds in two bedrooms, in a hall closet...and that's just the art room stuff. Presently, it is stacked in the room in a most chaotic manner. I have art supplies for painting, jewelry, collage and assemblage. I have Etsy things - ready to go and future projects. I have odd things like rusty coffee cans, yarn and ephemera. I have sewing supplies and fabric. 
And somewhere in all the boxes are my winter wardrobe and shoes. 

I have been emptying out furniture so I could move it from room to room. I have been emptying out closets. I have been sorting out more garage sale things for a September sale. 

Since I have way too much "stuff" for my 1750 sq. ft. home, I decided going to thrift stores regularly was a bad idea. I can no longer say, "Etsy..." 

But a couple of Saturdays ago, I just had to do a little thrift shopping, for old-time's sake.

The lovely metal trophy-like vase above was only .50c at one of my favorite places. See why I couldn't pass it by?


Same for this mercury glass vase - .50c! Ditto for each of the wood pieces below.




I'm collecting a random alphabet for a future grandchild's room. All the letters will be different sizes, fonts, etc. 
The bag of fall stuff was a dollar. Each piece would have cost that much at Dollar Tree, and there were 5 in the bag.
Of course, I'll paint them.



The last item I found at the thrift store was a bag of lace for a dollar. There's quite a bit there, wrapped around spools. 



So I spent $4 plus tax. And it felt so good!

Since July, I have painted the middle bedroom, but I still need to touch up a bit. 


I have moved furniture in, our and around in there at least twice, trying things on for size - literally. It's the smallest of the three bedrooms.

I have painted a green book case white, and begun assembling items for it. 

I have gathered items for the walls, but haven't yet hung them since I'm not 100 percent sure about the furniture that will be in the room. I'm living in it, trying my best to make it function well first. THEN I can do more of the "fun" stuff to decorate it and make it cozy.

Somehow, I imagined this process would take a week or two. It's been a month, and I am still in limbo. Thankfully, I have a long weekend this weekend to devote to getting things in order. 

I can't wait until I can post a finished room for you to see!
Until then, I might show you vignettes as they begin to happen, and pieces of furniture as it gets done. 

Fall is coming, even though we're expecting 100 degree temps here this weekend. I LOVE fall decorating, food, clothing, heck, I can't think of anything I DON'T love about fall! 

I DID go to Julie's garage sale, and I spent $13 on stuff there, but I'll show you that another time. Some of it was project stuff...

Confession is good for the soul. 

Word for the Day:
Why should a fool have money in his hand to buy wisdom when he has no sense?

Possibly Linking With

Sunday

Sunday Show-off Link Party
Sunday Showcase Party
Monday

Masterpiece Monday
Make it Pretty Monday
Mod Mix Monday
Tuesday

Vintage Inspiration Tuesday
Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
The Scoop
The Scoop
The Scoop
Inspire Me Tuesday
Inspiration Exchange Linky Party
Wednesday

Wow Us Wednesday
Blissfully White Wednesday
What’s it Wednesday
Cottage Style Party
What We Accomplished Wednesday
Thursday

Thursday Open House Party
Time Travel Thursday
Treasure Hunt Thursday
Share Your Cup Thursday
Friday

Feathered Nest Friday
Frugal Friday
Fabulously Creative Friday
Rustic Restorations Weekend
What’s Shakin’ Link Party
Weekend
Saturday

Saturday Nite Special
Get Schooled Saturday