monkeys and elephants

Would you love to have beautiful
artwork on your walls,
but just can't afford it?
Yeah, me too.
What to do?
 Well, when you don't have money, you
have to be more creative.

The Home Depot, like alot of
stores, is a great place to keep
your eye out for clearance items.

"Clearance" doesn't mean cheap.
It just means that they are not going
to be ordering anymore,
and they mark the item down,
sometimes WAY down,
and if you're lucky enough to be
in the store that day, you can snag
some great items for pennies on
the dollar!

I happen to work at The Home Depot,
so naturally I keep my eyes open for
great deals.

I picked up this set of mirror and two
frames when they went on clearance
for $6.50.

 
But I still needed something to put in
them.

So I cut out a piece of wall border
from an old wallpaper sample book, then
taped it in there, just right,
and TA DA...artwork!
The colors coordinate perfectly with
my decor, and the subject matter
does too.

Here's my elephant picture.

(You'll see several elephants if you
look around my home)

And here's my monkey. . . and giraffe.

Even the frames seem to go with the
"old world" tropical style.

Yay!

white paint makes everything look good

Just because something is old and ugly,
doesn't mean it can't look good again.
You've seen makeovers on people. 
The same thing can be done for really
old, seemingly used up furniture.

About four years ago, my husband was
helping his mom move out of her
apartment, and in with her daughter.
She needed to get rid of an old dresser
that she'd had for as long as he could
remember. He called me to see if I
wanted him to bring it home.
Duh. . . . . of course!

I wish I had some pictures to show you
just how ugly this monster was when I
first laid eyes on it.

I was dark wood, with no finish left on
it at all. It had old fashioned pulls which
were a cross between brass and brown. 
The top had taken it's fair share of abuse.

We put it in the spare room that I was
fixing to make into a playroom for our
growing number of grandchildren.

My plan was to paint each drawer a
different bright primary color. . . .
but that never happened.
I even brought it outside once, for
about 2 weeks, but hubby never got
around to sanding it down for me.
So I brought it back into the playroom
and forgot about it.

Until. . . . my daughter and I decided
to convert one of my spare rooms into
our studio for our on-line businesses.

We designed our studio using,
among other things, pieces we found
at IKEA. 

I finally got hubby to sand down the
monster, then paint it white with two
coats of Behr Premium semi-gloss.

We looked all over for pulls that
would fit the holes left by the
old ugly ones.
They were nowhere to be found.
So, instead, I purchased enough to
screw into every hole, so there
are two pulls on some areas that
only had one before.
But this just adds to the makeover!
The dresser now has a modern
flair that it lacked before.

Once it was ready, hubby installed the
cubby on top, and we were in business.
It now resembles a wall unit or hutch,
and it's a beautiful addition to the room.

Now this is my favorite part of our studio!

Thrift Store Thursday

There are probably alot of people who have never shopped at a thrift store before.
If you are one of them, then maybe it's time to check it out.
My favorite one is The Goodwill Thrift Store in Santee, CA.
Whenever I am nearby and I have some extra time, I head over there,
just to see if there is anything that I have to have.

Since starting this blog, I thought I'd make a point to go at least once a week,
or at least post about something that I've bought in the past.

Today is my day off, so off I went, with a twenty dollar bill in my purse,
just in case there was something that had to come home with me.
When I got there, the parking lot was so full, I almost had to turn around.
Luckily there was one spot open!

When you walk in, there are racks and racks of clothes,
but I head straight to the back where they keep all of the furniture.

When you're shopping at a thrift store, the trick is to find something
unusual, something that you just can't find in a regular store.
It must be of good quality, such as solid wood, and something that is
either perfect the way it is, or can be painted or fixed in some way,
so as to make it great.

You should also make sure that you can actually use it
 in your home.
Don't become a junk collector!
(this is what I tell myself all the time :)

So, if I find something that fits all of these requirements,
I still won't buy it if it's over-priced, and for me,
that's got to be pretty low.

Here are a few things that I would consider buying:


 Night stand - this wasn't priced - see the solid maple stamp?

 

Unfinished coat hook shelf - $2.99

This would need to be primed, then painted,
which would be pretty easy.  It was a great
price too....but I just couldn't think of where
I would use it...darn!


        
                                                    
 Palm tree plate - $3.99
 This would look awesome sitting on
  the night stand in my guest room, but
  I thought that the price was a little
  high. I really love it though,
  and it was super hefty.
                                            
                                                    
                                                     
                   

This is a really nice, full set of china,
with an unusual print.
At $59.99 I thought it was a good
price,  but I'm not in the market for
dishes right now. 

I love baskets, but not just plain ole
every day baskets that you can find
anywhere. I always look for the most uniquely
 made baskets I can find.

Here are some of the ones I liked.                                   
They were priced from $2.99 to $3.99                 See the one on the left?
I was racking my brain to figure out what
I would use it for....but I couldn't think of anything,
so I left it for someone else to take home and love.


 By the way, if you're a reader like me, you'll want to
check out thrift stores for books. At these prices,
you'll never have to go without something to read.

 So, I didn't buy anything great today.
But I did pick up a VHS tape of An
American Tail.  It looks brand new,
and at .99 cents I couldn't pass it up.
We may be the last household in San Diego
 that has a VHS player, which is in the playroom.
My grandkids will like watching it the next time
they come over.

So if you're new to the thrift store thing, try it,
you might like it. Go in sometime when you have
about an hour to kill.
Walk up and down the aisles, then walk up
and down them again.
With so much stuff it's hard to see things the first time.

HAPPY SHOPPING!

I hate mail

Some people like when the mailman comes. Not me. Maybe it's because all I ever get is bills! Ha!

Anyway, the mail used to pile up on my dining room table, creating clutter, which I can't stand.
So I started looking around for a solution. I went to my favorite thrift store, The Goodwill in Santee, CA, and I found it.

When you are looking around at a thrift store, or garage sale.....or through someone's junk that they are giving away, you can't just look at what's on the surface.  You have to see items through rose-colored glasses. That is to say, you need to see it's potential.
 Maybe it is the wrong color, or it's a little beat up.  Maybe it just needs a new finish.  Or maybe it was used for some certain purpose, but you might use it for something else.

When I came across this little mailbox, it was in pretty good shape.  But the stain color was too light and the finish had worn off.  But for $5, it was perfect!

I sanded it down, which was not too hard, considering how small it is, then I stained it with some left over product that I had from my piano project.  I finished it with the left over satin finish lacquer.

Now, where to put it?  My daughter suggested this spot, which is just inside my kitchen, about 4 steps from the sliding glass door.  Now I put the mail up there, until such time as I force myself to look at it!