Vintage Art Deco Vanity For My Tween

May 29, 2012


Over a year ago I purchased one of those Goodwill finds that you know if you don't buy right away someone else will.  And fast. So I grabbed it for $9.99 and went on my merry way.  I had no idea where I was going to use it in my home, but I thought it had potential despite the really ugly paint job.

Okay now is that crazy ugly or what?  The vanity, not the weeds, silly.  Sorry but the weed whacker doesn't want to trim weeds along the chicken wire without shredding the wire into pieces!  So moving right along...

It has a mirror but I was in such a rush (surprise) that I forgot to get a photo before I took the mirror off. Oh and it has a glass tabletop and shelf that I removed for the painting phase.  The shelves attach with little suction cups.


Again, crazy ugly I tell you.


But the art deco details were awesome.

Did I tell you that I'm not an art deco fan?

So I tried to tone it down a bit and here's what I came up with.




Just a little shabby chic vanity for my tween (soon-to-be-teen, sob) to use in her bedroom.  I always wished I had something like this when I was growing up.  I was so glad she liked it!  I mean, it's not like we agree on anything everything these days, if you know what I mean.

Months prior to buying the vanity I picked up a pretty little metal stool at a barn sale.  Again, I was not sure what I'd do with it, but I knew I'd find some way to use it.


It just needed a can of white spray paint and a seat cushion.  I fashioned the seat cushion out of a pillow, a vintage doily and some ruffle remnants I picked up at a church barn sale.


They really do seem like they belong together.

 Looks like just the place to sit for a spell and read some of that tween romance goodness.

And did I mention I googled art deco vanity sets?  Here's one I came up with.



Look familiar?

It could be yours for a mere $255.63.

Nah, I think I'll stick with mine.


Do you love vanities, too?

Have a great week!

xoxo


Pin It

I'll be linking up here:

White Wednesday at Faded Charm
Ivy and Elephants What's It Wednesday
Cedar Hill Ranch Cowgirl Up
Home Stories A to Z Tutorials and Tips
Homemaker On a Dime Creative Blogger Party
Elizabeth and Co. Be Inspired
Restore Interiors Restored it Wednesday
Someday Crafts
Free Pretty Things For You Whatever You Want Wednesday
No Minimalist Here Open House Party
Savvy Southern Style Wow Us Wednesday
Savvy City Farmer Thriftin on a Thursday
The Charm of Home Home Sweet Home
French Country Cottage Feathered Nest Friday
Common Ground Vintage Inspiration Friday
Finding Fabulous Frugalicious Friday
My Romantic Home Show and Tell Friday
Miss Mustard Seed Furniture Feature Friday
Shabby Creek Cottage
It's a Hodgepodge Life
Redoux




Ikea Vases and Flowers That Pop

May 26, 2012


A few weeks ago I visited our local Ikea.  I don't get there often and I'm always really excited to see what fabulous home decor items they're selling for a song.  On this particular visit I found some really cool glass bud vases for a ridiculous price.

Next to the vase section there were tons of fake flowers.  At first glance the flowers were not as cheap as I had hoped they would be. But I did find some really bright and fairly inexpensive flowers that I thought would look perfect in my lil 'ole vases.

   
Aren't they adorable and so very Swedish?  I loved the triangular shape and the little raised bumps all over them.


The flowers reminded me of the dahlias I used to pick at a flower cutting farm (ever been to one of these?) back in the day.  Dahlias make GREAT cut flowers.



Don't ya just love 'em?


I'm smitten with both the vases and the flowers.

When was the last time you visited YOUR Ikea?

xoxo

Pin It



Entryway Storage Solutions

May 19, 2012


Do you struggle to keep the clutter organized?  I sure do.  And with three kids things can sometimes get pretty cluttered.....shoes, coats, backpacks, toys, books, you name it.  My dream is to have an official mudroom for everyone to just drop their stuff off on their way into the house but unless we get a new house that just ain't happening.


Soooooo, I decided to work with what I have, namely, a bench (whose seat lifts up for storage) that we use to drop our stuff on when we walk in the door.  Remember my bench revamp?  You can see that here.  Our house's floor plan drives me crazy sometimes.  Have you ever said, "What WERE those builders thinking?"  I ask that all the time.  I'm left with a bench kind of out there in the middle of the room.  Luckily I can ground it somewhat with the couch behind it but still it's awkward.


To the right is the door to the patio and to the left is the door to the garage, our main entryway.  So it's a very busy area of the house.  Lemons into lemonade, people.

I picked up two baskets at 40% off at Jo-Ann's that I thought would fit perfectly underneath the bench.  For the third basket I bought one made of corn husks for a bit of contrast.  (Note, corn husk baskets are not really strong, just sayin'.)  For the little signs on each basket I used: 1) a small unfinished picture frame that came as part of my son's in-school craft that he never finished (which I painted with acrylic paint and turned into a mini-chalkboard) and 2) two adorable unfinished mini-chalkboards that I found for like a buck ninety-nine at World Market.  I love that place.  Oh, and I painted them, too.


I don't know about your house, but at my house at any given time we have a bunch of stuff that has to "go back" (be returned) to various stores.  I hated looking at the stuff, piling up mainly in my tiny quaint laundry room.  Sooooooo, I labeled the signs on the baskets in code.  No. 1 means "Target returns."  No. 2 means "Wal-Mart returns." and No. 3 means "Other returns."  Not too crazy, right?  At least for now that's what the baskets will be used for.  But believe me, they can just as easily be filled with all those shoes, coats, backpacks, toys, books, you name it.  (See the baskets on each side of the bench?  They're currently FILLED with shoes.  Crocs, sneakers, garden shoes, flip flops, sandals, etc.  How can five people have so many pairs of shoes?  I guess that's fodder for another day...)





So I really do like how they turned out, and how they give me a false sense of being really organized.  I mean, a girl can dream, can't she?

How do you organize your family's clutter?

xoxo



Vintage Loving Cup Dream Fulfilled

May 16, 2012



I have been on the prowl for a vintage loving cup for ages.  I've looked for one at barn sales, church sales and flea markets to no avail.  I've only seen them on fab shopping sites such as Antique Farmhouse.

                                                                Source: antiquefarmhouse.com via AntiqueFarm on Pinterest


How cool is that?  I even have some on my Pinterest page.  You can check them out here.  But as much as I love Antique Farmhouse, this was too pricey for me.

Then I saw one recently in a local antique store (notorious for jacking up the price) and although it was fairly reasonably priced for an antique shop ($25.00), thrifter that I am, I just couldn't bring myself to pay it.  Sniff, sniff.  Now moving on to the next week......I was in a "community thriftstore" in a neighboring town and was ready to throw in the towel when I saw something silverish across a few aisles of kitchenware.  Naw, I thought, my eyes are definitely playing tricks on me.  But just in case, maybe I'll head on over there and check it out........glad I did.  Less than half the price of the first one.


This is definitely the part where I say "Yay, me!"  I'll admit it's more of a champagne cooler than a loving cup/trophy but who's going to be nit-picky here?  It's even engraved,  albeit oddly, with the name of a local family-owned furniture store!?  I told Mr. CBD it adds charm!


I loved adding it to my Ballard Designs copycat side table.  You can read about that here.  I had some fun with PicMonkey and tried some of their new textures.



And here we are without texture again.



Who doesn't love finding that special treasure for less?  I know I do.

Have you found any treasures this week?

xoxo


Pier 1 Lace Lampshade Copycat

May 11, 2012

Don't you just love it when you find out your blog or one of your crazy fabulous home decor projects has been featured somewhere?  I do.  Enter Copycat Crafts.  Have you heard of it?  It's a website dedicated to featuring DIY designer knock-offs.  You can find copies (and how to recreate them) of your favorite items from Anthropologie, Pottery Barn, Ballard Designs, West Elm, Marimekko and Land of Nod, among others.  As they describe it, "Copycat Crafts is the place to find DIY tutorials to create designer duds & decor on a budget. If your'e a resourceful gal with swanky style on a thrifty budget, then this site is for you!" Helloooooooo, does that sound like you?  Today I just happened to find out that one of my projects has been featured: my Pier 1 Lace Lampshade Knock-off.

Lace Lampshade Knock-Off

I'll admit that finding it out made my day!  That, and the absolutely gorgeous weather we've been having in the midwest these days.  If you haven't been over to Copycat Crafts you should check it out.  And then you should have a fabulous weekend, wherever you are. {Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there.  Enjoy your day.  You deserve it!}

xoxo
Pin It

Crash Test {Painted} Cow

May 8, 2012

Don't worry.  No cows were harmed in the making of this blog post.  Hee hee.  A cow table, however, was.  My friends, I present to you the "before" shot.


Need I say more?


I think you all get where I'm coming from with this one.  Talk about needing a face lift.  It was a $6.99 Goodwill buy, so I thought what the heck.  I'm still in the crash test cow dummy phase of my painting adventures, so why not practice some painting on a really hideous deserving piece of work? After all, it had nice lines.




See what I mean?

So after Mr. CBD was kind enough to secure one of the legs (I swear it seemed fine in the store....)  I whipped out another can of my free Ace Hardware paint (mixed to match one of Pottery Barn's many blues) and got to work.  I decided to go with a two-toned look, to accentuate the details  The original piece was painted pretty badly and so a girl can only do what a girl can only do.  (Without sanding, that is.  I'm not a big sander, surprise.)  That being said, I think she turned out fairly presentable.

(Okay, I'm going to have to apologize again for the wonkiness of my photos, in other words, the vast differences in photo size.  I'd like to make them all "extra large" which is a blogger option when you insert your photos into your draft posts.  But when I do, most of my pictures become too large for my already-widened page width.  Any suggestions?)

  Ta-Da


My paint job is far from perfect, but I had fun with it.





I had to show you this dragonfly that landed on the table while I was taking pictures.  It was an absolutely glorious spring day here today and I loved being able to be outside taking pictures.  So let's recap.  We went from this:


To this:


I'm thinking of using it in the basement T.V. room (we have a denim slipcovered Ikea couch and matching chair with blue and white striped ticking), or in the tweens' "hangout" room, which we're just about to start revamping decor-wise.  I haven't decided yet.

So what do you think of the transformation?

Have a great week, friends.

xoxo
Pin It

I'll be linking up with these fine parties this week:

Cedar Hill Ranch Cowboy Up
Someday Crafts Whatever Goes Wednesdays
Free Pretty Things For You Whatever You Want Wednesdays
Ivy and Elephants Whatsit Wednesdays
Restored Interiors Restored It Wednesday
Savvy City Farmer Thriftin On a Thursday 
The Charm of Home Home Sweet Home 
My Romantic Home Show and Tell Friday 
 Miss Mustard Seed Furniture Feature Friday
French Country Cottage Feathered Nest Friday
Common Ground Vintage Inspiration Friday
Finding Fabulous Frugalicious Friday

Related Posts with Thumbnails