love and blogging

yahhh! i am being highlighted over here today. go and check it out. just beware that you will fall in love with amy's blog and never leave. her writing is like a beautiful song that you want to listen to over and over. her entries are truly from her soul and are as honest as one can get. i just love her!

thrifting and a fabulous find - part 3

my next door neighborhood in east point was having a yard sale last fall. i went late in the day when they were closing up and this chandelier was still among the cast offs laying on the lawn. yesssssss!!! seriously, how did no one see it's beauty? i don't usually care for brass, but it has an aged finished that fits perfectly in my dining room (probably because it had been hanging in one house for the past 80+ years). the best news of all is that it was only $1. the chandelier could not have been more perfect topped off with shades i found at lowes for $4 a piece. it is the centerpiece of my dining room, very large and commands attention - all for $25. now, that is a deal :)

safety and fun

i am back from a weekend of cruising with friends. too much fun to even begin to explain and luckily no more trips to the ER. an escape from life was definitely needed for me to get my creative mind flowing again. that and the fact that i have a short lull in my graphic design workload. woohoo!

thrifting and a fabulous find

this is part 2 of my yard sale obsessed entries. whenever i am at my mom's house, i eye a large oval mirror she has. shortly there after, i am always reminded that my brother has his name on it when the time comes. do other families stake claim to favorite pieces such as ours??? anyway, i new that i wanted a frame such as this for my house, so i always kept my eye out for one. about 3 years back, i was at a great thrifting store in atlanta called "my favorite place" and yes, it is definitely one of my favorite places. it is the kind of store where you have to dig, really dig. there are desks piled upon desks with vases stuffed in the drawers, rows and rows of great finds just waiting to be uncovered.

one weekend i was in the store and came across this mirror, it was perfect! i did have a bit of a hard time painting the beautiful wood, but shabby white is more my style. so out came the paint brush as it usually does. this mirror is the perfect fit for the small wall in my entry hall. perfect for a quick last minute check before heading out the door.

travel and adventure

what is it about a brand new issued passport in the hand? it somehow calms the itch to travel that has been swimming around in my head lately. the feeling that once again, i can go anywhere. the fact of the matter is that when you have small children, you simply are not as portable as you once were. i have shied away from traveling, really traveling with them because now there is so much more than just me and a backpack. i am sad to part with my old passport, the one that held so much opportunity for me. i remember the spring in athens, ohio when i was 20 years old. heading down to the one and only mall (if you could call it that) which was comprised of a sears and not much else. i spent the afternoon shopping with a dear friend and getting my passport photo taken in an old school photo booth. that summer, 3 of us were headed in different directions. one to new zealand, one to costa rica and i was going to london. we were just a bunch of college kids and the world was wide open to us. it will always remind me of my love of travel and to never, never be content with my life as it is because there is a huge world out there and experiences yet to be experienced.

yard sales and adrenaline

i am a yard sale addict. i can't wait for spring to come and the yard sales to start popping up. in my book, there are 3 types of people who frequent yard sales...

1. the antique collector/dealer: these are the people who are looking for items to resell. looking for the item that is worth hundreds of dollars that the seller knows nothing about.

2. the something for nothing person: these are the individuals who want their entire house furnished in the latest pottery barn/crate and barrel trends, but don't want to pay full dollar. they look for the exact pieces that their friends have. they want entire room sets. they will travel to the priciest neighborhoods in hopes of cast offs.

3. the eclectic collector: these shoppers are looking for unique finds. pieces they love and want to display in their home. it doesn't matter what era the item is from or if it "goes" in a certain room. all they know is they love the piece, which means they will find a home for it.

i happen to fall into the third category. i love finding that perfect item, the thing that will tie the whole room together. or the crazy nick-knack that will make people start talking. i loath matchy matchy rooms and feel that a persons home truly reflects themselves. plus i love being able to give something a new home rather than adding to the dump.

i found the table above at a local sale in college park a few years back. i had two sleeping babies in the back of my little honda accord, and no money in my pocket. yet, when i saw the yard sale sign, i had to turn. waiting for me was this table and a matching smaller/taller bedside table. i was even more thrilled when the price was $80 for both. i ran to the bank and before i knew it, i was driving off with the 2 tables wedged into my trunk. the funniest part of the story is when i got home, a bum was nice enough to help me get the tables out of my trunk. what can i say, we lived in east point, georgia at the time and there was a lot of foot traffic!

it is a great everything table/catch all for the kids. plus it looks amazing topped with a vase of blue hydrangeas in the spring.

i will keep posting some of my favorite finds (little do you know how many i have). what category do you fall in? what is a favorite thing you have found junkin?

shades and sizes

a question i often get is "how do i know if the shade will look right on my lamp?" or "what size shade should i buy?" sometimes you will not have your lamp when shade shopping and you can't rely on your eye to tell you if it looks right.

a few years ago, i bought a wonderful book by nadine redfield. in this book, she states that "the visible part of the lamp should be at least two inches greater in height than the height of the lampshade." this is a pretty good rule of thumb to go by. however, as with any decorating item, if you love it, buy it and you will find a home for it.

bathroom and beauty

about 2 years ago, i finally caved and agreed to move our family to the suburbs. but i had one stipulation... that our new house would have a "suburban bathroom" as i call them. you know, the kind of bathroom with a soaker tub and separate shower, the one with a large window with light streaming in, the one with the enormous walk-in closet. well folks, i ended up with the disaster shown above. my inherited bathroom is reminiscent of a bad hotel room. it contains one section with a large vanity and drawers which leads into a tiny, tiny room housing a shower, toilet and sink. tell me when a home owner could ever have said "yes, that's it, it's absolutely beautiful, exactly what i wanted." it just makes me shake my head.

which leads me to this day of beauty. the bathroom has been gutted, the middle wall has been knocked down and this beautiful tile has been laid.
bear with me, it's not in all it's glory yet. it needs another pass with a wet sponge to clear away the grout haze, but i love it. the tile is very retro with it's hexagons, but so modern with it's dark graphite color. and best of all, the price tag was very budget friendly. when the entire renovation is over, i know i will shout "yes, that's it, it's absolutely beautiful, exactly what i wanted."