A small vintage tour of my home- Dining/ Playroom

As many of you know, I have a thing for vintage. Many moons ago I was a strictly Goodwill and eBay kind of gal. This opened the doors to garage sales and my favorite...estate sales. I prefer estate sales above all else because being in a persons home, seeing their personal items in their element, getting an idea of who the owner was...this is what I love. 

Estate sales also taught me a lot about what matters in decorating and gave me a lot of inspiration along the way. Through the years, because of this, my home has changed drastically. I recall when we first moved into our home, pre-children and pre-everything (marriage and dogs to name a couple), I painted our kitchen yellow. Like McDonald's "golden arch" yellow, and I bought all of the Italian vintage poster dishes and posters that was big in Pottery Barn at the time. Ugh, I HATED it. It wasn't me, it was a picture in a catalog, and surprisingly the yellow gave me stress beyond belief. 

I then came into my own as far as decorating my home, and I am at a place now where I love nearly everything in my home. I say nearly because we have acoustic popcorn ceilings and an unintentional vintage late 1970's kitchen, but those changes will come.

So, if I still have your attention, I'd like to give you a little tour of my home and how I use found vintage and antique items in everyday decorating. I am thinking this can be a series, pictures of my outdated kitchen excluded, ha!

 So, let's get started with the first room in the tour:

I am starting with this room because I just finished it. It has been a playroom for the last 8 years, and I am VERY slowly making it into a dining room. So for now it is a hybrid and that suits us as a family just fine. 

The dining room is average in size, and truthfully I have too much furniture in it. Furniture I just can't part with. I recently purchased the blue painted furniture from Craigslist, a buffet and hutch. It's 1940's and just lovely. The table is an old farm harvest table, that is soon to become a proper table with tall legs, but works now as the girl's play table. 

Oh, and that chair in the back? A Pottery Barn estate sale find. $20! 

One of my favorite things in this room, my Nana's earrings that I display in a shadowbox. I LOVE this so much, and it's easy to do with ribbon and a frame.

  

Here it is again with a thrift shop lamp, old records, and a Mary Poppins song book. 

  

Another view: the pictures sit on an Ikea shelf. 

 

 

Here is a look into the room:

Notice that I hung curtains, also Ikea, up to the ceiling in the playroom to close off any chaos that may ensue!

Opposing corner: 

Here is the hutch that matches the buffet. I adore it, but it may not be the perfect fit for this ever evolving space. Don't be surprised if you see it for sale in the future!

Atop of the hutch is our collection of Small World Dolls. These were a big hit around Christmas! 

Under the hutch is our collection of vintage Fisher-Price toys that my girls (8 and 5) still play with daily. 

Also pictured is our old school desk that my daughters complete their homework at. It's been calling at me for a coat of paint for years! 

  

This "Rock-a-bye Baby" pressed board wall art is going to be one of those things that will always have a spot in my home. I will have a hard time parting with it, I love it so! The nursery rhyme prints I bought with my late sister Mona when I was pregnant with my first (Charlotte), so I am keeping these forever as well! 

 

And the final touch is this lovely 1950's dress. I bought it at a vintage store closing because it was so beautiful. I figured maybe one day one of my daughters could wear it to a dance? But until then, it's wall art. 

 

I hope you enjoyed the first of many rooms to come in my home tour! Please leave a comment and let me know what you think. 

If you'd like to see more ways to give your home a vintage feel, please head over to One King's Lane and check them out!

Back at it

Well, I am back after a wonderful break. My youngest is in kindergarten now and I have a bit more time for fun and creative outlets. Next year she will be in school FULL TIME and I decided now is my time.

Make it happen. 

Have fun while doing it.

Do what you love, what you enjoy. 

Yep, I can do that! 

I figured, why wait? I've had experience and feel confident enough now that I can make this into something. I mean, I have been thrifting long before Macklemore told me it was cool. I already wore my grandma's clothes, costume jewelry, loved her style. I adore an estate sale, and not to resell things, but for the stories they tell. I love seeing the potential in old furniture, or decorating with unusual found objects.

I also love creating. Pinterest has been the best and worst thing to happen to me since I joined 6 long years ago. I know many of you agree with me. I've had more "I can do that!" moments than I can count, and I can also blame that same site with the 5 pounds that won't leave, despite all of my fitness inspiration pins:).

So follow me on this journey! You can expect many crafty tutorials, pictures of my vintage and antique finds, along with pictures of pieces I am refinishing and selling.

Oh, and while you are here, check the links on the left to follow me on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook!

Impulse garage sale stop...

...that REALLY paid off.

On our way home from the store on Saturday I took a different way home than usual. It was 3:00 but I saw that a garage sale was still taking place. So I pull over, get the kids out, and immediately see a few things that catch my eye. I saw a white twin bed frame that was nice, I was thinking about maybe using it on the wall with a few hooks. Then I saw a hanging light that was pretty great as well. I asked what the price was and he went inside to check with his wife. Came back out and said $5 for both!!! Oh yeah, we were in business. Then I picked up a bunch of other things for $2. Yep, it was $7 well spent.

Oh, and this is linked to Southern Hospitality's Thrifty Treasures party! 

Here is the bed:

Note that it is already in our basement. Sometimes it's better not to spring things on your husband and instead sneak it out of your car unnoticed:)

Here are the other goodies:

This is a pencil drawing done by the owners sister back in 1966. She labeled it "stuffed doll". I think she is a knitted duck/ Mastryoka-ish doll, Charlotte thinks she is an owl, and Matilda thinks a penguin. Whatever she is, I know she is awesome:)

She insisted on posing with our new artwork.

Awesome 1970's craft book, cute deer plate, hanging light, set of earrings, and a plate holder thingy.

Matilda likes to inspect my purchases.

Here is the hanging light fixture. I can't wait to see the light pattern it creates once lit!

Entry way- before and after!

Our entry has always been on my to do list. We have limited space due to our groovy bi-fold closet doors and a rather small wall to work with.

Here is the before. Really, what was I thinking?

Then I found this at the thrift store. Recall my "do I love it or not?" post? Well, I decided to keep it.

Then I painted it, first with a brush...complete nightmare. Finished it of with spray paint...much better! I did however paint the inside with a brush in Silver Sage. Then I began to distress it. I got REALLY nervous with this step. How does one know when to stop? And the grooves were the worst, I ended up using a butter knife to get in there and get all of the paint out.

But in the end I think I did pretty well.

I am sorry for the lack of nice pics here. This is what our entry way looks every morning when the sun hits the stained glass. It looks much better in person:).  What do you think?

Linked to the following parties:
http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/2010/09/welcome-to-86th-metamorphosis-monday.html
http://www.sillylittlesparrow.com/2010/09/toot-your-horn-tuesday-husband-toot.html
http://craftedition.blogspot.com/2010/09/take-look-tuesday-and-giveaway-reminder.html
http://www.thegypsyscorner.com/2010/09/93rd-three-oe-more-tuesday.html
http://linda-coastalcharm.blogspot.com/2010/09/nifty-thrifty-tuesdays-no28_06.html

Also linked to:
http://southernhospitalityblog.com/yardsales-and-al-football/

Retro garage sale light revamp

It started with this light. I saw it at a garage sale marked $15 and for $10 it was mine! I loved it, the little one loved, the husband...not so much:) Haha.

I thought about keeping it blue and putting it in the kitchen which currently (note I said currently, this could change with a whim) is blue and red retro kitch. Alas I am a kind-hearted woman and let my daughter have it! A few coats of spray paint and it was ready for her room.

Here was her old one, which went with her vintage nursery rhyme theme. Very adorable but no longer suitable for a 4 year old "big girl".

So I took it down and began a solo trip down my path to becoming an electrician. Yep, you read that right, I began to hang this myself, my husband wasn't even at home! That's confidence.

First I had to realize that I have some very gross 1978 popcorn ceilings, which I knew I guess. I just avoid looking up at them until I have to. Like today. Then I notice the ugly dirt ring which just means another trip to Home Depot was needed for a ceiling medallion. 

Followed by my staring at the ceiling and trying to figure out my plan of attack. Trust me I was laughing at myself and possibly throwing out some "oh fudge"'s. But I got it up there! It was trial and error and I had to use some painters tape to hold some things in place, but it works!

And once the cover went on along with the beads, it is perfect!

It looks so great in her room and I think she likes it too!

In Charlotte's words "Mama, how romantic! I really love that you made that for me!". Yes, she is a pretty cool kid!

PS, I linked this great find on Rhoda's page over at Southern Hospitality! 

Laundry room makeover

Not much smells better to me than a nice fresh coat of paint. Therefore I paint. I have been gravitating towards browns and blues for the past few years since they are calming colors for me. Trust me, I was a stressed out mess for the few years that my kitchen was a bright yellow! So with all of the leftover paint I have collected the laundry room was first on my list.

Here is the before, it was pretty bad...:

And here is the after:

I found the old wash board at a yard sale and had the Good Housekeeping magazine print done up at Costco (frame from Goodwill) from a high resolution image I found online. Cheap and fitting artwork, my favorite! Oh, and the cabinets were a Craiglist find, one that wound up being right down the street from us, which sure did make for easy transport!

And that drying rack??? I made it! Thanks to Centsational Girl and her tutorial! Sure it is wonky and imperfect, but I made it!!! I drilled holes and cut dowels and sanded and painted and all got to use my husbands shop! It was fun and I am proud of it, especially the bowed out bars and the extra holes that needn't be drilled. And the pegs on the bottom are a great place to display our vintage umbrella collection.

I think it needs a fun vintage light fixture now...yes, I am positive that is what it needs!

Off to finish up some laundry now.

Why is a good hall table SO hard to find?

I am a thrift shop and garage sale lover, and always had the best of luck when it came to finding nearly anything. When I was looking for an oversized wooden fork and spoon set, found it on the first trip. Trying to find an old tole chandelier? Scored. Old blue onion Corelle dishes? Yep, I own the full set now. But just recently I have been looking for an entry table, something relatively small in depth but fairly wide. Not too wide though, they can't interfere with our lovely bi-fold closet doors, circa 1978 (if I only had the nerve to take a hammer to those). I did find one vintage table that would've been perfect, but someone decided to paint a lovely beach scene on the top and a delightful faux sand finish over the whole table...not something I wanted to spend the next 10 years scrapping and sanding off!

Then yesterday I came upon this table:

I go back and forth between loving it and looking at it like an old television cabinet or submarine hole. I just don't get what that hole is for? I put some of my old books in there and I think it looks nice, but I am still not sold. Maybe someone out there can give me some tips on what to do with this!? I am either going to paint it white and distress it or sell it on Craigslist.

Another fine day of thrifting

It's become a tradition on Tuesdays. I drop off Charlotte off at preschool then Matilda and I go thrifting. I love it, she loves it, and we get out of the house. Today was a good day out at Goodwill and I think I picked up some good things.

So here we go:

First I bought this retro black and white swimsuit Barbie (3 or 4 ponytail Barbie) for...brace yourselves...$50. And I can't even believe I did that. I may take advantage of the 10 day return and bring it back. I am notoriously cheap and this is WAY over my budget. Or I may try my hand at ebay and see what happens. If there are any Barbie collectors out there please advise me!

 

Next I bought my Marie Antoinette chair. It is inspiring, I just love it! There was a matching couch, with embroidered cushions for $10.99, and two of these chairs for $5.99. I only bought one, but would have bought the whole set if I had a place to put them. It was lovely! 

Then I bought 3 great little vintage frames with darling little prints. They may go in my daughters room or up on Etsy, that is to be determined! EDIT: the Tavern on the Green prints are now on Etsy.

  

Then I came home to these Livie and Luca woodland boots for Matilda. I love these so much, thanks Babysteals!

Oh, and did I mention that the girls love the chair. They climbed on it and giggled for over an hour, and I think it makes the greatest photo prop ever.