Finds From Auction

Carved Table - India - Dorm Room Bound

View of Top of Carved Table

Statton Bedroom Table

Shown above are two of my more recent auctions deals that I talked about last week. The first two photos show the little coffee table, probably from India that my daughter and I got for her dorm room. It was $2.00! The top has a little wear, but also has the "inlaid" design. This is for them (daughter and her rooommate) to "drop their keys on" and to "set cups, glasses on," as I was informed by my daughter.

The third photo shows a table that I won at the auction at the beginning of July. It is a piece of Statton furniture, which is a high end furniture line based in Hagerstown, Maryland. My dining room furniture is Statton and I shudder to think what those pieces cost us! This little find was $5.00! It is solid cherry and was always painted since it was part of a former bedroom grouping. It just happens to a very good match in color to our new kitchen cabinets. Don't quite know what it will end up, but it was "too good a deal" to pass on it! As time permits I will continue to post photos of more recent finds. My son and fiance arrived to stay with us on Saturday. They are in the process of unpacking and re-arranging rooms that they will stay in while with us. Just 3 1/2 months until the wedding and the countdown really begins!

Our bridal shower is in 3 weeks and not including the "thousands" of ordinary preparations, we have to finish painting areas, complete the range hood/chimney, tile a bathroom, tile a sunroom and lay pavers on a new patio, as well as get my daughter ready to return to college. Will the insanity ever stop? Good thing we work better under pressure!

Looking forward to the upcoming "Share your Favorite Yard Sale/Thrifting Find" party sponsored by Rhoda at Southern Hospitality. Especially since it is scheduled for this Thursday, the same day as our next auction!

Tasks Are Mounting

Black and White Checkerboard in Laundry Room

Valspar Billow Blue

Posting has become more difficult than I imagined during this summer. We are involved in lots of projects on our new addition as well as plans for our son's upcoming wedding. That does not even take into consideration trying to keep up with Ebay, Etsy, website, sewing and decorating projects and time spent with my daughter while she is home for the summer.

Updates: We have almost finished painting our great room, former kitchen and upstairs back hallway. I have used the "Tobacco Road" color that so many other bloggers have used and/or suggested. We love it. We have had to use a double tier scaffold and our "Little Giant" extension ladder to reach the many high places since the great room has the lofted ceiling. We have also been painting all of the trim (a soft, bright white) around the many windows, some that are about 2o-25 feet in the air, which is extremely tedious work. My husband has begun to build the stove hood/mantel/chimney over our new range (which will have to reach high into the air).

We installed black and white vinyl tiles in our new laundry/mud room. I was never able to find affordable porcelain tile in the black/white "faux" marble checkerboard look and went with the vinyl "peel and stick" tiles that we found at Lowe's, which were suggested in a former post at Southern Hospitality. I used a white-washed wooden hutch and three shelf units that were displays in our store for storage along the walls. I decided to paint them with a soft white semi-gloss paint so that they would be more striking and easier to keep clean. We are almost finished painting the walls a Valpar satin blue color, "Billow," which has turned out great, especially since the white furniture pieces and appliances, Closet Maid shelving and trim paints are great contrasts against it.

My husband has been trying to get control of a large portion of our backyard by tilling and re-seeding sections in hopes of at least installing the floor of our new patio, that will be outside of the french doors of the new sunroom. Of course, we are also trying to at least tape and prime the walls of the sunroom so that it may be used for the bridal shower at the end of August. We might be able to finish the window and door trims, but I doubt that I will be able to finish-paint them in time.

We are trying to at least install the new frameless glass shower stall in the former downstairs powder room, which we have gutted and enlarged a bit. Finding a porcelain/ceramic tile that I am happy with has been grueling. I am trying to stay away from too much gold and brown. Finding a "white" tile that incorporates some gray or gold tones has not been easy. I wanted to use 2" by 2" or 4" by 4" tiles inside of the shower but the cost is ridiculous. I have compromised with a 6" by 6" tile instead. We will re-position the toilet and old vanity so that they may be used until we continue the renovation as time permits.

Our son and fiance will be coming to stay with us the first of August. I have to finish small paint touch-ups and re-decorate his room during the next week. We have had major air conditioning problems in the older portion of our house up until two days ago and it has made working in his room insufferable up until now. Thankfully, they have made a "temporary fix" to the wiring of the system (disconnecting the heat...no heat come fall?) so that we can get through the rest of the summer. Why do I have the feeling that a new system may be on the horizon?????????

The bridal shower is scheduled for the end of August and the pressure of construction/decorating is mounting. Finally, both Vicky and I have been able to find "mother of the bride" (in her case) and "mother of the groom" (in my case) dresses for our upcoming fall weddings. We were down to the wire for ordering so that we will receive them in time for the weddings. In fact, this coming weekend is the first bridal shower for Julie, Vicky's daughter, so the time is flying fast!

Time to finish my tale and get back to work. Will update on shower preparation and recent thrifting "finds" tomorrow.

RAIN...Day Three

It's been raining since Saturday evening and the sun is now trying to push through the heavy cloud cover. The gloomy outside conditions are making it a little easier to keep on track with creating the "Save The Date" cards that I must complete.

After much searching all over the net, I settled on paper from papersource.com. Because I wanted to feel the paper and envelopes I chose to visit their store in Georgetown (D.C.). It's the kind of store that you wander and buy things whether or not you need them... just because they look so good. Two stories of walls lined with lovely papers very much like a quilt fabric store. Fortunately for me, the wedding colors are black and white so that I was able to resist the temptations of the multitude of beautiful prints and rainbow of colors.

I've edited all of the text. Now I have to fit the various parts together so that they will fit into the envelopes that I've purchased. There will be 5-6 small white sheets tied with ribbon to the black card stock background. I am slowly but surely perfecting the cuts so that the cards will slide into the envelope without crinkling.

Goal is to finish the "Save The Dates" in the next couple of days.

For the bridal shower that my daughter and I will be giving for my future daughter-in-law I have been inspired by the amazing shower given by friends for Jennifer Skog as well as a bridal shower showcased on HGTV's "World's Longest Yard Sale 2006" episode. Instead of the lime green accent in Jennifer's shower, the accent color for "our" wedding will be red, but since our bridal shower will take place in August we may use alternate accent colors. The bridal shower highlighted on HGTV was given by a lady who seached for "yard sale" finds in blues and whites. Everything from milk glass, depressions glass, linens were accumulated during the three day event. She managed to snag many lovely items, including a forlorn chair that she was able to transform into a "shabby chic" wonder for the future bride! Anyone with ideas for unique "black and white" shower or wedding decor, please leave comments or links.

The sun is definitely pushing through these clouds. Hopefully it will provide better lighting for all of the photographs I need to take to post items on Etsy and Ebay later today!