From Dowdy Tuffet to Chic Ottoman

The title says it all. I found this Little Miss Muffet stool at a used furniture store for $20 today. My mission is to remove the skirt and reupholster it to my liking. I actually kind of like the emerald green color, but the fabric is thin and torn in places and once I take of the skirt, I'll need to cover the bottom half anyways.

 I love the teal blue velvet ottoman in this room.

(Source unknown)

I'm hoping it could look a bit like this:

(Source unknown)

Or this, except round:

(One Kings Lane)

But, I'll be happy if it simply doesn't look horrible when I'm finished with it! 

I've been researching reupholstery on Pinterest and it seems do-able. Fingers crossed! I'll be in touch with the results!

Our Dining Room and Living Room Reveal

Hi all,

It's been quite awhile since I've posted an update on here. With travel for a friend's wedding in Seattle, bouts of pregnancy tiredness and a growing social life (which is most certainly not a chore), we have been keeping busy. Life is good and little by little, Joplin is feeling more like home.

I thought I'd take the time to show you an update of some of our space, here at the beloved new, old house. Part of the reason I haven't posted full photos of these rooms sooner is because they have come together relatively slowly. Without much of a budget for major renovations or new furnishings, I've focused on finding the style/look for our little hodge-podge of a home in thrifty ways aaand being thrifty means hunting down bargains and visiting thrift shops over and over until you happen upon treasures!

While all of our furniture and decor was mostly present in previous homes, there have been a few additions and makeovers that are helping to make our living spaces flow together. Furthermore, if you've followed this blog for a while, you'll notice I've taken some bolder approaches in some the decor-- pushing past what feels safe to what is fun and what I truly enjoy (color, texture, pattern, bold, fun, vintage, eclectic style). 

So, without further ado, here is our current dining room:

You may remember me saying we wanted to repaint this room. Well, the more and more I added, in the way of furnishings and color, the more I decided I actually liked having a black dining room. The trim/plate rails/box beams definitely need to be touched up with fresh white paint, but that will happen, I'm guessing, some time this fall.

This is the room that houses the majority of our new items in the house since we didn't have a dining room at our previous rentals. It's been great to have larger groups over and not have to crowd them around our kitchen table or eat off our laps, buffet-style in the living room.

Dining Room Trestle Table- Craigslist, Ethan Allen find for $150

Assorted Chairs- $5 a pop at a salvage yard

Chair Paint Color- Cool Lava by Behr

Curtains- Urban Outfitters

Light Fixture- School House Electric

Painting- Nick's Nana's artwork from the 50's

Candlesticks- Spray painted Ikea- here was a third one, but Collin broke it!

Indoor/Outdoor Rug- Ballard Designs (super-duper durable and easy to clean with kiddos)

Blue Lamp- $12 thrift store find

Then, we come to the second part of the room, the South wall, displaying my longtime pined after blue china cabinet! We found the cabinet in Arkansas at a barn sale for $80. There were several other cabinets on sale, but this is the only one Nick would, in good conscience, let me paint, since the wood wasn't anything special-- just your standard maple. I wish I had kept the paint swatch in order to share the color!

 Below is a shot before we put the glass doors on, in case you wanted a better look at my china and knick knacks:

View into kitchen from dining room.

This is our new mail station/key holder/ command central spot. Nick puts his cell phone and wallet in this basket when he gets home. It's helpful in keeping stuff off the dining room table. The magnetic board is just a sheet of metal (can be purchase at the Home Depot), nailed into a sturdy frame. Easy!

Then, our living room. Up until two days ago, this room was still feeling disjointed to me. I knew that it needed something to pull it all together and tie it in with the dining room, but couldn't figure out what that was. Turns out, an awesome, wool trellis rug in a sweet shade of coral/rhubarb was just the ticket!

You'll notice the chipping paint on the mantle, but we kind of forget it's there. Eventually this will get re-painted! ;)

All of our furniture remains the same and there are a few new decor items,

Sofa- CB2 from Craigslist in Atlanta

Patterned Chair- $5 from an Atlanta thrift shop

Blue Mid-Century Chair- $10 from an estate sale

Tufted Chair- Purchased by Nick at an estate sale when he was single and working in Fresno, CA

(Thinking I want to reupholster this chair and remove the skirt to expose its ankles)

Boomerang Coffee Table- Found on the side of the road (see story of makeover here)

TV Stand/Buffet Cabinet- Given to my in-laws by a neighbor

Mirror- Salvation Army for $8

Mid-Century Classroom Pull-Down Map- $85 on Ebay

 Further plans for this room? 

- Removing the odd box, vertical bookcases around the windows. Those were a 1970's addition, we think, and not original to the house.

- Repainting. Color suggestions? What would flow well with the gray entryway (see photos of entryway walls in this post) and black dining room? The olive green sometimes looks too much like the color of baby poop and we'll need to repaint anyways after we take out the window boxes.

So, that's where things are at right now. I'm sure we'll make changes, but I'd love your input and ideas. Old houses are full of charm, but they are sometimes harder to decorate because, due to quirks, you're not working with a blank canvas!

What We've Been Up To...

Well, the weeks have started to pick up speed and it's crazy to think we've bee in Joplin for almost three weeks! Nick is loving his new job and he wouldn't say this, but as his wife I can brag on him a bit say they are loving him too. Who wouldn't? :)

I miss our friends in Atlanta and Trader Joe's and have the worst hankering for a homemade milkshake or smoothie which is impossible without our blender here. I know, first world problems!

Our closing date got bumped to "on or before the 29th of March," whatever that means! Oh well, there's nothing like learning patience. In the meantime, we've been exploring our new town as much as possible. I think Collin and I have visited five or six different parks! Anything to keep the little man busy.

I've also found some awesome gems at a few local thrift shops and a big, vintage Mother Goose book that has seen better days, but will be awesome for making framed prints to go in Collin's room. My inspiration, here.

Yesterday we visited a really great church and can't wait to go back. We are seeing God weave together a great little life for us here. He knows what we need better than we do.

 Vintage Mother Goose

 Puddle jumping

Thriftastic! I'm in love with everything brass these days...

 Bath time, sporting a big boo boo he got chasing a ball :(

 Finding Squashing lady bugs in the field across the street

Admiring these awesome, old-timey PO boxes!

Office Makeover and Springtime Delights

Saturday was the perfect day to have a lazy morning and productive afternoon. After enjoying our weekly eggs, bacon and waffle breakfast (with coffee, of course), we set out to baby proof the office and in the process I was inspired to make my workspace more inviting and cheerful. First task on the list was to do something about our nasty, faded office chair. I really do loathe your run of the mill type office furniture. All function and no form! What's up with that?  There are some lovely Eames inspired chairs out there, but not in our price range, so my husband suggested we re-cover our current chair as a free alternative!

I had this sample upholstery square in my fabric box and it was the perfect size! I'm not sure what you would call the pattern... It's sort of Southwestern/Ikat looking and the color is a pinky peach, honeysuckle tone. If you have insights into the name of the fabric pattern, I'd much appreciate it. Needless to say, I'm in love. I'm so glad we didn't spend money on a new chair! 

All you need is someone to help you stretch the fabric taut and a staple gun. Voila! Easy, peasy project!

That prompted me to swap blank walls with post-it notes for some workspace pzaz. Virtually everything you see in these pictures was collected over the years from Goodwill runs, freely acquired or purchased very cheaply. The lamp was something I made-over a few years back and you can read about that here. I think the bulletin board was leaning on the side of a dumpster and the fabric covering the board is from Ikea. The desk was a piece we found on the side of the road when we lived in Midtown, the vintage metal TV tray is from Goodwill, the vintage faux bois clipboard is from Goodwill, the picture frame was on sale at Antrho, the wire basket that is serving as my desktop organizer used to house three herb garden pots, the gold frame is another Goodwill find and inside of it is a remnant of a vintage wallpaper roll that I found at-- you guessed it-- Goodwill! So, my cheerful workplace environment probably cost around $30 total.

After all that hard work, we decided to head over to our neighborhood park for a much needed stroll!

Along the way, we spotted this tree. Any ideas on its name? It's gorgeous for sure! That's about it. I love Saturdays with my little fam. Happy Monday y'all!

Thrifting's Greatest Hits

(source)

I don't think words can even express how much I love this print. I know thrifting is not everyone's cup of tea, but I get such a rush from a good find! Yes, it takes time and you don't always have success, but it's persistence that pays off and yields you some super duper finds. Below are a few of my favorite thrift store wonders from the past two years.

Tweedy pink fabric on cane chair goodness

 See before and after shots of this Eames era beauty of a teak chair here.

Mid Century Industrial Office Trays

Vintage Globe

Señorita Painting

 Catherineholm canisters

 Horse Painting

1940's Driftwood Lamp!

Teal Metal Toolbox

Rug Woes. Do you have to let it linger?

This story starts out quite nicely. I was perusing the wares at the local Goodwill, a place I frequent, when suddenly I saw it... Unassumingly rolled up, partially hidden by another rug. What's this? A 9x12, wool, beauty of an area rug in a sweet rusty red/ burnt orange color. What? No stains? No permanent marker artwork, courtesy of a four year old still in time-out for the atrocity? Nothing wrong with it except for a small fraying corner, which could easily be tucked under furniture? This can't be!

It looked familiar... Where had I seen this rug before? Ah, yes! Right here, in the pages of the Pottery Barn catalog for a cool $749, said in my best Robin Leech voice ala "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous."

(source)

So, I played the preggo lady card and had the wonderful staff load it into the back of my car after paying a mere $50. I was so excited! First, I thought it could go in the nursery. A perfect rug for baby to play on! Upon getting home and measuring said nursery, it was clear that, unless we cut the beautiful thing down, the entire room would be engulfed in rug-dom. So, the next best spot for the charmer was the living room. When Nick came home he helped me get it out of the car and we rolled it out on to the hardwoods. A quick vacuuming and I was ready to behold its beauty!

Here's where things take a turn... It stunk! We're talking about a majorly bad pet smell. Not really pet urine, per se, but definitely dander of some sort. Arg! Why did I not notice this before buying it?! In my defense, there are so many "interesting" smells at thrift establishments and I guess I just couldn't detect it from the eau de mothball that permanently wafts through their airspace.

We have tried the whole baking soda/vacuum trick, febreezing it, and even had it professionally cleaned by a carpet cleaning service. No such luck. The odor has weakened, but it's still there and I'm starting think it's a lost cause.

Do you, dear reader, have any suggestions? We are not above rolling up our sleeves and scrubbing the thing to death! I would be so very happy if we could save the poor thing.

Sincerely,

A woeful rug owner

A $5 Find

So, a few months back I found this painting at a thrift shop for $5! It's pretty old... I'm guessing, based on the wear and style of its subject's clothing, from the 40's or 50's. I finally had a chance to get it framed and I think it makes a lovely addition to our office/reading nook/sun room. If this looks like the work of a famous artist, that I am not aware of, please let me know;) Also, I feel like she needs a name... Suggestions are appreciated!

Thrit Stores = Treasure

There is nothing quite as satisfying to me as uncovering a burried treasure in the bottom of a store bin, finding something ridiculously marked down because most people didn't see its mad potential, and discovering a cache of goods admist the shelves of junk at a local thrift shop or flea market. For this will happily put up with disorganization and funny smells!

I figure I'm not the only one that feels this way, so without further ado, I present my recent thrift store success:

Ladies and gents, this gem of a chair cost me all of $10. Some of you might think it's rather loud and worth less than that, but I love it! It's the perfect chair for our sun room. It was just begging to be used for a cozy reading nook by the window. A big thank you to the individual who dropped this off at the St. James Thrift Store in Marietta. You have made one woman very happy:)