The Bedroom Project

So as you can see....I managed to blog Week One of the Holiday Grand Plan. I am soooo bad at long term projects but I finally pulled off the bedroom project. Well, almost, I still need to paint and put up the new closet door. I also need one other peice of furniture...still searching for it...a small tall dresser for beside the bed. A thrid item I am still looking for is a floral or twig swag to hang above the headboard of the bed...not playing full price...so I need to find it at a resale shop or flea market! That wall can be bare until I happen upon the perfect item! So to celebrate...here's a list of what I managed over hmmm about an 8 week time period. I will get some pictures up soon!

1. Painted walls lavendar and ceiling white.
2. Painted trim white
3. Painted electrical coverings white
4. Painted the floor vent sage green
5. Put down (wood-looking) flooring
6. Painted the old bed I found at the flea market (white)
7. Painted the resale shop lamp sage green (I love it!)
8. Painted the frames of some pcitures I found at the flea market (white)
9. Put up a white little shelf (from flea market)
10. Painted trinket box....sage green
11. Painted some adorable little metal squares white..they are linked with chains and I am going to add the words. Love Laugh Life (as soon as I find the rub on stencils of them)
12. Painted the old brown lamp from my husbands side of the bed white. (it looks new!)
13. Cleaned out about half of the closet
14. Got rid of three bags of clothing and shoes
15. Got rid of miscellaneous other junk

TOTAL Project cost= 400 dollars (thats with an estimated cost for closet doors & dresser & swag for above bed)

I love the room....it is so pretty...and clean! The bed will look nice at Christmas with some greenery wrapped around the headboard!

Flea Market and Resale Shop Finds

So...the goal as we know is to redo my bedroom...on a shoestring budget...I have had this plan in my head for like TWO years and never managed to even start.

Color Scheme: Lavendar and Sage Green (Walls lavendar/ceiling white/accents sage green)
Flooring: Tear up old carpet: put down vinyl tiles that look like wood
Bed: Been wanting an metal headboard (think iron but not really)

So.....at the resale shop I found an absolutely hideous lamp...for $3.50. Now I say hideous....I'm going to take a before picture so you can see. The shade was a bit dirty but in good shape. The lamp was TALL and sort of a modernish look (think retro). It "called to me" though so I bought it with the intent to paint it sage green and use it in the bedroom when I finish redoing it....sort of an incentive to GET BUSY.

Then at the flea market...I happened upon a bed...headboard, footboard and frame.....metal....exactly in the style I've been dreaming of....it has a brass ball atop each post BUT the bed was BLACK....I don't want BLACK...I wanted a rustic look or white....but for the price....$95...but he came down to $85....I just couldn't resist....so with some white paint...I'll have a GREAT bed with lovely brass trim! The ones I had looked at were $695 for the HEADBOARD!!! I can just see it in the room!  And with the headboard...greenery and lights draped across the top during the holiday season! (the bed pictured above is sort of like the one I bought except ours is queen sized and has brass trim and some more details in the trim)

As you can tell I am pretty excited about this project.......I'm buying the paint over the holiday weekend....and starting to tear up that filthy horrid carpet that is in there!  I may even get the lamp spray painted....can't wait to show you the pictures!!

Flea Market Find #3

I found this cute little table for 8 dollars. I wanted something new to use beside the chair in the livingroom and I thought is fit the bill. I gave my daughter Kelsey a similar one but it was painted mauve....so if she doesn't need it for her apartment this fall....I might bring it home and paint it to match this one! There are actually small legs under that shelf that you see at the bottom...I just didn't get them in the photo. So for now I like it...if later I change my mind, I'll use it somewhere else or give it away. For 8 dollars it's easy to do that!

For the Christmas dishes find...check out my blog Rudolph Ramblings. I'll be putting photos up there later.

For the faery plant find...check out Faery Dust & Faery Kisses because I'll be putting up some faery garden pics.

Flea Market Find #2

This is the Paris Hat Box I found for three dollars. It is so cute. I thought immediately of the Tuesday's in Paris but it is too big to fit anywhere in my bathroom. However I have a French theme in mind for the bedroom so I picked it up in anticipation.

This is a view of the box from the side. It's cream and black. I have a "thing" for hat boxes. I have a couple others but I must say this is my fave.

Without the lid you can see the tiny black dots inside the box...I think I shall use it to store scarves. Silky, flowery, whatever kind I have.

Flea Market Find #1

This is the Mexican Sun I bought to hang on my office wall. I love setting themes and then finding little treasures to pull the theme together. This was 3 dollars and has Mexico stamped on the back. There were actually two of them but the other one had a pale tan face and then a dark outer ring. I didn't like it as well so I just got this one.

I'm hoping to find some more treasures in Mexico itself, but obviously I couldn't pass up this cutie!

Flea Market Finds

Here's another rabbbit find for the Chinese New Year's Eve party. In 2011 we will usher in the Year of the Rabbit so my goal is to have lots and lots of rabbits, all sizes, all kinds to decorate the house with for the party. Hmmm.....did I also mention we were going to dress as Playboy Bunnies....lol. I thought I could use this one as a center piece on the table, surrounded by something...I don't know what yet.

Another find...three little benches...Here they are sitting on my dry sink and I plan to find some little American minatures to display on them. I am getting the livingroom back to it's "normal theme" which is Americana May-August. These three are VERY sturdy pieces and for 3 dollars....well worth the purchase price!

I'll pop back later with another find....but off to work on the house some more now!

It's Flea Market Time

One of the things I love about warmer weather is FLEA MARKETS. I am a big fan of resale shops and flea markets. Decorating on a shoe string is a whole lot easier with special finds. Sometimes I like to "set a theme" or two for the summer. It helps to limit my buys so clutter doesn't accumulate and it also gives some fun to the hunt.

Summer 2010 Themes:

1. Mexican pottery and decor items (I'm going to decorate my office at school in Mexican art)

2. Rabbits (our 2011 Chinese New Years Eve party...ushers in the year of the rabbit so I need to collect a bunch of cheap rabbits to sit everywhere in the house.....then at the end of the night I will keep a few and sit the others out for people to take as party favors)

3. Gingerbread items: I have quite a few but I am rounding out my stuff so I have enough to really decorate the kitchen in Gingerbread come Christmas)

4. Costume jewelry: (this is for our Gypsy Caravan backyard bash...I want a basket full so guests can wear it for the event along with their gypsy attire)

Those are my four main "themes" for my summer search. Do you like flea markets? Are there certain items you are "on the hunt" for?

Trash to Treasures

If you are at all interested in decorating with flea market finds or re purposing items you should look over at Ask.com Trash to Treasures They have a ton of photos of items people have rescued from the trash and turned in to fun and useful items. These are a couple of my favorites.

Flea Market Finds

I love flea markets and resale shops. They are like treasure hunts and you never know what's waiting for you among the junk. Today I went to a flea market (inside one) with my husband and our flea marketing neighbor. Here's a little treasure I found! I know I said I wasn't adding anymore holiday decor but this little guy was a dollar fifty and then 50% off so for 75 cents I could hardly resist.

Won't he look cute out with my Americana stuff for the Fourth of July?

I love decorating for holidays or for every day life with such finds. Then when it comes time to part with them, it's not so hard to pass them on or throw them away. If you only purchase something for pennies, it's a lot easier to let go of.

As the flea market season gets into full swing, I'll share some of my finds with you and we can talk about re-purposing and how to make simple things into real treasures.