Wants, Wishes and Whatever....

While I'm out and about I have been keeping my eyes peeled for several things- with no luck so far.
Maybe because I'm on the picky end of the spectrum in that I WANT something I can re-do.
I am not looking to purchase a piece that is perfect already- I want to put my own custom spin to it.
Does that make me weird? Maybe.

Here's what I'm looking for:

Wooden bench with upholstered seat. (a storage bench would be AMAZING, but not a requirement)

Wooden dining style chair with upholstered seat (two of these actually for two different projects)

Metal chair with cloth seat OR small bench with upholstered seat.

I wish I knew the area well enough to know where the good garage sales are. Garage sale season is coming....I can feel it! The kids go back to school in less than a month, and shortly after that the weather will turn cooler, and they will be popping up all over....I can't wait!

Until then however, I browse Craigslist every day just looking and waiting to come across one or all of these items that I have decided I just can't live without.

Stay tuned tomorrow for another peek at my home- this time I'll be revealing the master bedroom!

A girly work in progress...

So this is my girls room. Its pretty much a blank canvas right now. This is the desk that my grandparents tried to sell for years, and I finally took it off their hands. In our old house it sat in my kitchen because of the vintage green, it held cookbooks and my microwave. Now its in the girls room. It will be re-done, which is going to be a job. Everything is solid wood- EXCEPT the top which is particle board that is falling apart. So I'm not sure how I'm going to fix that. But I'm sure I'll figure something out, and it will look great when I'm done. The lamp is from IKEA- $5 total, everything was on sale. I plan on adding ribbon, or painting an Eiffel tower on the shade.
Small bookcase was another freebie. My friend Jennifer found it by the dumpster at her apartments, she put it back together, and we plan on adding some paint to tie it into the room's eventual Paris theme.
Remember yesterday's no shame post? This is the headboard!
It really is perfect- its the perfect shade of white, has a great girly flair- I might add some finials, and I may not. But there you have it, the bones of what will end up being a perfect room for two growing girls. Girly enough for the 5 year old, and grown up enough for the 9 year old.

I have no shame....

This was a birthday party weekend. In my house birthday parties mean one thing mostly- lots of TRASH! So instead of wait for trash day, we loaded up the van and took the garbage to the community dumpster. When we pulled up I saw a bunch of stuff just sitting there.
I got excited as I got closer- there was an iron full size headboard very pretty and feminine, just what I wanted for the girls. This doesn't really need any work- if anything I'll just add finials to the ends to add some color.
There was also a tv, we wanted one for the guest/playroom. Not sure if it worked, but figured hey, if not we'll just bring it back to the dumpster- we brought it home, plugged it in, and guess what- it works!
Last but not least- there was a tall mirror- looks like it used to be attached to a dresser. Its not very pretty right now, but I have some big plans for it. My friend Jennifer is the one who spotted it and talked me into loading it up too- and now the more I think about it, the more excited I get about it. We have already decided where it will go in my room. :)
My kids were slightly bothered that their mother and friend where unloading trash, and putting someone elses right back into the van, but hey, they say- one man's trash is another mans treasure. I certainly found some treasure tonight!

Presto Change-O!

Remember these?
They now look like this! Much brighter- much prettier!!
Ten minutes and leftover white spray paint from another project. Presto- Change-O!

Total Time: 30 minutes (including dry time)
Total Cost: $0

End Table/Dvd Cabinet

There once was this cabinet. This cabinet had been a bedside table, living room end table, and dvd cabinet. (its current job is multi-tasking as an endtable and dvd cabinet) This cabinet was very out dated. Just didn't fit in anymore- time for a face lift.
Look at the pretty new hardware! Sorry for the crooked picture. User malfunction!

It looks much nicer in person, the camera did not do a great job capturing how fresh and homey this cabinet is now. It fits in once again with the younger crowd. :)

Total Time: 4 hours
Total Cost: $10 (paint and hardware)

PS: This cabinet was given to us by my husband's parents. They visited this weekend for our oldest daughters' birthday and my mother in law saw the cabinet, and quickly decided that she might want it back. ;) I guess thats a sign of a job well done! She loved what I had done to it.

Unusual Accents...

Meet Pappi-Wall-E! When we moved into our new place our pets had to go to other homes, one we had to give to a new forever family, one is with a foster family. However, it was tough on the kids, so we asked if we could have a fish. I wanted something low maintenence, but still pretty.
A friend recommended a Beta. So once we were all settled, we went shopping. The kids named him, obviously- but I picked him out for his eye catching red color. And then we added the cobalt blue stones in the bottom of his container to match my living room decor.
Just an example of some unusual accents you will find in my home.

Seeing Red

So this was a ho-hum desk. It was given to me several years ago when I started college. It is a very sturdy desk, foundationally sound, just drab. I sat around several nights while watching tv contemplating how I was going to do this desk. Did I want it white like everything else? Its home is in the living room, but I just didn't think white was in this desk's future.
It came to me one night during an episode of Ace of Cakes! The desk was going to be red. I would replace the hardware, I could see it in my head and just couldn't wait to get started.
So one day Jennifer and I set out to change this desk from drab to fab.....
Here's the new hardware. Hello! You are so snazzy! I love you!
And there is the finished project! A happy desk- a desk that says come to me, sit here, you know you want to. The color I picked was Glidden Candy Apple. I'll have to be sure to take a pic of the desk in its location when that corner is put back together. Right now I'm giving the desk plenty of time to dry and bask in its glory before putting stuff back on it. ;)

Total Time: About 8 hours
Total Cost: $20 for supplies. (Paint, Poly, and hardware)