Thrift Store Treasures!

I love thrift stores for a multitude of reasons.
A) You never know what you will find. The element of surprise is part of the experience. It isn't your typical shopping trip where you expect the latest trends and fashions. Since the items at thrift stores are usually used, they can be completely outdated or worn. Is this necessarily a bad thing? No, of course not! If they are outdated, they are vintage. Worn? Nothing a splash of paint or a new coat of varnish won't fix. Plus, this will give you a fulfilling project.

B) The thrill of the hunt. Granted, there will be a lot of useless junk to sort through. Sometimes, you will come up empty handed. Oh but how satisfying it is when you come across a precious find! You know it's meant to be if you leave it for a while and have to come back because you can't get it out of your mind. If you're not sold on the piece; however, you are better off allowing a day or two to mull it over. The last thing you need around your house is more clutter and items you can live without. You can always come back later and it usually won't be gone.

C) The price tag. The key is to feel like you're getting away with something when you swipe your card. You simply can't beat thrift store prices. This is ideal for those on a practical budget, like me.

My Thrift Store Find of the Day:
Item 1: Entryway Mirror
I found it at Good Will for $12.99. I had been looking into an entryway mirror for quite some time (I have a whole game plan for my entryway that isn't yet in effect), but did not like the prices. Hundreds of dollars can easily be dumped into a big mirror. Then I found a nine-paneled mirror buried in a bin that was almost perfect. It just needed to be painted to match the neutral color scheme I had planned for the living room.

I set to work right away! I figured I should go for it while I felt motivated. Ideally for painting, I would use a plastic sheet to cover more of the floor, but I am a big fan of working with what I already have around the house. My quick solution was:

• garbage bags
• "Behr: Ultra Pure White" house paint
• craft brushes
• craft tape
• a sanding block / sand paper

Sanding down the wood enables paint to spread on more smoothly. After using the sanding block lightly on the piece (personally I shudder at the sound of scratching sand paper so my usage of it is minimal), I taped up the corners of the mirror panels to protect them from stray paint. At this point, it is wise to use paint primer to make the painting part easier. Seeing as I had no primer around, I dove straight into painting (a dare devil, I know).

It took a few coats (and about half an hour of drying each time in between these coats); pretty soon my mirror was starting to resemble my vision.

I drew a mock-up of how I envision my new entryway (incorporating the new mirror, of course). When it has come together, I promise there will be an update!

------------------------- Disclaimer ------------------------
I am in no way affiliated with any of the products, publications, and resources I may mention. I name specific things as I deem them potentially useful but they are merely opinions and nothing more. You do not have to share in my opinions whatsoever and I respect your right to respectfully disagree.

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Catching the Bug!

The Decorating Bug is a little seed of inspiration that seems to bite when I'm just about to move to a brand new place. The men in my life have referred to this behavioral shift as "nesting", but I call it catching the decorating bug! Symptoms include (but are not limited to): Obsessively "window-shopping" online (i.e. patrolling eBay for hours for the perfect new dinner plates), loading up on decorating books (I officially love you "Domino: The Book of Decorating"), sketching your ideal bedroom, literally dreaming about the perfect house... (to name a few).

Tip #1: Starting from scratch can be overwhelming, so why not start with what you have?

I've even gone so far as as to start taking a visual inventory of just about everything in my apartment with snapshots (I know, crazy - but this is also useful for insurance purposes). I've already uploaded hundreds of pictures into my computer and have sorted my decorative pieces into 5 categories:

• keep! - perfect as is
• change! - keep but with new paint, fabric, etc.
• upgrade - same exact idea, whole new piece! 
• sell - item no longer needed, but could still potentially be worth $
• donate - item no longer needed and deserves a new home!

              (I credit this basic categorizing technique to that "Domino: The Book of Decorating" book I mentioned)

Seeing my furniture, vases, curtains, rugs, and so on isolated in individual snapshots has given me a whole new perspective on them. I can now print them out, cut them out, and mix and match my stuff. Isolating your stuff forces you to see it in a whole new light. Maybe this one lamp that keeps ending up in your bedroom over and over matches your living room motif better after all. You just never quite noticed it before. Humans are creatures of habit and they stick with safe choices that have worked for them in the past. Change can be good though too. It can add that little zest to your home style recipe.

Tip #2: Don't conform to a style just because it's trendy. What do you already love? That can be timeless.

My infatuation with cobalt blue:

Cobalt blue glass is something I've always had an affinity for. And one of the best places to find these pieces for a good deal? Thrift stores. My bubbly blue vase (with an inventive texture that has grown on me) was a Five Dollar Find & my lovely set of 4 coffee/juice glasses were $2.50. After photographing my cobalt blue collection, I filed it all under keep! and decided my new kitchen is to include cobalt blue in its palette (it currently has no real focus or color scheme).
Tip #3: Fuel your motivation with inspired rooms & designs that already exist!

I've also started an official Home Decorating Binder that I've filled with magazine clippings of inspirational rooms + an official Home Decorating Folder on my laptop which is now full of word documents covering the color schemes and themes I've envisioned on a room-by-room basis.

The tenant who lived in my apartment before me is still on the mailing list for West Elm and Pottery Barn, two catalogues I would have recently ignored in my top roman college days. Thumbing through the pages depicting those perfect unattainable rooms would have been cruel to my younger self. Now I see these perfect rooms as perfect pictures of hope for what could be mine.

Don't get me wrong: I am still cheap and on a tight budget (those student loans don't pay themselves); however, my fleeting disposable income can now be spent on curtains as opposed to the umpteen amounts of ink, paper, and supplies it took me to get through art school alive. No more cardboard night stands for me!

The problem? 
I don't exactly have a new place lined up yet. This is the one huge obstacle holding me back right now. So for the next month or so, all I can do is imagine what my place will look like. At the moment, I am searching for a 2 bedroom 2 bath small home to rent, ideally with the semblance of a yard for the dog. My decorating visions are planning for such, but only once the place is stapled down can I really, truly fulfill my need to decorate! It seems I'm going to have this bug for a while.

------------------------- Disclaimer ------------------------
I am in no way affiliated with any of the products, publications, and resources I may mention. I name specific things as I deem them potentially useful but they are merely opinions and nothing more. You do not have to share in my opinions whatsoever and I respect your right to respectfully disagree.

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