Subtle Chevron

During one of my daily trawls through Craigslist, I spotted a wooden headboard for only $20. I knew, with a little love, it would be perfect for our second guest room. 

The orange wood tone wasn't ideal, but I liked the built in chevron pattern.

I used Behr Country Cottage for a soft white/cream colour.

I was originally thinking about doing alternating colours, but I don't want the room to look too much like a dorm!

www.hautelook.com

I may change it up, but for now, cream it is!



Miniature mascot

I paid a quick trip to Bama Flea mall on Saturday (if you count 3 hours as quick!), and picked up this little fella for just $1.  I love the unusual shape and teardrop design.  The green and yellow colour, not so much!

A few layers of spray paint later, and it now looks like this:

Upside down, it looks weirdly like the Olympic mascots!

The very weird Wenlock and Mandeville!

Just me then!

Console

We've been playing around with our living room furniture.  My clever plan of switching the sofas failed miserably, unless you enjoy squeezing through a one foot gap to get into a room! We don't, so they're in the same position but shifted down a couple of feet.  This has opened up the perfect little space for something like this:

Emily A Clark

Aesthetic Oiseau

An Indian Summer

Pottery Barn

I bought some graphic fabric from a great Etsy shop (Katherine Codega) which I'm planning of framing.

All I need now is a console table.  Luckily, I have this to look forward to on Saturday:

I'm ashamed to say I have never been to a yard sale!  I just don't like the thought of turning up to someones house, being the only one there, and feeling guilted into buying some rubbish I don't really want.  Lets face it, I buy enough crap of my own accord :-)  But with 690 MILES of yard sales, I'm pretty much guaranteed safety in numbers. 

It runs from Gadsden in Alabama (my jumping off point) to Addison in Michigan.  Google map it - it's gonna be HUGE!!  It actually started on August 2nd, so I'm hoping by Saturday that there is still some good stuff left, and that sellers have dropped their prices to get rid of it!  I have a loooong list of things I'm on the hunt for.

I'll report back with my finds.

My little green apple

I buy a lot of junk.  There, I said it!

I have big plans of refurbishing, or painting, or upcycling.  The treasures sit in a box until I get sick of them being there, and donate them back to the thrift store I bought them from.  Still, at least the money goes to charity.  So on Saturday I paid a visit to the Jimmy Hale thrift store in Irondale. 

I picked up a few knickknack bowls, a planter and a couple of plates.  I also bought what I thought was an apple sponge holder (yeah, classy, I know!).

 

The weird thing was, the opening faced up. Hmmm, not very convenient for easy access to my sponge, but for 99c, I bought it. 

I always like to come home and search my purchases on eBay and Etsy to see if I've struck gold.  The plates were going for a whopping $5 on Etsy ($4.50 profit, woo hoo!), but I couldn't find the apple.  I was starting to think maybe it was a tea light holder.  I Googled pottery apple, and I couldn't believe it when this popped up:

Turns out my little green apple sponge holder wasn't a sponge holder or a tea light holder at all, but a vase designed by Henry Booth for Bretby Art Pottery, around 1890!  What!!!!  1890 - that's ye olde Sherlock Holmes type stuff!!  And there's not a crack on it (although the thrift store did kindly write the price on the side!).  Jeez, don't these people know an antique when they see one :-)

My very own Ozzy the Owl!

Early retirement here I come!!

J&J Junk

Let me start by saying, J&J Junk is not for the faint hearted.  It is hot, it smells kinda funny, and it is dirty (seriously, pack your hand sanitizer). 

The front of the building is set out like a regular shop where they sell the 'new' items.  Almost everything looks like it came from the 80s and has a thick layer of grime to prove it.

Through a door at the back of the shop is where the real junk lies.  Shelves buckling under the weight of what can only be described as clutter.  An isle dedicated to plastic containers, a box of miscellaneous vacuum attachments, rows and rows of plates and glasses and cups.  There're trophies, wicker baskets, old suitcases, pots and pans, hair curlers, lamps, the list goes on and on.

The labyrinth of junk continues

I can only imagine they do a house clearance, shove the stuff on a shelf and there it stays until someone either buys it or breaks it (the isles are a little tight!).  Who knows what lay at the back of some of those shelves.

Of course I didn't leave empty handed.

I picked up 4 vintage Pyrex drinkups, 50c each thank you very much (they are currently being boiled).  A mikassa plate for $4 and a couple of old National Geographics for only 25c each.  If you ever wanted to get in on the decorating with National Geographics trend, this is the place to start.

With a little imagination could become:

Elle Decor

Starburst

The walls in the green guest room were still looking a little sparse, even though the Orla Kiely art was looking good on the headboard wall.

 Opposite the bed is the door to the closet and the door to the landing.  In between we have managed to squeeze my favourite piece of furniture we own.  No surprise, it was a flea market find (Encore Resales).  Amazingly, I didn't buy it the first time I saw it.  After two days of worrying someone else was going to snap it up, I called the nice people at Encore to hold it for me.  It's more of a buffet, but adds good storage to this room, and I love the mid-century style.

I hung the starburst mirror above it.

And my 3 Marimekko glasses, ok plastic cups, found a home on top. 

Bama Flea Mall

Bama Flea Mall is probably my favourite flea mall.  It's housed in an old Walmart building, so is HUGE, plus there are no painted, distressed, stenciled pieces of furniture (I'm all for DIYing some old crappy furniture, I just don't want to pay for someone else's efforts).  Bama Flea Mall is other peoples old junk.  Don't get me wrong, I'm sure if you have the patience to rummage through the toot, there are some legitimate antiques.

But its mainly toot. 

And that's usually what I'm looking for :-)

This weekend was packed with shoppers.  Clearly the combination of a 3 day weekend and baking hot weather had everyone in the mood for a bargain.  And I wasn't disappointed. 

This is my loot:

And all this for $27!  My best bargains were the chip and dip tray, originally $4, but that booth was having a 25% off sale, so $3.  And the candle stick (front right) is solid marble, weighs a tonne, and was $1.

No idea what I'm going to do with half of it yet, I'm sure I'll find a home for everything eventually :-)