Thrift Score June

I found these lovies my last trip to drop off donations.  I'm super excited about the PYREX S/P Shakers, especially since i didn't realize they were PYREX until after I got them home and was ready to fill them.  The branding is an etched glass very small towards the bottom.  they work great, actually the only set of shakers I've brought home that I've actually used. 

The farmers tin is perfect for our flea market money box and the tulip dish goes (well mostly) with my Japan Tulip Canister set that I have in my bedroom.  They are both stamped Japan, have the same coloring, but  but the tulip pattern is different...I was so close.

I found this green Hoover beauty on a local FB Yardsale page and I'm loving how well she still works.  I need to order new bags, but outside of that I don't regret my purchase. 

This guy has an funny store as he almost didn't even make it home with me.  I walked by him twice at a local church's annual flea market my mom and I participated in.  After some debate I realized I wasn't even spending a dollar on him and if I found that he would have no purpose in my home that I would just simply resell him for what I paid so I happily paid for him and took him home.  

He was useful for about a week as a place to store extra change, but then decided to use him as part of my staging to sell my IKEA BESTA TV Stand and I've had multiple buyers interest in him.  I should seriously start a bidding war for him.  Highest bidder gets the whale! 

Happy Thrifting!! What kind of goodies have you found???

shock and aw at the market

I'm sure you'll drop over in shock when I tell you that my mom and I went to our local Flea Market this morning to sell.  Yep, I know what a huge shock and it wasn't even my idea.  Willing without prodding my mom started going through things in the hallway yesterday sorting, and pricing while I worked on our 3rd floor.  It was amazing how much stuff we really had just lying around.  Our neighbor Ty, about 15, came over to help take things down to the main floor and gathered a few of the mega block toys and some other items from the basement.  

It really helped pricing things before hand and really it took no time at all to get things ready.   I was really expecting it to be more be more pain stacking then it was.  Our new neighbors, who had just moved in this week, even came over and bought a few things before we packed up the van.

So on our first day of gathering we already sold an  4 IKEA coffee mugs, a 6pc blue decorative plate set from TJ MAXX, jeanette rose plates, vinttage Jeannette china Desert Rose pattern, vinage canister set and an IKEA Knife block,

It wasn't long after they headed back next door that we started to load up the van.  For as bad as everything looked in our living room once we packed everything in the van it didn't look like much; however after gathering a few more items before we headed to bed and in the morning the van was jammed packed with money making potentials. 

My alarm sounded around 6 this morning and I was a bit nervous since there was no sign of movement from my mom.  However, by the time I finished my shower my mom was already downstairs gathering the items from the living room and loading them in the van.

Once everything was loaded and our snacks packed we made our way a few miles down the road.  We were unsure we were even in the right placed since there were no signs except for a camper show, but once we round the corner and felt a litter better until we had a short moment of did we miss a cut off time to pay to enter since there was no one at the toll houses; however once we passed through and asked a seller he directed us to the man in charge of lot assignments and after paying $15 for 2 spaces we rounded the market to find the best spot and ended up at the same spot we originally thought about taking.

Before we started setting up a few early birds came over asking up questions who were looking for jewelry and other trinket items; however we had none of the asking.  We mainly brought mega block toys, doggy accessories and walking items, some vintage items, a small amount of baby clothes, and some other miscellaneous items. 

We filled up a both parking spaces, which also included our van taking up the back half of the two spaces.  We sold a good bit in the beginning and towards 10am, but it was mostly dead and even the people we saw walking along didn't have much in purchases.  Oh, yes and I can't forget to mention that I had two guys make a move.  Yep, totally not lying.  I was just wearing my daily yoga pants and a modern large floral top and some makeup; nothing fancy.  The first gentleman was older about my grandfather's age who bought a truck with mega blocks for a neighbor kid and an adjustable dog bowl set for the stray cats near his house.  I had walked over to his van carrying some of the items he bought to be helpful.  Plus he was walking with a cane so he didn't have much in free hands to make this in one trip.   Before heading back to the van he asked me when would be the next time I would run into him and mentioned about getting my number and I chucked.  I mentioned that I enjoyed his conversation and we could talk again the next time we are both set up at the market, but politely mentioned that getting my number  wasn't going to happen.  I chucked the whole way back to our set up and mentioned it to my mom.  He seems safe, but it never hurts to inform those around you about men making moves that you've turned down especially just in case.

Oh, yes and a few hours later a man in his 30s came over to me and handed me a note and said it was from his friend at the set up a few lots down.  He also said that he waiting until I was away from my mom to hand me to the note so he didn't offend my mom.  It was a bit odd and felt a little like 2nd grade so it caught me off guard, but I opened up the letter and read it. 

If your curious, here's what it read:

If you didn't guess from my note above I did mention it to my mom, as again, you never know what type of people are out there so it's good to share situations like this.

I also had my mom not to long after our conversation walk around the market and see who my potential admirer was.  She didn't approve.  Although, my curious nature wasn't satisfied with her opinion and wanted to see for myself, so I wondered around the market again and ended up heading over there when being flagged by the young man who gave me the note.  I talked with the two of them and they seemed very nice, however, I did tell them a small white lie and mentioned that I was married.  The gentled seemed like a nice guy, but still a bit older then I would go for and not my type so it just seemed easier that way.  I'm sure God will forgive me of my lie this time and not judge me to harshly.

I didn't leave the market unscaled and brought home 2 small vintage finds that only stole $3.25 from our profits.  One of the items is a brass cottage house and picket fence key holder that will work beautifully for our spare keys.  The second item is a daisy kitchen timer by Mark Time that I've actually been eying on etsy for the last year.  My preference is the mustard color, but for $3 I will enjoy having the beige and brown option and using it when it times for our 15 minutes of declutting.  

Throughout the morning I jotted down a list of the items we were selling so at the end we could talley up our earnings have an exact account of what we made instead of estimating what we think we sold and made.

This was about 1/3 of what we had brought with us so overall I'm very happy with our results and we plan to attend next Sunday and the last market on the 25th and hopefully we can eliminate more items from our vast array of clutter and earn enough money to repoint our basement brick foundation.  We did eliminate a few awkward items and giving new life to our unused items.  Now someone else can enjoy some second hand love.  

What are some of your favorite finds from flea markets?

Style Cure Day 3: Picking the Room

Style Cure Day 2's challenge is all about going on a style treasure hunt and sharing your findings via a Pinterest Style Cure Board. Since my outings this past weekend only consisted of TJ MAXX and Home Goods I didn't find much in my furnishings or decor that matched my style so most of my inspiration for the room was found online.

Row One:
1) Faux Wood "make your mark" 24x36 sign - $24.99

2) Blue and tan chevron Rug by Raj - $29.99

3) Oasis - Ash Grey - Grommet Panels - 40" x 84" - $24.99

Row Two:
4) Lovely Dog Food Bin.  I so want to swap out our black and white one for this. 

5) Plastic Letters "A" and "J"  I really loved the grey of the "A" but don't have a meaning behind the letter, so I simply took a photo.  The J works for my first name, but I would rather have a G for my last name. - $5.99

6) "Dream" 10x10 fabric art - $9.99

7) Blue Treasure Fabric Box - $19.99

Style Cure Day 3's challenge was to pick the room.  In the beginning I had a few rooms in mind, but in the end i really want to complete my living room as it's the first room you see when you enter and I would really like it to look more put together.

It's been a challenge keeping my living room just a living room; tv watching, gatherings with friends, and a place to store my shoes, keys and a few essentials for living in the space, but inevitably other items seem to creep in taking away from the openness and airy feel that I've been desiring. 

My main goal for this room is to have a place to keep my blankets for tv watching, the mail, pens and keys that isn't an eye sore.  I would also like to hang my art on the wall.

Currently, this is my entry way.  It's mainly being used to store various items that are making their way out the door.  The items to the left of the entry dresser are heading leaving with me this weekend.  I was holding them for a friend and I'll be making my way this weekend and I'll be happy to see the pile gone after sitting there for a few weeks.  the radio is going to be taken to work for me to use, but I either don't have enough time to grab it, or I forget that I wanted to take it with me.  

I like the division of the IKEA base cabinet that I've been temporally using as my entry table as we can each have a drawer for our mail, a large drawer for bags, and the bottom one for blankets so I hope to find something just as functional to replace this once it's sold, but not so large and modern.  I also moved my wicker lamp from my bedroom that I wasn't using to add more ambient lighting for movie watching.  

To the right of the floor lamp sits a large box that houses our goodwill items a.k.a. our outbox.  It's been helpful to have the box there, even though it's a huge eyesore, but it's much easier to toss items in whether big or small and they remain in the box.  Then once it's ready to overflow will right the items up for tax time deductions and then make a trip to the goodwill to part with them.

I love my $4 mcm imitation table lamp that I scored at a local thrift store a few months back when I found my couch, but it has been moved a few times and now resides next to the door as my drop zone.  The lotion is for my mom, the chicken is more decor then functional, but I really like it, an the milk glass vase houses my keys. 

Under the table are my store returns.  Yes, I know I have a few, and by the look of my pile you would never know that I mull over these items for a few days before even buying them.  Just imagine if I bought everything I thought would work.  Sadly, some of the items have been sitting there for a while as I have yet to locate the receipt, but I'm glad to say that the shoes and litter pellets will be heading out in the next week. 

My goal for this area is to keep it open.  I also hope to find another place for the lamp as I thought we would use the lamp more when entering, but we don't.  It also blocks my art, which I'm not a fan of.

This little corner has actually not been a problem area and I love my round table there.  It's the perfect height to match my loveseat and holds my owl and miscellaneous change.  I also love the wicker basket, another thrifty find, that works great for doggy toys.

My goal for this area is to simply hang the art piece that is lying in my magazine rack and to hang the curtain draw back so I can pull the curtain back and let some light in during the day.

Our house is void of any real closet space, except for in the bedrooms so we have to be creative on how we store things.  I purchased this IKEA rack on Craigslist for half the retail price and it seems to be doing a decent job, but the corner just feels overcrowded and it's hard to access since the chairs sometimes block it.

My goal for this space is to relocate the coat closet and hopefully find a good home for my mcm end tables (the other one is being used in my bedroom), as I had hoped to use them as end tables in this room, but they are just to short.

Here we have two miscellaneous side chairs that tend to move on the hardwood floor, and it's pretty annoying, but I do love my vintage phone stand that's in between them.  the pillow cover is from IKEA, along with the green planter and faux plant.  The green recliner has been listed on Craigslist for a few weeks, but so far no takers.

My goal for this area is to figure out how to get the chairs to stop moving so much and sell the green recliner.

My dining room is pretty small, really just enough room for my 5' x  4' table to allow sufficient room to walk around, but currently we have items that we've posted on Craigslist and the local fb yard sale page residing on the back wall, and they're a bit of a eyesore.  i did recently purchase the area rug from Ross for under $40, which I'm love. 

My goals for the dining room is to sell the items on the other side of the table, find a mcm table cloth and napkins to better fit my mcm table, hang the retro pendant, and find some art to hang around the mirror.  also, thinking about paining the space a shade of white or grey.

Here's a nice open view from the kitchen, well open if you ignore the clutter like the Formica table, one of the chairs, and the IKEA computer table.  although, I must admit I'm loving how much light is coming through since it's mostly dark in here being that we are a middle townhouse downtown so we don't keep the blinds open often.

My goals for this area is to find someone who wants the Formica table, hang the bike in the kitchen, figure out what to do with the bar stool, and maybe sell the IKEA computer table as it seems more in the way then actually used.  

{Weekend Organizer}: A White Picket Fence

instagram sneak peak 06/16/13

It's been very hard being in the middle townhouse and keeping our dog from wondering into our neighbors yard for which some reason he likes to poo.  Typically right behind our stair rail, not really in their walking path, so it's not really been a huge deal since we do keep it cleaned up as much as we can.  We have shortened his lead several times, but it leaves him leaves him a very restricted space even in our own yard to wonder around.  Our neighbors on the left have a double-sided privacy fence so that's been a benefit for us as well since we don't have to worry about that 8' stretch.    

I had initially been hoping to find a home with a fence, but with this house we had so many of my wish list items that not having a fence didn't seem like a deal breaker so we figured we would install one shortly after moving in.  However, after doing a bit of research on the cost of vinyl and wrought iron fences that idea became more of a distant future happening when the materials list had been calculated at over $200 even for my tiny 10'x8' yard.  Plus, I had hoped to find a wrought iron design that had a 20s feel to it, but that has proven to be more difficult then anticipated. 

We had actually forgotten about the fence for a while, until recently we had a one of our lighter vintage push mowers was stolen off the back deck and my mom took charge and began the search without telling me.  Though, being the item it was we have an inclination of who it was, especially since none of the more valuable items were taken.  It's just really irks me that some people feel that they have the right to take something off of someone's property that they neither own or paid for and feel that that's acceptable behavior. 

Within a day or two of our incident my mom had found a someone nearby who was selling a white vinyl fence they had been using as a dog run, and for only $40.  Although, I was a bit hesitant until I saw the fence (really after my mom called the guy and he delivered it) that it was going to be a size appropriate fence for my miniature backyard. 

The fencing was left on our deck for a few days until a friend of my moms could come over and install it for us, which ended up giving us a few surprises and costing us more to have the fence installed then the actual cost of the fence.

On day 1, we talked about the layout of the fence and then began the initial install of the largest 8' run, but that took several hours since there ended up being concrete and all kinds of debris under the ground to help support the walkway to the parking lot steps. This then directed us to purchasing another pole hole digger since the initial one was a very cheap model, and also a large piece of rebar to help break down some of the concrete.

My mom's friend kept working trying to break down the concrete, but I really wished he would have stopped, because we were one paying him by the hour and two he was working harder then he needed to and it would have made more sense to wait for the proper equipment so the job could have been done efficiently.

Saturday evening we made sure to head to home depot to pick up the appropirate supplies, like an Ames 48" post hole digger (an upgrade from the basic warped model my mom purchased from Lowes), and a Ludell 70 in. 17 lb. Tamper Head Digging Bar that was used to break up the concrete mess under the pavers.

On day 2, now that we had a better post hole digger, and the digging bar the process took half the time.  It took some time to settle in, but once things got started I had been called out to discuss the gate.  What I didn't understand was why we were discussing this again, since we had already talked about this yesterday and agreed that the gate would not open into the neighbors yard, but stay on the stone pavers.  I really don't want to be walking on the neighbors property, especially with it being a rental and we will have new neighbors soon who may not like us walking in their yard.  Once that was settled, again, the digging bar and post hole was used to make the way for the gate posts to be installed and then had to be leveled again so that they gate would be level.

It took a few hours, but what pieces we had for the fence was finally installed and only being 30" shy of finishing the entire project I think we did a great job at scoring a vinyl fence for only $40, which is the price of either an 8' section or the gate kit.  By the time everything was done we paid with installation and the fence what we would have for the entire fence so overall I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

I am filled with jubilation that yes, I finally have a fence!  

Once everything was installed we realized that we were just shy of finishing the area by only 30" so for now we put up a doggy gate and used a brick to keep it from falling over.  So far it is doing the trick, but at some point I plan to use some garden post and shims to make a trellis and then rotate the rose bush so that way it can grow up the trellis and look as if we planned to leave that amount of space. 

Total Cost:

$32 Post Hole Digger (a friend is buying this off of me for $25)

$32 Digger

$40 Fence + gate kit (estimated cost of new $120-280)

$160 Installation

$239 Total 

{10 minute} Fabric Letter DIY

There is nothing like a little color to put a smile on your face and that's just what this little project did.  Yep, I'm smiling one because I completed a DIY project and two I have color on my walls!  It all started with in April when I finally installed my Run Strong gallery wall.  It included a few inspiration quotes and images that revolved around running.  I was was over joyed at how it turned out, but a few weeks ago I was trying to think of a way to add some color since mostly everything is white.  

Well, as I was sorting through a few things in my spare room I came across a few pieces of vintage fabric given to me earlier this year.  I wasn't sure what to do with them so I had them in my spare room and just this last week I knew exactly what I wanted to use one of the fabrics for as soon as I read this fabric wrapped letter DIY.   So the other night I gathered all of my supplied and while watching a movie I began wrapping my R. 

Supplies:

* batting

* fabric 

* scissors 

*staple gun
* cardboard or wood letter

I also came across this Fabric Letter DIY Fabric Art that makes using the cardboard letters a bit more interesting. I will definitely have to try this when I find a coordinating fabric to wrap around the sides.

I first started by wrapping the batting around and stapled it to the letter, though I think using spray adhesive would have worked nicely to.

As you can see it doesn't look very pretty from the backside, but the good thing is that no one will ever notice unless you take it down and show them.  I had already had a command strip Velcro attached to the letter so I made sure not to cover it so I can hang it back on the wall.

 

You can still see where the fabric was to short to go around the thick side of the letter, which is why at some point I will do some coordinating fabric to adhere around the edges so it doesn't look so rough.

 Ah, now isn't that better.

Simple Living part 3

HomeCare

Here is the last part of the Series Keeping the Balance and with it I hope to achieve a maintainable plan in creating a neat and happy house.  The one thing that I struggle with is my perfectionist personality, yes I willing admit to my slight type "A" personality that likes to have things in their place and really as a single adult with no children I don't feel like that should be difficult.  However, since purchasing a home that is almost 3x the size of any apartment I've resided in and has 2.5 bathrooms it feels a bit overwhelming to keep up with.   It's also not just myself that I'm cleaning up after, since my mom moved in with me last June and she doesn't share the same tidy-home philosophy.

For me it's been easy, because of the number of moves I've made in my 7 years living in Colorado.  I started out with a huge load and with each move I downsized, and even between moves I would sort through my items and make regular trips to the goodwill.  However, my mom has been primarily stationary for the last decade and even with the 3 moves she did make anything that didn't fit (floor to ceiling stacked) in her apartment was taken to a storage unit, and left there to be sorted through later.  Although nothing has really been done there except to add more items.   The sad part is that most of the items were not purchased with the idea of using them, but with the intent of reselling.  Let's just say that she never following though with that and she never learned to stopped purchasing items so her material items kept creating more chaos and taking up more space.  

I will say this that in the last year my mom  has  made some strides in improving on this habit.  We have sold many items and things FINALLY clearing out.    I do feel like we should be further though this battle, but there is always an excuse not to work on this process.  My mom does have many strengths that come in handy, like calling the city to take care of garbage left by previous tenants, trimming tree branches that have caused damage to other home dwellers in our neighborhood and on top she also works full time as a in-home care giver. 

Goals

A lot of her items are small and many, so what I hope to achieve is creating a numbering system to log them and then find a home for the items in the basement once they have been posted for sale.  Being that our basement is unfinished all items will need to be safely stored in sealed containers to keep them clean, and easy to reference.  I also hope to that the items will sell and well gain some much needed income to use for bills and replacement items.  I also want to schedule a day each week for us to work on these items, and have an area in the house where we can take professional-novice photos. 

Moving toward a tidy MCM Home

Life can be funny sometimes and remind you just how simple things really can be when it's the right time, and now seems to be that time for us.  We've been working on smaller projects that have allowed us to move forward in our tidy mcm home and it's filled us with such joy.

I also love that by traveling to DC and Baltimore has helped to remind me of how much I love to travel and that I don't want to spend my days cleaning my home, but that I want to spend my time with people I love and blessing them.  It's also ironic how I bless people is cleaning and organizing, which really is a passion of mine, and I'm glad to inspire others in that same direction.  

A few of the things we've done lately that has spun the wheel towards our mcm home was selling our sectional.   It's really been a process, as I started out with just wanting to sell the left side - one arm chase, but it wasn't meant to be until I was ready to part with the entire set.  So after taking new photos and updating the listing the sectional sold on May 17th. 
 

It was a joyous feeling that filled my heart when the living room was empty for the first time since moving in and now I was free to begin the journey of creating a tidy mcm living room.  I had to keep reminding myself to be patient during this search so I wouldn't buy something, because I think it would work and I may love it, but I really had to love it....like eyes light up I LOVE this piece for us to buy it.   

Surprisingly it didn't take long and to find exactly what I wanted in my space and for far less then what we sold the sectional for.  It was pretty fantastic actually, and we even made a few new friends along the way and found some new stores to check out. 

 Instagram Sneak Peak: Sofa

 As written in the journey of creating a tidy mcm living room I talked about how we scored our mcm sleeper sofa, and after a few weeks I'm still loving this piece and sit on it often.  I'm also really looking forward to doing a DIY on my $4 mcm table tripod lamp.

 Instagram Sneak Peak:: Living Room MCM finds 

I think my favorite part of this journey is that it really didn't take long.  It was almost magical - like it was meant to be for us to find these items now.  It was such a fun time to spend with my mom and even more magical when we agreed on a few of the pieces, well maybe not the tripod table lamp, but the couch - YES!  You know it's meant to be when two people who agree to disagree on furniture styles find a happy medium and my home is really starting to reflect my love of the 1950s simple living.

 I'm also really glad that we waited and for only $80 we found a great loveseat for our space that was also a sleeper so we didn't have to compromise about having a place for guests to sleep.  This was such a blessing and saved us over $500 on buying a new sofa that I really didn't love, but could have worked.  Also, I love that the bottom legs are simple screw in pegs so I can swap them out for tapered legs. Oh, and I almost forgot to mention that the sofa is pretty light, even for a sleeper sofa.  A guy friend and myself moved it from the van to the house and it's pretty easy to maneuver in the house as well.  I love easy to move furniture!

I'm also very excited to have a sofa/loveseat height that works with my mcm tapered round end tables.  They are so adorable and at only $2.50 for a set of 2 was a steal. I'm also loving the scalloped edge black magazine rack that I found at the Salvo I purchased the sofa at.  I found it when we went back to pick up the sofa 2 days later. 

I'm hoping to have my gallery wall up and displayed in the next week or two, but I've been pretty hesitant on hanging anything.  I'm a command strip kind of gal, because I always end up hanging things up wrong.  This time I'm gathering some extra cardboard to cut out the frame shapes and note where the holes go and hope to purchase some picture ledges from IKEA so I can create a similar look to #3 on my design board.

As you can see my dining room is also being weeded out and the large objects are finding new homes.   My mom's had a commercial elliptical for a few years and it's been moved between my living and dining room since moving in and really neither of us use it enough to justify keeping it.  I had it posted on Craigslist a few months ago and people kept trying to talk us down so I had taken the ad down.

In May I decided to create a new listing with fresh photos and within 2 weeks the elliptical was been sold to a young medical couple who is very excited, which makes my heart happy knowing that it's going to a good home.   They were also very impressed with the quality and smoothness of the Precor, especially for our asking price. He is receiving a quality machine for about half the price new & I'm glad to bless such a lovely couple, especially one who is very grateful to have it. 

It's funny how it all happened, like an aha moment when you know it was meant to be. Now this lovely cruiser bike that I purchased on June 1st resides in it place.

What are some successes you've had with downsizing and decluttering?  Have you had any aha moments or just hit the right timing?

part 1: Fit Life
part 2: The Social Dancer

{Weekend Organizer} Evolution of My MCM Kitchen

I'm super excited to be showing you how my kitchen has evolved this last year and a half, and how much I'm really starting to love being there.  It's funny how simple things were with the previous owner; she had a very minimal furniture layout so the spaciousness created a very inviting atmosphere that we lost for a while, but are slowly bringing back.

 Here is what the Kitchen looked like with the previous owner. 

This is what it looks like now!!!

I'm really excited about this sunflower fabric bag and I plan to use it as wall art above the credenza.  I just need to cut down some plywood or foam core to fit an extra IKEA frame that I  accidentally broke the glass to, but it's the prefect size for this piece.  I'm thinking of painting the frame either orange or yellow to contrast with the wall.  I also plan to wrap a layer of batting between the plywood and fabric to add some dimension before installing it above the credenza.  I'm also on the look out for a unique shelving unit to hold my collection of s/p shakers and owls.

I'm excited to finally have a home where my vintage ceramic canisters can be displayed.  Now I just need to figure out what to put in them since they don't seal.  I have been using the flour canister for my coffee pods, which seam to be working well.

I love my got milk? jug that supposed to I think be used for creamer, but it doesn't seal and since I don't drink much coffee at home it's not the best use for it.  I love that it fits my dish sponge and scrub brush and so far it's working very well.  I also added the sink stoppers to the hooks where my sponge and brush were residing. My mom even likes the new set up, which is saying a lot since we agree to disagree most of the time.

Raggedy Ann is safely being displayed in the corner to the left of the sink since there is nothing there & it looks kind of bare.   I decided to swap out the solid curtain for these sheer panels from IKEA, which I actually kind of loving.  Plus it works well with the $1 macrame, that's housing my fake plant and IKEA planter.  I also really like looking at my owl s/p shakers (currently only for display) every time I get bread.  They really pop next to the avocado green napkin holder.  I'm also really glad that my bread box once again contains bread!!  I was using it for spices and was using a smaller wood bread box for a while, but this is a bar better fit.

the beginning of a happy space 

Things really started to come together in March when I started to focus on being happy in my home.  This is a nice home and I want to treat it well, but I don't plan on spending more than 4 years here.  I simply wanted something simple that I can build equity in so wanting to make mega changes and spending money on a house I don't plan to stay longer in is really silly and unpractical.

Organizing is a passion of mine, and one of the reason's I went to school for design.  I learned a lot from my days in the field and know that there are small changes that can be made to create a welcoming and tidy home and I'm loving how close my home is becoming a happy space.  

By having a design plan it helps us to know where were going in the space so we save ourselves stress, time and money by not buying items we "think" will work and later regret.  Plus, we have it pretty easy these days in creating a plan and design board with the help of Pinterest (free) and Photoshop Elements ($100 aka the poor mans Photoshop) plan so we know when we've found the right piece(s).

---------------------insert kitchen wall elevation--------------------------------

With my design plan and elevation in hand of the window wall I knew when I saw this 3 piece dresser set at the Salvo in Camp Hill that it would be perfect. 

I mean check out the number of drawers on that bad boy.  It had storage galore and my mind started racing with ideas.  I still didn't pounce on it Saturday night, because we found out that they were having a 50% sale Monday for all their furniture and they're closed Sunday's so we decided to wait and measure just in case.  Yes, I forgot to add the dimensions of the wall and window to my design plan, so measuring once we got home was the first thing I did.    They were right on with how I wanted it to fit, and the we decided that the 2 end tables would go in the 3rd floor catch all room for now.  I think they will make nice storage for our printer + supplies and other office storage.  

I'm VERY glad we waited, especially since Monday morning we scored this 3-pc dresser set for only $40!!!  Oh, did I mention that it's by Lane Furniture, double score!  

This thrifted mid-century mod dresser post by Dream Green DIY came to mind when I saw this set to, so I plan to do a similar DIY and also add some fabric to the removable door panels in the middle before the end of summer.  It's going to be quite a task to take on, but so worth it to see this baby transform into a mcm beauty.  

The evolution has definitely been a challenge, but I'm thankful how well it's moving toward a happy space and finding the balance in my home.  

learning to be content 

I've even grown to love my wonky wall, which I've been wanting to do something with for a year now.  It was such a wasted space, but now I love the simplify of the space and that I can hang my broom and dust pan so they are easily accessible, and paired with my garbage can.  I've also found a home for some retro wall art there and my orange clock.

the kitchen evolution

 Here's a reminder of how it looks now

Things have come and gone in the kitchen, but I believe that this new layout is going to stay for a long while, as it seems to be working quite well for me.  There are no annoyances and things are tidy in their place creating an open room, which allows my counter tops to be free and clear of clutter.

At first I started by installed IKEA curtains across the entire wall, then put a bookshelf between the windows and decided to paint the walls Behr Enchanted blue, which I later regretted.  It really reminded me of California surfer blue.

After that design flopped I decided in December 2012 to swap out the bookshelf for a cubby shelf,  add art on the wall above and then added a small makeshift table in the middle.  The cubby was far more practical then the bookshelf, but it still didn't hold what I needed, and with everything being exposed (sadly this was the idea) I realized that what I really needed didn't aesthetically fit in the space.  

I also found these adorable vintage ceramic canister at the Salvo and added them to the main counter space.

This April I decided to change out the wall color and painted them Endive by Martha Stewart.  I took out the items between the window and added my vintage Formica table top to create a simple eating area, along with adding a pair of curtains to one of the windows. 

A few weeks later I added an IKEA Billy Bookcase that had been housed in the living room, before going to the dining room and now founds it's way to the kitchen so I could store more things vertically, but again it was a bit annoying having to work around the table.

I also displayed my made in the USA vintage coffee cups.