Here's to Hoping...

I've been mildly obsessed with bar carts lately. In a perfect world I would stumble across a beautiful, antiqued, wooden one (like this):

Pottery Barn

(found here)

(found here)

Alas, perfect worlds do not exist, so I thought I would build one to look like this:

(found here)

As I was scanning the estate sale list for this weekend, I happened to serendipitously come across this brass & glass cart:

Just try and picture it without the mounds of bizarre ceramic knicknacks! The lines are clean, the wheels are awesome and the possibilities are endless. I am trying so hard not to get my hopes up. The sale began today and it's very possible that the cart will be gone by tomorrow morning. A big factor would also be the price - I don't want to spend much on bar cart that would require a makeover. So, long story short, cross your fingers for me and I'll let you know if I can bring this thing home! 



Guest Room: Almost Done!

This past weekend was all about odds and ends - getting things hung up, cleaned up and finished. We finally hung the rope mirror and anchored the headboard to the wall. I also went out a bought the matching Hemnes nightstand for the opposite side of the bed. 

I am on the lookout for a large lamp for the left side of the bed - having a hard time deciding which route to go. Of course there is also this large blank wall I have yet to tackle:

I'm thinking of a gallery wall of sorts. On the list are distressing these oars:

My favorite part: as I was holding up the headboard for Brian, I looked over and gasped at the state of my 'craft' closet:

That's keepin it real for ya. I did clean it shortly thereafter!

Score!

Ever hear one of those 'Man Finds Rare Art at Garage Sale' stories? Yeah, I always daydream that I could be that person - especially with all the estate sales I go to. The closest I have come to 'treasure' so far has been finding those cool drawings and letters in a few books. Well, my luck seems to be changing! Remember our Goodwill coffee table? Here he is:

I was never able to find a brand name anywhere on it, so I just gave up trying to figure it out. A few weekends ago I stopped by Finders Keepers Furnishings in Atlanta, and my friend Megan shouts out "Oh. My. God - it's your coffee table!!"

I realize that finding the same table is not that exciting, but what is exciting is the price:

$265.00! At a consignment shop! I've sold things at consignment shops and the sale price is normally half (or less) of what you originally paid and this table was really scratched. We paid twenty two dollars. I love you Goodwill. I still cannot figure out who makes the table, but knowing we got such an amazing deal on an impulse purchase makes me really happy.

Another fun story - yesterday I see this 'pin' come across my Pinterest homepage:

That desk look familiar?

I think it cost me $75 on Craigslist. Score!

On the Hunt...

For what? This:

(http://www.abeachcottage.com/)

All of it. The table, the vintage wooden box, pillows, wicker vase, lanterns - I'll even take the tennis shoes. I'm not exactly sure what the inspiration table is made of (wicker?), but I want mine to be made of wood with that same general shape. Yesterday I did a little 'window shopping' in HomeGoods:

Love the industrial vibe going on here:

Really a bench, but still cool:

I love it, but the off-white would clash:

Great shape, but craaaaazy paint job:

None of these really fit what I was looking for, but still nice to get some ideas. This is more of what I want:

So far, nothing has magically appeared on Craigslist, but you better believe I am on the hunt for it. Meanwhile, I will begging my husband to build it for me. Hey, can't blame a girl for trying.



DIY Seagrass Headboard

I am back from my blogging sabbatical with the most exciting reveal ever. (Humor me - I'm really excited).

I'm sure everyone is aware of how obsessed I am with the Pottery Barn Seagrass Headboard:

Not so thrilled with the price - after surcharges, delivery and taxes, we're talking well over $500. That's just too much for me to stomach. After checking Craigslist at least once a day, I began to lose hope that I would ever find a seagrass headboard for my guest room. But as always, Craigslist did not let me down! I came across a listing for this Pottery Barn 5x8 Seagrass rug for $40! Did I need a rug? Not exactly, but for $40 I knew I could not pass up the opportunity. I figured I could find a place for it somewhere in the house.

Here is it when I got it home:

It stayed rolled-up in the guest room for a week or so before I came up with a brilliant idea: using it to make my very own seagrass headboard! Of course I thought it was nuts and I had no idea how it would work. My first source of inspiration was Censational Girl's tutorial. I took the basic ideas (plywood, foam, staples) and decided I could apply them to the rug. Let me just state that I don't think this would have worked with a cheaper rug - we have a seagrass from Lowe's in the living room and it's just not that pliable. The Pottery Barn version was much softer and easier to manipulate.

The first step was to see if I could remove the fabric border:

It was beyond easy. All you have to do is snip the thin plastic thread and just rip. It only took about 10 minutes to get it all cleared.

Then we were off to Lowe's to buy some wood and hanging hooks. We chose to use OSB board since it was cheap and no one would ever see it. Here is the board after Brian cut it down to size and curved the top. (I did not document this process, but he said he used string to lay out the radius and then a jigsaw to make the cut.)

We also decided to hang the headboard directly on the wall. Not only was this easier (no legs to cut and measure and no attaching to the bed rails) but it also gave us the flexibility to move the headboard up or down to get the look we wanted.

  

After laying out a sheet of plastic in the garage, Amber and I got to work:

I decided to go with 1-inch foam for no other reason other than it was cheap. Seriously, foam is expensive. If I had measured and planned correctly, I would have spent less money, but since I just eye-balled it, I had to go back to Hobby Lobby to buy another roll of foam. We used spray adhesive to attach it to the OSB.

Then finally, it was time to wrap!

Brian didn't really trust us with the air compressor/staple gun, so he took over from here. (But we did help pull the fabric taut)

From the first moment we laid the rug down, I had not been able to see what the front of it was looking like. I had really low expectations that it would come out good, so when Brian finally flipped it over I screamed like a little girl!

Aside from the bad garage lighting, it looked amazing. It's not 100% done yet - I still need to glue a few pieces down on the back and I am looking into how to clear-coat it, but check out the after pictures:

Yes, those picture suck. It was dark, bad lighting and I have a simple point-and-shoot. (I think fancy camera is on my Christmas list for next year). Hopefully I can get some better shots soon. Let me break down the costs for you: 

• 5x8 Pottery Barn Seagrass Rug = $40.00 on Craigslist  
• OSB Board + Hooks = $9.00 (we used a Lowe's giftcard, but I think the original total was $25
• Two rolls of foam = $30.00
• Staples and staple gun = already owned

               Grand DIY Total? $79.00

               Pottery Barn Tota? $500+

I can barely tell the difference!

Paint, The Miracle Worker

Aside from the gorgeous weather, trail running, eating/drinking and beach-going, this past weekend was mainly about helping my sister-in-laws paint. The previous owner painted their house a horrendous color orange and since Brian was a painter in college, they asked us to come down and help. I always hear people complaining about painting, but I honestly think it's fun! The whole process is very methodical and 'cutting in' really appeals to my OCD. Wait until you see this transformation:

You can pick your chin up off the floor now. And no, I cannot explain what drugs that previous owner was on that would compel her to paint almost the entire house ORANGE. Did you catch the faux-paint job on the kitchen pantry? Bad...

The transformation took all day Friday, with the help of four people. Here we are hard at work:

I don't really have good action shots of Linds and Linds, but they did almost ALL the main wall rolling!

Of course we snuck in some fun too:

Running on the Upper Tampa Bay Trail, which is know one of my favorite paved trails.

My favorite part of the trip, Ybor City! In two hours I saw three people on horseback, a man walking around with an enormous yellow boa on his shoulders, men with giant signs telling us we were going to hell and a Church of Scientology. If that doesn't make for an interesting time, I don't know what does! I cannot wait to go back.