Thrifty Thursday

Oh honey, I'll find you a deal. Don't worry your pretty little mind about that.

 ^ ^ Old bedroom dresser turned into a TV stand. ^ ^

I know these are crappy pictures but this is my vintage bedroom set.

(Not my pictures, but this is my set)

 It looks way cooler in person, I promise. 

It's an Art Deco Kent Coffey Perspecta bedroom set. When I was shopping for furniture for our house, I knew didn't want any cheap pressed wood junk. It can be pricey, not to mention the wear and tear of the Army moving us a lot doesn't exactly hold up well. I knew I could get solid wood (even if it was a little out of date and beat up) for next to nothing. I found this set in a thrift store for $250 with a metal bed frame, minus the night stands. They had sold the night stands separately when someone was interested in them, and the set had been sitting there awhile (I'm still mad about that). At the time I had no idea that the set was considered vintage designer furniture. I simply picked it because I thought the details of the X's were neat, I loved the art-deco streamline look, and the amount of drawers the two dressers were an added bonus. 

 A few nights after purchasing my bedroom set I was on craigslist and noticed a lone dresser that looked exactly like mine, only it was listed for $500, labeled as a rare Kent Coffey piece. My mom and I acted liked two kids trying to not explode when we realized my bedroom set was the exact same! Many of these sets sell for a  minimum of $1,000 (even with my set not having end tables). Money in the bank for this girl. I'm not selling it anytime soon, but its nice to know I can actually make money back, instead of having to throw it away or practically give it away. Just another reason why I love thrifting. 

Research old furniture that has names, usually located on the inside of a drawer, before you buy them. Today its easier than ever, especially with smart phones. You never know what you might have! I simply got lucky the first time around. My TV stand (first picture) I snagged it off a lady through craigslist for $60, who didn't know what she had. I happened to not mention I knew exactly what it was...oops. 

Thrifty Thursday

I almost forgot today was Thrifty Thursday!

For the first month we were married in our new house, this was our only lamp. I guess lamps are one of those things I never think about when buying the basics for a room. But, they are one of the most important things! They make a room homey, soft, and cozy.

 I found this lamp in a second hand store for $7! Can you believe it? I haven't painted it or anything! I did however, replace the lampshade. The original lampshade was an awful brown-poop color, which kinda made you want to puke just looking at it. I found the lampshade you see here at Goodwill for 50cents. 

When looking for used lamps, look at the shape of the lamp, not the condition. Luckily as I said before, I didn't have to paint this one, but as long as it has nice "curves" spray painting it is always a great option. I recently bought an old brass lamp that is god-awful ugly, but the shape of the curves are beautiful. I'm leaning towards painting it a minty green to put in my spare bedroom. Also, you can easily re-write any lamp with kits you can buy at Wal-mart. 

Scout is thrifty because he was free...and adorable.  

Thrifty Thursday

Lately my mantle has been bugging me. I can't quite get it how I want it and I'm not sure why. Really, I think it just might be because I wish I could have some color on my walls...alas the grievances of renting. The white walls wash every inch of color I stuff into my living room. Maybe someday, in my own house, I can change the paint color once a month if I want too. (Evan might hate me, but I totally will)

Sitting along the top of the mantle are my designated living room green decorations. The vase to the far left is from my stand-by antique place here - This Old Place - in Clarksville. The white globe has a candle holder in the bottom, when I remember to light it. It is from the Tour-Ed Mine Flea-Tique in Tarentum, Pa. The pitcher was Uncle Don's. Last, the tree/bird nest thing (makes it sound really expensive and classy eh?) is from Hobby Lobby.

Ok, get excited!

The picture is probably one of my favorite thrift-ed items I have. I found it sitting in the corner of St. Vincent thrift store back home in Pennsylvania. It was lonely and without a price tag. When I found a little old lady to ask how much it was she sweetly mumbled..."Oh I don't know, $3?" Without a second thought I frantically yelled "SOLD!" louder than I should have. I was holding on to it for dear life, warding off any other old lady trying to get even a glimpse at it.  

I love the greens and yellows in it. They are bright enough to catch your eye, but the painting itself is pretty muted so it blends in with all my other things. For the different holidays I've been cutting out seasonal things and sticking it on the picture!

Halloween: A vintage laughing moon with a witch flying through the sky, and cat walking down the path.

Christmas: Santa flying through the sky on his sleigh and adding in fake snow on the ground.

Valentines Day: A couple strolling arm in arm down the path with cupid peeking out behind the tree.

Easter: Easter eggs, rabbits, and a dove flying through the air.

Forth of July: Fireworks!

Ok, so me actually finding sweet pictures on google has happened, me printing them off has happened, but the whole cutting out and putting them on the picture hasn't...haha oops. I might have a whole drawer full of the sweet vintage people, cats, and moons, but none of them have seen the light of day. Why am I so bad at executing all my good ideas?? Maybe next year...

Thrifty Thursday

OK, so I have a new weekly post I want to try to do: Thrifty Thursday. 

I was going to do Tightwad Tuesday, but that sounded a little negative (but funny, haha). Loving the art of thriftiness isn't always about being a tightwad, as some people would assume; it's about getting something unique, well-made, and having fun without selling off your first born child! It's a win-win situation. As some of you know I furnished my entire house from used/junk/thirfted/antique/whatever-you-call-it goods. Most of my wardrobe is also lightly used clothing from second hand shops. Evan refers to it as "junk" but that's his opinion...I'm pretty sure he should be thanking me for being frivolous and freaking awesome....but that's my opinion. About 75% of the stuff in my house my husband would have thought was "dirty" and "old." (Luckily he was deployed, therefore he didn't really have a say into the matter -insert coy smile-) 

I've got my act together and have slowly, but surly, have been making our house a home. Here's a tiny corner into my house that's home.

Table & chairs: Non's (grandma's) aka free // Curtains: antique shop .50 cents // Fruit bowl: antique shop $6 // Salt & Pepper shakers: junk store $2 // Wooden Spoon & Fork gift // Table cloth: This Old Place Antiques $11 // Grand total: $19.50

The hunt of finding all these one-of-a-kind things is the fun part for me. A nice bonus of that is you save money, lots of money. The only thing I purchased new for our house was our mattress. I don't know about you, but I didn't want to take the chance of bunking with someone else's bed bugs. This weekend I'm on the hunt to find a few things for our spare bedroom and some new spring/summer clothes! I'll let you know what I find!