My recent finds!

Over the last few months I've had some major scores at estate sales, craigslist, and flea markets. Some are still a work in progress, but I thought I'd share with you some of my favorite finds...

I got this lamp at the Pasadena flea market. I still need to find a new lamp shade, but I love it!

I got this awesome dresser and night stand (below) from Estate Sale Warehouse in Oceanside. Both are slightly damaged and need some fresh paint, but I love them! Micah's room is still a work in progress. My dad and I are working on a bed frame right now...more to come on that! Just trying to hunt down the perfect fabric! That green chair is from my Grandma's and that awesome blanket is from a thrift store in Palm Springs....$3!!!!

I was so super excited to find this next beauty.....

This antique faux bamboo dresser is a perfect addition to Drew's room!

The adorable little lemon picture I found at an estate sale in Rancho Bernardo for $5. It brings in all the yellow in her room perfectly! I also found this interesting ballerina painting at an estate sale in San Marcos for $1. It's so old that the edges are tearing off, but there was something quirky about it that I just really liked...especially her yellow ballerina slippers.

I got a pair of these chairs ($10 each) and these benches ($40) at the same Rancho Bernardo estate sale that I got the lemon picture. They are both happy in my garage right now, but I am waiting to find the perfect fabric to re-upholster these!

I have a lot of projects on my hands right now, and I can't wait to get started!

Pasadena Flea Market

This past weekend, I went up to the Pasadena flea market with my girlfriends Amanda and Kerri. Believe it or not, it was my first time!

Back in September we chicas stumbled upon the Santa Monica flea market, which is miniature in comparison to the almost too overwhelming Pasadena one. This was my big score in Santa Monica...vintage Reader's Digests covered in these fabulous patterns. $1 each!!!! I also picked up a bunch of doilies for Christmas projects.
We quickly realized that Pasadena's flea market was much more pricey and vendors weren't too willing to negotiate. We got there a little after it opened. As we were going in, we spotted Lara Spencer from Access Hollywood. She was there filming a show for HGTV. I was hoping we'd run into Tori Spelling!!!

This picture below was inspiring to Amanda & I for a Christmas project. All of those flowers were made from yarn. Cute, huh?

Here is miss Kerri on a funky chair.

I loved this idea of a big mirror with a planter at the bottom for outside our front porch. I have this miserable little planter to the left of our front door that we cannot get anything to grow in. This looked like a fun solution!

Amanda & I both scored some lamps...Here is how Amanda's lamp looks in her daughter Mia's room!
I am still mourning two missed purchases. One was a cat figurine and one was a faux bamboo table from an awesome seller where I got my lamp from. Here we are...

We had a lovely lunch on Colorado in Old Pasadena. We shopped some more....Paper Source (Kerri had never been, can you believe it?), J.Crew, Kate Spade and a few others. Can't wait until our next trip up!

Finished Entry Way

Hi all! I am back to share with you my finished entry way. I've been busy trying to get this little wall completed for a few weekends now and finally got around to doing it! I'm really happy with the way it came out.


The last piece to the puzzle is getting a rug. I have a few that I have my eye on, but I'm not ready to commit just yet. I am enjoying looking at my beautiful hardwood floors for a change though...so maybe the rug will wait a bit longer! Here is the one I'm drooling over, but oh that darn price tag!!!! Sigh.

Part of my excitement is the fact that I didn't spend very much at all on this project. Here is a list of my resources...

Wallpaper - Home Depot ($50)
Console Table - CraigsList ($20, formerly brass)
Lamp - Estate Sale ($20)
Mirror - Home Goods ($60)
Hello - Earth In Print Etsy shop
Jonathan Adler bowl, candle stands, vase, design books - already owned!

My new entry way has inspired me to make a new wreath for my front door. Time to mix it up a bit. Check out this post here to see some of my other (and current) wreaths. Hope you all are having a great week!

My mantle & Craigslist projects

Inspired by Nicole over at Me Oh My (she has such fab taste...I want to copy her entire home - check out her blog if you've never seen it), I loved her chevron print over her mantle. Since I have a newly found love for painting, this seemed like a project right up my ally! Check out how it turned out:

Yes, it took forever.

In the same room, this is my $20 mirror from Craigslist that I painted white. It sits on the same wall as the chevron print, on the other side of our media center. It's a perfect spot for this fun mirror.

This console table was also a Craigslist find for only $25. It was brass, but I was really attracted to the shape. I got some steel wool and spray paint, and wah-lah! This entry wall isn't done with it's facelift yet. I have some raspberry printed wallpaper on its way. I think it will look really great in this little "nook".
Those retro lamps I got for $20 (for the pair). They were Pepto pink, but in great condition. There is a little light at the bottom that illuminates through the fabric on the bottom (like a nightlight) on the first switch. I'm not sure what I'll do with the shades yet. My dining chairs that are being re-upholstered as we speak are cream, so this may come together nicely.

The sideboard was also a CL steal for $100. It's a nice piece of furniture. It will be the last thing a re-do in that room. Since my color scheme are blues, I was thinking a light gray, with white accents, but I'm not sure yet. Lastly, that's a painting that I'm working on right now.

Hope everyone had a lovely Monday!

Chandelier

Happy Monday! I hope you all had a great weekend. Mine was pretty productive. I got started painting some of my Craigs List chairs since my upholsterer is coming to get them this Saturday. As you know, I'm in the process of re-decorating my dining room. I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do with my chandelier. It's one of those non-special, huge chandeliers that came with the house...never been a fan of it, but it did the job. I was hoping to save some money and just switch out the light bulbs, give it some paint and be done with it. Keep in mind my dining room has like 30 feet tall walls, so I was not eager to have to get scaffolding just to take it down and install something new. This was my inspiration, seen here on Design*Sponge: On Saturday I finally made it to Home Depot and got the globe bulbs. I was really excited to get home, install them to see how fabulous it was going to look. Well, it was not cute. Even my husband said, "I do not like that at all". I agreed. Now to begin a search for a perfect chandelier. I remembered awhile back seeing a chandelier I had liked by Troy Lighting. I went to Lighting Universe to see if they still had it in stock....they did (yay), but the price was still way too much (b00)! It was listed online anywhere from $560 - $600 in all the google searches I did. Here is a picture of it...isn't it fab?

Photo courtesy of Lighting Universe

Since I didn't put anything into a "chandelier budget" into my project, I knew I had to get creative. I looked at a lot of the standard sites and even ebay...no luck. None were big enough for my space or just way too expensive and lacked personality. At about 10 p.m. last night, instead of going to bed, I decided to just jump on Craigs List to see if they had anything remotely cute. I had one of those no way!!! moments. I typed in "chandelier", clicked search, and the 3rd one down was this VERY chandelier (above) listed for $300! I coudn't believe it. Apparently this person bought it, decided they didn't like it and couldn't return it for some reason. I emailed the seller and I am now a proud owner of this amazing chandelier for the bargain price of $250!!!!! Have I mentioned lately how much I LOVE Craigslist? My whole dining room is turning into finds from there! Anyone else addicted to CL or have any fun finds they want to share???