I have had this ugly brass floor lamp ever since my husband and I were newlyweds. I have always hated it, but it was all we could afford back then. See the girl my husband married had only been to Target like twice and well to put it simply was a snob when it came to things. I can still remember the day we set out to shop for lamps... how depressing! They were so expensive! That explains how this brass lamp came home with us... it was not expensive.
In our move to Colorado from California the shade was damaged. I decide I could try to love the lamp by making a new shade for it. Loved the shade, but still hated the lamp. I think I was just stuck with out knowing it. Stuck in the mind set of I hate it, I wish I could change it but what if I ruined it in the process? Lamps after all are so expensive! Then it dawned on me like a bright idea (sorry I could not help myself) I can take the chance to change it with the wonderful invention of the spray paint can! After all I could just hit the thrift store or a yard sale to find a new lamp if I did ruin it! The possibility to not hate this lamp drove me! I was all lite up inside (I know, I know enough already) with excitement to attack that horrid brass with black!
I did and I am so glad I for the change. Though the lamp shade has since found a home on another lamp, I look forward to making a new shade for my "new" black floor lamp!
I am new to garage sailing. My first experience of waking up early with a planned route was over Labor Day weekend. How it all began, was on that Friday I stumbled upon a garage sale in my neighborhood and my girls begged me if we could go. Not to let them down, since they insisted, I put the car in park. I had already given myself a talk about the guidelines I was to stay within. I was only there with a specific purpose, to find the items on my wish list. I would not have guilt if I had to walk away with out buying anything. Say it again... no guilt buying! Junk is junk, but treasures could be hidden and ready to be discovered.
That garage sale was a great thrill for me! I did not walk away with much in quantity but a great deal in value as well as a hunger for more deals! I had for the past few days been hitting the thrift stores and goodwill in search of lamps. The best I found was $9.00 but still I just felt like I could do better! So I walked away each time empty handed. At this Friday garage sale I walked away with two lamps (in need of shades) for $2.00! Now I wanted more great finds for so little! When I got back home is when I decided I just needed to jump in with both feet, devise a plan of action and spend my Saturday morning garage sailing. That is exactly what I did... thank you Craigslist.
Tagging along with me for my first Saturday garage sale adventure, was my friend Lauren (runningtochrist.blogspot.com) and my six year old daughter. The first countless number of houses we came up empty. Not to be discouraged, yet, so on we went, following every sign that was not on my list. Still nada, zip, zero, nothing! Now time to be discouraged... but wait there is one on my list that is right by my house. Surly one more is fine. SCORE! I found a great, framed chalk board... oh but she was asking more than I wanted to pay. Dilemma, do I get up the courage to haggle or just walk away leaving the treasure for someone else more brave than I? No I could not walk away! I mustered up the courage and to my gleeful surprise she said yes to my offer! I wanted to say, "seriously?" Thankfully I restrained and only let the shock show on my face I am sure. Who me a virgin garage saler'? No not a chance... that obvious huh? On our way from there we followed yet one more sign where they were having a whole slew of garage sales! First house two more lamps with shades! On to the other houses. The next house is where I came up empty, not in treasure but in dollar! Yes you guessed it I spent every last garage sale dollar I had! Oh the magnificent treasures! Every single thing on my wish list (really prayer list) was there waiting to find comfort in my loving arms as I proudly drove them to their new home! The day was a great success after all! It only took a few hours, a thousand (exaggeration mine) houses having garage sales and a determined undefeated attitude. But lo and behold victory was mine! I even met some really fabulous people in the process! Hi my name is Carrie and I am a garage sale addict!
Here are some before photos for my living room. I have been rearranging the furniture, trying to find the arrangement that I just love. Here is what I came up with before I hit some really spectacular garage sales! I will reveal those photos too! First check these out so you can see what I have been up to.
Here now is another way I rearranged.
I had the couch under the above window before these two rearrange crazes. That is where my husband prefers the couch. For me... as always, around my house, if I can physically move it, it will be moved! Furniture beware! You may get pushed, pulled or dragged around!
In one of my next posts I will share with you all the "new" treasures that have come to find a home with me. Thrifiting galore!
The deed is done! The paint for my master bedroom has been selected and slathered all over the walls. I am a happy girl!
I did make it down to Sherwin Williams only to find they were having a sale! Can you just believe it? God is so amazing in how He leads us and provides! I do have to say picking out paint samples with four kids is, well, interesting as well as entertaining... maybe a bit challenging too. We did however make a memorable impression upon the sales clerk. After our fourth trip down there, he called me by name as if we were old friends.
After much deliberation I selected Intellectual Gray ( I feel smarter already) for the bedroom and Quietude (shhh, mommy is relaxing) for the bathroom. I decided I wanted to go out of the box, whimsical, unpredictable and that is exactly what I got. The combination together is what I now call my Tiffany Box... every girls fancy. So far I love it!
I do have a lot of fun ahead of me, now that the work of painting is out of the way. I must add, my husband is such a sweetheart! He does not enjoy painting like I do. It is almost therapeutic for me. I love the transformation right before my very eyes. Tackling our bedroom and bath turned out to be a bigger job than either of us thought it would be. Yet we completed it and I am blessed immensely! Now let the decorating with details begin!
Keep watch for the final reveal. But here for now is a peak at the selected paint colors.
Oh yesterday, you have gone and now in your place is today. Yesterday I decided to rearrange my downstairs. This is not strange for me to do. However I made a pact with myself that I would stay focused on my master bedroom redo. I knew that if I started moving things around in the rest of the house I would find all the things I "need" to buy to decorate, redo or re beautify my home and therefor loose focus on the project at hand. Since for me my budget is so limited, I knew the wisest plan in accomplishing the master bedroom redo is to stay focused on only that room. Yesterday I deviated from the plan and though it was not with out fun, (because I love seeing what moving the couch from one placement in the room to another does for the look of the room) it was with out final result. I am unsatisfied with everything I came up with, because moving furniture and accessories caused me to feel, "if only I had, this piece or that accessory, then the room would be grand!" Also resulting in my mind being occupied with what I could purchase to bring to life the vision in my head for my living room and dinning room. Again not a bad thing, except it all comes down to budget. If I spend "there", I then don't have money for the master bedroom.
Yesterday has gone and today I am back on focus and heading out to Sherwin Williams to see what glorious paint options they have for me in my master bedroom redo! Staying focused is not always easy, but it is something that can always be regained. Do not loose heart if you have a project you once started and then were distracted away from, just get re focused and get it done! Let me know what you are up to. What way are you allowing your creativity to be free? Pin It Now!
How many paint samples have I brought home, I wonder? Stacks litter my dresser and nightstand at the moment. When it comes to choosing paint for my master bedroom, it is a decision I do not take lightly. I have vaulted ceilings and the okay from my husband to go ahead and paint. The paint that I choose I know I must be happy with for years to come. Years... years stuck with a color I can not stand. That is a great deal of pressure to have on oneself. I do not want to live with painters remorse so I am choosing very thoughtfully. In the beginning I thought I wanted warm colors to coat my walls, but have since been leaning toward, light and refreshing. This decision is really becoming a real "paint" in my... head. Yes that is what I said, head, not what you thought I was going to say. All I can think about, all I can envision is paint. Day and night I imagine myself in my room with a warm shade of brown on my walls and then change to a crisp light color, or a nice gray shade. I try to imagine how I would feel waking up in the morning to each different paint color. The reality is I am torn. So here is what I have narrowed the paint choices down to (for now any way). I will continue dreaming in paint colors and I know I will arrive at the right decision for my master bedroom. Once I do, I will not regret my choice, but rather, I will be very satisfied with the paint that dresses my walls. After all I am having fun with this redo and am in no rush for the fun to end.
*Disclaimer: Paint does look different in person.*
Fact about me, I am hard on myself. I do not always see the beauty of my things or the things in my home. Why? Because I often act like I should be living inside the pages of a magazine. Reality number one, I do not have that kind of cash flow. Number two, I have four kids, a dog, friends who live with us (who also have a dog), a husband and a life! Enough reasons... I could have stopped at, I have four kids and sympathy and understanding would have been pouring my way from each of you, I know. The sad, pathetic truth is, I do struggle with wanting that picture perfect house, but it would come at a price I am not willing to pay. That price is solitude.
What am I doing about it? I am continually listening to my Lord as He leads me gently, opening my eyes to the vast amount of blessings that surround me. I have four kids, a husband, a dog, a friend for my dog, friends who live with us... what a blessed HOME I have! Perspective! Keeping things in perspective is not always easy, but a necessity!
When I set out to redo my master bedroom, it came from a place of complete and utter despair and frustration. I felt like a failure as a homemaker. My ideas, intentions, plans, and expectations, for my household, did not match up with the everyday reality of my life. The laundry alone for a family my size is a full time job. Not to mention all the sweet moments as mom that gladly steal away from the duties as home maker. Leaving me feeling behind and coming up short.
Sad to say, my bedroom has been overlooked when it comes to decorating. To top it off, it was becoming the clean clothes drop spot. Around my home, once things appear to be out of order, it then seems to send the message to husband and kids, go ahead throw that toy on my bedroom floor. Oh yes, of course, please leave your dirty clothes in the corner. So the pressure on myself, that I placed upon myself, mounted. From my perspective, I was failing. Why couldn't I keep everything under control and complete each household task in the timely manor I envisioned? I had a much needed cry out to the Lord for help and then I called my sister. My sister helped open my eyes to reality and filled me with great words of encouragement. She also gave me a website to visit (www.theflylady.com), and I got to vent. Oh to vent... getting to hear myself, golly, how I needed my perspective to change. I also realized in that moment I needed my master bedroom to change. My room is the first thing I see int the morning and the last thing I see before I close my eyes for the night. Me, being the very, ultra, completely ascetically aware person that I am, why would I not begin and end my day with a surrounding that pleases me? Time for that to change!
We are all different, us as people, us as individuals. Some could careless if the kitchen faucet is not perfectly aligned with the center of the sink, while others of us, we have to go and straighten it. Figuring out what kind of person you are will help in creating the kind of HOME you want to have. I have come a long way over the years, and am more relaxed about having a lived in home. In fact I love it. That being said, I also have come to realize the importance of balance. It is okay to have things tidy, clean, organized, decorated and beautified as long as I am not doing it at the cost of having a home. A home where life is lived and memories are created! Perspective, it all comes down to perspective.
Are you ready to see some of the things the Lord has blessed me with for the re-making of my master bedroom? Creating a place I enjoy and want to be.
