I love lamp (garage sale score No. 2), plus bonus scores

At long last, the photo of my second garage sale score from a couple weeks ago. [cue fanfare]

Picked up this sweet old hand painted lamp for $12. I could tell the shade was of good quality, but it's in poor condition so I will need to redo or replace. But the moment I saw this lamp I thought it would look pretty cool with a funky Anthro style topper.

Rose Landscape Shade – $98

Midnight Iris Shade – $98

Gualaguetza Shade – $98

Of course I would attempt to craft one myself, as I'm fairly certain I don't have the 98 clams to spare.

So now for the bonus scores. I went over to one of the more interesting thrift stores I've found in the area (it's a Habitat for Humanity ReStore) and found a couple little trinkets for a whopping $5 total sale.

Nice wood frame – $2

Asian cork art – $3 (a cool little scene with two cranes in it)

All in all, a productive trip! I've enjoyed this long holiday weekend. Do I have to go to work tomorrow? I could get so much more done around the house if I just had one more day off!

P.S. Can't help it. Anchorman's still funny, and I still quote some line from the movie at least a couple times a month. There. I've said it. Whew.

My latest reflection

So I know I promised part deux of my garage sale scores today, but my camera died as I was trying to download my pics and I'm too lazy to hunt down some batteries at the moment. Sad, I know.

But in my couch-sitting-beer-drinking-long-weekend-celebrating-laziness I ran across something rather surprising and thought I'd share. Check it:

This Knot Mirror has a 40" diameter and a black and gold finish. And it's marked-down to $89. Now guess where it came from ... Kirkland's!!  I know, right? I had them pegged for purveyors of the generic, mundane and marginally tacky (read: mall decor), but every now and again I like to pop in and see what's happening. Now I'll admit that most of the other items I ran across on their website were not my particular cup of tea. But I think this piece sort of rocks.

I dig this photo from my inspiration file but I'm dying to hang something behind that sofa. I could see our friend the Knot Mirror playing well in this scenario!

So, that's it for now. I've gotta finish making the wild rice salad I'll be taking to the family holiday dinner. Peace, and Happy Thanksgiving!

P.S. Pillows...

I am considering these pillow covers from West Elm for use in my living room.

Like them all. LOVE the gold.

Animal instinct (garage sale score No. 1)

In all my recent Mt. Dora excitement, I forgot to mention a couple garage sale scores from the weekend before last!

This upholstered leopard ottoman was a steal at $3! Minky the cat concurs! It has a couple small tears in the top, but that's nothing that can't be fixed with an iron-on patch applied underneath while I shop around for other animal print fabric. I love the print as-is, and hope to find something as close as possible to the original!

Photo of score No. 2 to come!

Mount Dora Awesome-Fest 2010!

So I took a ride over to the semi-famous Renniger's Antique Extravaganza Weekend in Mt. Dora on Saturday with the lovely and fabulously talented decorating maven of ReNew ReDo! I won't offer any spoilers on her scores, but here's what I came away with:

Exhibit #1 - A great pair of carved wood chairs with tufted backs for $30! That's $15 a chair, folks. They've even got casters on the front legs. Nifty!

The upholstery is in fairly decent shape, but it's odd to say the least. Almost seems like the kind of stuff you'd find on patio furniture, and I don't mean the stylish Sunbrella type. I mean the slightly scratchy old-school woven stuff with a bit of a sheen to it. Not sure where these are going just yet, but I'm already dreaming about fabric possibilities.

Riviera in Flight in Citrine from the new IMAN Home Collection at Calico Corners

Dahlia in Dove, Calico Corners

Fabriano in Cocktail, Calico Corners

Silhouette in Kiwi, Calico Corners

Sultana Lattice in Citrine, also from the IMAN Home Collection, Calico Corners
(Yes lattice, I still love you.)

Exhibit #2 - A four-panel hand-painted Chinoiserie screen that's around 5' tall. Two of the panels are no longer attached, and this beauty came home with me to the tune of $35 (!). I know... holy crap, right?? You may commence with the jealousy. It's so pretty, my knees buckled a little when I saw it. It's like having my own mini de Gournay!


And here's the gratuitous close-up...

The fact that the third and fourth panels are detached was not a detractor to me at all. In fact, I might go ahead and separate the first and second as well and hang them on the wall with a half-inch or so of space in between. I'm pretty sure I'm going to put two panels on each side flanking the sideboard in my living room.

So there you have it! A thrifty and highly productive day! And we barely covered 1/3 of the place before we were weighed down with treasures and had to head for the car. We are SO going back soon!

Hope you had a fantastic nearly-Thanksgiving weekend!

A quickie...

I'd just like to say for the record, I'm majorly lusting for a leopard rug for my bedroom!

Oh, and some monogrammed linens would be pretty sweet too. The rest of this room is far too fluffy for my taste.

Back to the blogosphere...

Since I was recently added to somebody's blog roll (Thanks, Sammy!), I became horribly embarrassed that I'd just left this ol' blog dangling a year ago like a harvest gold macarame plant holder in the back of a thrift store. This is partly an excuse for my laziness, but I'd say overall I was underwhelmed by the attitude of some of the more prominent deco blogstresses (no names mentioned) out there. I tired of the snarkiness and general holier-than-thou-ness that seems to dominate certain circles and ultimately became disillusioned with the whole deal in favor of keeping my decorating insights to myself — or perhaps sharing them with my dogs. Incidentally, they think I rock. :)

So... I think I'm gonna give it another shot. After all, I've recently turned the corner and started a new life (with a new house to pretty up), sans boyfriend. READ: this is a good thing. I hope to share some of the process of bettering this bachelorette pad of mine.

Stay tuned!

P.S. In the meantime, thought I'd throw a little autumn-esque boudoir action* your way, courtesy of West Elm. Swoon...


* Heh, heh. I said boudoir action.