Do you swap?

I am planning a Sip n' Swap party again this year and I am waaaay excited. 

Last year we had 10 ladies get together and do a clothing swap in the spring for summer fashions. What a hit! A few of my girlfriends even held their own swaps after that for fall they were so inspired!

This year, I am giving lots of notice (to beat people's urge to purge and garage sale season) to all my ladies so they can start to declutter and build their pile of items to swap. This year it is Home Decor.

I am sending the invite over 5 months in advance to allow them the time to glean through their homes, investigate closets, dig in basements etc. and create a pile of decor / home items (pictures, mirrors, drapes, pillow covers, rugs, art, lamps, clean bedding, small tables/ chairs, coffee table books, knick knacks, paddywhacks - whatever they can carry) to bring to the.....

"Friendsgiving Home Decor Sip n' Swap in July"!!!

If they have a larger piece of furniture, they can bring pictures and we will consider it added to the pile, the donor and the new owner can arrange pick ups smile emoticon

So far I have about 10 pictures, 2 lamps, unused kitchenware, small decorative shelves, a rug or two, decorative boxes, vases, draperies, barstools, outdoor hangers for plants....you would be amazed once you start your pile!!! So if they were thinking garage sale....I say don't do it! 

I am reminding everyone that it is important to be able to truly let go of the items they bring and not to be hurt if the pieces don't have a new home by the end of the evening. Any and all leftover items will be packed up, carted away and donated lovingly to a local Children's Assistance Program for their new store on (where Boy#2 volunteers)

Redecorating your home with new-to-you pieces can and should be inspiring. What's more inspiring than girl time???

Thanks for diving in with me - Dharma

Free. My favourite F word.

So after finishing my mermaid spa out of the master bath, I was still lacking artwork for the far wall. How does one find specific mermaid inspired art....for no money?

Enter my girl Louise (I am her Thelma), my garage-sailing babe. She was given 4 weird canvas art pieces of shoes at a garage sale by a man who just wanted these 12x12 canvases gone from his life. Yup, shoes. I mean, I like shoes but I do not want art of shoes. Each to their own.

Weird right? Weirder is it was a set of 2. Times 2. Doubles of shoes. Weird.

I had mermaid stencils, cause what Mermaid doesn't? So I set to work covering the canvases in ASCP 'Versailles". Broke out the stencils and used the same chalk paint in Aubusson Blue (leftovers from the dining table and chairs). Finished these babies off with a bit of white pickling stain to soften the colours and VOILA.

mermaid art yo :) fo free.....fo sure!

From SPAZ to Spaaaaaaaaaaah with only $80

So here is the thing. I am a cheap Scot. No, really. Cheap.

I like a bargain but mostly I don't buy anything because even fabulous bargains have that horrible part of the process where I actually have to lift my wallet out of my purse. If you opened my change purse the Queen would squint from not seeing the light of day in weeks ;)

When I decide to "redux" a room, I always challenge myself to do it as cheaply as possible with the biggest TADA for every dollar.

I feel like I hit this one out of the park, yo!

Here is where we started.

10 year old paint job in BM's Straw Hat, fabulous green laminate and some quite decent cherry-ish builders cabinetry. Not HORRIBLE but not awesome. Not "rustic modern beach cottage"...like my inspiration shot.

So, like all cheap, albeit inspired, Scots....I started planning. The plan started with reusing all my former paint and transformation materials and we got to the point where the green counters were now black ala Rustoleum's Countertop Transformations and the cabinetry was going Old White (ASCP).

Greg busted out and completed painting the whole room BM's Cloud White, which is now going to be the Casa's signature colour (listen for the Steel Magnolias drawl there y'all) and then it stopped.

Like a needle on the record. Screeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeech.

I had the inspiration, I knew what I wanted but how is a girl like me, a.k.a CHEAP, going to achieve that look for NO MONEY? So far, I was in it to win it at $75.

So, I started shopping the house for my accessories, hoping I was only going to have to incur the cost of the paneling for that wood look I wanted behind the sink. I found an old tin Spongebob tub at the Salvation Army ($2) that I painted up and distressed, I printed out a sailor/ mermaid pic for the frame I wanted to use, knew I was going to finally hang our brass door knocker and I located the spa rug and slat.

The shower curtain was reversible to a nicer, softer colour so....I almost had it. I found more shells, a few nautical IKEA lanterns I had bought years ago and a cool stainless basket for the mags I like to have nearby. Switch out the garbage can with the one from the downstairs loo, bring in the $3 table I distressed a few weeks ago and BAM. I am good, right?

Yes, grasshopper....but what about the paneling?

Cue the light tinkling of bells in the background, cause I think this is where someone's (me) Guardian Angel finally came in from having her smoke outside and realized I needed a hand. Friday night, out at a friends for bevvies and I see this ripped up building leaning against his shed. Apparently this is an old hottub enclosure that is about to be firewood....being nosey I go take a gander. As I approach the pile of crud.....I smell it. No, not that. I smell CEDAR. Yards of tongue and groove red cedar slatting jammed into the framing of this pile of walls leaning, waiting for their demise on the bonfire.

"OMG! BILL! CAN I HAVE SOME OF THIS?"

Bless my husband down to his wee boxers, he and I were up and pry barring, removing screws and hauling 3 piles of slats the next morning. I think he may have woken up to me sitting on him, clapping with glee to get going at 8am....and not the way he probably would have liked that to have worked out LOLOLOL

So, Dharma busted out her old friend Chomper. Because these slats were pretty rotted at some ends. You can see that.

Chop, saw, chop, saw, measure, chop, saw, measure, screw, chop, measure, saw, chop.

C'est FINIS! I have never liked one of my redux more than I like this one. $80, I did it myself, I got someone else to do the painting on the walls and I reused all my own beachy stuff I have hoarded around my house forever. The room feels like it grew 3 sizes that day (Grinch shout out).

I am verra proud of this lass, she did her Scots Grandad proud.

C'mon you knew there was going to be a mermaid somewhere!

Thanks for diving in!

Showing off at:

Seeking Lavendar Lane

A Stroll Thru Life

A Bowl Full of Lemons

Vintage Inspiration Party @BlissRanch

Wow us Wednesdays @SavvySouthernStyle

Flaunt it Friday @ChiconaShoestring

The table that took 8 months?

No....it didn't. I've just been a bad blogger. Like, really bad. Bite my lip and hope for a spanking bad, Mr. Grey?

So to make up for it, I took on a mother of a project. No, really this dining suite came from my mother :) Here it is all granny'd up for Thanksgiving. Old Country Roses china and everything.

....and here it is all modern and funkified. Dharma-style. I used Annie Sloan Chalk Paint for the very first time. We now have a distributor here in Niagara! Simply White  with their full ASCP line and lovely staff were a great help. I am planning on taking a workshop there with the lovely owner, Brenda, mid-June.

Tada!!!!

I used Versailles on the chairs which is a taupey sage, and Aubusson Blue on the table. Very Le Francais....no? I will keep you in the loop as to whether all the paint falls off given how much my menthings use this table daily :)

Nice to SEE you, thanks for coming in and seeing if I was still breathing.

Over at Flaunt it Friday for fun!

Wicked Wicker!

Just picked up this week, $40 no less :)

Now to figure out styling this baby, stay tuned!

You know someone who had this unit exactly/ something somewhat like this dealio didn't you? If you said yes, I know you lived in and remember the 70s baby!!

His N Hers Headboard

Fit for a King and his Queen, this 7 foot x 6 foot monster was installed today. I have to invest in some seriously sexy hotel type bedding but for now I am ecstatic at my $80 find!

Going from in the yard to in the room (without Boy #1 to carry this with the hubster) was not much fun. But getting it installed and setting the posts properly on an antique to fit modern day frames was lots of fun! NOT!

Like I said, bedding to follow….but it’s pretty boss!

Partying here:

I call it Dharmaritaville!

Man have we been spending our summer in the great outdoors that is our backyard. We’ve been making improvements in and around the new swimdeck and enjoying the space so much I think my friends and family are ready to call out a search party. I refer to my backyard as Dharmaritaville. I am the “Woman to Blame”
….name that reference.
When we put in the new swimdeck, we had a strip of grass leading from the interlocking brick to grass to steps. Boys + friends + kids parties all summer meant a lot of grass in the pool. So, on my trip up north to the cottage, Greg and I *rescued* (ahem, liberated) some flat black Muskoka granite from the lake and brought it home to put down a path.

Butcher knife, a hot day of Greg sweating it out and I now have this lovely little dealio. Ahhhh….much less grass and dirt in the pool. I was in charge of beverages.

After a few weeks of growth, it’s lovely.

But that’s not NEAR as exciting as my first ever estate auction that Greg and I attended here on Saturday morning. I felt like a fish out of water, getting my own paddle, but I persevered. The sale was at an old converted school house turned into an antiques barn. Oh……you would have loved it. I poked over the offerings and even spied a few things I thought were for me. The one and only thing I truly wanted I spied immediately upon walking up to the sale. A 1920s white wicker sofa. Be still my heart. I have seen others like it in much worse condition for hundreds of dollars. On my limited budget, I was sure she would be winking at me from the back of someone else’s truck bed as she sped into the distance.
Never fear, dear reader! I pursued and won my first ever auction item! $80 was my final bid and she winked at ME as we strapped her into our pickup!!!
Meet Savannah:

She needs a little stretcher repair but she is gorgeous! Screaming out for a beautiful set of cushions but I was so excited to nap on her, I rallied and found some odds and sods and quickly passed out Saturday afternoon for a 2 hour nap.


She is even Liam-Approved!

I did make him get off her immediately after this picture was taken though. MINE!

A pallet’s tale…

 

As you may or may not be aware (you are if you follow me on Pinterest), I’ve been skulking around dumpsters in my neighbourhood lately. On the hunt. For these.

I’ve amassed quite a collection. This doesn’t show off what’s lurking in the garage. Greg figures when we are ready for a “hillbilly campfire”, we are good! But there is a method to this madness. As discussed in previous posts, Greg and I are spending the WAD of Gubment $$$ back in taxes this year on a wharf to sit alongside this monster…

So of course this leaves very little money, a huge requirement of inspiration and mucho perspiration on Greg’s part to come up with some cheap outdoor furniture for the GAH-zebo (say that slowly)

Here is my inspiration shot.

I also got as ton of ideas from Sunny at Life in Rehab over here!

I tried out a few configurations for a low coffee table, but the general weight of these pallets is deceiving. Suckas is heavy!!

I bought the necessary wood screws and castors. 2 stationary castors for the back and 2 swivel castors for the front. In doing so I can almost guarantee the boys won’t use this for a skateboard and none of my Magarita-Madness beotches best girlfriends will push it over when they fall down.
Please refer to the following pics as my attempts to outshine the Pioneer Woman’s ass shots of her rancher husband

Let’s get this going already!

To make the depth and strength of the pallet enough for the castors we had to add a little oooomph, as in beefing the corners with scrap wood. But here is the finished product. My thinking (OK, OK Greg’s thinking) is that the top section is good for drinks, candles etc. but I surmised the bottom section (as it is very big) would be nice for putting your feet up.

Staining to follow. I like it!

Good boy Greg! Kisses!!! Pudge, kiss Daddy for me.

Getting closer to a Master SWEET

 

You may or may not remember the matchy-matchy bedroom “set” that I have had to deal with/ decorate around in my master bedroom….but just in case you forgot, I present….

THE LARGEST DRESSER ON EARTH

Seriously now, 8 years ago I walked into one of the big furniture stores with one purpose. A king size bed with something in a dresser that matched. I ended up with the Godzilla of dresser sets. Oh yeah, I went whole hog. The bedframe, lowboy, highboy and matching nightstand. Oh, how I wish I could talk to that Dharma now….*sob*

So when we created the master bedroom from 2 bedrooms, I thought we’d have a football field of room to house these badboys. Not so much. In fact the lowboy just ate up the entire midsection of the room. I started thinking about smaller dressers, then I remembered my lingerie addiction and my 147 tanktops. So I sucked it up and continued to bang my leg every morning on the corner of the dresser. Every morning.

Last December I walked into a local thrift and consignment store and there HE was. A deep walnut hued, gorgeous hunk of wood. He had large expansive drawers, a bow front and the most impressive hardware I’ve ever seen. The tag on his front said “$375.00”. I wept a little. I could not bring myself to pay that so I walked away, only turning back once….to remember him. I left my card with the owner, asking that she keep her eye out for something similar but not as pricey. I have thought about him since.

Flash forward to 2 weeks ago and I get a call. The dresser was still there, no one had claimed him and the owners did not want to take it back. Would I pay $150.00? Now, this is where the true “rubber hits the road” in thrifting. I tried to quit jumping up and down so that I didn’t sound out of breath and said “Would you take $100.00?”

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Eduardo…..

Slight dings, some water damage at the back but nothing that couldn’t be LOVED out, right?

Gaze upon his hardware.

Oh Eduardo. Your patina. I got straight to work. Picking up a few supplies and getting that elbow ready for some serious buffing.

His façade was scratched, someone had been unkind. But I knew I could change him. I was sure.

So, after much rubbing, buffing and staining I started to see Eduardo’s true shine come to life.

Darling. Isn’t that better?

Here he is, not staged but so much more loved. Appreciated. Adored.

Mi amore, Eduardo.

Nostalgia or NUTS?

I've been on the hunt for a really SPECTACULAR project. I have also been on the hunt for a *hi-fi* for about 5 years. In fact I started collecting records without the turntable. Seriously, I have Thriller, it has yet to be played. That is a crime against nature, I know.

So I have been searching for a bit of both. How does this grab ya?

I'm thinking yellow.....or teal......new fabric in the speaker cabinets?

I know. I'm nuts. That however does not change the fact that you want to come over, sit on my livingroom floor and play oldies all day drinking root beer ;)

I shall let you know how this unfolds, shall I?

You are the apple of my eye!

After much chatter and much more ado.....I introduce these gals back into the blogosphere! They got a few new coats of Rustoleum's "Heritage White" and a splash of apple green oddly named "Dill Pickle" from Benjamin Moore. The wallpaper was a special order from Benjamin Moore, it was a bit expensive ($30) and I have a lot left over so expect to see more of it :)

And here is the buffet in his new nook, finally the view to the familyroom is impeded a bit! Open concept is awesome when your kids are small but as they start to grow and blot out the light, well.......they lose their appeal....lol

Here is my niece and partner in this painting crime, Maya. She rocked this out with me. She dares to try....just like her Auntie. We're a good team.

What the corner looked like before. Don't hate me for my bad IKEA and my husband's "working outside flip flops".....

hey, we take care of the important things around here.......

The OWL is for all those bloggers addicted to them. I bought "Frederick" as Maya calls him for 50 cents at a yard sale this morning on the way back with the kids from a charity pancake breakfast. Spraypaint and away he goes.....right to centre stage. He is turquoise for Sunny at Life in Rehab and Pam at Becolorful....cause I promised some damn turquoise! Muah!

So what do you think?

BEFORE BUFFET:

and AFTER:

BEFORE CHINA CABINET:

AFTER....ma lovely.......who made it to the big time y'all!