It's Not Dumpster Diving Unless It Was IN the Dumpster

So speaketh Wes.

Look what we found hanging out very near but nope, not inside the dumpster.  Wes needed a table for his side of the bed and we had just looked at a campaign-style table at Target that was $79.99.  When Wes stopped sputtering with outrage we came home and found these.  

I swear his eyes lit up.

And you can't beat free with a stick.  These are solid wood and a little wobbly.  Wes can fix that.  He also pointed out that they match our furniture.  I could have pointed out, but didn't, that they match because the rest of our furniture was found in similar dumpster adjacent locations or at Salvation Army. . . which is essentially the same thing.

They cleaned up pretty nice and free goes a long way to making them aesthetically pleasing in my eyes. 

Cup Hooks

Sometimes little things bring me joy.

We installed cup hooks over the kitchen sink.  

Pinterest is full of cute ideas for small kitchens, especially if that small kitchen happens to be in the midst of a generally awesome apartment with either period character or modern styling.  Late sixties/early seventies recovering project apartment housing with bare bones functionality and a self-conscious lack of any luxury whatsoever doesn't really make the "period character" category and tends to defy modern styling.  

I like this look though.  Cup hooks, colorful coffee mugs, and these strictly basic, no-frills cabinets are working for me.  It reminds me of home.  The coffee mugs on the left belonged to my maternal grandmother.  My paternal grandmother has cup hooks in her kitchen in Arkansas, hanging from cabinets my grandfather built himself.  In fact, I found the metal "Blasting Area" sign in my grandfather's work materials after he died.  This sign has come with me everywhere I have ever lived since striking out on my own. 

Of course, functional can be stylish.  I find this particular storage solution to be both functional and aesthetically pleasing.

If I change my mind or otherwise give up on this kitchen, I can always crank the hippy up to incense levels and hang a bead curtain across the doorway.

Sidebar:  Here's a thought, kitchens are supposed to be the heart of the home but actual hearts are kind of gross.  Why wouldn't you keep them behind closed doors?

Stripes in Ya' Life

I'm probably behind the trend on this one but it's okay.  At least I know my love for chevron stripes is a lasting one.  I finally got around to making my very own chevron stripe rug ala this tutorial.

I followed High-Heeled Foot in the Door's instructions pretty much exactly.  I got my fabric from Fabric.com and it is a light/medium weight canvas duck.  If you don't want to order online most fabric and craft stores carry it in solids and prints.

One note I would add that those of you versed in homemaking probably won't need is that rug pads are smaller than the area of the rug that they serve.  I was expecting a 4 x 6 pad and it was considerably smaller than that.  I still tossed it under my rug and it does a good job keeping it in place.

It's awesome and I love it even if Wes did get dizzy while helping me layer and stitch it together.  The pattern kind of lures you in.  It's also surprisingly cushy since I decided to spring for the fifteen dollar rug pad instead of the eight dollar one.

It adds a certain something to the living room.  I'd post a better picture but to be perfectly honest, I only cleaned the necessary parts to take this one, lol.

Thrifted . . . In Action!

Remember this guy?

All Images are my own

Check him out in his brand new home in the kid's room.

I think we scored this from a flea market for five dollars.  It makes an excellent night light when the kid is here.  Maybe too excellent.  We didn't even replace the bulb but we could probably transition to less wattage.

I didn't post about those Little Golden Books when I found them, but they were a choice Goodwill find.  They were $1.25 each and we got some real classics.  Tootle, The Velveteen Rabbit, The Pokey Little Puppy, and The Little Red Caboose.  They make up the core collection of the kid's favorite books.  The others, The Story of Ferdinand and The Three Billy Goats Gruff, are not thrifted but we did manage to get a damn good deal on Ferdinand at Borders.  It might have been five bucks too.  And Wes bought Billy Goats before Jaden was born-he was that excited. (that'ssosweetright!)

And now, a little night time view

The White Collection

Our bedroom is really, really white.

Behold-my first attempt at adding personal video to my blog.

Maybe "behold" was a little too much build up?  My narration sounded completely cheesy.  Since it, combined with my shaky camera work, might give the wrong impression about how bone-chillingly cool I am in real life, I decided to replace it with cheesier Flip background music.  Sounds like an 80s after-school special doesn't it?

I was going for spa here, not mental hospital.  Clearly I went overboard.

We need to liven this up a little bit.  You can't really tell by the video clip, but I was going for beach like with the bed linens.  The sheets are a putty seafoam greenish color, and the bedskirt is navy blue.  I got that white duvet cover on clearance from Target.  However, with the extra curtained closet area Wes built and the walls-it's just too much white.  The white is kind of a cool shade too which makes the room seem cold.

We need color! And texture!

How about this?

Sources Include: 1. Pottery Barn, 2. Imagined Home, 3. Blossom Interiors via RoomRx, 4. Freshly Picked Blog, 5. Anthropologie via TheLoveleyRoom, 6. Lonny Magazine via DressDesignDecor, 7. World Market

Of course, some of these pieces are from my very favorite WTF retailers.  Anthropologie, Pottery Barn . . . I'm talking about you.  That means that I included them mostly as inspiration. 

The ombre on that bag, especially, is particularly beautiful.  These are sold on that blog by the way so if you want one definitely go check it out.  I think ombre would look great on a large scale wall hanging.  It's graphic, yet soothing.  Very spa like right?  Since I have all these canvas dropcloths leftover from the wedding maybe I should start getting crafty?

Got Married

 . . . but more on that later. 

Source

WTF Anthropologie? 

This lamp is $798.00.  I could hire two people to follow me around with flashlights for a month with that kind of money.

WTF Anthropologie, Pottery Barn, Crate and Barrell could become a regular feature--as I regularly find myself saying some variation thereof

Progress Report

Yesterday was my 100th post!  Go me!

Hopefully I can finish unpacking and sorting this weekend so I can get back to getting these posts out on time.  Wes and I have been really busy around here with projects.  I'll post on these in more detail in the coming week, but for now--want a progress report?

I sorted and organized our book collection.

All images personal photos.

We built a table.

We printed invitations.

We assembled invitations.

And I experimented with making coffee filter flowers.

Who knows what next week will bring!