Another Man's Trash

I was trying to get all of our computer/office supplies organized and decided that what we needed was a cabinet above our computer desk. I really wanted to have Neal build something custom for the space but time and money are not in abundance around here right now so I tried to think of something I could use that we already had laying around. And then I remembered I had this cabinet that I had gotten out of someone's trash years ago!

And it is just the right size for the space above the desk. I wanted to be able to hide unsightly things inside it though so I put ticking inside the glass doors.

The desk the computer sits on is also from someone's trash. I spotted it on the curb in Queens, NY while visiting my niece. Thanks to my mom, sister and niece for helping me carry it 6 blocks to the car!

Almost everything else in this space, except for the wire paper holders, is from a thrift store or garage sale. The cork board is from Pottery Barn but I found it at the thrift store and changed out the ugly metal hanger it came with. The little table with the printer on it was a $1 at the flea market. The industrial lamp, wooden cubbies, jar and crocks are all from some awesome garage sales I hit while staying at my sister's camp this past weekend.

The tall cupboards were actually two bookcases that Neal had built for our previous home. They fit into this little corner perfectly so we just made them into built-ins and added doors. I painted them with  a  $5 clearance gallon of Glidden "Antique Beige" paint that I found last week at Walmart. It is a beautiful creamy white if you are looking for one.

The room you can see into here is our bathroom. I hope to do a post about it one day, but it is hard to get the right lighting in there.

No new development on the kitchen/great room reno. We have to wait a week or two for the cinder blocks to be completely set before we can do anything else.

And I have a question for any of you that are familiar with the Chicago area. Neal and I are going to Lollapalooza in Chicago this weekend and I might have time to visit one or two antique/vintage shops. If you know of any ones that I shouldn't miss while I am there let me know! Thanks!

Guest Bedroom- New Place for Linens

I have been wanting to show you the rest of our guest bedroom but with all of the furniture rearranging we had to do because of the kitchen reno it was not possible. We had to move the glass fronted cabinet from the dining room in order to make room for the bigger stepback cupboard that we moved out of the kitchen. I decided to put it up in the guest bedroom so that I would have a place for some of my quilts and linens.

I finally have this room all put back together and am able to show (and walk through) it.

And here is the part of the room that you have not seen yet.

This doorway leads out into the half story section of our upstairs, which is also where the stairs to get up here are.

I love hooks and peg rails and a guest room is the perfect place for them because guests always have lots of things to hang. Staying somewhere that doesn't have anyplace to hang your things is one of my biggest pet peeves!

The dresser was part of a bedroom set that I bought at the thrift store when I was furnishing our very first apartment on very little money, I think the whole set cost less than $30. I have painted it many colors since it's been ours and even thought about getting rid of it a couple of times. However, once I painted it it's current color, Glidden's "Whispering Wheat" I liked it again.

The chair came free with a $5 table I just bought last week at an estate sale, I hit the mother load that day, can't wait to show you all I got.

The soap box with wheels on the floor was also free at an estate sale as long as I took all the items it contained. It is one of my all time favorite finds.

And we are making slow but steady progress on the kitchen/"back room" reno. This past weekend Neal and my dad jacked up the house and took out all of the cinder block that was no longer doing its job.

Neal has been spending the last couple of days relaying the cinder block but we can't do much else until the mortar dries, not to mention it won't stop raining!

A Place To Relax

I thought I would show you the rest of our little "nook" of a porch that I had promised you some time back.

My house is quite out of sorts right now due to the demo work we are doing on the kitchen/great room so this makes for a nice place to come out and sit with my glass of wine and decorating magazines.

I know most people wouldn't be worrying about making one space cute when another part of their house looks like ours does at the moment, but I can't help it, that is just how my mind works.

As with any space I tried to create as much cute storage as I could out here. The old kitchen cupboard with the enamelware top is yet another hand me down piece from my mom. I painted it "Sisal" by Martha Stewart. I love it especially because the metal bread drawer is where I keep my birdseed and the chipmunks can't get into it. They are cute but they get into everything around here!

Neal built me the upper cupboard and it is great for things like candles and bug spray.

The old seltzer bottles are one of my greatest finds from this past weekend. They even say "Brooklyn, NY" on them, I thought that was neat since that is where my husband is from. And speaking of Brooklyn I was lucky enough to visit the Brooklyn Flea on our last visit there and I got the egg basket with the fire wood in it for a steal. I was shocked to find that there were quite a few good deals there, some of the stuff is greatly overpriced but if you know your prices you are sure to find some great things. 

The chicken feeder on the bench was free at my local flea market and I thought it would be great for candles. 

The quilt is also from my local flea market, I have never seen quilts there and when I spotted this one on a table I couldn't get to it fast enough. It was one of those slow motion moments and I thought for sure I wouldn't have enough money in my wallet for it. I asked the price and the nice woman said "We wanted $10 for that dear", like she almost felt guilty asking so much. Needless to say I had enough money in my wallet and skipped away with the hand made beauty. 

A Marshalls $3 reproduction firkin is close enough to the real thing for me. And I found the pillow cover in the "As Is" room at Ikea (one of my favorite places for deals) for $6 and there is not a thing wrong with it. I was excited because I really wanted to buy one when I saw it walking through the store but was trying to be good and just buy the duvet cover that I went in for. Gotta love Ikea. 

We have been working hard on the great room renovation and have made some great progress. This past weekend we took the existing studs down and put the header up between the two rooms. Putting the header up was definitely one of the hardest things my husband and I have ever done, but we are very excited because we are one step closer to our dream great room! 

Okay it's back to work for me! 

Progress

Happy Fourth of July!

We are making great progress on our demo, even with breaks to go to Brooklyn and Buffalo. We have all of the plaster and lathe removed and opened up the wall that connected the two rooms.

Before 

After

Next to do is reinforce the weight on this wall with jack studs and a header across the top and then remove existing studs. Can't wait. 

And look at the hand hewn beams we uncovered...

Yes we will be keeping those exposed:) Stay tuned.