Artsy + Barfsy (2 Estate Sale Finds!)

Are you an estate sale shopper? I've been to a few, but honestly haven't found a lot of luck with them. They're either too pricey or they don't have anything I'm looking for. Plus, if you're a serious estate sale person you wake up at 6AM to get the goods. But I'm not willing to do that. So there.

But recently, on my route to work, I saw an estate sale. I convinced two colleagues (aka partners in crime) to go with me over lunch and I found a couple pieces of "art".

Primarily, this great solid print. I loved the muted colors, the "regal" frame and matting. It's kinda' Restoration-Hardware-looking, don't you think? For those of you that are interested in the details, it's a sketch of a castle in Siena, Italy./

Sorry for the sub-par iPhone pics...

Check out that triple-picture-matting action. Word up.

Also bought a new plant. This little corner has always been asking for one, but it doesn't get great light. So when I saw this at Home Depot with the specification that it can be happy in low-light, I grabbed it up1 It's grown a lot recently! A couple of new "shoots" have grown since this photo was taken. But you get the idea. :)

As much as I love this completely legit piece... I have another. A better prize....

WAIT FOR IT...
 

I. Could. Not. Let. This. Weirdo. Go. We found her and found ourselves laughing so hard tears were rolling down our cheeks. I realized this had to be mine and bought her for my office at work. She's really more stunning/scary in person, I promise you. Please notice the (1) Smile (2) Smile, again. Cause it's awesome (3) Pretty neck, pretty back (4) Also, I love her. She is a wreck but I love her.

Pssssst. To my friends whose family photos are in this image. You are welcome.

Find anything good recently at an Estate Sale or Yard Sale? Or new piece or wall art?  Use some green for some green (ha-hem, "buy a plant")? What are you hunting for?

I Love Thrifting Day in Alabama - 2012 Recap!

I was proud to host a party for Alabama to be represented in this national "event" on Saturday! I Love Thrifting Day was the brain-child of Mr. Goodwill Hunting, Rashon Carraway. Rashon is an incredibly talented blogger and has even been featured several times on the Nate Berkus Show!  His segments are hands-down some of my favorites on the show.

I know there were several of you who wanted to come out but were on vacation as it was the week of Independence Day, but we still had a nice turn-out and had so much fun! Ready for a recap?

We started out at Goodwill in Homewood, Alabama in the morning. One of my favorite thrift stores!

My awesome mother-in-law has incredible taste, and found this adorable bamboo chair for $15. It folds up for easy storage, so she's going to use this when she has extra guests and has the option to store it in a closet if she wants.

I spotted this lamp and it looked just like something my friend Lindsay would like. She scooped it up for $3.09! We're planning to paint it a fun color for her kitchen!

It was so good to see Susie again, who I met last year. She is 9 months pregnant but still came out in this heat to enjoy the day with us!

(L to R: Susie's sweet mom, Susie, me)

We found this brand-new kitchen table and chairs for $125 (originally from Target).  As you can see below, everyone pitched in to help Lindsay decide if it was right for her. What great team-work (a real advantage of I Love Thrifting Day!).

Next, we headed right down the street to the Salvation Army Thrift Store in Homewood.  It's less than 1/2-mile down the road so it was an easy choice to make. :) Also, my mom scored some jaw-dropping pieces during I Love Thrifting Day last year. So why not try it for our event again?

MIL found this awesome print (it's soooo good lookin' in person) that we think is an oriental watercolor print of women washing clothes. She thought it would be perfect for her laundry room. $5 or so. Done, suckahs! :)

#ilovethrifting I Love Thrifting 2012 - Birmingham, Alabama

Another great art find from my Mom!

#ilovethrifting I Love Thrifting 2012 - Birmingham, Alabama

And a little piece that Lindsay decided to pass up... :) It's nice to take time to apprecite the random objects found only here. Like a ceramic pig with eight huge, suckling teats.

#ilovethrifting I Love Thrifting 2012 - Birmingham, Alabama

 

Our group at Salvation Army (a couple more would join us later) :)

We found some other great things too... a Christmas cookie dish (super-classy), a kleenex cover (again, super-classy), and Susie's mom found some preeeeecious clothes for her toddler grand-son. I should have gotten some photos of those.

Nexxxttt.... MEXICAN FOOD! We had a fun lunch at a local place right down the road.

Then we headed to Mission Possible Bargain Center in Homewood. It's so wonderful how close these places are to each other. Lindsay's fiance and brother joined us here. The more the merrier!

#ilovethrifting I Love Thrifting 2012 - Birmingham, Alabama

Susie shopping in the front of the store...

Look what I found! I kinda-kitschy little lamp with a map lamp-shade for $4.99. The base is peeling paint and the map is even peeling off the sade, but with some help it could fit perfectly in our guest bedroom/office (details on that coming soon).

#ilovethrifting I Love Thrifting 2012 - Birmingham, Alabama

Such a great party. We had a great I Love Thrifting Day in Birmingham, Alabama!



My favorite things about the day. 

- Shopping with sweet people that have similar interests, and amazing personalities.
- Learning from the group. And finding more!
One of my favorite things about I Love Thrifting Day is that you seem to find more because you have everyone keeping their eyes peeled for a piece with potential.They might spot something, but it's not right for them. So they make sure someone else leaves with the deal!
- Great deals on great pieces! Duh. Right? :)

Remember to follow the recaps on your social networks with the hashtag #ilovethrifting.

Find anything recently on a trip to the thrift store or a yard sale? Did you participate in I Love Thrifting Day in any part of the country? In Alabama? I want to hear from you!

Deets for I Love Thrifting Day 2012 - Birmingham

Hollah, ya'll. Ready for this weekend?! I Love Thrifting Day 2012 is this Saturday! As the host in Birmingham, I've decided to start in the late A.M. to give you sleepy-heads a nice Saturday morning.   

What: A Day of Thrifting! With friends. Friends you may or may not know yet. It's not weird (And if you're wondering... I totally get it, but it's not weird). Dress casually. This is a no-fuss "event". No door prizes, no catering. Just people that love the joy of a great find.  If you have an I Love Thrifting T-Shirt, wear it. If you don't... you'll be in the majority. So come on! :)

When: This Saturday, July 7th | 10:30 a.m.
And I know, have mercy it's hot. But if you're as lucky as my mom last year, you won't care. She bought a dresser for $60 that she could easily re-sell for $800. With zero work.

Where: Goodwill, 2350 Green Springs Hwy; Birmingham, AL, 35205
That's where we'll start. We'll move onto the thrift store down the road right afterward, followed by lunch at a local Mexican joint, if you feel like it. (And because I'm so cool I can't imagine you wonnnnn't feel like it.)

LET ME KNOW IF YOU'RE COMING! Comment below!

Dining Room Chairs Repainted! Weekend Project

Remember this post about the chairs that needed some TLC (terrific-licious-carefromerin)? ...  That was dumb. Whatevs.

Chairs BEFORE

The dark chairs clearly didn't work with the new table, and the solution was obvious. They needed a paint job. We needed to "get our paint on". We needed to work. it. out. with our spray paint, ya'll. And with our place on the market to sell, it needed to be done real quick-like.

About the chairs, you guys. I liked the lines of the chairs (Roger Chairs from Ikea) which is one of the reasons I focused so hard on them. I knew these would look great painted any color. So I stalked them on Craigslist until I found them for $75. Hollah! Even if we did have to rent a car and drive a couple of hours to get them, it was a step in the right direction. And I knew they could work with various styles, should my tastes change down the road.

I've painted a few pieces of furniture (like this one and this one) and I love spray-paint, but I've never painted furniture with it before, only accessories. This is mostly because during the winter,  I can't use spray-paint outdoors (it won't cure properly if it's too cold outside). As you know, because we live in a condo we lack a climate-controlled option indoors, like a garage.

The second reason has to do with the color limitations. Typically the colors I'm wild about aren't available in ready-made, spray paint form.  But I remembered Centsational Girl's favorite white and settled on Rustoleum's Heirloom White for this project. I'm happy with the color! Especially considering if I had chosen another color and hand-painted this project, I would have spent a LOT more time on it.

First, for an overview of the process.  Here's a quick how-to:
Step 1: Clean your furniture well. Wipe it down to remove any obvious dirt.
Note: I didn't sand before priming. Many people do, some say it isn't necessary. The chairs have held up really well so far.
Step 2: Spray 2-3 thin coats of spray primer (I used Kilz spray-primer)
Step 3A:: Use a fine sandpaper to lightly sand in between coats. How do you know when you're done? I just rub over it with my hand to make sure the surface feels nice and smooth.
Step 3B: After you sand, wipe off the dust (I used a microfiber dust cloth)
Step 4: Spray about 2-3 thin coats of spray paint
Step 5 (for the jobs you want to last awhile: Seal with a protective finish like MinWax Polycrylic. - I omitted this step because this was a quick, temporary fix.

Prepping the project
You obviously need to spread out drop cloths to protect the surrounding area.  Since it was really windy outside, I used some 2x4's that I found behind our condo to keep the drop cloths from popping up and messing up the finish of the paint.

Ikea Roger Chairs - Before Painting

Priming 
Here's what it looked like after two coats of Kilz spray-primer, with light sanding in between for smoothe finish.  I could have made these coats even thinner.

And after a couple coats of spray paint... 

It's looking much better.

By the way, I've been meaning to take that lamp on the left down for weeks. After seeing this pic I FINALLY AND IMMEDIATELY took it down to our condo's basement. 


Again, I typically would have finished this project with a protective coating. But this is a quick fix, to get our place sold and remove this eye-sore for a temporary period.

Do tell, Dwellers! Any questions about painting furniture? Have you tried spray-painting recently? What do you think? How do you think it compares to painting it the old-fashioned way? Any temporary or "quick fix" projects you've approached recently?