Creatively Thrifting

A year ago, I would not imagine myself completely addicted to thrifting.  But, here we are...I love finding deals.  I love finding homes for discarded items and I love thinking outside the box for these items.  Most of the time, the items I locate require some work with paint, cleaners, re-working, etc.  Every now and then, the thrifting angels smile upon me and it is only a matter of making it happen.

This weekend my mother, a friend and myself set out for thrifting following my triangulation scheme of preferred stores.  At Goodwill, I located some iron items that seemed fit for my Tuscan inspired dining area. 

I currently have a beautiful, large mirror from my great-grandmother's house in the dining room, but some adornment would work wonders.  Some beautiful ironwork would be a great offset to the gold, but can be pricey.

As luck would have it...there were some plant holders in iron for $3 a piece at Goodwill.  Also, nearby I located some iron candle holders that I envisioned to round out the look of my adornments.  These were $2 each.  So, my thoughts take me to getting a great look for $10 without additional work.

I cleaned the pieces up with soap and water and got to making my vision happen.  The cashier at Goodwill informed me the pieces were for plants.  I told her I needed them for wall decor.  She stared at me a moment and then said, "Well, if you are creative, that could work."  The gauntlet was thrown down in that moment!

Votives are the missing element here.  I picked up 6 for .50 each at Walmart.  They did not fit quite right and I have another candle piece with Amber votives that work perfect.  I traded the amber votives from the other piece with the new votives from Walmart.  Voila!  There is light and ambience that matches the intended look.

I love putting my own touch on the items as I redress my house, but sometimes it is nice when they just fall into place.  A little creativity and this wall is complete.  I can't believe anyone wanted to just use the top pieces as plant holders.  I was shocked those were the purpose as I only saw them in the space as decor.

To each their own.  As long as you follow whatever may be "your own" there will be success in your endeavors.

Get Rid of Carpet That Makes You Angry: The Story of My Laminate Wood

When I first purchased my house, I had decided the carpet had to go.  It is a grey carpet that has seen its fill of days in this house.  Stains would not come out...carpet shampooing barely made a dent...and it just did not fit my want for the house.  However, I was gun-shy in making a big purchase decision.  This is not one of those easy house items that can be redone again and again without a big punch to the wallet.

Moving forward to 2012, 7 years later, and the carpet is still here.  Talk about not making a decision!  Well, 2012 is the year I go for it.  I follow my gut, I have confidence in my decisions and my thoughts need to turn into action. 

Actually, as great as that sounds, what really happened was one of my lovely old lady cats decided that a corner of my dining room was her litter box.  I shampooed.  I used vinegar.  I used spray that was supposed to dissuade pets from that area.  Nothing was working.  I thought about taking that section out.  Then came the epiphany mentioned earlier.  It is my house and it is time to take it back from the carpet I loathed!

My Uncle, the carpet and the cat that caused this whole thing to come to fruition.

Gross carpet that was pulled from my house.

I decided laminate wood flooring was what I wanted.  I was not going to invest in real wood flooring as that expense did not match the value of the house itself.  Plus, I read articles on laminate wood being more durable and of course cheaper.  I decided on Brazilian Cherry and found it at Home Depot for .99 a square foot.  Perfect!  I would ask my uncle to help me with the flooring!  No more thinking about it...time to believe in my decisions and put it to action!

Brazilian Cherry laminate Flooring for my flooring.

To help matters, when I went to purchase the flooring a team member at Home Depot told me he had the same flooring in his wreck room and loved it.  That sounded good and durable to me.  I purchased enough to redo my small dining room.  That along with a flooring starter kit and a $25 underlay, I was set.

My dining room with carpeting.  Those who came to play that day have been hidden with stars.  Because?  It seems like the right idea?  I have no idea.

All the furniture was moved into the living room and chaos was underway.

A good test to determine if maybe you should purge:  move one small room worth of furniture into another room.  That is a lot of stuff!

The coumpound saw was borrowed from my grandmother and the flooring project was underway.  Keep in mind, you NEED to make sure the underlay is laid with the proper side up.  Those labels are no joke.  If you do it wrong your wood flooring will eventually move.  Not that my handy Uncle would do that, but turns out my ex-boyfriend did in the office upstairs (future blog).

One day later and the flooring was done.  This is not a how-to on laying flooring.  I have no idea.  This is a how-to make a decision and make it happen.  A how-to on following and believing in your gut.  Now that the flooring was done, I also decided to re-arrange.  Finally, I also decided that replacing the baseboard was a good move.  I truly believe replacing baseboards in a house is like a cheap facelift.  It makes a HUGE difference!

Dining Room with Brazilian Cherrylaminate wood flooring.

Once this is started how could I leave the carpet in my downstairs at all.  That's right...the carpet was ripped out of the living room and thoughts towards the stairs were culminating.

Be prepared for a little inconvenience.

There is a lot of inconvenience with this process.  But again, I decided to go for it.  Pull out the carpet and pull out the baseboards.  Also, by losing the big TV in the living room (see previous blog) I would have room to rework the living room.

Living and Dining Room Pre-Laminate flooring and replanning of funiture placement.

Living and Dining Room after the Laminante flooring and furniture placement.  The drapes still need work in this picture.  No worries, they come out great!

I wanted to open up the space to include everyone in conversation and reach a more elegant and beautiful space.  The drapes still needed to be ironed and swagged, but time was short prior to hosting a birthday party for my friend.

The staircase is another story all its own as well.  That will be saved for another blog.  I love my wood flooring.  It is very rich and durable.  I love that I went with my decision and find that I smile when I walk in my house when I look at it.  I also went ahead and asked my uncle to complete the small hallway upstairs, as well.  New flooring, new baseboards and new furniture placement changed the enitre efficiency and beauty of my house.

I have kept a spreadsheet going identifying my spend as it happens.  The laminate flooring, underlay, baseboards, kit, wood glue, and labor (some cash and feeding, etc) came to about $1000 with $690 being allocated to supplies.

Well worth it, I think.  No, let me restate that.  Well worth it, I know.