There's nothing I love more than the thrill of a deal. Add Trader Joe's Pumpkin muffins, fresh coffee, and a baby who doesn't mind having his diaper changed in the back seat and you got a perfect Saturday morning treasure hunt. The invigorating super-hero quality of respectfully wheelin' and dealin' or the incredibly underpriced gem no one else has spotted or cared to take home - I love em' both. All of our marriage, I have always tried to by "thrifty" in designing our home. We have never bought anything brand new, save our IKEA bed frame costing us just one and a half Benjamin's and a few other clearance items. My initial approach was just to pinch-pinch-pinch pennies and often times I bought things for cheap just because they were cheap. After moving five times, I have come to love the art of "pairing down" and only buying things we love, trying to practice the phrase "All You Need Is Less." Although our home isn't exactly empty of "things" I would say there isn't an excess of "much." Any purchase is now carefully thought through, decided and agreed upon by the both of us, and lovingly chosen. Here are a few of my favorite things most recent finds.
Seven dollars in wooden empty & unwanted picture frames will shortly help me finish another Pinterest project. For our five year anniversary we took a short road trip to Savannah, GA. I noticed a few of the shops we loved to visit had uniquely designed brown paper bags that I, for some reason or another, can't ever just throw out. I re-use them as lunch bags, cut them up to wrap a gift, or carry things from here to there. I know, I know, what about the "needing less" philosophy? This infringes in the, frugality clause which I also abide by that states, "I paid for this when I bought something to put inside of it," so why not re-use it? So, on our next trip or the next time we discover a great brown bag, you can bet that sucker will be slapped behind a frame. I plan to do an entire wall Young House Love style, with bags, napkins, menus, etc... all in the "brown bag" family.
Here's a little cutie we picked up this morning - find of THE YEAR. I can not express the joy my pitter-pattering heart boom boomed as I spotted the little green sticker reading $1. "This can't be....seriously? Somebody made a mistake." Nope. No mistake. Just a little gold mine the elderly man selling it thought no one would want. Dead wrong. I love everything about it. The shelves have a sweet doily-esque detail that you would find on the sheet metal used to cover an old ceramic heater... However, the sweet wire shelves under the push handles leave me curious. Stemware? Tea boxes? Anyone know what they were used for?
Here she is in her new home. I'm swooning in all her rusty-metal-caster love.
Here's the cheapest finds of the day. Pete and I have been on a major duck dynasty kick and we recently watched the episode where they bought a vineyard and drank their failure mallard merlot out of these babies. I had seem them before but thought, "Ah I could just make those with some candle sticks." But why make them when someone (selling stuff out of a storage unit) wants to sell it to you for 50 cents? No glass cutting/melting for me baby. Lastly, the little owl friend was a last minute impulse I made after wiggling my price down for the chair pictured below. At 25 cents, I couldn't refuse.
And here, all you crazy kittens, is the new love of my life. Marked at $8 but sold for $6, if ere' there were a chair to bring to a deserted island, she'd be the one I'd pick. Tiffany Blue with almost flawless upholstery, two twin tufted buttons, and mint condition wood can stir just about every emotion of joy in this mama's heart. Picture me - carrying this over head, Rocky style, (not you Aunt Rock) with little sparrows following my lead... Okay a little dramatic, but you get the idea. She's a beaut. We plan to add casters to her four pretty little legs so that she'll be standard table height. She's sure to be a favorite come dinner party time.
What makes your heart flutter? Fiesta dinnerware? Mid-century modern tulip chairs? Atomic era coffee tables? Share the goods. I'll be sure to let you know when we complete the task of furnishing our newly DIYed table. Six more chairs to go!
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