painting woes and yardsale prep

Did you ever start painting a room and realize the color was wrong? I think we all did at least once. Picking that perfect color is hard.

I tried painting my living room with paint I already had that I really thought would work. But while I was putting it on the walls I kept thinking it was going too be too light, so I stopped painting and decided to see how it looked in different lights after it dried.

I didn’t like it!

What was supposed to be a creamy color similar to Believable Buff by Sherwin Williams was too white and looked stark and cold. So off I went to get the real thing.

At the paint store the clerk didn’t even have to look up the formula.  He said he knew the formulas for all the colors on that strip.  Antique white, believable buff and whole wheat are some of the most popular colors! But bloggers already knew that, huh? (It’s about time that companies start to realize the powerful influence of blogs.)

He said Latte is a hugely popular color lately and he doesn’t remember when he mixed up a gallon of dark red. We all had to have that dark red room just a few years ago.

Anyhow, stripping down my living room and deciding to get rid of stuff like this huge picture is a hard task . Lately my garage looks like an episode of Hoarders. I have a tendency to keep things thinking I can make them over.  Is that possibly how my basement got to be full of stuff?  Ya think!

If you’re near, stop on over. The whole town is having yardsales, bake sales and sidewalk sales. Don’t you just love this time of year! I’m usually out there looking for treasures but this year I’m feeling the need to purge.

See anything you might like…. all prices are negotiable!

Be gone all the frenchy-Paris decorating things and roosters.

I still have some boxes of stuff to price and there’s plenty of faux greenery for everyone.

 

Sure hope it doesn’t rain!

 

Debbie (((xx)))

My new/old sofa and some Thrifty finds

 

This love seat wasn’t really working in my living room. (This is the picture I put on Craig’s list. The love seat is pushed to the end of the dining room until it’s sold. Great condition, hardly ever sat on! It’s still for sale if you’re interested. Reasonable.)

I was noticing pretty slipcovered sofas everywhere. Of course, they ARE everywhere now!  I loved the clean lines and the sassy skirt of this one from Country Living.

Then I saw  Miss Mustard Seed’s and that did it. I wanted it, as in.  Had.  To.  Have. It!

 

And when I spotted a classically styled sofa with curvy legs, at the thrift store for 12$, there was no holding me back.

It was actually on sale the day I bought it so I paid about 7 bucks!

 

 

 

 

Here’s how she looks now in my freshly painted stripped down living room.

Nope, I didn’t sew up that drop cloth slipcover. I found a wonderful lady, Dawn Wise, only a few miles from here who owns a business called Sew Wise. She created my slipcover and did it quickly too.

 

I asked for a kicky little skirt and she nailed it and we replaced the original long cushion with three new ones.

I love all the piping detail! She did a great job!

Even though I have sewed quite a bit, I didn’t want to tackle this project. My sewing machine doesn’t handle thick fabrics and piping easily and I knew this would be a big hassle for me and would never turn out this great. So I was thrilled to find someone so close by to make a slipcover.

Total cost of the sofa, drop cloths, new cushions and labor was about 400$. I figure that’s about half the cost of a new sofa and I’m happy with the end product….very happy!

 

In my mission to lighten up, the living room is painted and stripped down. I took out everything except the furniture and tables that I’m keeping in there.   After I took down the window panels, the room was flooded with light and looked much larger, so I’ll be doing something at the windows to keep that light and adding new accessories.

These dark fabrics are gone and walls are lighter now.

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And I’ll finally get to use this 6$ thrift shop oil painting……love the colors but hate the frame.

 

The warmer weather has given me a blast of energy and I’m getting lots accomplished! woohoo.    This week I’m working on yardsale stuff for our community sale on Saturday. Some friends are coming over to sell stuff too so it will be a madhouse! But fun.

One more thing,

I mentioned I needed flipflops in this post……I found a pair for 6$….yeah, at the thrift store again. That’s not a teabag laying there, it’s a label. Brand new Bass leather flipflops.

I’ve decided to take some time off from my job at the thrift store and won’t be going back until September. That gives me the whole summer to work on projects and spend time with family. Insert happy dance here! There are lots of projects just waiting for me and I’m ready.

Linking up to Rhoda’s thrifty treasures.

Met Monday, Between naps on the Porch.

Debbie (((xx)))

How I created a pleated burlap lampshade

 

I found a long, narrow piece of burlap at the thrift store. I knew I could use it for something but didn’t really have anything in mind when I bought it. I think it was 75¢.

 

So I decided to try and cover a shade with it. Since it was so narrow I added the pleats. That was the only way it would fit to cover the shade.

I ironed in the pleats, trying to keep it wider on the bottom edge, because of the flared shape of the shade.

Then I glued it on the shade, making little adjustments as needed.

I used some sturdy interfacing for the top trim piece, encased it in a strip of burlap, then glued that around the top edge. On the bottom edge I just turned the fabric to the inside of the shade and glued it.

 

So there it is. It’s not perfect but I like it.

Finally I finished painting the living room.  Gosh I hate painting! Do you? I’m changing the side tables and accessories going for a fresh lighter look.  And then I going to paint the kitchen and family room! I’ll need lots of energy!

 

Debbie (((xx)))

A $5 floor lamp, thrift store burlap and a curbside find

This cute dressing table was a curbside find just sitting in my basement awaiting the day I got around to her makeover.

It’s a sturdy piece and I didn’t have to do much except scrape off some old glue where a skirt had been glued on, sand it and scrub off all the dirt.
Inspired by Miss Mustard Seed’s fabulous makeovers, HERE and HERE,  I decided to decoupage the top with pages from an old hymnal.


This is now in a corner of the basement family room. I have a set of old shutters (that need a little work) to go behind it to hide the breaker box, but haven’t added them yet.
I replaced the plug on the vintage $5 yardsale lamp and covered the shade in a piece of thrift store burlap.


It has 3 arms and a nice aged patina!  A great find for $5.
I’m trying to create a family photo wall on the stairs. I’d love to have the whole space filled up with black and white photos.




The piece of burlap was long and narrow so I had to figure out a way to cover the shade. I ended up pleating it and think it turned out ok, not perfect but still ok.


I’m linking up to
Rhoda’a Thrifty Treasures


Met Monday at Between Naps on the Porch.

I’ve been painting the living room today and working on my yardsale stuff in the garage. It’ll feel great to get this done!
Debbie (((xx)))