HOLY CURB-CHECK, BATMAN!

Last night I swung by the home of a friend of mine to borrow some cash for dog food, because I completely fail at life and am increasingly broke all the time.  I managed to get there far too early (one of the few times "good" traffic wasn't actually working in my favor), and so, seeing that some people in the neighborhood had their bulk items out on the curb for pickup, I decided to take a spin around the area to see what I could see.

Holy. Crap. Did I score big.  I picked up a hideous little 70s double-decker nightstand/side table, kinda like this one:

(images via google search.)

It's not exactly this style; but the overall construction is the same.  And the construction is sound; it's just the finish that's peeling and chipped and...is that a burn mark?

o_0

I have a very cool idea for this thing.






I also found a cute little footstool that needs kind of a lot of help, but it'll be worth it:

  (no actual furniture was photographed
during the making of this post)

Basically exactly like this, except for, again, a peeling and cracked lacquer finish, wobbly legs and frame (just needs all the bolts tightened), and the fact that the top cushion needs to be completely stripped and replaced, as it's damp and moldy and EW.  May need to clean up the wood inside, too, or replace it.











Last but not least, and this is the part that blows me away:  I stopped to scope out a big comfy-looking chair at one point, and I very nearly got it.  It was pushing the edge of my willingness to repair and clean upholstered furniture, especially since I STILL haven't covered the big, white, free couch (although I did buy a new blanket to cover it with, so it looks intentional now).  It wasn't bad, and overall it was in great shape, structurally speaking, but with enough dirt, and minor dings and rips (I'm assuming that a herd of small wrestlers, or possibly ninjas, live at this house), that was I waffling over lifting it into the truck by myself, which was going to be no easy feat, lemmetellya.  Sumbitch was heavy.

I stood, hands on hips, weighing the merits of this chair, and trying to imagine, realistically, how long it would sit in my garage before I did anything about it, when I spied something I'd missed.  While I'd seen the enormous and dilapidated headboard standing next to the chair, I hadn't seen what was propped up behind it, out of sight of the road:

Three huge mirrors.  Three.  2x4', every one of them without a single chip or scratch.  WHO THROWS AWAY GIANT AWESOME MIRRORS?!  Jesus, people!  Yeah.  Screw the chair.  The mirrors went into my truck along with the footstool and side table, and away I went.  I saw my friend, I went home and fed my animals and put the evening's booty in the garage, and have been wondering what to DO with those mirrors ever since.

And then it hit me.

(yes, I measured)

I HAVE ALWAYS WANTED A PAIR OF TALL MIRRORS FOR MY MASTER BATH VANITY!!!! 

I'm also pretty sure the third mirror of the trio is going to go into my sewing room, to replace the wimpy 12x45" door mirror I've been using to aid in my costumery.  Pish.  

ERMAHGERD MERERRS.  

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A Very Late Update

Earlier this month I promised you a cool living room thing, and I admit, the reason I haven't posted is that I just CANNOT get a decent frikking picture of it.  I've tried and tried, but I'm back to my phone cam again (new phone, at least), and it just can't handle the weird light in the living room.

But here goes, anyway...

Before stuff:

Living room, almost just like it is now. We're looking at the space behind
the couch, this time.  Ignore the blankets on the couch, we're working on it. 

Brown shoe shelf in the front hallway. 

A gigantonormous wood-framed mirror (40") I picked up
via Craigslist for FORTY DOLLARS. 

 After stuff: 

Yay, the shelf is painted!  And also behind the couch! 

Yay! 

A couple of notes: 

• craigslist is da bomb
• yes, these were both painted with the same black-ish paint that I used on the hallway doors, the little Ikea candlestick table, and the dressing table in my bedroom
• I cleaned the mirror glass before taking these pics (you're welcome), and while I was at it, I went ahead and cleaned all the other mirrors, too, and I counted as I went.  Turns out I have nine mirrors in the house, and that's just mounted on the walls (not counting jewelry boxes and makeup mirrors).  Weird.  

Next post:  who the heck knows?!

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Peek-A-Boo!

There are a LOT of things going on in Laura-land this month, including lots of little bits around the house; but as always (er, lately), I remain too bogged down in my costuming schedule to get much around the house finished so that I can show you.

But here's a wee bit I did over the weekend.  I'm preparing to gut my bedroom closet and re-do it.  Part of the equation is moving the door mirror to the closet door from the small hallway between the living room and bedroom.  I really like having a mirror in that hallway, though, so I picked up a new one over the weekend to stick there, since I didn't have one large enough for the space.

That's also the Victorian plant stand that I'm in the middle of refinishing.  It's not done yet, but it won't be a big deal to put Garden Buddha on the floor for a day when I'm ready to finish refinishing it (it's been scrubbed, partially stripped, and sanded smooth.  It just needs a stain touch-up and to be re-sealed).  Garden Buddha still has a broken arm, but, for the time being I'm just imagining him as the Bodisattva of amputation.  ;)

I like that.  I do not like, however, the way these two small tables with things hanging over them are so similar, and so close to each other.  It feels like doing a double-take every time I look towards this doorway.  

I also miss this:  

Not the colors, but I loved having that hallway full of artwork and photographs.   And I liked this whole-hallway collection far better than the more linear and cleaned-up version I did when I first painted the living room gray: 

  

So I'm thinking of going back to the giant gallery collection thing in that hallway, around that new mirror.  I'm just not sure of exactly how it's going to go just yet.


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I DIDN'T DIE, I SWEAR.

In fact, after a necessary break from house-y stuff during which I sewed my ass off for the SCA, I've gotten back to work around the house.  (Finally).

Thing #1

I picked up this mirror from Goodwill last week for $5.99.   It's meh.  Nice wood, not crazy about the color, or the style, to be honest.  But it was six bucks, and the right size.

zzzzzzz...

But with a couple of coats of plain ol' black paint:

hey, look:  potential!

You guys remember the long entry hall, right?

long hallway is long. 

coat rack from salvaged headboard

 





















I flipped all this business to the opposite side of the hall (the coat rack was already on that side, actually), and hung the new oval mirror next to the "Moroccan" one that was already over this "landing strip" shelving unit.

YAY.  I like this so much better.  It feels more balanced, and everything is all on one wall together.  I can now use the outlet that was hidden behind the shelf before.  And, best of all, the two mirrors catch light from the dining room and bounce it down the hallway, so it's not so cave-like with the door closed.

granted, I'm shooting against the light here,
but this is about how dark it normally is. 

Yay!

The only thing I didn't move was the picture frame that was up there. I'm not sure what to do with it just yet, but I'll let you know.  Meanwhile, check out the awesome light patterns the two mirrors throw onto the opposite wall!

That. Is freaking cool.  I think this wall needs some art - something big, not this little Buddha painting all by itself.  I'll have to come up with something that will be enhanced by the nifty mirror reflections.


Thing #2 tomorrow...



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What Year Is It??

When last we met, I was like:

Two weeks, you guys!  UGH.  I'm up and around - I'm even back at work today - but "intense physical labor" right now is still like, walking eight feet from my desk to the copier, so, I'm not exactly in any shape to do anything around the house.  I washed like six dishes at home the other day and had to take a nap.  I'm not even kidding.

Until I am ready, though, I'm dreaming of bathroom paint.  Still.  I've decided to go with something like this:

by Urban Grace Interiors, via DecorPad

I have no idea what actual color that is, but it's exactly where I'm going.  A wee bit greener, a wee bit grayer, and a whole lot lighter than the color I have now.  Near as I can figure, this is pretty similar to Benjamin Moore's "Quiet Moments". 

Quiet Moments                                                                                          Smoke
                                                                              (pretty much the current color)

The "Smoke" (I have no idea what color it is, I mixed it myself, but it's about like this) is just WAY too much blue.  It's in-your-face, why-did-I-just-eat-all-those-cookies bright, sweet blue.  It's pretty, but an entire room of it for like six years is a bit much.  Lately I feel like it's oozing blue.  It's bleeding blue.  It's bleeding blue at me.  Done with it!  

It doesn't help that the walls, ceiling, trim, and doors are all the same color.  And don't get me wrong - I abosolutely LOVE it that way, and I don't plan to change it.  My master bathroom has three doors and a window, and a lot of trim - that was a LOT of white breaking up the wall color before I painted it all.  

The idea was actually based on this scene from Pirates of the Caribbean: 

screencap from leavemethewhite.com

You can see it here:    

I stood in the bathtub to take this picture. Hee. 

Along with some of the stuff about the room that I can't WAIT to change:  the artwork (dark brown wood frames, matted to match the wall color...why??),  coke-bottle-green glass accessories (*yawn*),  and some ugly faded gray candles, in this picture, for some reason.  I have no idea.   Oh, and the curtains over the doorway.  Hee.  I actually thought those were fun.  But they were basically a big dust magnet, and some wild dogs gallivanting about the house tore them, so they're gone now. 

Pinterest

Pinterest, in its infinite wonders, has finally granted me a freaking clue as to what to do with that big sheet mirror over the vanity.  One day I'd like to replace it with two smaller, framed mirrors; but for now I needed to do SOMETHING with it.  I'd thought about framing it for months, but couldn't think of a way to make that not boring.  This?  This is it.  I am so doing this.  I already have wood and parts in the garage I can use.  Squee!  

Now I just have to figure out what color to do the mirror frames.  A dark brown stain, to match the cabinetry?  Or would that be too heavy?  Black would definitely be too heavy.  White would look silly unless all the other trim in the room was white, too.  Silver?  Gold?  And do I do the picture frames in here to match the mirror frame, or is that too much matchy-matchy? 

Hm.  

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