Thrift Shop Love
This is me. At 8 am. At an estate sale.
I’m smiling. I’m happy. I’m enjoying myself.
And now I’m officially old.
As y’all know, I recently read the book The Nesting Place and it totally lit a fire under me for creating a wonderful space in my home. I’m definitely an “if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it” kind of gal and I usually have an internal personal goal on not spending any money on “extras” during a month. But, after reading the book, and taking a look around my house, I realized that I set things in one place….6 years ago. And never moved them again.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not discontent. Not in the slightest. I LOVE love love my house. I just realized that it needed some freshing up. A little 2014 meets 2008 and a little more of what Courtney and Jim like NOW instead of what we were handed down THEN.
And that is how I ended up at an estate sale at 8 am. And now goodwill and the DAV every few days.
Y’all saw my entry way “remodel”{I also spruced up our hallway bathroom} and now I’ve been on a quest to spruce the living room.
We had a successful Craigslist sale where we sold most of our living room furniture in one evening. Although, I still have a ginormous entertainment center sitting in my garage if anyone wants it.
Fresh from the high and the subsequent clearing out of my living room, I had a nice empty space to rearrange in and a great opportunity to start over.
I feel like I should say, “Welcome to my crib” or something really awesome and early 2000’s of me.
Okay, so this is our living room literally, the week we moved in.
This is our living room about a month ago.
Seriously.
Don’t get me wrong, totally a great living room, but like I said, in some need of a bit of sprucing.
The light wood furniture is gone now and I{with the help of my awesome sister in law} moved in the black corner cabinet we had just sitting in our master bedroom and moved the couch.
Jim sent me this picture after he got to the estate sale early to be one of the first in line. He raced to this specific item since we both knew it’s what we wanted and snagged the sticker!
This piece of furniture is HUGE! And, considering we sold some of our pieces for $350 and still have an entertainment center to sell….well, I’m calling this a giant living room WIN.
But of course, in true “If you give Courtney an idea then she’s going to need….” fashion,
I decided that the giant picture needed a new home.
Abigail has always said it was a picture of broccoli.
Anyone want to buy it?
And if you get rid of one of the biggest pictures you’ve ever seen
Then you’re going to need
A gallery wall!
I followed this simple Pinterest trick with wax paper and had my wall up in no time!
Also, let us take a brief moment to commemorate the wonder that is Courtney nailing things to the walls all by herself. I’d never used a nail and a hammer before, oh, about a week ago. Now here I am putting together gallery walls by myself. Huzzah!
Also, enjoy the picture of my disheveled living room. It’s pretty standard.
Moving right along!
The start of my new wall! So, so, so loving it.
{Yes, the screws from the previous painting are still up on the wall. I am actually waiting on the hubs to yank them out and properly spackle and paint over them!}
Almost everything has been thrifted- all of the frames were $1 or $2 frames{sometimes even less!}, a couple I painted with paint I already had. The HOME sign was a rust color that I spray painted white. I used leftover curtain fabric and stapled it to a cheap canvas Jim found at the same estate sale we got our hutch at.
Oh, and I still have the stock photo in the 12×12 frame because it is a really, really weird size. I think I’m going to make a collage of a few different pictures and put it in there.
Dayspring had a flash sale last week and I snagged this{along with a few other goodies!}, I think it was $10?
John 1:16 “From the fullness of His grace we have all received one blessing after another”
I scored this adorable chalkboard Missouri clock at a local antique mall. I loved that place and can’t wait to go back soon!
I’m still hunting for cheap frames and other unique finds to include in ye olde gallery wall. I can’t wait to watch it expand out and down!
And here is the hutch in all her glory in our house! I haven’t decorated the top yet…mostly because I have no idea what to do with it.
We opted to leave the top half in our garage for now because it really is a huge piece of furniture. Of course, if the hopeful future house actually does come to fruition, it will be AMAZING in our new dining room.
Check it. Fingerprints and laundry in the background. Boom. Real ville.
Thoughts on the lamp? I just picked it up at Walmart this week and have left it there just to see if I like it. I love the color of the lamp and shade….but I’m thinking maybe it’s too small?
Who wouldn’t want buffalo handles? I mean, really.
Oh yeah! I got these at Goodwill for a few dollars brand new. Slapped some black and white prints in there and we’re good to go!
Ps- I spy an unmade bed in the master bedroom. Obviously I’m putting my best house foot forward for y’all.
Unmade beds, couches, fingerprints and laundry. Keepin it real in this crib!
So! What do you think? Better than before? What are you thoughts on the teal lamp? Should it stay or go? Have you ever made a gallery wall before- what would you add?
And, I’m going to be real honest, if I’m showingless for another week or so, don’t be surprised by an “I just painted my living room and kitchen gray” update. The itch is strong over here.
Strong.
Oh it all looks great, and you just reminded me to buy that book!! 🙂 I can't wait to read it!!
I love all of the updates and finds – great job girlie!!
Love your new gallery wall–I'm so impressed that you did it all yourself 🙂
The bird cage "Truly Blessed" is my favorite part.
Your teal lamp is super cute–it's a little small, but maybe if you find some other knick knacks to put next to it?
The hutch was a good buy!
We just painted our playroom gray this weekend, and it's so serene 🙂
http://www.floralandfudge.blogspot.com
I think it would make a great post about if you are updating your real estate listing as you update your house? I think it would make all the difference.
What a steal! And that presh picture with you and the mug just had me saying…I think I'll go make another cup of coffee. 🙂
xx
Everything looks great, Courtney! Love the gallery wall. I need to get some fabric so I do projects like that too. And I love the black hutch! Even with the top off of it. I like the lamp for sure. It's a tad small but you could make it work. You're doing a great job! Wish I lived closer to go shopping with you!
Love that piece of furniture! It looks like it meant to be in that spot. Great start to your gallery wall, too. I love gallery walls. How is the house situation going?
Great job! And awesome finds for sure. I definitely like the "after"! And the lamp…love the teal color – perhaps it won't seem so small with other items with it? (not sure what though?! LOL) (dropping by from SITS FB group)
oh i love the little changes, the gallery wall is so cute! i want to do so much to our house, we only just moved in in december, and money is not growing on trees (gosh darn it) so it has to be done slowly but surely. i kinda dig your couch.
I have been waiting about 4 ears to paint my kitchen grey and I have no excuse other than laziness so that is on the to do list before September 1st! I have already completed two painting projects that have been on the list for 6 years and I have no idea why they took me so long to do since it took me all of 2 hours to do!! Lol so that kitchen is looking pretty easy….what color are you thinking?
Nice finds! You could do a big letter on the gallery wall!
Loving all of your updates! It looks wonderful!! And if you feel officially old going to an estate sale, then that makes me ancient, too 🙂
I love all your updates and changes! This just reminded me of the fact that I wish Tyler and I were the couple from HGTV's Fixer Upper show. Yes, we desperately want to flip house. Also, I love your 8am estate sale look!
Everything looks great! I've been working on our house ever since I read that book too….except rather than focusing on one particular room/area, I've sorta got 12 different little "sprucing up" projects going all at once….our master bedroom (which is almost done), the bathroom, a corner of our dining area (which has me totally stumped) and I also did a gallery wall in our living room. I sort of get an idea of what I want, use what I have to get it started and then stay on the lookout for other pieces to finish it up…which means things look a bit disheveled and unfinished for a few weeks! As for that cute little lamp…Love it! The color is fab! It might be a tad bit small, but doesn't look bad at all. Something that might make it work perfectly is to get a cool stack of old books to sit it on top of…that would give it just a little bit more height and be a super cute & easy fix! Keep the updates coming!
xoxo
Oh my goodness – all the updates and finds are so awesome! LOVING that gallery wall – and that clock? YES!