Stuff Stuff Stuff

OK, sorry. It's been a while. And I still don't have basement photos. We went to the beach and did some other stuff so things are still where they were at my last post in terms of the basement. BUT, we have been making some changes in the living room/dining room. Mainly as a result of my thrifting/Craigslist addiction. It's starting to feel more finished in there! Yay! There are still lots of things to be changed, upgraded, etc., but we are closing in on being in our house for a whole year, and for our budget, I am totally happy with where we are. I think Justin is, too. One of the best parts about having to do things slowly is that you really think decisions through, and you learn how your house functions best. So the changes we're making seem to really make sense.


Here's a photo of the "book nook." I know, it's terrible to take a photo with boxes in it, but oh well. These are to go in the trash, full of my flood-ruined books. :( Although some of the further back books are new/old ones my Grandma passed to me, including her The Bobbsey Twins collection! I can't wait to put them in a prominent spot up here. I can't tell you how much I love having books out like this.
Here's Roxanne's little corner. The little shelf back there is a record shelf, but it will do for her odds and ends for now...
I put the couch back under the map. As much as I feel like it eats into the room this way, it just works better for now. None of the seating in here is quite right, but I love the pieces we have. They aren't the perfect solutions, but I really do love them.
Here's the Danish rope seat chairs. We want to get a roller blind for this window and take the curtains down so we can lighten the space up, but to order a roller blind for this window, it would be at least $150... Ugh. I've been searching high and low, but this stupid window is at least 92" long, which means custom. Which means expensive. Stupid expensive. And here's my sassy new surfboard table. I'll explain that later (and yes, I plan to repair the top).
Another view of the coffee table and two more chairs. Again, I know they aren't ideal, but it really does feel kind of cozy in there... Isn't this table so nice! It's HUGE!
I love the legs on this beast. And the way the edges curve up. I bought it this morning at Goodwill for $25. And it's not veneer, so I'm fairly certain I can sand the top a bit and treat it with some Danish Oil and get it looking pretty. A lady followed me and asked me if I'd sell it to her for $50. She said she had a friend who was a buyer for City Issue (my favorite dream shopping store I can't afford). I told her no thanks. But it definitely reinforced that I got a good piece. After I made it clear I wouldn't sell it, she gave me advice on the refinishing. She said I should get the Walnut Rose color of the Danish Oil. I might take her up on that... I don't know what kind of wood the table is, or what color would look best. I've never done any refinishing. So I'm nervous. But I think it will be worth it!
Here's how it's constructed on the bottom. It's missing two screws, but it is solid as a rock.
Here's the only mark on the bottom. Anyone have any ideas about where it's from? Or who it might be by?
Here's our other new addition. We went and picked it up on Friday night from an EXTREMELY bad neighborhood. The guy was nice who we bought it from though. I found it on Craigslist, and I fell in love with the photos. I was able to talk the seller down to $85. Still a bit more than I would have liked, but I think the metal is perfect with our cafeteria style pieces (in terms of our table and chairs I mean). Justin and I both love the handles. It's a little cheap feeling, almost like file cabinets, and the plastic pieces in the top look kitschy, but I think I might try and get some plexi-glass cut to take their place. They are just so cheap. But I think the size and look of the piece are exactly what we needed. We'll have no furniture budget for a while, but I think this was worth it.


Here's a closer shot of it.

I also found these canisters today at Goodwill. They are by Everedy. I had to call my mom from Goodwill and ask her to google them for me. I thought they were too shiny to actually be vintage. And the label on the bottom is beyond kitschy, so I assumed they must be reproductions. But nope! They must have just been used very little. I love them. I walked right past them, and then a woman banged them really loudly into her cart, and continued banging them as she was taking them apart to see all of the pieces (they were all nested inside each other at the store). Thankfully, she put them back. I scooped them up for $12. Not the steal of the century, but they are perfect on the new hutch.
Just wanted to show our new roller blind for in here. Again, we wanted to lighten this area up, so we took down the curtain and bought this very inexpensive roller blind from IKEA. We both love it. It feels much cleaner in there now. We bought a set of 3 to try and do the big 92" window in the living room that I mentioned before, but it's such a GIANT pain to screw the brackets into the metal window casements, we want to make sure we want to put the three pieces in before committing to it. A single big long one would look SO much better. But like I said: stupid expensive.