Happy Monday!
Welcome to the Rock Your Knock Off Tour! Today, my blogging buddies and I are sharing our knockoffs from some of your favorite stores.
If you read my blog at all, you will know that I am thrifty cheap. I love the high-end look, but my budget seldom allows the high-end prices, so I use my creativity people.
When I saw this wall art on the Pottery Barn website awhile back … I loved it. I decided I could do it myself though…
Everyone collects something don’t they?
At least they do in my family. My mom collects vintage rhinestone jewelry, my grandmother collected antique dolls, and my aunt collected vintage Barbies. As a little girl I always went to yard sales with my grandma. While she was always on the lookout for old dolls, I was eyeing the fancy rhinestone jewelry (yes I was a sucker for some bling even back then). It was a fun challenge and gave me something to do while she was expanding her collection.
As I got to be a teenager, going to yard sales just wasn’t cool anymore, and my collection started gathering dust under the bed. For about 10 years, life was so busy going to college, getting married and having a little one, I didn’t have time to look for jewelry or start another collection.
About 5 years ago, while at an antique store with Topher, I fell in love with some tiny vintage dogs, and that is how my pup collection took off. You all know how much I love my furbabies, and I guess this is just an extension of that. It’s fun anytime we go on a trip, or when I have a birthday or Christmas coming, Topher and the kid scout me out some new dogs….
Happy Monday!
I hope you all had a great Mother’s Day! Mine was the best one I’ve had in a long time. Topher and the unnamed child made a fancy brunch with Creme Brulee French Toast, Strawberry Shortcake Pancakes, and a Jalapeno Egg Casserole … and mimosas. My parents, brother, sister-in-law, and my niece all came over. We had taken some photos of the granddaughters together and blew them up for my mom’s gift, which she loved. I’m glad because trying to get photos last week when it rained every single day was a challenge….
When you’re single or newly married, all of your thoughts are about you. How am I going to afford that new purse? What are we going to do this weekend? Why is my hubby in such a bad mood?
When you become a mother, all of those thoughts are pushed to the side, and your thoughts are now focused on this brand new little life you are now in charge of.
It then becomes, Is she eating enough? When will she ever sleep? Why is she still crying? Is projectile vomiting normal? And most important of, all Am I a good mother?…
Do you ever have those projects on your list that you keep meaning to get to, but life keeps getting in the way?
Well I have a lot of them, and this old armoire I’m about to show you is one of them.
I picked-up this piece for a steal off Craigslist two years ago.
Yes, I said two years.
It was a piece that I knew I wanted to keep for myself, but with the blog, custom orders, and keeping my booth stocked I never had the time to do something for me.
The other day I decided it was time. Partly due to the fact that Topher was nagging at me for the hundredth time saying “either get that thing out of here, or I’m going to throw it away”. This time I was a little worried he meant it, so I decided to get to work.
The more I looked at this piece, the more I realized it needed more work than I originally thought. The trim had fallen off on one side and was missing on another, and there was big chunks of veneer missing all over the bottom. Since there were such large chunks missing, I decided against the idea of patching it like I had done in the past and just removed all of the veneer off of the bottom portion — since I knew it was going to be painted it didn’t matter.
Once the trim had been replaced and the places where I removed the veneer had been stained to match, I got down to business with the fun part, painting.
Since my living room is taupe, I wanted to lighten things up a bit and used Americana Chalky Finish Paint in Whisper.
I used two coats and realized there were a few spots where the stain was showing through the paint, so I put on a coat of Americana Decor Stain Blocker which took care of the problem.
After my paint was dry, I distressed the entire piece and coated it in Americana Decor Creme Wax.
I couldn’t decide what color to paint the hardware, so I decided to go ahead and paint them the same color as the armoire and distressed them.
I love the way the armoire turned out!
Since we moved into this house, we have always had this weird little area next to the mantel I never knew what to do with, and this piece fit in there perfectly!
Visit the DecoArt Chalky Finish Website for more chalk paint ideas and inspiration!
You all know that I’m thrifty when it comes to decorating my home. Well … I’m actually thrifty when it comes to almost everything, but that’s beside the point. So this time of year is my favorite because it’s yard sale season.
Almost all of my decor comes from thrift stores, yard sales and estate sales. When you can score a dresser for $20, a lamp for $5 and a basket for a dollar, who wouldn’t be excited?
Do some of these finds take a few minutes of elbow grease to spiff them up? Sure, but it’s worth the savings, and the fact that I can makeover the item however I want it.
For example I found this basket for $1 last week at a sale….