Weekend Update 7/31/11 & WWL

Team S was totally ready to hit the reno hard this weekend, so Saturday rolled around and everyone took their places.

I started the weekend making ONE cushion out of the SIX that are needed for the outside furniture.

Yes, I'm blogging about finishing the one. It was an accomplishment, trust me. :)

We also did some painting...

...and I worked hard to keep my tomatoes alive in the 100+ degree weather.

It's been no easy trick!

After I typed that all out it doesn't seem like a ton but we were very busy this weekend and I have lots of fun projects to share this week!

What we learned...

• The 60 year old sewing machine in my cabinet works better than the 5 year old one I had on top of it!
  
  
  
• Always be nice to your pharmacist. There may be a day when you're going to be without insurance the next day, it's five minutes before they close on a Sunday and you need to beg them to fill a new prescription. Fortunately, I am their favorite customer (no joke) so it was nooooo problem.
  
  
• Champagne + Sparking Cranberry Juice is deeeeeeeelicious!
  
  
• Micheal and I both look good in turquoise (and Micheal needs to work on his toe painting skillz).
  
  
• Our neighbor is also not mowing his lawn because it's too damn hot, so we're off the hook for having a jungle lawn!

Weekend Update 7/27/11, WWL style

1. I really need to stop buying things in the "green apple" color...
   

   I picked up this little green guy at C&B outlet for my new place for $5.95! I laughed at myself when I moved it over to the side table to get a better picture and realized I might have a bit of a green obsession. :)
   
   

2. C&B is discontinuing my line of dinnerware (insert super sad face.) So we went on a scavenger hunt to finish out the set with four place settings of each color I want, green (ha!), teal, and purple.
   
   

   After three stores I only need two more Max Green Dinner plates and two more Max Green Salad plates, so if you see some shoot me a message!
   
   

3. The cushions from this chair fit almost perfectly in this chair so when I recovered them they were temporarily snagged for this chair in the living room while the other one waits to be painted!
   
   
   
   
4. No matter how long or bad your day was, coming home to a kitty perched on your reupholstery project with her tongue sticking out will make you smile.
   
   
   
   
5. Moshe doesn't like the new pantry door...he likes full access to all areas of the new house!
   
   
   GASP!! New pantry door?!?! Yes folks, it's done. More pics to come! Woot woot!

The Craigslist Queen Strikes Again!

Hello my dears!! I was working on the weekend update post tonight and doing my normal perusing of craigslist and was stopped in my tracks when I saw a listing that said "Broyhill Brasilia Dresser -$65"

WHAT?!?! Pulled it up and started dialing as I called Micheal over to get his approval. The listing had been up for an hour so at that point it could already be gone. Micheal saw it and said "CALL - we can go get it right now!" Mind you, it's 9pm. They'd already had some interest but because we were willing to get off our butts and go get it tonight, it was OURS!

So a 9pm CL trip and this beauty is now part of our family!

Swoon - If you're not a midmod nut like me, Broyhill's "Brasilia" line is kinda like end-all be-all of super cool brand name 60's furniture. Similar dressers sell from anywhere between $500 and $1000 and are very hard to come by so we're crazy excited!

Weekend update to be finished tomorrow. Night!

Thrift and CL Finds

We had some good luck this weekend with our local thrift store and "christened" the Mazda on her first day with a craigslist run after we got home on Saturday.

Hammered Copper Pot from Unique Thrift

I'm going to clean this up and transplant my tomato into it! Only $15 which is a great deal for real copper. The interwebs suggests using a salt covered lemon to clean off the oxidization. I'll let you know how that goes.


Atomic Coffee/Tea Pot?

I zeroed in on this beauty from like two aisles away! Also at Unique Thrift this new addition to my china cabinet was only $3.93! Cleaned up beautifully with my BFF Bar Keeper's Friend.


MidMod Record Cabinet
Scored this little guy on CL for $10. It needs to be sanded and restained and will likely be my TV stand for the new apartment!

It benefits me that Micheal is loving driving the new Mazda3 (with a hatchback, woot!) so now when I say "look what I found on CL" he's all "let's go!!"

Weekend Update & WWL 7/17/11

Hey all! Some fun stuff to share with you this week!

We...

1. Purchased me a new fancy laptop
   
   
2. Got approval for my apartment in Wilmington



3. Purchased a new car
   
   
4. Got locked out of our house
   
   
5. Opened new doors
   
   
6. Went to the Second DC Truckeroo with our friends Mike & Sam
   
   
   
7. Scored some great thrift/CL finds

What we learned...

• Our house is not easy to break in to!
  
• Half of the green "leaves" on our tree in the back yard were actually poison ivy vines, ick!
  
  
• Buying a car will always suck and even when the negotiations are technially over they're really not.
  
• Car salesmen are shocked when you decide to leave mid negotiations to get lunch.
  
• Our deer friends had twins!
  

Orange is the New Black (Kitchen pics!!)

Our kitchen renovation started last July when Micheal texted me this picture while I was on vacation back home in Kansas.

After this there was no turning back. It's been a long year and it's still not 100% done but I felt we reached a spot that I could share pictures of the stuff that is done, because it sure is purdy, and we sure did work hard.

When we bought the house in July 2009 the kitchen needed just a little updating...




The appliances had to be replaced immediately but that left us with the painted tile backsplash, filthy cabinets, builder grade floor, fluorescent lighting...NO MORE!!

So without further ado...


New: Sink, Faucet, Floors, Pulls, Appliances, & Counters

Before	After

Extra Storage!




Our new orange kitchen, I'm in love!


The final list:

1. Floor trim
   
2. Pantry door
   
3. Backsplash (someday)
   
4. Fix passthroughs
   
5. Breakfast bar

Not bad compared to the original list from 8/10/2010...

Making Progress

We had a pretty productive 4th of July weekend! Here are some projects we're working on...

Working on this thrift store table I bought with my mom here.
(Note, I don't know why this photo isn't centered, I can't make it right, so it's off center, whatevs.)

Putting new veneer on the cabinet doors for under the sink.

We also made trip to our favorite building surplus store, Community Forklift and scored a few great finds!


I'm in love with this awesome hanging bubble lamp! A steal at $15!


This awesome nautical themed door was a whopping $4!! Curious aren't you?

We should be finishing up several projects soon so prepare for some great before and after pics! I'm excited!

Metro Steals (??)

I'm having trouble coming up with a name for recurring area specific thrift/CL finds that I want to post on the blog a bit more regularly. That way I don't feel as bad when I leave something behind. (No really, I do occasionally leave something behind...)

I thought DC Deals was cute, but in reality inaccurate since I rarely trek into DC to go thrifting. Since I live in the "DC Metro" area I went with Metro Steals for today, I'm going to try it on, wear it around for a while to see what I think. Suggestions are welcome!

I went to the Montgomery County Habitat for Humanity Restore and found some cute stuff. This is one of the best restores I've been to, particularly for furniture and appliances. Probably has something to do with being located in one of the most affluent counties in the US. Score for us!

The "steals" if you will...

Cute little midmod dresser, laminate top, the rest is wood $35.

Even cuter midmod dresser, but also pricier at $75.


Coordinating teak lamps (the wood is different colors) for $25/each, but right now they're having a 50% of lighting sale - score! At $25/pair I might be going back for these guys...

Nice brass lamp pair, would look great spray painted a bright color or oil-rubbed bronze. Also $25/each on sale for 50% off.

They have several boxes of this larger vintage-looking honeycomb tile, I didn't get the price but they're always very reasonable.

This set would be a great splurge for someone with a small apartment. Because they're clear they don't take us as much "visual space" thus making your apartment feel larger. :) (Or so I'm told by HGTV.)

I hope everyone has a wonderful 4th of July weekend planned! Micheal and I are talking about braving the crowds to watch the fireworks at the National Mall. We'll see if we actually go through with it. :)