FLEA-TIQUE STORE FINDS

Hey y'all, I'm back (By the way, I don't say "y'all" in real life...but I must secretly want to because I tend to use it in writing a lot. Must be the Okie creeping in). Anyhoo...I'm back! Vegas was...well, Vegas. I worked a ton, ate too much and I'm glad to be home. After an exhausting week, I decided to indulge in some retail therapy yesterday by strolling through my favorite flea-tique store. I don't know why that's relaxing to me, but it is....call me crazy.

Here are some things I was tempted by:

This was the prettiest candelabra in person. If I needed a candelabra I would have bought it.

I loved this pewter tray.

This is a real tin ceiling tile. It was huge too, something like 24 by 24.

I may have to go back for this little bird. So sweet.

This print wouldn't work in my home, but I do like it for some reason.

I wanted those birds..and the white, French container thing.

This chandelier was gorgeous!

Had to throw this one in for funzies...its tackyness made me laugh.

I did buy this wreath. It was $5!..and full and lush and beautiful...and $5!

Have a great week!

NO DRILL? HERE'S A SOLUTION

I know I should own a drill....and a power saw, and other various other power tools too, but I don't. I do own one of these, and it's been a LIFESAVER.




Seriously...if you are still trying to use a regular screwdriver you need to put it down NOW and run out and buy one of these. I've used it for everything from putting up curtain rods to assembling a treadmill. They're $15 on Amazon, and available many other places as well.


I also recently discovered a great solution to installing wall anchors if your don't have a drill. Self-screwing wall anchors. They are AWESOME!...you know...if you can really get excited about wall anchors...which apparently I can. I've used the metal E-Z Anchor brand from Lowes or Home Depot, but I'm sure there are others out there. You just screw them in the wall (with your handy little battery operated screwdriver) and then screw the actual screw in the middle. Life changing I tell ya.





I'm off to Vegas for a couple days for work. Have a great week!

SPRING AHEAD

It's coming, it's really coming!!!

THE LOOK FOR LESS

Yes, I'm pretty sure that's the name of a show on the Style Network or E! (I love the exclamation point), but I'm stealing the name for today's post.



I love catalogues. I look at them as free magazines, and I thumb through and mark the pages that catch my eye. Do I usually buy things from the catalogues? No...but I do use them as inspiration to create a room I love at a fraction of the price.





For example, I love Ballard Designs.....but not their prices. Like many of you, I just can't fork out that kind of money to decorate my home. So I thought today I'd focus on a few key pieces in a Ballard room and show you how to recreate them for less.

Here's the room:

Pretty right? I decided to single out 3 pieces in the room that give a big impact and see if I can recreate them for less (wait...if I pick 3 things are they still being singled out...or three-ngled out?...sorry).

Here's how much the Ballard items cost:

Ballard Curtains : 84 inch length ar $89 each.

Ballard Clock : 25 inch width is $129.

Ballard Console Table : $349.

Total cost for Ballard items: $656.

1) CURTAINS:

I didn't find anything today that was an exact replica of the Ballard curtains, but the curtains below give the same feel.

Ebay (curtains found here) $42.97 for 2 curtain panels with free shipping

Overstock (curtains found here) $19.99 for 2 curtain panels

I also liked these and these from JCPenney's website, but I couldn't copy the pictures for some reason.

2) CLOCK:

I looked all over the internet and I found the best clock prices on Ebay. I'm sure there are other places that have good deals, but this is what I found today.

Ebay (clock found here) $27.99 plus $7.00 shipping

Ebay (clock found here) $36.00 plus $11.00 shipping

3) CONSOLE TABLE:

I usually look at flea-tique stores or Craigslist for furniture pieces. You can get such amazing deals on quality pieces that you wouldn't otherwise be able to afford. Here are some tables on found on Craigslist in different parts of the country. Any one of them would look amazing painted black.

(Note: I'd also shown some items I found on Craigslist in various cities, but I was silly enough to copy the code directly from the link and the photos disappeared once the posting expired. Live and learn!)

Total cost of MY items? $155...versus the Ballard cost of $656. You know what my mom always said, "Where there's a will there's a way...".

CREATING A COZY ROOM WITH VAULTED CEILINGS

I'm not a huge fan of vaulted ceilings. It's true that they do make a space feel much larger than it really is, but you sometimes sacrifice the cozyness of the room as a result.

I toured an amazing model home a few years ago that was a gorgeous craftsman replica. The living area had tall ceilings, but not vaulted, and the room just felt so warm and cozy. There was even a spare room above! I told the realtor how much I liked that particular room, and she said they'd changed their architectural plans since constructing that home to include a vaulted ceiling in the living area (and no spare room above) "due to popular demand". I was so disappointed.

So how do you bring the "cozy" to a room with vaulted ceilings?

I have vaulted ceilings in my living room and I would love to paint every wall in there, but I'd have to hire someone to paint the super tall walls and I just can't justify that expense right now. So I finally decided to paint a few of the walls I could actually reach and then carry the accent wall color through the rest of the living and dining area with curtains I already owned.

I can't believe how much those few painted walls in addition to the curtains and warm wood tones warmed up the space.

Here are two other rooms that I think are great examples of making tall celings work.

The first is from HPJ185 on Rate My Space.

The colors in this room are light, but her use of molding, a great fireplace, a tone-on-tone palette, and large furniture pieces really work in the space.

The second is from Isabellaandmaxrooms on Rate My Space.

I love her consistent use of a warm, slightly dark, neutral wall color throughout the space (including the stairwell). It really brings a cozy feel to the room.

I also think painting the ceiling can make a big difference, even if it's a shade lighter than your wall color. It helps make the ceiling blend in a bit with the rest of the room and almost disappear.

Do you have vaulted ceilings? What are your design solutions?