{Furniture Update}

Well, it has been a struggle, but I finally have more than just a desk in my room! The Ikea Expedit shelf that I mentioned below just would not work in my room. It was way too modern/contemporary for all my shabby and vintage pieces that I have. I ended up selling it back on Craigs List for $80, yes, that is a profit of $70 for those of you following! My Hubby said that instead of flipping houses, I was flipping shelves! hahaha

I found a decent hutch on Craigs List for $40, but it needed a good coat of paint. So, Hubby and I spent an entire Saturday sanding, painting, drying and more painting! It was a lot of work, but it was worth it. Oh, I decided to paint it purple - yes, PURPLE! It has a new lease on life now, and is so beautiful. My Hubby is so sweet to help me with it. Like I said, he sanded and painted right along side me, and also did some structural repairs to make it nice and sturdy for me. It was in good condition, but it was a tad bit wobbly. Since I am going to put my Big Shot on it, I needed it to withstand all the embossing and die cutting that I will be doing! I forgot to take pictures of it, so I'll have to show them to you later. I even have a before shot, so I can show you a comparison! :D

After putting the hutch in on the wall behind my desk, there was about 30 inches left, so I searched around, searched some more, and more, and then finally found a table that would fit there! I got this one from Target:
This is called the Country Drop Leaf Table. They claim it is distressed white, but in my opinion, it is not. There weren't any distress marks on mine at all. It is bright lacquered white to me (and easily scratched at that), but I'm over it! I was more concerned with the dimensions. It is exactly 30 inches wide on the sides that do not have the leaves. I can't tell you how hard it was to find a table with that dimension. The smallest I could find for a long time was 32 inches, which just would not work in my space. So, I was ecstatic when I found this table. The down side is that 1 of the leaves and the drawers are rendered unusable as the desk is wedged between the wall and my tall hutch. But, the plus side is that I get a 25 inch deep table that expands another 10 inches when I put up the leaf. Another bonus - when we eventually move, if I get a bigger room (here's hoping), this piece is expandable so I could potentially pop up both the leaves. The best part is that I was able to score this baby at 15% AND free shipping! Woo hoo! The original price was a bit more than I wanted to pay, but the discounts made it more bearable for me!

I also FINALLY found some black plastic Cropper Hopper Vertical Paper Storage holders, like this one:
Apparently, Cropper Hopper had discontinued the black ones (I guess making room for the new sturdier ones that they have, but at $13 each, I wanted the cheaper plastic ones) and all I could find were the frosted white ones. But, knowing that I was going to purchase white shelves, I really wanted the black paper holders. I don't really know why I had to insist on the black ones, but I did - I had to have black! Anyway, after days of searching (literally), I found some at Two Peas AND they had them on clearance! Double score! I scooped up 10 of them right away! I plan on using them for my Papertrey and patterned paper.

Finally, my latest purchase was the shelves that I had mentioned before (see here), the Madison Ladder Shelves from Target. I waited for a MONTH for these babies to get free shipping, but it hasn't happened. So, I took the 15% discount and ran with it! ;) I just ordered them today, actually - watch them have free shipping next week! hahaha I was going to try to hold out a bit more, but with all the other furniture in place, I am just ready to get my room back! I need those shelves to put my patterned paper, TV, embellishments, etc. It has been out of commission for a month! Shocking, right?! I've been going a bit nuts-o without my crafting space and I have a TON of projects that I need to work on. I think Hubby sensed this and persuaded me to stop waiting for free shipping and to just get the shelves already! I'm not sure if it was for my benefit or his, but either way, I'm just relieved to have some shelves on their way to me!

Anyway, the last piece I am holding out for is the chair. I still want the one that is also in the Madison Office collection. I think it is a bit much already, so I really need it to be both discounted and with free shipping. I have a chair that works for now, anyway. It's not cute like the rest of my room, but it'll have to do for now!

I hope to update with more pictures soon! I am crossing my fingers that my shelves will be here sooner than the May 1st-6th delivery estimate that Target is giving me!

{Houston, We Have Furniture!}

Yup, there is furniture in my new room now! We did go pick up my beautiful Madison Trestle desk in Antique Black last Friday! The desk itself was in good condition, but there were a few missing hardware pieces. Luckily, I have a handy husband who, after 2 trips to Home Depot, and about 4 hours of work, had the whole thing assembled beautifully! I'm such a lucky girl! :D I have been surfing Craigs List and other websites for a nice hutch/buffet piece to go behind me to be my work station and storage area. I really want a nice, sturdy, antique style piece, but those area just all out of my price range at the moment. But, at the same time, I didn't want to spend good money on a temporary piece. Well, not a lot of money anyway ;). Well, while searching Craigs List yesterday, I can across a post for a white Expedit bookcase from Ikea for ... are you ready for this? $10!!!! Yes, you read that right - just $10!!! SCORE!! I yelled out to my Hubby who immediately said, "Let's go get it!" Luckily, we have a pickup truck and are mostly able bodied. We had to enlist the help of a friendly stranger to help us lift it into the bed of the truck. It was a bit sturdier and heavier than we thought an Ikea piece would be! Anyway, I did want a white piece, though this is way too modern and contemporary for the look that I was going for. But, hey, for $10, it'll be the perfect thing to hold me over until I can find that perfect antique piece that is in my price range!
So, once I get some nice baskets or something to put in there, I know that this piece will give me plenty of storage, though I am still without a work station. But, I have an idea for that, too! There is a nice window in my room that I don't want to cover. I as much natural light as I can get! But, I'm wondering if I can get some sort of bench or low bookcase to put under it. Then, I can use that surface as a work station. It's an idea, anyway! I'll have to see how it will actually work out. Many of the pieces that I am seeing are more expensive than I think a small piece should be!

In the meantime, I am tried to organize all my stuff and trying to sell my old furniture on Craigs List - it's the circle of life!

Anyway, hopefully it'll all get figured out soon so I can get back to some stamping! :D

{ Room Updates }

I thought I would update you a bit on my craft room re-do. I have found TONS of great decorating pieces at a local thrift store, Home Goods, Michaels and TJ Maxx. I think that I just may be set in that department ... well, for now! I found 2 great decorative vintage trunks at Michaels - 40% off, too! One is perfect for holding all my Big Shot accessories (dies, Nestabilities, embossing folders, etc) . I also found an apothecary style drawer cabinet at Home Goods. It is a perfect distressed green that I know will be a focus in my room. Home Goods also had a beautifully antique looking globe that even my Hubby loved! AND - an olive colander! Yes! I can wait to fill it with stamps or acrylic blocks or some other really fun thing like I have seen so many other people do (see links near the bottom of my sidebar) and they had this awesome glass and metal star candle holder thing. It looks just like this one, except the glass in mine is Plum and the metal part is a sort of rusty brown. SO perfect! The thrift store I went to had some awesome olive green vases that I just snatched up immediately - they are the *perfect* color for my room. I also found 2 different open boxes that had white pickets round them - just too cute! TJ Maxx had a sort-of rusted iron looking CD/DVD rack that is so perfect for a small space between my entrance door and closet door. I LOVE it when things just "fit" - like they were meant to be!

Another great find: I found a Target Madison Trestle Desk on CRAIGS LIST!!!! Woo hoo! I have an appointment to pick it up Friday night! It sure is a good thing my Hubby has a pickup truck! Actually, I'm the one that drives it most, but he bought prior to knowing me, so I still call it his. Anyway, it is Antique Black, not the Antique White I had originally envisioned, but I tell ya, I think I'm more excited about the black! I think if I had gone with the all white furniture, everything may have been too matchy-matchy (thats the technical term, I'm sure *wink*). Now I'm thinking black desk, white ladder shelves, white chair and then some other piece (the armoire or buffet hutch or whatever) in maybe another color? Dare I hope for olive? I did find a potential piece on Craigs List, but I don't want to discuss it in detail here and jinx it. Anyway, I'll try to update with pictures soon!

I'm way excited!