Boodling in Birmingham

We headed out for vacay a day early so that DH could meet with some clients in Birmingham. The boys and I passed the time by checking out some thrift stores. How exciting to do this in another state! We actually found 3 different thrift stores. I liked the name of this one best. And, everything in the store was half off (except underwear and bras)! This statement made us all giggle.

Training him right!

As you know after our trip to the resale store on Saturday I saw the sign for the "sale". Well DH had to be back in Louisville for a meeting so he went to check out the sale! He left here early to make it before 9:00 (oops....I didn't think to tell him it doesn't open until 10:00). But he waited. After going thru the store this is the photo of what the back on the van looks like.

While he is "training" well at getting good bargins I still need to work on the "free" pickups with him! Oh wait....he did pick up a few free items! I asked him to check on the "door panels" we found and to pick them up. Well....he was so happy with himself. He got them ALL....and they had a price tag of FREE on them!!! So girls...after I look at them all and choose my few projects then I will see if you chicks want to other ones...Chick #3....I know you Mother Hen wanted one. What size do you think she would like? I will set one aside for her to "Thank" her for all the wonderful plants she gave me.

I made a Cover-Up

This lovely little lady is our robotic pool cleaner. She is known as the Dolphin. Although she is quite cute on her own, she needed a cover-up. There is electricity involved here and we were tired of rolling her in and out of the garage every time we needed her (2 steps and wheel that would come off complicated this process) , but sitting her out in the elements wasn't an option either. Hence, the cover-up!

The fabric was purchased at Ikea and reminds me of a beach towel. There is a special coating on this fabric that repels water! I think it turned out pretty cute.

Remember that night of Boodling...

The night Scott and I ended up on a surprise boodling trip, I told you I found several items in need of decrapification. Well, I have finally finished the largest item we picked up. It was an interesting coffee table that was rustic enough that it would work great on the back porch. I hope you like the final product.


The wood is pretty cheap and warped in a few places, but I figure it is going to continue to suffer water exposure. I painted the base pretty much the same color, but included the brown center storage area as well. This is now the standard Rustoleum 2x in Heirloom White. The top was again painted black with Krylon Indoor/Outdoor paint. A few accessories later (metal baskets purchased at the junk shop in Carrollton, an iron caddy from Southern Living holding coasters and dutch girl pitcher from my mom's house, bird tray from Ikea, straw basket holding bird and wildflower books) and the transformation is complete.

We did add some "feet" to try and minimalize the water damage that might occur. This area stays pretty dry since it is under the awning, but it can get damp after a big rain. Here is a closer picture of the top with the accessories. Hope you like it!

It's a HOT day!

We went back to Louisville for the weekend. I thought it might be a weekend to rest. I was SO wrong. The yard was a mess. So while Greg was busy mowing, I got busy and pulled up the weeds. While doing so I thought I would start pulling up a few of my plants that we wanted to take. I took great care to wrap them and keep them watered...but they were wilting so much by the time we made it back here on Sunday. So I had to put my wonderful DH to work on fathers day! We dug and tilled on one side of the house to plant my pants. Out of all the plants I only "paid" for one of them. All the others were shared with me. And I am happy to say....I think they all might make it. Now I just need Chick #3 to make me some cool tags to mark them because I have no idea of their names!

Cabinet Door Project

I used the first of my cabinet door purchases to make a new "Welcome" sign for the porch. I did nothing but clean the door, no sanding or painting. I attached a knob to the top of the door and hung a bird/picture frame that I bought at Traderbaker's yesterday. Instead of adding a photo, I inserted a scrap of paper and a "C". I put this in place of the flag that we had hanging by the door on the porch. I have placed the flag up on our mantel for the time being. I think I like it there so it will probably stay for a while.

Slow moving!

O.K....so we are into day 6 on this home redo. It seems to be going slow. We got all the wallpaper and backing off but you could still feel the glue. So back to washing ALL the walls again. You don't "see" the change so it feels like it is slow going. We have only one room left! We did put kilzs on some of the walls and I might even try to paint some of the trim. Nothing else exciting. Greg is back to work.....and mom and dad have things planned the rest of the week so it is me and the kids. I am sure it will go slower.

But on the upside....we took down an ugly light in the entry. Mom mentioned an idea for it. So I am saving it for another FUN project later down the road. But my mom seems to think this junk finding is turning into a hording problem. Won't she be in for a treat when she sees all the cool things I can do with trash! She is already impressed with what you two have done!

On the fun side......I have been trying to scout out some cool places to go shop and eat when my two other chicks come to visit after the house is put together!! It might have to be more than one trip!

Confessions of a Boodler

I have a confession. Our entire family went boodling last night. I didn't think we were going to have the opportunity to go this week with the weather forecast I kept hearing. However, they missed it; so the horrible thunderstorms I thought we were going to receive never came. The boys have been begging us to take them and so after a quick dinner out, we decided to give it a try. Well, I must admit that we did find some treasures, but the picking was nothing like it had been the week before. We kept reminding ourselves that we found some good stuff, but the thrill of the hunt was not as enticing. I guess I should be happy to know that not EVERYONE puts wonderful pieces out for the trash, but we were a bit disappointed. Anyway, I will be doing a little sanding and repurposing over the next few days and then I will share with you what we found!

Day # 3

I am happy to say.....ALL the wallpaper is gone! YEAH!!!! We still have to go back and clean the walls. But that shouldn't be near as bad as getting it all off. We also got all the floors down to the wood subfloor. My dad and Greg worked on getting all the overgrown bushes out. What a job but such a big differance in the look of the house! The other thing we did was take down the "lighted case" over the bar in the kitchen. I can not get over how much better the kitchen looks. Today the kids commented on how much better they were liking the house. We tried to tell them that we would get it looking good and making it "ours" but they didn't get it. I have a date for the floors.....and will call on Monday to get a date on the movers to pack and move.

On another note.....we have been at the house for 3 days as of today....we have met 5 neigbors and one of them brought over brownies. I really can't get over just how nice everyone has been in such a short time.

Yard Sale Find

On the way home from the Farmer's Market this morning we came across a neighborhood yard sale. This was a fairly new subdivision with predominately young families (based on the # of plastic kid toys for sale). I did find this great little tackle box for $2.

Right now I have stored my glue guns, staple gun, and accessories in it. I wanted to do something a bit more exciting with it, but haven't decided what yet.

Project #8 for Chick #2

This was another easy project, but one that I had wanted to get to for a long time. I have begun to mark my plants with the copper plant markers. My DS had the great idea to use the metal stamping set I got for Christmas a few years ago. This was actually easier than writing on them and showed up much better. Now I have some plants marked in the gardens, but need more markers!!

Pool Party Anyone?

This is a project that has been in my head for a long time. I have been searching for the right piece to act as the bones of this project. A week ago, the right piece was found and the work began. Now I just need to throw a party so we can use the thing!

Project #2 Old Blue Shutter

I "shutter" to think that someone was going to throw this old blue thing out!! HaHa. Nothing needed to be done to the shutter but a little high powered water spray. I attched the white shelf that I picked up from the Habitat store the other day along with the silver "4" (that I properly painted ORB). My mom had the old school house hooks but they were shiny brass so guess what? I sprayed those ORB! I see a pattern here. I will eventually replace the switch plates with new ORB ones or maybe I will just paint the ones I have. My preference would be to buy new ones because I can feel the brain cells dying from all the paint fumes! Somebody come rescue me!!!!!

New challenge for Chick #2 and Chick #3

Ok girls. We had the flooring guys out. And in our sunroom they are not sure that we can lay anything. They are worried about the temps not being the same all year....and it seems it has some moisture issues. Not major leaks. Just being right on the ground can be damp at times. So here is the challenge......

We are thinking of painting the floors!!! Do either of you know anything about it? What would be best? Also, the trim will be white....the brick will be a dark brown....and what is left (alittle bit of wall) will be a blue color. So what color would you paint the floors? BTW, this will be my scrapbook room!!!! I got the bigger room for this!! YEAH!

So the challenge is on.........

Overdue Photos........

Here is the master bath. All the wallpaper is gone and carpet. Here is the photo of the tile that we "found" in the bathroom. Can you see just how "shiny" the wallpaper is? WOW! It was SO thick.

So today we worked on more wall paper. The paper that was painted over...took hours to work off. That was the hardest paper to remove so far. It was somewhat slower today. Could have been that we were all tired. Going to start again tomorrow and see what we can get done. I have more photos of other rooms but will save them for another day.

This is DD's room. The wallpaper and carpet are both GONE!!!! I am thinking some of the light plate covers that on here might just happen to meet the spray paint. I will at least give them a shot and see.

Easy Project - Lot's of Impact!

I cleaned the door I bought for $4 at Habitat Restore with a Magic Eraser. It cleaned the smudges easily and shined up the doorknob. It made getting the years of accumulated dust out of the edges so fast and simple. After my trip to Ikea and this cute little clock, I now have the right object to hang from the hook that was already on the door. I like the height this added to the corner of the studio. It really needed it. I sure don't like the way the paint color shows up in this photo. The room is a sage green. And not nearly as washed out as it looks.

I have almost finished another project that I have been working on all week. I am missing one item that I will need to pick up the next time I am out and about. Can't wait to show it to you, but really want to have a completed pic before I show you the transformation. Remember that fabric on the bench earlier this week? This project uses that as well.

Chest of Drawers Rehab

I suppose this is really my project #1, the screened in porch. I finished updating the old chest of drawers and I must say that this was a favorite project of mine. Not only was it relatively easy but it also was a dramatic change. I first painted the chest with Martha Stewart Agean Sea and then distressed the whole piece. Next I used a mocha glaze to give it an old, aged look. I also added fence finials to the bottom for new "legs". I wanted to keep the bottom off the floor to avoid water damage. I painted the old brass knobs with ORB per our rules of membership. Let me know what you think of the results because I am ready to attack another piece of furniture!

What have I started?

When I returned home last night with my DS's, they could hardly believe the finds we were able to come up with this week. They have asked several times to be allowed to go on the next Junk Pick Up trip. I think I will have to set some guidelines about what can be picked up before we venture into that! They will have to be the ones willing to do the work required on any items they choose. That should limit their procurement! Right?!

Day 1

Day one started at 12:00 and we ended around 10:00. Here are a few things we managed to get done with the help of my sister, mom, and dad.

1) ALL the carpet is up and ready to go to the dump. We did find a suprise in the mater bath. Under the carpet was some very nice tile. Just needs some good cleaning.
2) Most of the tack strips in the house are gone! This was done by DS.
3) The yard was mowed. DS started this but dad's ridding mower broke and a good neighbor came down and finished it for us.
4) Wall paper in master bath gone.....master bed gone.....DD's room gone.....The first layer of wall paper is gone in the entry and the room off the kitchen. Still need to go back and "clean" the glue off the walls.
5) Entertianment center in the room off the kitchen was taken apart and moved out! That was a bigger job that what we thought....but aren't they all?
6) Flooring at the front door is gone. That was a VERY hard job!

We are ALL tired and sore. I just hope that we can roll out of bed and do it all again tomorrow. I do have many photos of the jobs before we started. Just forgot the camera at the house! I will try and post some tomorrow. If either of you get the desire to come and peel wall paper.....I will give you directions. Chick # 2....I have a spice rack I will offer as payment.

Already planned a trip to Louisville!

O.K. We went to Lowe's tonight to look at kitchen sinks. WOW! I think I am going to make a trip to the Resale store on Tuesday. NO JOKE! Mom needs something I have at the house and I am wanting to pick up one of the $20.00 kitchen sinks! Anyone wanna meet me there? See what new goodies they might have brought out from the "other" building?

Can't wait until tomorrow.....I will load the camera with photos of the house before.....and then as the projects get finished I will load the completed projects on here....start counting!

First project on the list......remove all the old carpet!

Project #5

I put together this bench with some fabric I had on hand. You will be seeing this again soon on another project I have almost finished!!! This can be a nice shaded spot to sit and apply sunscreen to those too young to do it for themselves or just watch the silliness of the pool from a higher vantage point. Thought it made the back door a bit more welcoming. Note the towel holder. It is normally a log holder, but i cleaned it, spray painted it with ORB, and put in the stack of towels. Now everyone knows where the clean pool towels are.

Getting Ready

Today I am going to tackle the dresser project that will go on my screened porch. I am taking a dresser that has been passed around our family for years and whose last spot was in Meme's room. Hopefully I will have some pictures to post soon. Wish me luck!

Ugh!

I'm thinking I should have taken a picture of the desk before I started all this paperwork. This has been the biggest "project" yet. I have been working on banking and estate stuff since 9 AM. That is practically 3 hours! I would much rather be wielding a can of spray paint.

Boodling Bonanza Part 2

Who would have thought that we could score such great items on the day of Junk Pick-Up. I was so surprised that there were treasures still to be found in the piles we had eyed the night before. It is amazing how much more you can see in the daylight. After, quite a successful trip to The Habitat Restore where we found chandeliers, hall lights, doors, cabinet fronts, spindles, and a few other goodies; we enjoyed a delicious lunch in one of our favorite eateries, The Butterfly Garden. When leaving the lunch spot, we noticed there were still piles awaiting junk pick up. We couldn't resist and found ourselves hauling in quite a few interesting freebies. I even scored an old door that I passed over the night before. We found shutters, ladders, windows, and even a weeding tool that made Chick #3 tickled pink!

Now it's time to turn these finds into the treasures we know they can become!

Boodling Bonanza

Chick #1, you weren't the only one up late last night!! Scott and I headed to Bardstown Road for dinner at Oishii Sushi. The food was absolutely delicious and the start to quite an exciting evening. Now, before you get any crazy ideas, let me explain. We hit the Bardstown Road area on the eve of Junk Pick Up!!! We spent over 2 hours driving the streets searching the piles of "stuff" to find numerous items that will become craptastic! A few have already been put to work this morning!

You can see a rather heavy duty hose on the bottom of all that stuff. It was an early score and a good one. DH has already put it to use cleaning the boat. It has one of those old time "fireman" type nozzles on the end. He estimates the hose alone would cost about 50 bucks!! Also tucked in are some old bed posts that will be cut down and used as finials throughout the garden, a great old wooden shutter (black) that may hold the knobs for the pool towels, a wooden ladder (plants on the porch), an extremely heavy, but cool bench/coffee table thing. This will probably make its home on the back porch to double as a coffee table and extra seating when needed. There is also a wonderful old black setee that just needs a bit of TLC along with a new seat bottom and cushion. It is adorable, but I will need to find it a home. BTW, It has lots of springs that will be removed and I think I know of a few people who might be interested in repurposing them.

In this picture you can see a few more finds! Tucked aware are several pieces of very nice lumber, a homemade box with dividers that will be nice to use in the garage, a picket basket that needs a little lovin', a hose reel that is way nicer than ours and seems to be in perfect working order. An ice cream maker. The electric is cut, but we liked the bucker and may use it for mother's hand crank maker instead of her plastic bucket. There were a few other odds and ends, but I think you get that picture. We had a ton of fun, but I must admit, we were quite disappointed that none of our piles had a spice rack waiting to be brought home. I guess the hunt continues!

Late night and ALMOST one project for me!

Yes, it is 1:00 in the morning! But....I have been working hard. I have 4 stacks of photos to finish a "project". I thought I could make it and finish tonight but the creative brain was shutting down. So here is the before.......and soon I will have the after! Just wanted to show why I will be tired tomorrow (or today) when we go "boodling".

I've finally made it!

I know that you thought this day would never come but here I am!! I am so exhausted from this effort that I have no energy for projects. Consider this my Project #1. See you tomorrow. I will have my boodling boots on!

Goodbye Goodwill

The kids and I had to run a last minute errand. So yes, I planned my trip around going to Goodwill. My excuse was....I don't know when I will be back here to go! So here are two little finds. I am sure they will find a good spot in my new home. The little tray is cute and I will just have to wait and see where I find a home. Depending on what room will depend on if I pull out the can of spray paint or not. The cost of this cute little tray? $1.68. How could I not bring it home with me?
The sign I have two ideas. One is outside on the side of my shed or use it with "other" signs and hang them in a cluster....yes....I am a copycat!
So watch for them to pop up in a completed project down the road...if they don't get lost in the moving boxes! At least when I find them I will know WHY I bought them and what I thought I might do with them!

Front Porch

In an earlier post I promised pictures of the porch now that it is clean and put back together. Well, here they are!

I brought out a table that had lost it's spot in the living room. Shamrocks are in a tray sitting on the bottom rungs of the table. A potted plant, painted tray and cute little frog decoration complete the table. That's the book I'm reading right now; The Lake, The River, and The Other Lake by Steve Amick.

This shows the other side, but not too well. There was too much to capture in a close up picture. The Adirondack bench is painted and has adorable Thrift Store Find Bee Pillows. The urn beside the bench was another "steal" and is home to some of the plants given in memory of my mom. The lime green pitcher is from Goodwill and has flowers from my yard!!! There are some other sweet treasures there as well, but I think you can see them all!

Project #4 for Jennie

I had this little chest from mom's. I liked the way it fit as you came into the living room, but I didn't care for the shiny finish. So, I sanded, painted with Heirloom White Spray paint from Rustoleum and now I have a sweet little chest that helps anchor a blank wall. It needs something more, but we are getting there.

Project #3 for Jennie

I was able to get the house numbers painted with ORB Spray Paint and hung back over the front door!

I'm On A Roll!

A few more quick projects I have put together to help clean up my house. I have so many parts to projects sitting around, I can't ignore them any longer. Almost forgot to take pictures so I took "In Between" photos of these. So I will count these as Project #2. Project #3 is in the driveway, but I need more spray paint to finish it. I have to get as much done as I can while the boys are gone because this will come to a screeching halt when they return! JW