Book Bundles

I know I'm obsessed with Restoration Hardware lately, but I've had my eye on these antique book bundles for a little while. I just can't seem to justify $29 for a stack of old paper! So I made some myself the other day:

I took 5 old books that I had collected at garage or estate sales ($1 or $2 each),

ripped the covers off,

then tied them together with twine ($3 a roll).

A new addition to Derek's nightstand for under $8.

(FYI- There may be more of these at the upcoming sale!)

I'm in Love...

I was browsing through the blogs on my sidebar, and happened upon this home. I almost fell off my chair I couldn't believe how beautiful it was. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves-

(Images from here)

Hoarding

Those that know me well, know that I have OCD about keeping a clean and organized home. It's a blessing and a curse. If I let the house go to pot, I'd have lots of time for other things, but instead, most of my time is spent picking up, putting away, sorting through, and cleaning out. I have been this way my whole life. I'm usually okay parting with things because it rids me of unnecessary clutter. Since starting the home sweet sale, however, I've been finding it harder and harder to part with items because I've acquired such great things. Even though I don't need it, even though I don't have a place for it, I think "but maybe someday, somewhere, somehow I can use it!" I imagine that's how hoarding starts. Things just keep piling up until it's outta control. I'll show you what I mean:



This is the one room that I've given up on. It was just about empty after the last sale and now it looks like this already. Yikes! Lucky for you though, I'm not hanging onto all of this. The majority of it will be coming with me to the sale in a couple of weeks although I'm sure it won't be long until I fill it up again! I'll also be posting some furniture on the sale this afternoon so check it out!

The picnic table

I promised to show you my find of the century, and here it is! I went to an estate sale in Arcadia on Friday and I almost didn't notice this table; it was hidden under so much junk! The thing that caught my eye was the price tag hanging off the end- $25. I took a closer look to see that this massive table WAS for sale and nobody had snatched it up yet. It was meant for me!

This thing is over 10 feet long!


My favorite parts are the wheels and the color of the weathered wood. All it needs is a light sanding.

It is missing half a wheel, but it looks like it's just a couple of 2 x 4's glued together, cut in a circle, and a hole drilled through the middle. Sounds easy enough, right?

I see lots of backyard BBQ's in our future. :)

Friday Finds: Part II

I'm sure I've said before that some weeks my treasure hunting is a bust, but then I'll have a really great week that completely makes up for it. This morning I hit the jackpot. I went with 2 of my favorite sale buddies, Ann and Shirley, and started at 6 a.m. and got home about 11 a.m. Here's what I have to show for it:

I guess I was feeling a little industrial today and I picked up some things for Derek's office re-do.

One thing that isn't pictured is this AWESOME picnic table I picked up for practically nothing; definitely the steal of the day! It's gigantic, so we're taking the trailer and a few extra pairs of hands to pick it up tomorrow and then I'll show you. A lot of these finds and more will be at the sale- are you excited yet?

Friday Finds

When Derek and I were in Scottsdale last weekend, I knew there was an estate sale I wanted to check out. So we got up early Saturday morning and drove to the address I had written down, but there was no house, just a storage unit building. It turns out a few of the people with storage units were selling their stuff and these are the things I snagged for a steal! I'll have more items posted on the sale later today, but I'm also saving up for the October 9th boutique. It's gonna be good!

10 years

Today marks 10 years of marriage for Derek and I. I can hardly believe it's been that long. We were going to celebrate in San Diego since that's where we went on our honeymoon, but in an attempt to save some money, we decided to stay here. Our friend, Kyle, was nice enough to let us use his house near Scottsdale for the weekend. But this isn't just any house, this is a house that Kyle built out of steel with his own two hands. He is unbelievably talented! See for yourself:

Putting it on stilts like that was genius; you get covered parking AND an amazing view:

His studio home has an industrial loft feel to it. I love the brick on the back wall.

Although a different style than my own, I LOVE the kitchen! Everything was very well thought out.

These next 3 pics? All pieces that Kyle carved himself -

The kitchen bar

Kitchen cupboards

The bathroom door

Can you guess my favorite part of the bathroom?

It was fun to be able to spend some time together, just the two of us. Derek's been busy with work and school so it was nice to be able to relax and enjoy the quiet. We caught up on some reading, made some delicious meals, played Table Topics, I learned (well, kind of) how to swing a golf club, and we even made time for treasure hunting (I'll show you my finds on Friday!).

I can't think of a better way to have celebrated.

Friday Finds

Thank you to Bev for posting about this fun sale - I found some AMAZING treasures!
(Oh, and can you see my white curtains in the background? Things are starting to come together- more on that soon.)

Also, save the date ~Saturday, October 9~ the Home Sweet Sale will be part of a big boutique/rummage sale at Brimhall Junior High. Details to come!

Rampage!

We just switched computers and it's taken a couple days to get the new one up and running, hence the lack of posting. I'll have some fun finds for tomorrow, but for now check the SALE- I'm on a selling rampage!

William Howard Thompson House

Yet another reason to love Country Living magazine. This is one of my all time favorites.

Friday Finds

Because I missed last week's Friday Finds, I'm doing double duty today. Last week I went to one estate sale and one thrift store and came out with this:

And this was the result of visiting 3 yard sales this morning:

Not much luck in the furniture department lately, but still some great items. I should have more sale items posted by Monday.

Before and After: Kitchen/Family Room Wall

I like the open floor plan in our home, but I feel like there's not a ton of wall space because of that. I've been wanting to make the most of this wall between the family room and kitchen. I've had it a few different ways, but haven't been really happy with any of them. I don't have before pictures, but just imagine this painting hanging on the wall. It has beautiful colors, and I've loved it, but it's huge and I thought I could make better use of the space.

I've always envisioned shelving similar to these:

Here's my version:

I think this will stay a while. :)