Free Table and Our Old Sofa Set

Got a text from a neighbour down the street the other day if I wanted a free coffee table.  She said it was a hand-me-down from her sister-in-law, and it just was not working for them as they have two small children.  I gladly took it as I had been looking for a table to place in front of this couch. (I don't know why the photo looks grainy. I tried the Blogger App and the photo loaded, but with this quality. The bug's not resolved. . .)  Though I'm not sure if I would have purchased this table, I think it looks fine, and the size is just about right.  You can't beat free! I took over some homemade lasagna later in the day that I made with the marinara sauce from my tomatoes.  She was appreciative because she got the night free from getting dinner ready.  It was a good trade for both of us.

This is our "great room," that is thus far underutilized.  You might remember that we had been renovating our house, and the project is not yet completed.  There is supposed to be a bar area opposite this couch which still has to be fitted in with cabinets.  Still looking for deals, but I would like it completed before my older son graduates from high school next year.  Anyhow, this room still needs to get furnished, and I have been scouring Craigslist for a leather couch and chairs to replace the ones in the photo.  Most sellers want too much money, and I understand that if one is selling, you want top dollar. But I'm on the buying end, so I'm holding out for the deal of a lifetime! If I'm patient, something will turn up, I'm sure. 

The sofa and chair in the photo is old and on its' last leg. It used to be in the family room, and is the set my husband purchased for me when we found out I was pregnant with our first child.  Until this set was purchased, we had NO furniture. NONE. We were sitting on plastic chairs in our rent house because we had just moved cross country, was broke and just starting out his new job in San Diego.  That was almost 19 years ago.  It served us well over the years and withstood two children, guests and several dogs, but the seams are giving out on the back cushions and though I have tried to repair it, the repairs don't seem to last. 

When we purchased it, it was brand new from the furniture store, and I believe we paid about $3000 (!) for them plus a loveseat that is not in the photo.  Of course it was on credit.  That is not what we would do now, but we weren't really thinking back then. We were young and broke.  And it was before the Internet, email and Craigslist were even dreamed of. We initially tried to find a used set through the classified ads in the newspaper, but gave up after many false leads.  Someone always seemed to beat us, and we got tired of trying.  So we paid top dollar for the set and it was purchased on credit.  Were we stupid, or what??  We have wizened up considerably since then, and paid $200 for a very nice leather sofa and matching chair we now use in the family room that I found on Craigslist.  I hope I can find another deal like this.

Frugal Bathroom Part II

I completed the unfinished project for our hall bathroom.  This is what the other side of the bathroom used to look like:

Gag me with a spoon! I think you can see why this bathroom had to go. . . I HATED those faux marble looking smoky mirrors.  We used to live in a rent house when we first got married that had these same mirrors.  Ugh! WHAT WERE THEY THINKING??  They must have been high on SOMETHING.  There is no other explanation. . .

Without a second thought, this bathroom got ripped out except for the tub as soon as we got title to the house.  We installed a new toilet and it stayed like that for two years.  Last year, we finally got around to finishing it off.  I had to find a new vanity because the one above was history.  Have you ever priced bathroom vanities? A basic, nothing-to-write-home-about vanity made of particle board WITHOUT a counter top, sink or faucet was running at a minimum of $500 at Home Depot or Lowes.  It was out of the question, and that vanity was really ugly anyway.  I was not interested.  What to do?

I searched high and low.  Again, Craigslist to the rescue.  The new-to-me used solid wood buffet was $100.  It sat in the dining room of an elderly lady who was moving into a nursing home.  I'm sure it never got much use.  It has the furniture look that is popular now, but I think it looks timeless because of its' Country French styling.  The undermount sink was less than $50 from Overstock.com.  The big splurge items here were the granite counter and faucet that came to around $500 total.  But, considering a bottom-of-the-line vanity from a big box retailer sans counter, etc was going for $500, my husband and I could live with that.  We don't plan on ever moving again, so we were willing to spend the money this time.



Here is the in between look with the temporary mirror we were using.  Notice that I am getting ready to install the mirror I showed you yesterday.  I was using the tapes to figure out where to install the hanging hardware.  I am not too bright when it comes to numbers, so I believe in the mantra, "measure twice, do once."  Even so, my husband complained that the mirror was too low and I had to redo it.  Drat!  In a perfect world, all the crap on the sink would not be there, but hey, I live in the real world.  Maybe one day when the boys are gone, my house will have the semblance of a model home. . . 

Which reminds me, I remember reading an old issue of Architectural Digest, and the feature was the home of Garrison Keller of Lake Woebegone fame (I think that was his name). He wrote an accompanying article, saying that the home in the photos does not exist, and that it was an illusion, meaning in real life, his house has all kinds of stuff strewn around because his family lives there. I thought it was reassuring of him to say that instead of making us believe that his life was perfection. . . But I digress. . .

So, without further delay, here is the finished bathroom.  I finished spray painting the chair and reupholstered it today.  What do you think??

The hanging black plaque was another thrift store find that was around $4.00.  The mirror we had been using was moved over to the other wall as art.  I LOVE to use mirrors. I don't look at myself much, but I love the silver color that reflects the light.  The chair was a freebie when I purchased the buffet/vanity.  It had a dated finish, but I liked the shape, so a quick spray painting with the same satin black paint as the mirror updated it.  I covered it with a fabric remnant also from the thrift store for, I think, 79 cents.

Yes, I am pretending that the bathroom always looks like this, but alas, it does not.  The photo is a grand illusion, I'm afraid.  Normally, the counter has all sorts of bottles and such strewn around, but one can dream. . .

Frugal Bathroom

This is our hall bathroom, meaning it is the one used by guests and our family when we are hanging out in the family room. It was totally gutted when we purchased the house. Although a renovation is not exactly a frugal proposition, I tried to furnish it as frugally as possible.

The only items purchased new were the black photo frame and the iron scroll over the window. Actually, they are both something purchased some time ago unrelated to the renovation. I had purchased the scroll when we lived in our former home, and it ended up as a window treatment here as it was the perfect size to fit over the window.  I felt that a curtain would have looked busy over such a small window.  I like to think of it as a quasi French prison/tower room look.  The magazine rack/toilet paper holder was a whopping $1.99 at the thrift store. I plan on spray painting it with a hammered finish paint when I get around to it.

The armoire was purchased used on Craigslist for $120. It holds all our towels and bulk toiletry supplies. The eagle mirror was a $4.99 find from about a week ago at a thrift store, as was the large full length mirror that was $25. It used to be a dresser mirror orphaned from the dresser. It was made by Thomasville, so if I were to purchase it new, I guesstimate it would cost me at least $400 or so.

Although you can't see it very well, there is a china cabinet opposite the commode also purchased on Craigslist for $200 together with a buffet that I turned into the sink vanity (I'll post a photo at some later date). When the weather gets a little bit warmer for me to work in the garage, I plan on painting the china cabinet to recreate a look I saw in a decorating magazine.  The painted cabinet in the magazine cost around $7,500.

Overall, not bad considering you could spend $50+ on a toilet paper holder alone. . .

BTW, this is what this bathroom used to look like when we purchased the house.  WHAT WERE THEY THINKING???

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