Find of the week

Want to share a Find with you before getting back on the topic of our beautiful new drapery line at DeCocco Design!

Google Chrome.  Are you using it?  It's fantastic.  My I.T. slave brother-in-law got me to try it when he was rescuing my laptop and pulling me into the world of Outlook.  Google Chrome is MUCH faster than Internet Explorer!  When you spend much of your day on the computer, speed is what you crave.  Chrome makes my computer go zing.

Ciao,

Anne

Find of the Week!

TJ Pappas of Soft Wind Soap makes really wonderful products.  I'm sure I've told you about his soaps before--everyone in this house uses them.  Grandboy uses the oatmeal soap in the tub because he has very sensitve skin.  Hub likes the shampoo bar (yes, shampoo in the form of a bar of soap!) and I use the Tea Tree complexion bar for my tissue-thin little face (replaces prescription soap).  Late last year TJ sent me some lotion disks to try. They are FABULOUS!

The lotion disk comes in a sweet little tin.  I pull the disk out at bedtime and rub it between my hands, which warms it up and releases the rich lotion.  I really work it in over my hands (you can use it on legs, arms, feet, etc. of course) and they have NEVER looked better.  While it doesn't turn back the hands of time (oh, almost a pun there), it does stop it in it's tracks.  It costs $4.00 a tin!  One tin lasts me 5 weeks.  Lots of fragrance choices, including unscented.  I like the Lavendar and Gardenia best.

If you're moaning about your dry hands, contact TJ by clicking on his name and order up a couple of disks to try.  You can also find Soft Wind Soap on FB. You will love them.  Can you tell I've just discovered the Text Background Colour tool?  Fun!

Ciao,

Anne

Find of the Week

My hat is off to households that get kids out the door to school every morning and then back in--then to handle all the details of getting them ready to do it all again the next day.  Of course, some people struggle with getting themselves out the door!  I can relate to both. My Find of the Week was seen at Target .  This is helpful when packing lunches and snacks, whether for kids or yourself.  It's called a Chill Pack.  It's by Aladdin and the containers come in a couple of sizes, such as sandwich and snack.  They're plastic containers with lids--no big deal, I know.  But wait--they've got an ice pod attached under the lid!  LOVE THAT!  It comes right off for easy cleaning and for storing in the freezer.

 

Grandboy's sandwiches are cooler and safer, his grapes for snack stay nice and chilled.  I couldn't find a picture of the exact ones I have, but this is from their website.  They've got all kinds of things, and many of their products feature sustainable and recycled components.   I think I paid just under $5 at Target for the sandwich containers and quite a bit less for the snack container.  Maybe these have been on the market for years, but it's a find for me and it's brilliant!

Ciao,
Anne 

Find of the week is in my laundry room!

Remember this hollow core lauan door that I bought a while back at the Habitat ReStore for $2.00?

It was a beauty--no hinge marks, no doorknob hole.  It had a couple of marks on it, but barely visible.  This is what we did:

We made it into a counter over the washer and dryer!

Here's the laundry room before:

Nothing really wrong with it, (although this shot was obviously taken on a very tidy day), other than there's no place for Grandboy's shoes, which he always takes off and tosses on his way in from the garage, nor any place to put freshly dried laundry.  The basket on top is a catch-all and the little green thing is a rug where the kitty likes to sleep at night (she refuses the fancy bed I bought her).

The counter idea was from our friends, Wes and Terese.  Terese is the queen of laundry room design and once she showed me her counter top--which looks just like mine because I copied her exactly--I couldn't wait to get started.  Went to the ReStore, found the door, paid the $2.00.  Then Hub stepped in.  I'm just the instigator of projects, not the actual handyman. Hub cut the door down to the correct length.  Here it is:

He cut one end for size and then cut out where the water lines need room for the washer.  The inside of a hollow core door is SO interesting.  Lots of cardboard!  See that piece sitting on the door?  That's veneer tape that will cover up all the open edges so it ends up looking like this:

Isn't that nice?  I bought the veneer tape at Lowe's, for about $6.00 and there's a ton left for upcoming projects.  Next, Hub put 2 coats of Ebony  stain on, wiping each coat off after applying, so that we can still see the wood grain.  It makes the wood look great!  Then 3 coats of water based poly (much more expensive that oil based, but it's my preference).  Every coat of poly makes the finish look better and better.  I'm sorry I can't get a close-up picture of the wood, my camera just hates the black and looks all grainy. 

The end result is a much more useful space:

Hub did such a great job!  I got the little wire cart that sits between the washer and dryer at The Container Store here in Raleigh.  I shopped around for it and for once, The Container Store had the best price.  Now Grandboy has a place to stash his shoes when he comes in and out and they're not messy on the floor.  I placed a painting that my Mom did years ago on the counter to hide the plumbing.  A little LED puck light would be a great way to light it.  I also bought this adorable box to use as a trash basket for lint, dryer sheets, etc.:

It picks up on the gray of the cart, and the black and white of the appliances, counter and cabinet pulls and it fits on the cart.  I've got more things to do in this space--again, Terese has shown me about a dozen spacesaving laundry room ideas and I'll be implementing more of them as time allows.   Here's a photo of the window treatment in that room on the opposite wall;

It's a wacky ribbon design on faux silk and pulls the black and white across the (tiny) room.  I'll show you the Marmoleum  floor another time when I do an update on this room, but now that the counter is finished, I've given myself permission to go back to the ReStore (they have a FABulous selection of old doors) to get started on my next project!

Ciao,

Anne 

Find of the Week has been found! At Suzanna's Antiques

I popped into Suzanna's Antiques this afternoon and found this fabulous little table just for you:

It's sitting in front of the shop that says "Ye Old Trading Post."  There are so many vendors at Suzanna's that I have to really pay attention to where I see things.  This table is wood, very  nice lines and just needs a bit of sanding to make it ready for your next project.

What could you do with this?  Well, first of all, it's a perfect coffee table.  It could also be a craft table for kids.  It could be a console in front of a low window, holding plants or family photos.  It could sit on the front porch or the screened-in back porch.  It could be painted a snappy shade like lime.  Marine blue.  Coral.  Panetone's-color-of-the-year honeysuckle (pink). It could just be stained or even given a clear coat(or 3) of satin poly that lets the wood grain shine. Or how about having a stainless top fitted over it?  Better, yet, a copper one.  I'm looking for a local source to do that very thing on another old piece.

Need a creative interior designer to help you come up with ideas like this?  Well, check out my website and give me a call!

Oh!  Didn't I tell you the price on this? $15.00.  Yes indeedy, $15.  I had to take myself by the hand and walk away from it so that I could give you a fair shot at it.  I was at Suzanna's for about 10 minutes when I spotted this and had already found a couple of other "finds" to show you.  This one won out because it has the combination of decent quality to work with, nice versatile shape AND a price that can't be beat. 

 You are welcome.  Enjoy the weekend.

Ciao,

Anne

Find of the week!

Remember that the Find of the Week doesn't have to be something you can buy.  Today was a cold and rainy Friday and the Grandboy had a half day of school, so it was a fast work day for me.  The road to everywhere from my house takes me past this sight:

It's the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse!  Ok, no, it's not.  It stands in someone's yard.  If you're really lucky to pass it in the evening, you might even see it with the light on.  It makes me think of the beach--summer, sand,  sun and ocean. It also makes me think of my very favorite lighthouse:

Nubble Light in York, Maine.  Maine is a beautiful state.  The ocean is very, very cold.  The beach is quite rocky.  My favorite beach is Moody Beach in Wells, Maine.  Aren't these nice thoughts to have on a cold, rainy day in February?  All because of that little lighthouse, standing in a yard that I pass by every day.  That's a Find in my book.

Ciao,

Anne

Find of the week is here!

So the next time I tell you that Blogger is being difficult and preventing me from posting, remind me to sign in correctly and all will be resolved.  Duh.

Have you ever gone to GreenFront Interiors on Yonkers Rd. in Raleigh?  Good place to poke around.  Big place, lots of interesting items to consider.  A whole room of rugs!  Most of them are a traditional oriental sort of style, but not all.  These two caught my attention;

And here's another one:

These hooked rugs are both 5'x7' and cost....$99!  Nice way to put a little spice in a space on the cheap.  While I'm not into florals personally, I do love a large graphic statement.  This is the sort of rug that can be used in many kinds of interiors. They're playful.  Fun.  $99. 

Ciao,
Anne

Find of the week!

Readers tell me they love the "Find of the Week" feature that I've done a couple of times, so of course  I completely let it slide.  It's a good thing I'm self-employed, that's all I can say.  But I've got something for you this week.

A couple of weeks ago I spent some time checking out local thrift shops.  Oh, what fun I had!  First stop was the Habitat ReStore in Durham/Chapel Hill (on 15/501).  SUCH a great place.  You never know what you're going to find, but there's plenty of great salvaged building materials there to feed your creative spirit.  This is what I bought:

It's a lovely luan, hollow core door, untouched by human hands.  No hinges, no doorknob holes, no paint.  Measures 24 x 80, your typical inside door measurement.  It cost $2.00.  $2.00 (bears repeating).  What am I going to do with it?  You'll just have to wait and see.  But when it's done, you'll agree that it's easily the Find of the Week.  Until that time, here's another little find from the Habitat ReStore in Pittsboro (there's one in Raleigh, too--they're all over the place);

The lamp base is a very creamy ivory and it cost $12.50.  It is the kind of lamp that can be used many places in a home.  I would put a shorter harp in it (the piece that holds the shade), but that's just me. The shade (which still has the plastic wrap on it but you can tell how cute it is) was also priced at $12.50.  It's a lined lampshade in brown, cream, palest yellow and soft gray.  They had all kind of shades that day--drums, solids, patterns.  Christine put the shade on the base. She cannot stop herself from staging an area, it's a compulsion of hers and it makes me laugh so hard I often make a scene.  The ReStore people weren't that amused--they put the shade back in the pile, which made me laugh even harder. 

So the lamp and shade are my finds of the week, pictorially speaking.  But the real find is the Habitat ReStore.  It's just an amazing place with loads of creative potential in every aisle.  And it supports Habitat, what more could you want?  More?  Ok, it's very "green" design--recycle, reuse, restore.

Ciao

Anne

Find of the week

I almost didn't find a "find" this week!  It doesn't always have to be a piece of furniture.  There are no rules here.  It just has to be interesting,  useful, a real bargain or whatever I'm in the mood for.  So this week it's something very useful in home decor.  But first, let me introduce to you When Pigz Fly, a lovely shop on Six Forks Rd. in North Raleigh.  I've gone by it many times and have wondered about it, but finally stopped in yesterday.  Loved it!  Here are some pictures:

Does this look familiar?  It sits, all by itself,  in a residential part of Six Forks Rd.  The owner, Diane, is there Wednesday through Sunday, from 11:00-7:00.  Pay attention to those hours so you don't frustrate yourself.

It's a small shop, but between the areas outside and inside, there are lots of things to see and buy.  This picture only shows you one corner.

Fair trade items, local artists, NC products abound. The lovely artwork above the shelf is by Susan Dahlin Bashford, a Raleigh artist.  Ornaments, soap, handbags, scarfs, clothing, jewelry, food, metal art, antiquey pieces, garden sculptures, cards, oh, I've got to stop because I know I'm leaving out a ton.  This is a great place for interesting pieces for the home as well as gifts for teachers, hostesses, friends, etc. 

Ok, here's the Find of the Week;

See these hooks hanging from a metal basket?  I believe the tag says $3 each.  You know when you see those beautiful handblown glass balls in stores and galleries, or some lovely thing that you know would be perfect  in your home dangling in a window, casting off light, color and interesting shadows, but you have no idea how you're going to hang it so you just pass on by?  Wow, that was a long sentence.  Well here's the answer.

I'm going to buy some of these to hang off the curtain rod in the living room in the big window.  Then I'm going to hang vintage Christmas ornaments that I've had forever on the ends.  I'll do this after Thanksgiving.  That's my plan anyway.  But I could think of 100 things to hang from these hooks that will look great, and not just for the holidays.

I hope Diane has lots of these in stock.  While you're there, be sure to really look around and scoop up some of  the other items in the store.  They won't be there if you think you can come back later.  She has a great eye, lots of customers, lovely, unique items for sale AND she's far from the mall, so you will totally enjoy your shopping experience.

Really, this whole store was a find.

Ciao,

Anne



Find of the week

There's a nice antique mall once again in Cameron Village!  Cheshire Cat Gallery is downstairs, right next door to Accipiter.  The address is 2050 Clark Ave, Raleigh.  Store phone is 919-835-9595.  They have a nice mix of vendors, with new ones coming in all the time.  Remember when Raleigh Antique Mall was there--it was such a good place and I've missed it terribly.  AND, if that's not enough good news, it's also the latest location for hipsteria, which is a wonderful source for mid century modern finds!

Here's a photo of the hipsteria area.  Ohhhh, ahhhh.

And that leads me to this week's "Find of the Week"  It's in the hipsteria booth.

This is a Wieman coffee table with Italian marble top.  Long and thin.  My guess is that it's about 60" long by 16" wide.   Lovely legs.  Perfect height.  Very clean lines, very beautiful top.  We're always looking for a fab coffee table, are we not?  Well here is a fab coffee table.  $289.00   It's still in the shop as I type this, I just checked.
Ciao,
Anne

Find of the week

Did I mention that I went to Hunt & Gather this week?  The one at 8724 Glenwood Ave..  Always plenty of interesting things there.  It's where I found the Find of the Week and here it is:

I'm so sorry I didn't note the price--I think it was something like $225.  As I often look for in my Finds, it's the kind of piece that's very versatile.  This would look great in many places in a home.  You could paint it or you could so leave it just as it is.  It's small in scale, but useful, and made out of pretty wood.  I like the little turned legs with stretchers.  I know, it kinda reminds me of the rocking chair that was a Find just two weeks ago.  I must be lovin' sweet furniture lately.  Hey, we all need sweet, homey touches in our houses.

I'd leave the finish alone, put a cushion made out of a colorful contemporary graphic fabric with contrasting welting and I'd use it to sit down and take off my sneakers when I got home from the Teeter.  Then I'd kick those sneakers underneath the bench till 45 minutes later when I head out once again!

Ciao,

Anne