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

I like this room makeover!

House Beautiful, February, 2011

I just finished reading the new issue of House Beautiful and found this great "One-Day Makeover" in it's pages.  It's got lots of good ideas.  Above you see the "before" room.  Large but narrow space, good light coming in.  What the homeowner was doing was using 2 sofas, back to back.  So we're looking at the blue sofa, but there's a white one right behind it.  It makes for difficult conversation and narrow aisles on each side of the room.  Poor use of space.  Kind of boring.

Room by Healing & Barsanti

So here's the "after" shot.  Love the new floor plan. Not sure if you can tell, but there's a dining table and chairs at the far end of the room.  Great use of space.  Love the vibrant artwork on the left wall and the purple lamp.  I like how the white coffee table gives the eye a place to rest amid all the color.  Not sure I'd have chosen those drapes, but I'm quibbling.  They pulled blue and purple throughout the room and that's one of my all time favorite color combinations.  That tie dye rug is delicious and all the furniture looks useful and comfortable.

It's not a boring room anymore!  Very liveable and attractive.  This is a room that would make me smile!

Ciao,

Anne