Thrifty monkey momma....

So my husband has been super busy working to finish a guest bedroom in our basement.... the killer thing about building a new home (6-1/2 years ago) is that sometimes the budget doesn't always allow to have the basement finished.... not to mention, that a builder cannot be fully trusted to give you exactly what you want.... our quasi-philosophy is if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself.... I think this holds true for many things in life; of course, there are always exceptions to this rule too ;) ....

Aaaanyway, back to the reason why I've brought you all here.... I, monkey-mamma, get to paint, furnish and decorate a room from blank canvas to cozy-home-away-from-home finish! From. Scratch. I know you're probably all thinking that I got to do that when we moved into our shiny new house 6-1/2 years ago. Well, you're partially right; but, this is different. I have to purchase 99.9% of everything that will be entering this room.... So, in that respect, this is something that I've not had the pleasure to do in my whole history as a slave to the mortgage gods and goddesses. We've always had stuff to go in the rooms we were furnishing.... stuff from family, stuff we had, stuff we settled for....

This is so much more exciting, as I am determined to decorate this room with oodles of simply-stated style and at as little cost as humanly possible. So in comes my self-inflicted challenge: purchase and re-purpose. I am committed to purchasing new-to-me, previously-loved items and re-finishing, re-purposing, re-whatever needs to be done to make it exactly what I want!

So, off the checklist so far are a dresser and nightstand, which we found at a liquidation centre for 50% off the lowest ticketed price.... what. a. steal. They're nicely constructed and fit in with my clean and simple cottagey vision. Ok, yes. I just said previously-loved, and re-purpose... but, I think this still loosely fits within that criteria.... I need to remove the brass (ewww, yuck) hardware and spray paint it with a hammered antique black finish.... does that count as a re-purpose???? I think so. And yesterday while thrifting my favourite thrift store (aptly named THRIFT STORE), I spotted the perfect lamp! SCORE!!! For $3.00! DOUBLE SCORE!!! Here it is....


Isn't it pretty??? And it's in A1 condition except for the paint chip at the bottom edge of the base. It's a wooden base painted in a nice and creamy colour, the shade is a tightly woven wicker. Of course to fit with my plan, both the base and shade will be given new life with some fresh paint. I'll definitely be sharing an after photo once this little guy has undergone his extreme makeover....

I am so fortunate that my kids, even my 2 year old Ham, LOVE to browse and rummage through anything that's old and well-loved. They really seem to appreciate the idea of re-using whenever possible. And they love learning about what things were used for; especially in the case of odd or weird (to them) looking kitchen gadgets. So yesterday, while searching for some interesting items, I came across this little lovely....


I had to have it. And for only $2.00, my true love for Pyrex was able to shine through. I had so much fun with my oldest guy researching the piece when we got home. We found out that the piece is part of the Blue Horizon line released by Pyrex USA in 1970-71.... so funny that I would gravitate toward something that was released around the time I was born. On the downside.... I think I've awakened a monster. I cannot get this little casserole dish out of my head. I triple washed it as soon as we got home and used it to serve steamed broccoli and cauliflower with dinner. I keep thinking that I should be stopping into this store every week to find more Pyrex pieces.... because I have soooo much space in my little shoebox to store this stuff. What to do, what to do.

Of course, the monkeys didn't come away empty handed.... thrift stores are a haven for games, puzzles and books at garage sale prices. They each picked one thing for themselves and were very happy with their finds. All totalled; we came away with the lamp, the casserole dish, 2 books and one Pokemon puzzle for the low-low bargain basement price of $6.00 plus taxes. Yay, indeed!

What are your favourite thrifty finds? Do you enjoy the love of the hunt as much as I do? I'll be sharing more thrifty guest bedroom finds as this process moves along, so stay tuned! Have a great sunday everyone ;)