It all started with the Headboard....

...And ended with re-decorating our ENTIRE room. Well, it needed it to say the least. Granted we have only been married and living together for two months now so it's not as though this was an overdue project or anything. I just had the itch to make our PB&J apartment our home. I posted on facebook a teaser picture of our room before....

Bland...boring...but live-able. All I wanted to do was make a new upholstered headboard....and the ITCH hit me...add pillows paint the wall...rearrange lamps...and finally restore that old chandelier that's been sitting in the corner of our apartment.

DRUM ROLL PLEASEEEEE....

EEEEEEEKKKKK!! I mean seriously, I feel like I am on CLOUD 9!!! The best part is...the TOTAL makeover cost $138. NO JOKE!! The headboard cost $103. Fixing the wiring on the chandelier $5 and the paint was $30.

I can't wait to blog in detail about how to make the headboard and also how we cleaned up the chandelier :)

I have to give a BIG THANK YOU to my darling HB...for his patience, tool box and handiness...I don't know what I would do without that amazing man in my life.

I hope you enjoy!! And thank you in advance for any comments....i really enjoy reading them and connecting with my readers!!

XOXO,

Mrs. S



Hunny Buns(HB) scored some KILLER DEALS!!

My darling husband has started me on this craze to complete my mirrored furniture collection ever since he gifted me with my first piece on our wedding day....the gorgeous three drawer borghese dresser. From there we found our coffee table and side table on craigslist and bargained our way down to an incredible price.

Fast forward to a few week later and Brett scored the deal of the century on some furniture that definitely need/ed our help but were things that couldn't be passed up.

So here is how it happened...a few months ago my mom sent me an email saying that one of our favorite "kitchy" stores was going out of business, Mainly Seconds on Tustin Avenue in Orange.

As the weeks passed the deals going on in that store kept getting better and better...I happened to stop by the week before the closing to find bare shelves and whole lot of broken furniture leftovers. I briefly perused the aisles until I came to the glorious mirrored furniture corner where just about everything was held together by saran wrap and tape. There I saw a gorgeous six drawer hutch, that was missing two drawers and all of the knobs...marked for $299 with 60% off. I tried bargaining with the salesperson but with no luck I walked out of the store empty handed. The following week I called the store to see when their last day of business was and just about flipped when they said they were closing their doors for good in ONE HOUR!!! I immediately called Brett to see if he could run over and just browse through the leftovers to see if there was ANYTHING that could be salvaged at a good price.

And here is where he hit the HOME RUN...he scored not ONE but TWO mirrored pieces for TWENTY FIVE DOLLARS!!! I KID YOU NOT!!! $12.50 per piece!! I just about fell out of my chair when he told me that!! He purchased the six drawer hutch and a side table that has a small broken piece of glass in one corner but other than that its perfect!!

As you can see I filled the two spaces where the drawers are missing with beautiful crystal candle holders and replaced the knobs with some floral ones I found at Home Goods for $5. (Pardon the tool box and project to be of reconstructing the vintage chandelier on the floor)

And then we have the side table...I tried to get a close up of the crack...it won't cost much to have the mirror replaced thankfully :) I'm going to paint the white part gold to match the rest of the furniture.

And then just a few (poor quality camera phone) pictures to show you the three drawer and matching Borghese side table in our room. Things are finally starting to come together in our little PB&J apartment :)

More than anything I would LOVE to paint the walls and hang curtains etc etc...but I just have to keep thinking "this is not your FOREVER home....just temporary....you will soon have a house where HB will let you decorate your little heart out!!!"

Update: Scored HUGE savings at Joannes fabrics with an online coupon and digging through the last call bin...found the fabric for the headboard!! Can't spill anymore than that though :) STAY TUNED!!

XOXO,

Mrs. S

Newest Obsession: Rose Bowl Flea Market

If any of you lucky and fabulous readers live in or around the LA area you MUST go to the Rose Bowl Flea Market at some point in your life. It is a for sure bucket list item!! The Flea Market is held the 2nd Sunday of every month and I had the privilege of going this past Sunday with two wonderful people, my cousin Brooke and dear friend Amber. Brooke has been visiting the flea market along with other fabulous vintage shops for years and taught me the tricks of the trade as we walked along the rows and rows of booths and "shops".

I happened to find some incredible things while I was there and drooled over a bajillion other items too...here is what I walked away with :

Crystal Chandelier Floor Lamp

Set of Turquoise Brushes and Hand Mirror (reminds me of a set my mom has)

And a cake stand with a glass top...for now I filled it with a broken tea cup candle and placed it on top of another cake stand.

What I find hilarious about the fact of now becoming obsessed with the flea market is that I do not consider myself a "digger" by any means. I hate "digging" for clothes at stores like Forever 21 or vintage stores...but this is more of a mission. Shops are continuously putting out new items throughout the day and bargaining is totally accepted. I'm on the hunt for new places like this in the OC/LA area!!

Any recommendations friends??

On a side note...I'm totally on a kick to start working on our upholstered bed. HB is out of town on business right now so I must be patient for his return to help me work the Jig Saw...I did purchase the Nail Head trim #5 for $8 on eBay though :)

Stay tuned for more....I'll blog about bargain furniture Brett picked up from a store that was closing!!

XOXO

Mrs S.

Cool Down with a Blueberry Lemon Drop

Ugh is it HOTTTTT!!! WOOOOOWEEEE....and it's Friday therefore all I can think about is my little boo boo's party tomorrow and cool bevies!!

First of all Lets start of with a VERY VERY HAPPY ONE YEAR BIRTHDAY to little boo boo bunny BRODY!! Here he is enjoying his first cupcake on Tuesday!!

He is having a very special Dr. Seuss themed bash...Obvi he is Thing 1!!

Next Topic of discussion is a fabulous Blueberry Lemon Drop Martini that will keep you cool this weekend!! This is my newest and most favorite drink du jour:)

This is the recipe I found online...but i made my own modifications as shown in PINK...

Blueberry Lemon Drop

3/4 shot Absolut citron
3/4 shot Stolichnaya blueberry vodka
1/2 ounce fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 1/2 ounces simple syrup (sugar and water)  EEW GROSS!! Use Agave nectar instead...just a few drops goes a LONG way!! Shake with crushed ice, strain, serve in martini glass with sugar around rim. No Sugar needed!!
Garnish with a couple of blueberries. Better with the lemon slice...blueberries can get mushy and they stain your teeth! YIKES! 

AND VOILA!! You have the perfect summer sizzler!!

Keep Cool and Check back soon for some design updates!!

XOXO, Mrs S

Update!! Update!! Bella blue bell is complete!!

You know when you spray paint so much your pointer finger and thumb are all noodley?? Yea I have that!!! Butttttt after many hours of painting, potting and primping my newest piece of decor is (almost) COMPLETE!! I have named her Bella Blue Belle as you can tell from the title and she is perfect:)

I started this piece of junk...

Bought a few cans of spray paint from Home Depot...each under $3!! (Please note that I changed the color from Paprika to Satin Turquoise)

Took each part and spray painted them separately.  I made sure to do 2 coats of paint to completely cover over any preexisting "stains" on the cabinet and then let them air dry for 30 minutes.

Once dry, I reassembled the cabinet and placed it in the corner of the patio (Also the best area of sunlight to shade ratio during the day). As you can see I have the flowers up above which included Ivy, Lavender and purple and yellow perennial geraniums.

HB  punched holes into the bottom to help rust from forming on the inside.  I'm sure our neighbors loved that hammering noise!!

I then filled both drawers to the BRIM with Miracle Grow potting Mix ($6 for the large bag) and lightly packed it down. I put the geraniums in the bottom drawer since there would be more shade and the lavender on the top drawer since it can withstand more sun. Each drawer also has 3 ivy plants to help create the "dripping" effect I would eventually like to see from the plants.

After a little TLC and creativity...I GIVE YOU BELLA BLUE BELL!!!

Soon enough the plants will start to grow outside of the boxes and form the overgrown look I am trying to achieve. I am also going to add some hardware to the outside of the drawers to give it a more vintage look and make name tags for each of the flowers represented.

the one thing I love about DIY projects is that they are always changing....maybe next year ill paint it a new color....in a few months I may change out the plants....who knows!!

Hope you enjoyed this Dime Design!! Up next is the challenge of repairing a vintage chandelier from the 40's....

xoxo,

Mrs. S

Recycled Resourcefulness: The Art of Making Something Old...NEW!

So my adorable Husbunny and I moved into an apartment a month ago and have been spending double duty trying to make it a very chic form of "us". I have to commend my husband for all of his hard work...installing chandeliers, dusting Tiffany's boxes and dealing with me rearranging three vases for 45 minutes until I placed them in the same exact position they started in. He takes my neurotocism (is that a word?...just spell checked and no it's not but just work with me here) with stride.

Let me begin by describing our apartment and the owner of this lovely multi family unit. His name is Art and he is ancient...and utterly adorable. He and his wife live down the street in a very nice neighborhood and collect...EVERYTHING. The apartment is a one bedroom stuck in the middle of two, two story apartments...so basically we are the PB&J between two glorious pieces of Wonderbread. The apartment is fairly dark with dark beige carpets, old appliances, no lights in the bedroom and a nasty bathroom...BUT it's ours. Our goal in finding an apartment was to find something live-able until we can buy something...HOPEFULLY within the year. The patio is large and overlooks a CVS parking lot but if you look straight out all you can see are trees and mountains...and we have an incredible breeze.

I wish I had taken "before" pictures of the apartment so you could get an idea of what we started with. It took a lot of elbow grease to clean the place up but it's in pretty good shape now.

NOW...to get to my post!!!

The prior renters left us an assortment of children's toys under the oven and an old two drawer filing cabinet full of band aids (EEEW!) and old rusty hangers. I mean obviously those should be stored together...Rust and Band aids go hand in hand, right?!? So, I had this GENIUS idea the other night to turn our drab patio into an island oasis.... Minus the water and minus the sand...OKAY just an oasis! In order to do so we needed Plants...and lots of them! But...I didn't want to spend the money on some gorgeous pots I had my eye on at Home Goods...so I did what an domestic goddess would do...ILL MAKE MY OWN PLANTER!!

Hooray for the leftover Filing Cabinet!!! I cleaned that bad boy out last night (gag!), spent $30 at home depot and purchased, 6 ivy plants, 2 lavender plants, 6 containers of moss, and some other flowers I cant remember their names, plus soil and 2 cans of spray paint.


Well...this idea in my mind is a grand one and I have yet to make it so I will update as soon as it's made and let you know how it goes WITH before and after photos!!!...wish me LUCK little lovies!!

XOXO,

Mrs. S