The Ones That Got Away

Perhaps it's happened to you. 

That item you saw at a sale, a store or a thrift store.

You thought for a moment too long, went back to get it and it was gone.

Drat! If only you hadn't hesitated.

I've had a few of my own.  I even have examples of some of them. 

Because apparently, I am a crazy person

and like I to relive the sting of the fabulous ones that got away.

At Oronoco over the summer; Why oh why didn't I buy this old top hat?

I could have used it to decorate 10 times since then. Sheesh.
I even posed with it. But did I buy it? No.

This darling  vintage child's vintage kitchen play set,  $20.

Left it behind.... Sob. I'm still cryin' over it.

At a garage sale I went to in California this past Fall.

This darling little end table was $3 - and had been marked down from $5.

Nobody was even looking at it.  Poor lonely table. Tons of potential.

If I only could have packed it to take home.

Then the delightful antique mirrors. A garage sale over the summer.

They were $50 each. If only I'd had the extra cash. But, I had to pass them up.

Sigh. They were stunning.

One  of the most tragic 'if only stories' was when Linda and I were garage sailing a couple of summer ago.   It was at a city wide sale. At one house, there was a fantastic antique child's bedroom set.         Totally Fantastic.

Mouldings, turnings, hardware, everything. OLD. We spotted it in the morning. It was still there later in the afternoon. We talked to the homeowner, offered him cash for the set. He had a set price (can't remember what it was).  But, since it was the end of the day, we were hoping he'd bargain. He didn't.   We offered him either $120 or $150. We pooled our cash and offered him what he had left.  

 He said;

"He'd rather put it is his truck and take it to goodwill, give it away and get the tax write-off."

In fact, he said he was going to load it up and take it there as soon as the sale was over.

He was very smug. This perplexed us greatly and annoyed us beyond belief.

 He absolutely wouldn't let us buy it. A total shame. It still irks us.  Meanie!

Oh Well. Darn. Dang. Diggity.
(there's always next year.)

xo Jeanne.

It's Official: Projectitis.

The diagnosis: Projectitis: (pro-ject-eye-tis); 

The condition in which

a fabulously creative individual

may get carried away with projects.

I've been diagnosed by professionals, Dr. Krylon and Nurse Kilz. 

The condition was manageable at first.  It developed from a garage sale find here, a thrift store deal there. It manifested itself in the shape of a crappy bowl I knew I could whip into shape ‘in no time at all.'  I could change the smallest thing from blah to fabulous.  It would just take a quick paint job.  This continued for years, the symptoms quietly unnoticed. 

The warning signs escalated when I began

to gasp out loud when approaching objects that had ‘potential’. 

Soon, my legs would propel my body towards said objects and I had no recourse other than to lift my hands and hold the wonderfully chippy old objects with this

potential for greatness.  

As the disease progressed, a gleam in my eyes developed.

This gleam appears stronger in the presence of  “junk.”

Rust became my friend.  

 Rust soon became friends with Patina and Distressed. 

 The disorder took a serious turn when I began developing a strong affinity for “Repurposing.” 

Colanders became light fixtures. Kitchen utensils became door pulls.  

Coffee bean bags have become curtains.   

Enamelware possibilities - endless.   Books becoming shelves.

 Nothing could stop me.

But then, Projectitis spread to my husband and children.  

My husband, being an innocent bystander.

 My “Honey, I have and idea!” turned into..

"Could 'we' spray the whole open beam ceiling white?!”

and “Can’t you just put together this wall, today ?” 

He is a bit confused at the rate of speed in which my Projectitis can manifest and multiply.

(previous projects may not actually be done. evidence may be left behind.)

The poor children, they have built up no resistance.

My daughter is turning silver trays in to magnet boards and straw containers into makeup brush holders.  She’s even taking a liking to........ milk glass. Sigh.  

My son wants to paint the Periodic Table of Elements on the wall and

 the industrial roof fan ($9.99 !)to be his room light. I have no recourse but to comply.

The 'yours' hook threw itself into my cart...

and will be fabulous towel hook in the big change bathroom.

The known side effects of Projectitis are wildly under appreciated. 

An 'on the cheap' yet fabulously decorated home may result.

However, paint may remain on your fingernails indefinitely

 and the most serious side effects may include

driving around aimlessly looking for garage sales.

Unfortunately, the only known remedies are:

 “No cash in bank account.” and

“Put the damn check card away.” 

 As it turns out, I am immune to such gibberish.

xo Jeanne!

Progress on The Closet Doors.

The road to the new closet doors is a messy one, but well worth it.

I was highly impressed my the Cabinet Maker's dust control system. 

Behind the plastic, there was power tools, elbow grease and old plaster.

We can't figure out why the door originally made so short.

It's not a supporting wall and there was nothing above the opening.

The new hole is big.

All that closet space was hiding in there.

She's going to be Fabulous!!

The Cabinet Maker (aka:husband) wants to search for matching vintage hardware.

I can't complain. Have at it, Honey.

So close!

So very close.

{Stay inspired.}

xo Jeanne

Linda's House: The Pantry Door.

A few posts ago,
 I included a picture of Decorating co-captain Linda's 
completely fabulous pantry door.

Here's the story behind it.

It all began last year when the pantry went from...........

     This:                                      To This:

The new darling pantry was hidden by this door on the left:

(0r, door #1)

Why hide such an adorable pantry? So the search began for just the right door.

Linda searched high and low. It couldn't be just any ordinary door.

This sucker had to be fabulous.

And then, this was spotted on Craigslist:

$85.00

Perfectly vintage.

 Sold! to the door seeking lady.

It became 'Archie'.  

He was spiffed up, and restored.

He was fitted with old hardware found on Etsy.

'Public Phones' was found at Junk Bonanza last Fall.

Now the darling pantry has an equally darling door.

It brings light into the kitchen and gives dimension to the room.

It's dreamy.

To top it off, read what Linda had to say about the door's history:

"My husband told his parents about the new door and that they bought it from the people who live in the old Jepson house (they all knew who this was), and he described it a bit, his mom said;

 “Oh!  You have a Marine door!  I’ve always wanted a Marine door.”

 Apparently they are famous. Well … famous amongst the old-school Marine people. Many of the older homes in Marine have them because the guy who made them was from Marine.  They are known for the double arched windows. Who knew?

Not only am I in love with Archie,  but apparently he is practically a collector’s item. I contacted the seller this morning, and they do still have another one … may go buy it for the m-i-l to put in her new farmhouse."

Linda did indeed go buy the other one as a house warming gift for her inlaws.

  Super cool. 

That's the Story of a Door Named Archie.

(who was busy raising two arches of his own...they were two arches living all together,

but they were all alone. Until the one day when Archie met this lady.....)

(you know you're singing it.)

xo Jeanne.

Oh So Fabulous: Closet Doors.

Fantastic.

Soon to be the bedroom closet doors.

 Last weekend when Decorating co-captain Linda and I were painting the bedroom,

she pointed out that the closet door was much shorter than the average door. 

(In a previous post, I mentioned that we painted it grey so it would blend into the room.)

Which would be fine if we were ordinary people.

But we are not ordinary people. 

We named it The Hobbit Door. 

Henceforth, throughout the week anything weird that happened -

we blamed on the Hobbit that lives in my newly noticed short closet. Clearly.

Linda decided the short hobbit closet simply would not do.

To remedy this, she offered a set of vintage doors

she had stored in her garage...that would be just perfect for the spot. 

  

Won't they be fabulous?!

They are heavy old suckers. They are leaning up where they will go.

Linda and I dragged them out of her garage in 14 degree weather.

That's commitment.

Don't all darling friends......

just happen to have the perfect set of chippy old doors

stored in the garage... and they give them to you?

Of course, it helps to have the super handy Cabinet Maker Husband

who can widen the opening and make a new door jamb.

(I have once again bribed him sufficiently with a steak dinner and carrot cake.)

"What's one more project, Honey? Dear? More cake?"

Seriously, I am spoiled beyond belief.

xo Jeanne.

The journal made me Draw It.

A few years back - before the blog,

 I had let the creative side of me get lost and I needed to find it.

Really needed to find it. 

So I made a drawing journal. 

 I bought a drawing pad and vamped it up with scrapbook paper and chipboard.

 I named it "Me, Alive."

When I had a picture in my head, I drew it.

I drew what I wanted.

Not perfect.

I didn't care what anybody thought.

I drew for me.

I drew me, unraveling and finding myself.

I drew fairies.

It did the trick. I got creative after a long time of trying to reign it in.

Why did I ever stop drawing? It's great therapy and clears my head.

It awakened the artist in me and helped to create bees knees bungalow.

I'm so glad I took the risk, made the book and let myself play.

And play I do.

 

Won't you play too?

xo Jeanne.

I'm linking this post up to http://shabbynest.blogspot.com/.

There are over 350 blogs linked up.. have fun!

 

Room For Change.

 On Saturday,

I had planned to move my son's bedroom upstairs and move ours downstairs.

 I've been planning this for weeks.

Painting the 'new' master bedroom was to be the big move forward.

But, everything in sight was a mess and I was overwhelmed.

I quickly found that I was in need of another pair of hands.

I called Decorating co-captain Linda.

She came to my rescue. I owe much more than the caffeine & chocolate we ate.

This was our project: Bedroom Makeover.

This was the room I redid last year that my son and daughter shared for a bit.

Now that they have their own rooms,

it was time the Cabinet Maker and I moved back into it.

He added crown moulding, Yes!

The new wall and ceiling colors, Fabulous!

We painted this door and moulding solid, as we didn't want it to be a focal point of the room.

 It needed to disappear. It did. *poof*

This is just a teaser as to the changes taking place.

Before - big bad scary fan:

After - fabulous new fixture (teaser!):

I know this is a gigantic teaser for all of you.

But I promise - The end is near, so very near.

All furniture is moved. 

Something I do not want to repeat anytime soon,

since the rooms are on two different floors.

Even the Boy who didn't want to move upstairs - smiled as he crawled into his bed.

 The new master bedroom is looking quite homey and fabulous.

Just a few more touches of the good stuff.

I'll have it up with full details faster than you can say

"Where did I put my reading glasses?"

(Quandie, I can't thank you enough for your help.

You are one in a million.)

xo Jeanne.

Aqua Bulb Bribery

Confession. I found these a few days before Christmas.

It was too late for me to do much with them.

Ninty Nine cents for each box.  I could hardly just leave them at Goodwill.

I tried to walk away.  I promise, I did.

But each little vintage aqua bulb kept staring at me all pathetic and needy.

"Jeanne, Jeanne."  They peeped.

 "Please don't leave us here, all vintagey and lonely. We're aqua for pete's sake."

I had a Woolworth's near me growing up.  It closed down years ago.

I picked up the 2 boxes, carried them around a bit, then put them back.

'Nah, I don't need them. More stuff to store.' 

 I kept telling myself this.

Yeah right. Who am I kidding. 

I came to my senses, went back and picked them up.

"thank you, thank you." they piped up again as I laid my 2 bucks down.

Sheesh. Aqua Weakness.

xo Jeanne.