Tag Archives: house

A New Look For My Wall Rack

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If you’ve been reading along, you know I’m a bargain hunter. Hunting for goodies at thrift stores, Cost Plus World Market, and Marshall’s for home decor is my hobby! Okay, maybe not but I really enjoy doing it.

One knows that you can never have enough wall racks in your bedroom. I have two but it’s weird how my clothes still like to leave a path on the floor of where I walk. Does that happen to you too? Strange right?

Recently I came across a wall coat rack at Marshall’s for $10 in the clearance area. It was on sale because someone had put some nail polish paint on the corner and a knob was missing. I couldn’t pass up such a good deal and had to have it!

Marshall's Find

All I saw was potential!

Marshall's rack

I love the grain of the boards and the marbling of the knobs. I didn’t reuse the knobs for this project, but I’m going to save them for something else. Nowadays there are so many decorative knobs. The Anthropology knobs are swoon-worthy, but for $8 a knob, that’s almost the price of my wall rack! Nope… cannot. Fortunately I went to Cost Plus World Market and came across adorable knobs for $1.99 a piece. Done!

Knobs I love the colors of these knobs and how they are different. The blue helps bring them all together.

First off, I sanded down the rack so that new paint could stick and so that the nail polish paint was gone. I put a fresh coat of paint on the wall rack, a light and sheer white to make it a lighter color. The sheerness also allows the grain detail to show through. Then I took off the old knobs and screwed in the new colorful ones. This is the final product:

Done!

It’s hanging in our bedroom, and it’s the first thing you see when you walk in. I just need to be careful to not put my delicates on the rack so that guests don’t see!

What do you think of the revamped wall rack? Is this something you can do? How many coat racks do you have in your bedroom, and do you need more too?

Happy deal hunting,
Jay
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White Frost Acrylic Paint by FolkArt

Mismatched Chairs

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Redecorating the house has been somewhat of a challenge. What’s my style? What color palettes are neutral, which ones are warm? What are your favorite patterns? Favorite materials?

The ultimate answer – whatever you like!

Tip 1: Don’t go by the books. Pick out pieces that you love! Use colors that you wear a lot, because those are colors you won’t get sick of.

Tip 2: Have an idea of the style you like (whether it be modern, rustic, vintage, classic, or colonial). Sign up for sites like One King’s Lane and Joss and Main and look at different styles. Look at the furniture pieces within each style, and shop around for similar pieces.

Tip 3: Check out these places for some great deals!

With that said, I love the farmhouse/rustic look. I also love the Ikat design (what’s Ikat?). And who doesn’t love a good ol’ bench? That’s a lot of different things!

I did some Googling and found out that mismatched chairs are actually a popular look!  So in the end, I picked out different chairs to match a rustic (with a mix of modern) stone top table. If you have any excess furniture that doesn’t match your current style anymore, feel free to donate them through services such as Salvation Army Pickup.

My mismatched chairsWhat do you think?

Chairs
Love me a nice wooden chair!

ikat & bench
Here’s an up-close of one of my Ikat chairs and my bench!

Here are some other mismatched dining sets that I found online. Super cute!

Mismatched Chairs
Here’s one with all wooden chairs that have different backings.

Mismatched Chairs
This one has a very farmhouse feel.

Mismatched Chairs
Like this idea for outdoor furniture too!

How do you feel about the mismatched chairs look? And I want to know what places you go to for house decor and furniture.

Love, Jay

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My dining set is from Cost Plus World Market
Links: 1, 2, 3

Nerd Party & Antiques

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What do you do during a 3-day weekend?

Let the husband plan one day.
Rest another.
Let the wife plan the last.

This makes everyone happy!

Husband’s plan:
Host a LAN party, aka nerd hangout. Props to you if you know what LAN stands for… anyone? MG invited his childhood friends, and they all brought over their laptops and PCs. After stuffing our faces with turkey weenies in a blanket, triple chocolate brownies, caramel chocolate chip cookies, guacamole, and garlic fries… After a few sodas and a few beers… After 2 hours of configuration and downloading (4 routers, 10 people hardwired into the cable, 2 on wifi, lots of IT knowledge), we were finally ready to game. I know we’ll also have a great bonding experience if we play online casino games or do sports betting on 메리트카지노.

Here’s the gang (we had to get an extra table at Costco the morning of).

LAN

LAN Players

The Milkcrate
Pretty cool set up right? Even if you’re not a nerd, you have to appreciate this (at least the hosting aspect of it)! Also this picture directly above ^^^, that’s MG’s cousin Brian. He built his own computer, at least it’ll never heat up right? We named thee, “The Milkcrate.” Don’t hate! If you want to build your own state-of-the-art setup as well, the good news is there are tons of gaming pc that costs less than $100.

We played Team Fortress 2. It’s a first-person shooter game, with missions, like capturing bases, unlocking sectors on the map, and pushing a cart down a rail. I basically bum rushed people and set them on fire. I was an amazing Pyro. Proof? Look at the screen grab below. Yay! Obviously this was a one-time thing – I was usually towards the bottom. Heh. So we decided with our guildies to buy some WoW TBC Classic Gold and keep it stocked as items in our guild bank for raid usage later.

Team Fortress

Wife’s Plan:
On Monday, we went to Danville (my first time), and it’s an adorable little town in the North Bay. We walked around downtown, and the city is lined with antique shops. You can call me Explorer Jay, because I LOOOVE antiquing. Look at how lovely this place is:

Danville Sites
The town is full of shops like these.

Crafts in Danville
Perfect for crafting!

Antiques
Antique bottles, vases, and gadgets galore!

Had a little bit of fun in front of a mirror at an antique shop:

Just for fun

It was SO HOT. So we took a break and got some Starbucks. Always a delicious treat!

Break time

More importantly, look what I found for the house!!!

Shelf
Only $10!
I will be putting this above the toilet in our guest bathroom. I’ll be revamping this just a bit! Stay tuned…

Bench
Only $15!
This bench has SO much potential. It’ll be going downstairs so that people can sit and put their shoes on. Reupholster the seat and fresh paint will give this bench new life! A reupholstery tutorial to come soon…

CabinetNow, this is my favorite piece so far. Only $20 at the Salvation Army (OMG and still in great condition)!
I’ve been looking for a storage unit to go in my living room, so that I can put away some of my appliances since our kitchen space is limited. I am going to tint the wood, add some hardware pieces, and it’s going to look fabulous. DIY tutorial on this later as well.

I’m really excited for these projects. As you can see, this will be keeping me busy for a while!

What did you do this weekend?

Thrifting Finds!

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Patience is the key to thrifting. Look down every aisle. Then retrace your steps and look down the aisles again, because employees are constantly restocking items and people are continually rethinking their items and putting things down.

I had been going to the Alameda Point Antiques Faire for the past couple of months, but I always left disappointed and empty handed. Don’t get me wrong, lots to look at! Really great stuff, but everything comes with a large price tag. However, I do encourage you to check it out if you haven’t gone before, especially if you live in the Bay Area. The Faire happens the first Sunday of every month with hundreds and hundreds of vendors. Keep in mind there is a fee to enter (the earlier you go, the higher the entrance fee). More info on the Faire here. Have you been to the Faire? What did you like about it?

Anyway, back on track. My college roommate, Sarah, reintroduced me to thrifting. I’m pleased to say that it’s back in my life again! I’ve primarily been looking at house goods and rarely have the patience to check out clothing items. Look at my loot!

Lamp – $3 (Now I need a shade)
Chubs’ feeding stool – $5.50
Antique plate – $2

Thrift Finds

I’m now in the process of looking for a cute buffet table that I can revamp.

What do you think of my finds? Do you go thrifting? If so, what do you like to look at?

Love, Jay