Some more accessory finds!

The last couple of weeks, I have found some GREAT deals on accessories. Just wanted to share a few:

This is the little $60 Ikea shelf/console in our foyer. We just bought the kitty sculptures today. I think both of them together were $10 at TJ Maxx. We also found the cube basket today for $7 on clearance. I only wish they had 2 so that we had one for the bottom righthand cube as well. I would like to eventually find a spot for the kitties in our as-yet extremely sparse loft, but for now this is a good spot for them.


I'm still struggling with this little corner shelf unit. We picked it up for $10 at a flea market before we moved into the house. The shelves are really small and don't hold much. I seemed to have started to collect bird figurines, so for now they have a home on the awkward little corner shelf here in the loft. This is DEFINITELY a work in progress. I'd like to add some small picture frames, candle holders, and maybe some kind of miniature houseplant. I don't know, I'm still looking for inspirations on what to do here. The three birds on the second and fourth shelves were a set purchased at Kirklands for $8. The little vases were $1 each at the Salvation Army, and the bird at the top was $2 in the clearance section of TJ Maxx.


I was looking for some black & white floral art for the loft and came across these at Kohls. They were $30 each and I had a $50 giftcard, so only $10 out of pocket! Now I just need to decide where to hang them...


Time for a kitty break...


Ok, kitty break over...

Now onto the guestroom (or as my husband's best friend likes to call it, the "toothpaste room" due to the wall color).

Got this really pretty starfish box at TJ Maxx for about $5. It's hard to tell from the pic, but the edges are distressed. It's so cute!


Still shopping around for the perfect big oval mirror for above this short dresser, but for now I have this little one propped up as a temporary solution. Got the little basket at Goodwill for $1, the seashell spheres were clearanced Christmas ornaments at Kohls, I think they were a couple bucks each. The little seagrass pot was $10 at Kohls. The lantern is an Ikea find. I really wanted a bigger one, but couldn't find just the right one, so this one will do for now.



That's all for now! Still haven't gotten our dining set. Hopefully next weekend. Fingers are crossed!

Shopping Spree!

Don't you just love giftcards? I do! Especially with the new house. There are so many things we need/want, and so many things we just can't afford right now. We got a ton of giftcards over the holidays and decided to go out on a shopping spree to spend them yesterday.

At Lowe's, we got a ceiling fan for the master bedroom, and a chandelier for the dining room. At Kohls, we got some really pretty B&W floral photography prints for the loft, and some accessories for the guestroom, and FINALLY a welcome mat! At Sears, I let my husband have at it, and he decided to go with one of those huge Craftsman metal standing tool chests, and an under-car "creeper" (which I like to call the padded back-skateboard...lol) for when he's working on our cars. We also made a stop at the local Goodwill and spent $10 on two adorable white ceramic canisters, a small wire shelf tower that I want to spraypaint oil rubbed bronze and fill with bath products for our guest bath, and a seagrass basket for the guestroom. Woot! Thanks to giftcards, we only spent about $50 out of pocket for all of that!

Next weekend will be the BIG giftcard purchase! I got a VERY GENEROUS giftcard from the client I deal with at work as a Christmas bonus, so we will be finally getting ourselves a dining room set! I'm so excited. I have one in mind, but we want to do a little shopping around next Saturday just to make sure. I'm so psyched though. The dining room is the first thing you see when you walk through our front door, and right now it's totally empty, aside from my cat who has seemed to claim the room as his own. I'm so excited to start decorating another room. Maybe we could even get some painting done. MAYBE. I already know I want to paint it a deep grass green. Yay!

I plan to take some pics of our new purchases and share them with you very soon.

Inching closer...

We finished submitting all our documents to the bank yesterday, and pre-signed a lot of our closing documents. My agent is STILL waiting to hear from the selling bank and the closing date is still up in the air. We have resigned ourselves to the fact that we will be paying rent for the month of November. I just hope our closing date doesn't get extended TOO long. I want to get settled well ahead of the holidays, and aside from that, we are just anxious to get on with our lives! It has only been two months since we first started looking for houses, but it seriously feels like it has been an eternity at this point!

Last weekend, Tadd and I went to the flea market (or the "dirt mall" as we like to call it...any guesses what movie that is from?) and wandered for awhile until the 90+ degree heat got the better of us and we HAD to get out of there. Almost left emptyhanded, until we happened past a booth that was looking to completely rid itself of its inventory. In the very front of the booth was a 5-tier corner shelf unit thingie. It's about 4 feet tall with shelves that get gradually larger from top to bottom. Not the most spectacular item, but I thought it had potential. We got it for $10! Score! I know I want to paint it, but can't decide what color yet. It will be a great spot to hold some fun knick knacks and help to fill up space in the house. At least until we are able to actually afford to properly furnish all this extra square footage we are about to move into.

Not much on the agenda this weekend that has to do with the house...Tonight we are going to see my brother's band New Man play in downtown Orlando. Tomorrow, we are going to the Food & Wine Festival at Epcot! Busy weekend indeed.

Thrift store finds...

Laptop is still broken, so I am posting when I can. Hopefully I can post some pics of the loot I got this weekend while thrifting & bargain hunting. We spent about $50 on:

• a wooden lamp base (we plan on painting)
  
• some decorative wooden yard stakes with Halloween decorations on the top (one is a pumpkin, the other is a ghost)
  
• two ADORABLE(!!!!) vases...they are teal with white graphic flowers on them (0.99 each!)
• a pair of tall iron candle holders w/ fleur de lis at the top
• a really pretty yellow ceramic flower pot/vase
• a decorative cement ball thing with a fleur de lis (I really like those, if you couldn't tell)
• a Halloween plate with a black cat on it
• a black wrought iron scrolly table-top plate/frame holder to hold the Halloween plate
• two pieces of metal wall art...they are reddish/brownish squares with a gold scroll pattern on them
  
• and a book for Tadd (not really for the house, but we did buy it at the Salvation Army while we were buying some of the other stuff)

We also saw a bunch of other stuff that I really liked or could use. We plan on getting a used washer & dryer for now, and we saw a matching pair that was like new for $200 at Salvation Army. Also saw some great side tables, a beautiful baker's rack, a nice buffet for the dining room, etc. I'm excited! I could see us buying a lot of stuff from thrift stores and jazzing them up. This will be a nice way to buy stuff, make it our own, and not break the bank.