Secondhand shopping...Be Cautious!

So here is my two sense on any secondhand shopping you do...BE CAUTIOUS! Some can be so OVERPRICED. You have to be savvy and have an idea on what things cost, or you'll get ripped off.

I love a great find at a great price. I'm willing to pay you what the item it worth. When you shop on consignment, at garage sales, on Craigslist, or estate sales, your shopping there obviously to pay less than the retail cost would be somewhere else. Your looking for a fair price. Remember folks, we're talking secondhand. We're not talking brand new, never worn, or never used. If it's been out in your backyard for 20+years pieces, price it accordingly.

Now this was a great find on Craigslist. Beautiful, dining set for $330.00. Solid wood, with the glass table top. You can't beat it. Yes, I had to reupholster the chairs, but that was an easy, DIY project. It was worth it!

Why I bring this up is ALL because of two pagodas my dad and I checked out an estate sale this week. These we saw were made of concrete and very small pagodas. Average price for a brand new one, made of concrete at these small sizes can go for $40 and up.

So with that in mind, we are looking at two, used pagodas from an estate sale.

Here is the first one being sold for $40.00. This tiny thing should be no more than $20.00.

The second one we saw was a whopping $80.00. Again, should be no more than $30.

Really?? My dad almost fell over when she told us the price. We were pretty astounded and her answer and reason why it was that price is because, "It's so heavy". Really?? Yes, it's concrete, and it comes apart. I have a feeling she didn't even realize that. For both of these, my dad and I would have paid $50.00 max. She had the nerve to ask us if we wanted to place a bid on it. Really?? What happened to just negotiating. I hope this is not the direction we are heading when shopping at estate sales or any other secondhand shops. It's SECONDHAND for crying out loud. I realize it's trendy these days, but still, most of the stuff out there is junk.

Just saying..... HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND &  HAPPY HUNTING!

{image via zazzle.com}

                                            and remember...

Happy Valentine's Day

Wishing you a wonderful day filled with love!

{image via google}

XOXOXO,

Allison

Refurb Projects

When Chris and I moved to Virginia in 2009, I had some time on my hands before finding a job. Having the time can be a good thing, and other times, not so good. For me, when I have too much time to myself, I have a tendency to over analyze my life and not in a productive way. I think about all the things I should be doing besides, for example, watching Real Housewives of Beverly Hills or some other junk reality TV show. Honestly, it's really awful television, but sometimes it's so hard to turn it off:

Back to Virginia...So with my time, I found several pieces of furniture that we had that I wanted to redo. Some pieces took longer than others, and I thought I'd never finish. I can't say enough how rewarding it is once you get done finishing a piece. No matter how big or small, it's always awesome to see the transformation from before to after. Also, you basically have a brand new piece of furniture, and it didn't cost an arm and a leg. Love that!!!

{Before}

{After}

Here is the first piece I took on..A cedar chest a friend gave to my mom, in turn, gave to me. My dad and I made the mistake of putting a polyurethane that turned it yellow after we painted it originally. UGGGLYYY!! I lived with it like that for years. Finally, having the time I refinished this piece and decided to stain it rather than paint it. This one took me the longest. Stripping, sanding, conditioning, and staining, and sealing...it was never ending.




The second piece I did was a dresser I acquired from my grandmother's garage. I absolutely LOVE this style of furniture and the fact it was my grandmothers. Very Art Nouveau.  It was in pretty bad shape. Originally stripped years ago and painted as well. I ended up painting this one an off-white and now looks so much better. Just a little paint, huge transformation.

{Before}

{After}

My last piece was a small chest my parents purchased for me at an estate sale. It was a pinkish stain that I lived with again for many years. I decided I wanted something fun for our entry in VA, so I decided to paint it a  pretty apple green. I then added some fancy knobs from Anthropologie and what a difference.

{Before}

{After}

{Knobs from Anthropologie}

Here is a recent piece I acquired from a sidewalk sale.

{Before}

{After}

By no means am I finished with furniture refurbs. I was definitely on a roll in Virginia. Now, I'm at a point where I have no other furniture pieces that I want to change anytime soon. I ran out:) If you like to see more, visit my Facebook page!

I'd love to hear about pieces you've refinished and transformed yourself. Don't you agree, it's pretty rewarding, right?? Hard work, but somehow really enjoyable.

Another take on family portraits

For awhile now, I've been wanting to display some pictures of our two cats, Kitty and Murphy. With no kids right now, we love our little family. I'm such an animal lover. My dream some day would be to own some land, and have a small farm. The more animals the better. I'm talking chickens, goats, sheep, cats, and dogs. You name it, we'd have at least one or two of each.

Remember the movie, Funny Farm? A little town like that out in the boonies would be great!

So, Kitty we've had since about 2007. We took her in as a stray. She's a sweet little kitty, but don't let her small little frame fool you. She's a feral cat and most of time, not too friendly to guests. She never got big and always stayed little. Kitty, we originally called her, and the name just stuck. Fits her well.

She's our Lioness

Look at that little leg

Hilarious

Murphy we've had for just a couple years. We adopted him from a neighborhood shelter in Virginia while we were living there. He's so sweet and curls up to sleep next to me every night. If you haven't seen that show, Taxidermy USA on Discovery, you have to watch it once. People actually stuff their pets now. How wild is that!! I joke around with Chris that I just might have to stuff Murphy once that dreadful day comes. I know I likely won't, but I can't imagine not having him around. I just might get desperate:)

Chillin

Sealin

Have you ever??

Anywho, I found these great frames over the weekend at West Elm and finally printed off some pics of the cats. I use Picnik to alter images and apply different techniques to edit. I cropped each pic to really get a good shot of each cat. I think the one of Kitty is my favorite. Actually, cracks me up.

I blew them up to an 8x10 and I'm pretty excited the way they turned out. Just uploaded to Walgreens website and had them printed there the next day for a whopping $6.00.

So if your looking at a bare wall that needs something special, this would be a great option. It's definitely  something that's meaningful and will make you smile seeing it each day.

Living Room Finish Out Ideas??

Happy Friday!! It's a rainy day here in Dallas. We've needed the rain for so long and we're definitely getting our share here lately.

So Chris and I have been semi productive when it comes to projects around the house here lately. Last weekend we finished the front landscape. This weekend we're going to take it easy with any big projects. I've learned the To-Do list will always be there. If you let it consume you, it will.

If I do anything this weekend, it will be to take a trip to some fabric stores and look for things I need to finish out our living room.  I  am in desperate need of some throw pillows for our living room chairs and just haven't found any that I love. Also needed in this room will be some kind of rug, an ottoman, and most importantly, some artwork for this huge wall.

Need pillows

It's one of those rooms your quite not sure what to do with. We definitely want to utilize the space and hate for it to be a room we don't use. We bought this great buffet at no other than the Salvation Army. Boy, was that an awesome find!! It's a great piece that filled this wall nicely.

I'm a wall that needs something pretty:)

Pretty ottoman??

We need to soften the floor with a rug of some kind. 

I am looking for any ideas you might have. I am not someone who rushes out just to buy something. I have to really love it and typically, when I see it, I know.

These are some ideas. 

Natural Sisal Rug of some kind / image via Restoration Hardware

Kilim Square Ottoman / Image via Overstock.com

We shall see.

Thanks for stopping by! I would love to hear from you and if you have any suggestions. Have a wonderful weekend!!