Thrift Score Thursday

You guys know how addicted I am to thrifting, right?  I've been an instagram follower and participant of #ThriftScoreThursday for a while, so I was honored when the lovely thrifting ladies asked me to guest host with them this week!  If you're new to Thrift Score Thursday, here's a quick catch-up: it's a weekly instagram link up party of thrifty goodness hosted by The Gathered Home, Primitive and Proper, A Designer at Home, and Maggie Overby Studios.  The party goes all week- any day of the week, just hashtag any of your awesome finds from thrift store, antique shops, tag sales, estate sales, or even the side of the road with #thriftscorethursday.  Every Thursday, the hosts share their own finds as well as their favorites of what was posted with the hashtag throughout the week.

My Latest Finds:

I do have to sadly admit that tag sales and estate sales have been sorely lacking around these parts lately, but never fear, I still manage to find a few goodies!

Last week I adopted this sweet brass birdcage for a whopping $3 and a few weeks back the little glass bubble sculpture came home with me for $1.  I keep carrying the birdcage from room to room- it fits everywhere and nowhere at the same time... I'm just waiting for it to tell me where it wants to live.. that's not weird, right?

The thrift find that I'm most giddy about hasn't actually come home from the thrift store yet:  2 sets of these awesome vintage wood theater seats are heading for the dance studio that I told you about Monday.  Not my usual cheap cheap deal, but a great value and they're salvaged from a local building- I can't wait to see them in the studio!

My Faves from Your Finds:

(from the #thriftscorethrusday instagram feed)

I'm beyond jealous of @undecorated_home's craigslist night stand finds!  She's already lovingly restored the one on the right and the grain really shines now.  Nice job!

@littlehouseoffour scored this vintage campaign desk for $20!

AND can we talk about this amazing chair that @chelsea_stylemutthome got for FREE???  The heart eye emoji isn't heart-eyed enough for this chair.

On a non furniture note, @at_home_in_maywood busted this little lady's head open and I'm so glad she did.  Plants are a perfect headdress for her!

Pop on over to my awesome cohost's blogs to see what they've scored lately and what they're swooning over!

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Let's Dance: DanceFIT Design Plans

Today I'm excited to share with you a new Copper Dot project.   My favorite local dance studio is getting a new home!  DanceFIT Studio is going from a small studio inside another fitness facility to having their very own building and storefront and about double the space.  DanceFIT has both kids classes and adult fitness classes (that whip my butt into shape on a regular basis), so the goal of the space is to keep it light, airy, sophisticated, with a touch of frilly.

The space is really a blank slate. It was an auto garage once upon a time and in it's most recent life was a karate studio- neither of which really fit the aesthetic we'd want for a dance studio.

When I first sat down with Gina, the owner of DanceFIT to chat about the new space, I knew this would be fun- we were on the same page right from the start!  In the existing space, the brown walls and the dull carpet will be the first things to go- being replaced by white walls and durable wood look floors in the studio space.  That alone will be a huge breath of fresh air and the rest will be icing on the cake.

Aesthetically, our goal is a chic Soho loft feel- bright, a little vintage, and a little glam.  Here are some of our inspiration images:

Since the space is rented, most of what we want to achieve will be through furniture and decor, but trust me, a HUGE difference will be made!  While the design is still evolving and I'm sure there will be changes prior to the final space, here is the current design plan:

I'm loving this design and I can't wait to take it even further.  Gina is just days away from getting the keys in hand and that's when the real fun will start!  I'll keep you posted as the space progresses and I can't wait to show you the final result in just a few months!

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Painting Over Stripes

One of the first design features that I added to this house 5 years ago was painting stripes on the living room wall.  I had done it in our previous apartment and we loved it there, and we loved it here too, but after living with it in 2 homes, I was over it.  Especially after adding my built-in bookcase, the room felt busy and over-designed.

Unfortunately with painted stripes, it's not quite as simple as rolling over it and having it disappear.  In a client's tiny powder room for example, the previous owner painted over stripes (thankfully) but when the light hits it right, you can still see every stripe.  It's not in your face, but once you see it, you can't unsee it- that's what I call OCD torture.  Because I originally taped off the stripes to paint, each line had a bit of a lip to it and would suffer the same fate as my client's bathroom- without the right prep, the stripes would always be visible.

De-stripifying was time-consuming, but not particularly difficult.  It took a lot of sanding and I mean a lot.  Great arm work-out though... I found that 100 grit sandpaper was the best at smoothing over the paint transitions.  I sanded each line until I couldn't feel any kind of transition any more.

In some particularly stubborn areas, I used a bit of spackle to smooth out the transition even further.

After sanding, patching holes, and smoothing out the stubborn areas, I wiped the wall down with a wet rag and was ready to paint!

Unfortunately, even after a coat of paint, getting rid of the stripes still wasn't complete.  With a coat of paint, any transitions that I didn't smooth over just perfectly were still showing through, especially as the sun shone in the window onto the walls.  Once the paint was dry, I picked up the sandpaper once again (with a bit finer grit) and re-sanded over any areas where the stripes were still visible.  This is where I let my OCD take charge: if I could even see a shadow of a line it got sanded meticulously.

After the resanding and a second coat, I am pleased to say that there is no more evidence of striped walls past.  As I mentioned in Friday's post, Hubby's still skeptical of the color, but I'm already finding it so much more calming.  Such a breath of fresh air!

I still have some ideas on how to inject a bit more personality now that the walls aren't screaming at me, but that will all come in due time.

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