Color Blocked Deco

I know you must be on the edge of your seat with anticipation- What did Karen spend her last $3 on at Brimfield??  Fear not, I'm here to put you at ease! Piled under other several other items, I discovered the most adorable wood and metal deco tray.  The handle caught my eye and once I moved the junk piles from it, I realized that it was in amazing condition.  I would've paid more than $3 for it if necessary- that's how much I love it.

deco wood tray

At first I just cleaned it up with a little wood conditioner (which worked miracles!) and fine steel wool on the metal, but I wanted to kick it up a bit.

deco tray progress

While adorable on it's own, it needed a pop of color.  After racking my brain for what pattern this little guy wanted- herringbone?  diamonds?  free-handed feathers?- I kept coming back to color blocking.  Why resist the urge?

Color blocked deco wood tray via Year of Serendipity

It's the perfect size to hang out next to my computer and corral the everyday necessities.

My sexy mac is in the shop, so I'm borrowing Hubby's extra lappy currently, hence the less-sexy black box.  Hopefully only another day or so.

deco tray syled desk

Considering I used paint, wood conditioner, and steel wool that I already had, the only cost here was the $3 tray!  And what a pretty $3 tray it is!

DIY color blocked deco wood tray via Year of Serendipity

I'm so happy that I could keep the integrity of the piece and give it a quick update.  My favorite type of DIY!

So, what do you think?

 

 

Meanwhile at Brimfield

....I bought a chair.  Anyone surprised?  Although you may have caught a glimpse on instagram, lets first explore things I didn't purchase amongst the junky vintage amazingness that is Brimfield, MA. Brimfield antiques, Spring 2014

It was a rainy, rotten day on Friday, so there were a good lot of vendors that weren't even open and we probably missed a ton, but it was still a blast!  It is so easy to go into awesomeness overload (or junk overload, you pick)...

Brimfield mcm cabinet, Spring 2014

The pinkish cabinet with glass doors on top was only $30!  I tried to rack my brain for a place for it, but realized, sadly, that I could not give it a home- I hope someone did!

At the end of the day, I had spent only $28, but it was $28 very well spend if you ask me!

$25 went to this amazing mid-century chair.   I'm not just a member of Chair Hoarders Anonymous, I'm the founder and president.

Brimfield MCM Chair Before 1

I don't think a chair has ever needed to be reupholstered more- the vinyl has been scratched right through to the wood below.

Brimfield MCM Chair Before 2

It also kinda stinks (just musty.... it was out in the rain after all), but I don't care, I love it!  I had actually walked away from it, but it kept nagging at me, so I went back and haggled him down $10. #alwayshaggle

Brimfield MCM Chair Before 3

It's very sturdy, heavy, and well built.  It's only issue really, is the upholstery, which I think I can do something about.  I hope my reupholstery skills are up to the task!  This style of chair will require much more sewing and precision than the last, but I'm up for the challenge!  I'm thinking a sexy but studious gray tweed might be in order, don't you agree?

I love hate to keep you in suspense, but I'm not going to show you today what I spend the remaining $3 of my $28 purchases on.  It's in the process of getting a mini-makeover, so pop back Wednesday to see my $3 find all spruced up and styled!

I'm already looking forward to the Brimfield antique show's next go around in July!  Did you get a chance to go this time?  If so, I'd love to see your treasures!

Grover: Week 9

I hope you enjoy these weekly updates as I learn to navigate through the business of flipping houses.  Check out  more about this flip, Grover, or check out posts about our last flip HERE. Remember last week, when I said that this week was sure to be a huge week for progress?  .....I was mistaken.  I know once one big thing gets the ball rolling, several big things will happen at once, but this week was not that week.

This post will now be my attempt at making a mundane week a little more cheeky for your entertainment.

I went a tad type-A on my bathroom tile job this week.  And by type-A I mean crouching and scraping thinset out of approximately half of the grout lines because I used the wrong sized trowel and made a huge mess.  You think I'd know better by now, but nope.

w9-tile-fix

And as you can see, I also pried up several individual tiles because they weren't sitting flush.  They will soon be reset all flat and pretty-like.  So yeah... type-A.  If I'm going to be crazy bold and put blue tile in here, it better be as good as I can possibly make it!

This week was also spent sans contractors or electricians, etc, so I spent quite a bit of time trying to entertain myself and keep up the energy and motivation.  The bright side of being alone in an unfurnished house?

w9-hall-bose

Good acoustics and no one to judge as I belt out showtunes at the top of my lungs.  #sorryneighbors!  While I practiced my best one woman version of Gypsy, I was thankfully able to finally finish painting every last bit of trim and every last door on this side of the house.

The bathroom closet took embarrassingly long to paint.

w9-bathroom-closet

It was like yoga painting- lots of twisting and maneuvering to get several coats into all the corners.  It will, however remain doorless until I find a suitable replacement for it's previous dingy louvered door.

w9-bathroom-door

Flashing forward to next week, I know I have some ceiling patching in my future.  The kitchen/dining room ceiling isn't as bad as it was in the last house- really only 2 large spots of cracking paint, so hopefully I'll be able to fix it much faster than it took me at Frankie.  I actually have a new method to try that Handy Dad suggested after my last ceiling trials.  I'll let you know if it works!

w9-kitchen-ceiling

I know you're already overwhelmed by the excitement of my week, but by far, the most exciting thing happened yesterday- new hard wood was delivered!!

w9-wood

It will soon replace the 2 slimy layers of linoleum in the kitchen and the house will immediately smell about 5 thousand times better.  Getting this floor installed and the rest of the hard wood refinished is sure to illicit a happy dance.  You've been warned.

Today I'm taking the day off to go play at Brimfield.  Check me out on instagram for updates of the days adventures and fab finds!