The hunt is on...

Summer has officially ended for us around here.  School has started and taken with it our carefree way of life.  The day now starts at 6:00am instead of whenever I feel like it.  As much as I am a morning rebel, I kind of like that we've been forced back onto a seemingly normal schedule.  We've had a strange summer of painting, packing and moving....and then again paperwork, packing and moving of my college-bound son.  All of which has been well-worth the effort, but makes me even more blissfully aware of the new-found quiet that greets me the moment the bus takes off with my kids each morning.  It won't always be this way...I'm on a job hunt...but for now, it's affording me the time to catch up on things like bills and undone projects leftover from our move. 

One of the things I've put in the back of my mind all summer is the search for cushions for my kitchen island stools.  While the chairs are terribly uncomfortable right now, it just hasn't been a priority to sit online for hours and search for the ones I've dreamed up in my head. I did find a website, though, that has me curious. 

http://www.bedbathstore.com/

Check it out.  If I can't find exactly what I'm looking for here, with all of the styles and variety, then I'm not sure I'll find them elsewhere.

Here's a few that caught my eye:

I like the stripe ok, even though I'm really looking for a floral.  But priced at $14.99 each...I might be persuaded to become a striped fan.

This floral is a little closer to what I'm looking for and only $19.99 each, but still, not the right pattern.

This is the closest to what I'm looking for on the Bed Bath Store  website.  The price of $27.99 each is NOT going to happen, but I'm getting closer.  I like how they're made- with the tufting and the piping.  But I'm afraid that my biggest hindrance is the fact that I've got fabric sitting next to my sewing machine that I'm really sold on using. 

 I have been saving this Cath Kidston fabric for just the right project, and I think this is the one.  I love all the quality and the styles of the ones I saw on the Bed Bath Store site, but I'm not sure I want to attempt making them...So I guess I'll wait a little longer and keep hunting for a solution to the dilemma.

I got distracted on the Bed Bath website, because the store is so big.  I hopped around from Chair pads, to furniture, to bedding, to rugs, to storage solutions, to the Clearance section and still didn't see the whole website!  Although I won't be purchasing chair pads from them, I've added them to my favorites for the future.  It will probably come in handy once I start working on all my unfinished projects.

{I'm starting to think about enjoying my fireplace in a few months...maybe by then this little beauty will have found its' way to the Clearance section!}

 With the free shipping offer {on purchases over $89} I'm sure I'll be returning!

MIA...

but I'm back now.  Between weeks of packing and getting ready for a move and then a week of vacation, this summer has been somewhat of a blur.  But, now that the suitcases are unpacked, it's time to get down to the business of settling in and making this house our home. 

I don't have to tell you I'm thrifty {not to be confused with cheap}.  I love the thrill of a bargain-especially an unexpected one.  Which, of course, is why my latest Goodwill purchase made my heart pump doubletime.  I stopped in because I had walked away from a steal of a cupboard the day before that  I should have purchased for a mere $19...but I didn't.  Upon further consideration, I decided the next day to go back and find it...of course, it was gone. BUT...as "luck" would have it, someone had just slid the sweetest bench out the back door- it wasn't even priced yet!  You can believe that I drug that thing with me all the way across the room to ask someone to price it for me!  Shallow, I know, but I couldn't just let her sit there and risk her being taken to someone else's home, now could I? 

Besides, there was no need to justify this purchase, since she was priced at $12.99 MINUS the 20% discount I pulled from the basket at the register. 
CHA-ching!

I had some help from my mom and my daughter {she looks thrilled, doesn't she?} dragging her out to the backseat of my car....

She now graces the end of my bed. 

she's not in perfect condition- you can see the small tear on the left side- but, she's been well-preserved by someone.  I'd love to know her story- she's quite old- stuffed with horsehair or something similar {making her less than comfortable to sit on, but that's not really why I bought her, is it?!}. I imagine she graced the home of an older woman for many years, then was donated when the woman passed on- the family seeing her as just an old piece of junk, rather than the story-teller that she is.

I have a dozen more projects that involve paint...but I'm on a painting sabatical...not sure when I'll return. 

This piece was finally finished just before the move. 

 It's amazing how a can of paint can transform something. 

Remember when it looked like THIS?

I think it needs clear glass knobs now- the original ones might be a little too dark, but I'm waiting for a sale.

The sideboard sits in my diningroom now- along with a miss-matched table and chair set that also got a white paint job.  I already had all of those pieces, so it cost me the balance of the can of paint.  The chandelier came from the old house, too.  I have a large empty wall that needs something {like the cupboard I passed up!}, but I'm willing to wait till the right bargain shows up.

I have another large space in need of a bargain.  I've got my eye peeled for a small scalloped edge table that seats about four.  I know exactly what I'm looking for, but haven't found it yet on the thrify-circuit.  I thought I found it the other day at an antique shop for $40, but it was too worn and warped.  I'll be stopping by all my local thrift shops often until I find her...and I will find her! 

She looks something like this...only not so "la-de-da"...mine has the same shape but probably needs a good coat of paint. 

I'll probably be back from paint sabatical right about the time I find her...