A SNEAK PEEK AT THE BUFFET'S REPLACEMENT AND NEW CURTAINS...

TGIF!!!

So how are all of you this fine fall morning.  So glad it's Friday aren't you?  Yay, the weekend is here!

As I mentioned the other day, I bid farewell to the buffet. Yes, I sold it. It was a vintage bow front buffet that my husband bought me for Christmas this past year.  While it was lovely it was not my taste or style so I decided to sell it to someone who would appreciate it more.  With that said, I had to find it's replacement.

I have known for a while that I wanted a china hutch like this one from Restoration Hardware which retails for nearly $3000...

Yeah, I kind of knew I wouldn't be getting one of those.  However, I scoured Craigslist and found one that is similar in style...and MUCH cheaper...

$400.  Great price but there was ONE slight problem, I only had $250 to spend...needless to say I was BUMMED.  There was no way the seller was going to come down $150 on such a nice piece of furniture.

So I went back and scoured Craigslist again hoping I would find one cheaper but there was just nothing else that appealed to me.  I kept going back and looking at the one I wanted hoping there would be a price drop but NO, there wasn't.

As I repeatedly looked at this listing though, I noticed that it had been listed for more than 2 months which is quite a long time. So in my desperation I shot the seller an email hoping that in their desperation to sell they would consider taking $250 for it. Much to my surprise a few minutes later I received a response saying YES they would accept my meagerly amount for their gorgeous china hutch. I nearly fell off my chair I was SO ELATED!!

I immediately called the hubs and told him that my offer was ACCEPTED and that we needed to drive over 2 HOURS away to pick it up. He nearly fell off HIS chair! Hehe!!!  He asked, "Couldn't you have found one you liked that was a little closer to home?" I said NOPE, this is THE one!  He said okay with one stipulation, I had to promise him dinner out. Such a small price to pay, wouldn't you agree? So I took off work early and we headed up to Fulton, Missouri to pick her up.

I couldn't wait to get her home and fill'er up so I could share a little peek with you...

She's mirrored and lighted and GORGEOUS! Of course, she isn't white like the beloved Restoration Hardware one...YET! She will be someday though as soon as I can figure out how to get the glass out so I can paint the backside of the window muntins. That might be a while! OR, I might keep her the way she is.  We shall see...decisions, decisions!

In other news, I finally have curtains up...YAY.

I didn't put my homemade ones back up after painting the living room and dining room a few months ago as they were entirely too stiff and didn't hang right. The story of my life it seems...but since I only spent $5.00 on the material for them, I wasn't too upset about it. Besides, I can always use the fabric for something else.

If you have been reading this here blog for any amount of time you know that I have struggled for four years to find the perfect right size curtains for these two rooms. Eighty-four inch ones are too short. Ninety six inch ones are too expensive...and on and on.

Well, I finally found THE perfect curtains...for reals this time...the perfect length, the perfect price, the perfect everything!!! Here's a little sneak peek...

They are from IKEA. They are super cheap and all around perfect.  I will give you the full details soon. Promise!

Until then, HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!!!

A LITTLE FALL DECORATING AND SAYING GOODBYE TO THE BUFFET...

Happy Fall Y'all!  Once again I have to apologize for my absence around here. I have been super busy again with some different things that have come up...you know life has a tendency to get a little crazy at times, but things are starting to slow down now so perhaps I can do a little more blogging!

Well today officially marks the first day of FALL...yippy!!!... so this past weekend I snuck in a little fall decorating.  I'm almost done...ALMOST...but not quite.  Either way, I thought I would give you a little (if ever so tiny) peek...

I was planning on using a more muted palette this year instead of the usual reds, oranges and yellows that I use pretty much every year but the budget just didn't allow for anything new so once again I pulled out my old faithful autumn decor and went to town.

I did buy a couple inexpensive mums from Wal-mart for the top of china closet but other than that I used what I already had available...

I guess I will have to replenish the candy again because the kiddos (and the daddy) have already eaten most of it...

I tell you if you have never tried a handful of salted peanuts with candy corn you are missing out. It's my family's favorite fall treat. It tastes just like a Payday bar. Yummm!

Sorry for the poor quality of these pics.  I dropped my point and shoot camera a month or so ago and I think it's broken. The shutter is not working right so the lighting is off.  I will get out the big camera soon and take some professional pics (well as professional as an amateur can take).  Promise!

I kept the buffet pretty simple this year.  The lamps pretty much stay there year round so I simply added my vintage white linen table runner for some contrast of all the dark and nestled a gorgeous arrangement of fall leaves in the center. Simple but beautiful...

I took a few pictures of the buffet in all it's autumn splendor yesterday morning before leaving for work....

Then yesterday afternoon I received an offer from a buyer. Yes, the buffet is was for sale. I listed it on Craigslist last month and the buyer is supposed to pick it up tonight.

So I suppose these are goodbye pictures. This will be the last time I decorate this buffet for fall and the last time you see it...but I am happy because...selling this and the china closet...yes, it's for sale too, will make it possible for me to move forward with the dining room makeover. Yay, I can't wait!!!

Have you done any fall decorating yet?

P.S. The antique china closet (shown in the first picture) is still for sale if anyone in the Missouri area is interested. I have it listed for $75.00 which is a GREAT price. There is a little veneer missing from the bottom apron but other than that it is in great shape.

A FEW UPDATES TO SIS'S ROOM FEATURING SOME NEW BEDDING AND DIY WALL ART...

Morning all.  How was your holiday weekend? Mine was good.  My only wish was that it was another day or two longer.  You?

With all the BBQ's and other holiday activities I didn't get nearly as much accomplished around the house as I had planned but I did make a few changes to sis's room.

I have been so excited about how great the DIY upholstered, button tufted headboard turned out that I couldn't wait to get back in there and make some more changes.

I started by moving the furniture around a bit. I LOVE the new arrangement! The room seems less cramped and so much larger now. It always amazes me at how much a simple thing like furniture placement can make such a big difference in a room.

This is what the room looked like before...






Not bad but wasn't quite what we were wanting in here.  It's really starting to take shape now though.

I especially love the new gorgeous ruffled bedding that I had ordered from Amazon.com a few weeks ago. You can find some really good deals on Amazon. I got the bedding and a bed skirt all for under $40.00. Can't beat that! I'm not too thrilled with the bed skirt because it wasn't long enough and it's too sheer but it will be okay. The bedding though is soft and gorgeous. It's PERFECT!

As you may have noticed I also added some new art above the headboard.  I had seen some black and white prints at Lowes that I absolutely loved and that I thought would be perfect for sis's room but they were $20.00 each.  Not in my budget for sure seeing as how I wanted three of them, but the Lord blessed me this past week and I found three matching black frames in just the perfect size at a local thrift store for just $2.50 each.  I knew right as soon as I saw them that they would be perfect for some DIY art for this room.

They were actually Enterprise rental car framed posters that I suppose Enterprise didn't need. They were still in the box so they were brand spanking new...

I turned the poster part over and cut an 8x10 section from the center of each to make white picture mats and then printed off large black and white flower art from the computer. I put it all together and in under 30 minutes had three gorgeous black and white prints for a grand total of $7.50.  

I know...gorgeous, right? I still can't believe God blessed me with those frames for just a few dollars.

Of course there is still more to do in here...new curtains, maybe some new sheets and throw pillows, bedside table tweaking, more orange to get rid of and a few other DIY projects but I am thrilled with it so far.

It's just so lovely and feminine. Perfect for sis. I can't wait to get it done.

So, what did you do over the holiday weekend?