My thinking spot

This is one of my favorite spots in the house. It's our back entryway. I like to sit here with a good book and relax. And hide from the kids. My favorite thing about this room, is that everything has come from years of searching. The great thing about thrift stores, rummage sales, etc. is that you'll never know what you'll find. And I love that you can't find this stuff at Target or some other big box store. My other favorite thing: the price. This room came together much cheaper than if I bought everything new too. So here's what my room cost me:
The white bench: $30-thrift store
Picnic baskets (which makes for great storage totes): can't remember exactly but together less than $15-thrift stores
Pillow cover(It's Washington, D.C., kind of hard to see)-25 cents-thrift store
Flag-$5-thrift store
Flag picture-$5-auction
And pulled together, doesn't this look much better than new stuff?


And the best art around provided by my kids. Sometimes I feel like such a bad mom because I don't display their artwork. I thought this was the perfect spot to display some of their best work. They love having their work displayed too.

Chair redo

There is a couple of thrift stores close enough to work that I've become quite a frequent shopper. I stop at least once a week during my lunch break. Last week I saw this ugly chair at one thrift store. It was only $4.50, but not knowing immediately what I would do with and also to avoid the wrath of Fred who thinks there is enough projects in the garage, I let it sit. That afternoon I knew exactly what I would do with it. The next day was pure torture as I waited for my lunch break. Thankfully it was still there and I snatched it up. And viola, here it is. I made the little table a chalk board and found some cute fabric for the chair. I'm pretty proud of the piping I did on the top part of the chair. It's not perfect, but it was my first time using piping and I did a pretty good job.

When I bought this I really didn't have any intention to keep it, but I noticed a place in my bedroom where it would fit perfectly. I like it too much to give it up right now.