Thrift Log

We had some great luck at a couple estate sales and some thrift stores this weekend! The two little planters, both made in Japan, the Heath mug, and a couple of the books came from the thrifts. I may or may not keep the planters (I recently bought some more succulents and they do fit so nicely....), but the Hare Krishna vegetarian cookbook is a keeper for sure. C's sister and her family gave us a very generous gift certificate for our local Hare Krishna buffet (so good!) and once it runs out I'll be glad I have this book. The mug had some marks on it that didn't rub off easily at the store, but for 60 cents I decided to pick it up anyway and it cleaned up nicely with a little scrubbing. I can't find this exact mug online, so I don't know how old it is, but I look forward to drinking tea from it.  The children's books have wonderful illustrations, and all are from the Weekly Reader Book Club in 1961. They're destined for the shop after I read them.

 

C spotted SIX of these fabulous glasses at the thrift store and they are in perfect condition. We also went to two estate sales - the first looked like our kind of sale, a 1950s house with  lots of stuff in the pictures online. And it was fine - but not great. I was, however, happy to pick up a couple stocking stuffers for one of my sisters and a new case for my glasses. The glasses case is actually very exciting (for me!) - mine was completely falling apart. While we were checking out at that sale, we saw a sign by the register saying that there was another sale in the neighborhood. We headed over there and were not thrilled to pull up in front of a giant new build, as they usually tend to have newer things, and higher prices.  But it was awesome! I got several things for the shop: purses, sweaters, and several housewares, as well as this awesome horse head table lighter, made in Japan. When I first spotted it in the dark, completely packed garage I thought it was a lone bookend so I passed it by. It drew me back though, and upon closer inspection I discovered it was a table lighter and I was even happier to discover it was in perfect shape. 

I'm excited to link up with Sir Thriftalot's Thriftasaurus, where folks share their thrifty finds!

 

Hallways Are So Sexy!

Alright, this post is all about our amazing hallway. What I love about our house is that the living areas and the sleeping areas are cordoned off by our hallway. You can close the door at the end of the hallway like an airlock door and section off the den, kitchen, and front dining/living room from the bedrooms. There is little to no wasted space in this house. One of the bizarre features of the hallway is the number of doors. In a space that is roughly 4.5 ft x 15-16 ft there are nine doors. That is right - there are nine doors. They are doors for three bedrooms, a bathroom, two closets, one for the water heater, and the last for the HVAC. There is also an attic fan that still works perfectly but thankfully that is in the ceiling.
I would also like to point out that it is extremely difficult to get good photos in a long and narrow hallway. So hopefully these will suffice.
Our original hallway had been painted what I call a 'tobacco stained teeth' color - a common color choice in this area along with the dreaded butter cream yellowish white and raw brown umber combination. We had originally thought to paint the hallway a bright tangerine orange, something really fun and vibrant to give the dark hall some light. But common sense prevailed as this is not the house we plan on dying in and we chose the same cool, crisp gray that we used in the den with the bamboo flooring.
Here is a look at the hallway before and after - I haven't picked up light switch covers yet so please excuse their absence in the after photos.
Before:

The original doorbell - I will probably cover it back up though

 

After:

Some of K's artwork

 Sorry if everything seems rather dark. This is a hallway and there isn't much else I can do with it.
Coming soon will be [finally!!!] the kitchen and the hall bath. I have a new policy where I am trying to do two hours of work every weekday on the house - non maintenance work. I have discovered two things - 1. You can get a boatload of stuff done in two hours if you actually sit down and do the work and you don't intellectualize it over a couple of beers. And 2. Two hours is a really, really long time!

Thrift Log

This weekend was mostly spent working around the house and in the garden, but we did manage to squeeze in some mid-week thrifting and found a couple things for the shop. If only we had a land line, this Genie phone would be a keeper! Regardless, it will  serve as a good reminder to always go down the creepy electronics aisle. Also scored a little Iittala candlestick - one is better than none, right? I'm hoping some of his friends make an appearance one of these days. The great little wooden house blocks were in a baggie with some random plastic pieces and they just caught my eye.

And here's the garden - six tomatoes planted for now, and there will be more to come when it's consistently warmer. Excited for spring!!