Wood Letters {Thrifty Finds}

I'm recovering from letting the beautiful, huge, old, perfectly worn, farm table that I found at the consignment store get away from me. 


It was kinda perfect. And now it's been sold to someone else.


While I'm mending from that I wanted to quickly share some fun wooden letters I stumbled upon at the thrift store the other day. I can tell they've been hand made, and many letters are missing, but the ones that I did get I find to be so cute.  

I think I'll keep them on my desk as they are now. They're a bit quirky and I kinda love them. Definitely worth the $2.00 I paid for them!

Hope your week is going as lovely as mine has been. 

Also, the frame wall in our living room is about 90% done and photos are going in tomorrow. Pictures of that will be coming soon!

Kitchen Cabinet {Refurbished}

I had originally purchased this cabinet for my little workroom, but  it was too large for the space so I started searching for somewhere else to put it. We have the most awkward nook in our kitchen. If you look at the picture below, it's on the right side between the fridge and the wall by the sink. In this photo we had two small butcher block carts to fill the space, but they were just too small. So, when we realized the cabinet would fit perfectly in that spot I was all too excited.

Here is my $5 cabinet. I forgot to take a before picture so I quickly stuck a couple drawers back in just so you could get the idea.

It has two cutting boards built in as well. Look at that lovely mixture of random white paint and old, chip-y stain.

Before painting I laid down a drop cloth and propped the cabinet up with four paint cans so I could paint all the way to the bottom.

I lightly sanded the piece. I'm not a big fan of sanding projects but all the chipping stain made it mandatory for this job.

 Then I got to painting!

I painted it with two coats of paint. *Hint* Don't paint the bottom of the drawers or the track, it will likely get sticky and not slide as easily if you do.

And here it is in its new home! We plan on adding a new butcher block to the top to extend the piece out. I think it would make a nice little spot for the girls to sit and help me while I cook. 

By the way, the cabinet hardware is by Martha Stewart, you can get them at Home Depot for about $5. I love these, they make me want to add pulls to everything! Kinda funny to think that each pull cost the same amount as the whole cabinet. 

For those of you who like all the nitty gritty details, here it is!

Cabinet, thrift store (half off from $10)- $5.00
Paint, Behr Premium Plus Ultra- I bought a gallon but used about $10.00 worth
Martha Stewart Pulls- $32.00


Total= $47.00

Office Cubbies {Reurbished}

One of my favorite things to see is an old, ugly piece of furniture given a face lift. I knew I wanted some cubbies in my workroom the second my husband said the room was mine. So, I searched online stores, thrift stores, and Craigslist extensively till I could find something in (or under) my budget. Eventually I found a school on Craigslist that was selling their old school cubbies. We picked them up at the school, and I thought they were a good deal at $15 a piece. Then came the long, hard, relentless, exhausting part of it all... Painting them!!

Here are what the cubbies looked like when I got them home. I cleaned them up, wiped them down, and prepped the area to get ready to paint.

Now, I know I should have known better, but I did buy paint from Walmart for this. I will never do that again! Each cubby took over 1 hr to paint, per coat, due to all the corners and awkward angles in the cubbies. Here is what cheap paint looks like (I actually think my iphone pics don't even show how translucent the paint really was). Below on the left is the cubby painted with one coat all over and two coats in all the edges. On the right is three coats on everything...

Here is what they looked like after four or five coats. Like I said, the iphone pic isn't very clear so it's hard to tell, but there is no smoothness or consistency in the paint, it was very blotchy with tons of paint brush lines. This is where I caved. After using nearly an entire gallon of cheap, Walmart paint, I went to Home Depot and purchased a gallon of Behr Premium Plus Ultra paint. At this point one cubby had 4-5 coats (seen below) of paint and the other had 1-2 coats (above left), both cubbies only needed one additional coat of the Behr paint to cover them sufficiently. I've learned my lesson.

And here they are! This picture was not taken with my iphone, it was taken by my friend, Kristin.

Here's the breakdown:

Cubbies- $30.00 (total)

Cheap paint from Walmart- $20.00 (I can't remember the price, but whatever it was, it's a waste of $$)

Behr Premium Plus Ultra- $33.00

Misc supplies, drop cloth, paint pans, small brush- $15.00

Total= $98

Insta-Friday {Linking Up}

I'm linking up to Insta-Fridays over at Life Rearranged. Insta-Friday is basically just a way to share a few of your Instagram pictures from the week. For those of you who don't use Instagram or Facebook then these will be new to you... for the rest of you, this is a recap!

I love this little idea Gracie had. These are hand-me-down cigar boxes now being used as toy boxes for the girls tiniest toys.

Doing a little blogging during nap time. That's my bathroom in those tiny pictures, you'll see that very soon here.

Kristin and I on our way home from a meeting in L.A. for an upcoming independent film (LHLL).

This is what my backyard dining table would look like if I lived in an Anthropologie catalog. I love the rustic table, red chair, and yellow table linens.

Ooooooo, I just love this new-to-me old dresser. I picked it up at my Grammy's neighborhood yard sale for $20! It's yellow and white and all chip-y!

The last two pictures are of my little girls. This is Ruby, all fresh and sunny first thing in the morning. She came in carrying a flash light (that's why the picture has that extra cool glow at the bottom) and yes, she is naked.

And my Gracie. I <3 her.

There you have it! My first Insta-Friday... but not my first cell phone picture only post. Find me on Instagram, I'm @brebuskey!

New camera comes tomorrow, now all I need to do is learn how to use it.

Dining Buffet Gone Bad {Refurbished}

I mentioned over here that I would show you all some pictures of the dining buffet we found on the side of the road for free. About two years ago when we found this gem I had no idea I would be blogging about it one day; hence the odd before photos. I knew that under the funky paint and murals there was something worth fixing.

Originally the pieces had green and gold crackle paint on the sides and top, and 3 doors painted with various food related images on them. Here is a picture with the top already painted. The inside of the piece was a subtle beige color, which I appreciated because subtle color = less coats of paint = less work for me!

If you can't see that unique green/gold paint above, here is a

 close-up of what it looked like. It was bad.

The piece originally had 3 doors on it. I chose to take the two outer doors off to make way for some baskets. I left the middle one on to store my cookbooks and junk I don't want people to see.

Once all the paint dried, I roughed up the edges and top a bit so it didn't look so perfectly painted. And there you have it! I definitely think it was worth $30 in paint and supplies and a few hours of labor. 

 P.S. Ignore the yellow paint test strip on top, it's about to get another update.

It's Just So Charming

I usually like to wait and show pictures of projects I'm working on after they're completely finished and just the way I want them.  But, for the sake of this blog (and wanting people to actually read it), I'm going to do a tour of our home even though it's a work in progress.  
My friend, Kristin (I may have mentioned her on here before!), came over and took some pictures for me since we're in the process of buying a camera at the moment.
I flip flopped on whether I would show my favorite or least favorite room first. I decided I'll share our little girls' room first since it's my most favorite room in the house, it's just oh so charming.  Maybe once you see it you won't think the rest of the house is quite as boring as it may be (I've got some great things planned).
Here it is!

Everything two little girls need packed into a little room.  My style always tends to be a little bit of old and a little bit of new, mixed in with stuff we make, that's how I like things!
I took the large doors off the girls' closet cause they were too hard for them to open on their own.  In their place I added sheer white and grey flowered curtains.  The girls have their baby bed and kitchen in there as well, the rest of their toys and books are stored in baskets under the bed.  Stacked on the shelves are some of their larger toys and baskets full of scarves, tights and hand-me-down shoes that don't quite fit Ruby (my youngest) yet.

I keep a few dresses and sweaters hung, other then that everything fits nicely into the dresser drawers and baskets.  The white baskets with their names on them are their pajama baskets.  I like to keep them out in the open so it's easy for them to grab a pair at night.

I made the curtains, spruced up an Ikea mirror (more on that coming up), and sewed some pillows.

My hubby made these bookshelves, they've been so perfect and I enjoy them every time I see them.  We modified these building plans which were pretty simple to use and they hold a good amount of books which is a must in this house!

Ribbon strung on two World Market hooks is perfect for hanging the girls' artwork.  And the little chalkboard easel was a great find from a yard sale - $10.

Close up pic of the DIY curtains.

And lastly, THE bed!  My mom saw this in an alley (in a sketchy neighborhood), told me about it, and we went to get it right away!  It was very dark, old, nasty wood but the lines were so great I knew it needed a home.  It's a King size bed frame. I wanted to use it for my girls' bed but there was no way we could fit a king size bed in this room, so, after a while I realized a full size bed turned sideways is the same width as a king size bed, we shortened the side rails, painted it a pale blue and Voilà!!  Perfect, chunky, short & wide little girls bed that looks like it popped right out of a fairy tale!

Well, there it is.  I hope you enjoyed it.  Let me know if there was anything I missed that you were interested in.  Up next, I'm thinking it will be the living/dining/school/library/computer area.

Good Finds

Yes, I'm doing a blog post with iphone pictures.  But, iphone pictures are better then no pictures at all... hopefully!
I never used to go to the thrift store or estate sales, I always thought "I don't have time to hunt for the 1 good thing in the shop", or "I'll never find stuff like my friends do, they're just way better at finding that 1 great gem in the shop".  I was crazy.  I am such a bargain shopper at heart and love, love, love a good deal so it's not surprising that I've got bitten by the thrift store bug.  I mainly look for things to use around my house, furniture and props for photo shoots, and uniques items of clothing for my girls. 
I always find it fun when people post their great deals and finds so I thought I would share a few of my recent deals. And because I'm nosey and always wonder what others spend on their goods I'll try and list the prices as best as I can remember.
Below, from a thrift shop Kristin took me to (it's one of the best!): large woven basket $3, darling white table cloth with crochet trim $3, blue flower pillow case for my girls room $1, chip-y blue small basket $1, metal and wood basket (I like baskets , you'll notice as I start to show pictures of my home on here)$1, wood crate $3, vintage pyrex $10, small mason jars $2, candle sticks that need some painting $1 each, large tin canister $6 (it's really cool in person and totally worth 6 bucks!), small poppy tin $1 or $2.

Below are pictures from an estate sale I went to recently.

Clockwise: Cream crochet table cloth $5 each- I got 3 cause they were so pretty, large blue tablecloth/blanket $2, 2 white pillowcases with crochet trim $1 each, the most wonderful yellow crocheted yellow throw $3

Giant metal pale $5, big old jar $1, vintage ledger $1 (I dream of giving this to someone dear to me to use as a guest book for their wedding), small glass jelly jars $10 for a box full of 50 jelly jars and vintage drinking glasses, same blue blanket as above.

Wooden ladder $10, I actually think it was closer to $5 but I can't really remember, I would have paid far more then that either way!

Old 2 sided puzzle $3.

*Disclaimer: Not all thrift store are good, some just sell old clothes and broken toys, BUT when you find a good one that sells neat vintage furniture and trinkets then they can be amazing.  There are a lot out there so keep looking!  I just happen to have 3 favorite shops within about 10 mins of my home!
So, something new and different on here, I hope you all enjoyed it.  Up next, a peek into our home (this will be fun)!