Mirror, mirror on the wall...

Lately, I have been scouring thrift stores and finding special pieces for the house.  We've already got our major pieces of furniture but I love personalizing the house with unique finds.  I like to brag a little bit about how I can find amazing pieces and refurbish them.  Living in Houston, we often see cookie cutter homes and furnishings from popular stores, which I try to stay away from.   With some patience and an eye for internal beauty, you can find good quality pieces and turn them into unique treasures.   A tip to keep in mind is not to buy everything you like but know where the piece would have a place in your home.  Otherwise, you can risk turning your house into a museum or cluttered mess.

I have to thank whomever threw away or donated this mirror but I found it at a local thrift store for nearly nothing.  I dug through a pile of rubble to find it but I saw its top from a distance and knew I could turn it into something special.

Here is the beauty for only $8.

If you can't see its potentials, here is an inspiration image of what I plan to do to it.  

image via Country Living

Before and After

What I love about refurbishing items is that you're not only being environmentally conscious but you're also putting your personal touch on it.  Like this lamp I found at a secondhand store.  I took some existing paint that we had from previous paint jobs, added a shade found in the closet, and voila, a one-of-a-kind piece that you'll never see anywhere else.

Hanging family photos

If you're like me and can't decide which walls in your house to hang your photos on, try this:

I like to group all my photos together on one wall to make a bigger impact.  And this method allows me to switch out photos whenever I have a new favorite.  It's also a way for my husband and I to showcase our photography.  

Some other inspirations I saw on the web.

images via Analog Dialog

One man's trash is another man's treasure

As I learned from stylist Emily Henderson that brass is also back.  I recently stopped by a secondhand store on the way home and found this set of 7 solid brass candle holders for a mere $4.99.  The box looks like it's from the 70s.  I'm pretty happy with my find even though I know they're not worth much more. And after soaking it in lukewarm soap water for about 15 minutes, my brass candle sticks are clean again.  To make them a little shiny and to protect the brass, I rubbed them with some olive oil.  Simple and natural.  They're going to look great at the dinner table over the holiday season.

Here's the before and after:

By the way, I saw this set on ebay on sale for $60 and this set on etsy for sale as well.  

I also saw this image of painted brass candle holders used as a serving tray and now I am re-thinking about giving my brass candle holders a paint job.

image via Apartment Therapy

Gold mirrors over the mantle

I know I am late in mentioning this but gold is in! I have seen so many gold accents in the homes from mirrors to lamps to coffee tables.  I have been searching for a vintage gold mirror to go over our mantle but haven't really found one to fall in love with.  I've been searching craigslist, antique stores, consignment shops for a mirror with an organic shape.  It doesn't have to be in gold because I can easily fix that with some paint or gold leaf.  

images via Lonny

Art: gallery style

At almost 3,800 square feet, our house is fairly large.  The collection of art I had brought with me from my  previous apartment were all too small to put up on any specific walls.  I had been laying them around the house to find the perfect spot for each.  After careful planning and reading up on the many eclectic art gallery walls, I finally decided it was time to create one for our house.

Chalk alert

The other day when we finished painting the chalkboard for our kitchen, I had some leftover chalk paint.  These  Illy coffee cans have been laying around the house forever (they're so pretty I couldn't throw them away) so I decided to give them a quick paint job.

Now they sit on the kids' art table storing art supplies.  In the future, I plan on painting some more and using them for herbs in the kitchen.

A first for everything.

I thought that it would be appropriate to start off my first post with a first attempt at a do-it-yourself project that my husband and I completed over the weekend.  We had been wanting to put up a chalkboard between our breakfast room and kitchen.  After going back and forth about where to buy a chalkboard big enough to fill up the long, narrow wall, we decided it would be most cost-effective to build it ourselves.  How hard could it be, right?

My husband recently bought a table saw and router so I designed a basic framed board that would span six feet high by three feet wide.  Putting the frame together took the most time since we had no idea how to put a biscuit joint together.

And though the project took us most of the labor day weekend and about ten trips to the home improvement stores, the final result was just want I had envisioned.  Now our breakfast nook reminds me of our trip to Paris a few years back.