Transformations & Thrifty Finds

It's Transformation Thursday over at The Shabby Chic Cottage so today we will share a little transformation on one of the rooms at the cabin.

How about the living room / kitchen since it's pretty much one area? Sounds good to me! Here we go - from funky (and I mean that in a gross, moldy, dirty kind of way) to fabulous - I present the living area of Robin's Nest!

All the BEFORE photos were taken in October of 2009 when we first arrived.

From the front door -  note the 'funky' and the fact that the foreclosure notices are still taped on the window.

Nice high ceiling - note that they took the light fixture that was mounted on the center beam...and that everything looks a little gray (again with the 'funky')

The fireplace... lookin' a bit dusty

The hallway...that's MOLD on the walls...and door at least they left the hall fixture...and the light bulb.

That's the corner for the fridge...yes, it was gross.

Evidently I didn't take photos once stuff was clean, but before we unloaded our stuff...but as you can see in the ONE that I did take, lots of natural light and the floor isn't gross anymore!

I scored the awesome metal twig chandelier TOTALLY by accident at Pier 1. I saw it on their website on clearance so I ran to the store on my lunch break (hello - Jason's Deli is right next door - best tuna melt ever) and a super nice guy named Michael said "I think we have a couple of those in the back" (none out IN the store though - so moral of the story, if you see it online and want it, ASK because they probably don't have it on the floor where you can actually find it yourself). He came out with one in hand (out of box) to verify it was what I wanted, then came back with one all boxed up and rang it up for me...needless to say I was THRILLED to snag this $125 beauty for just over $20 after sales tax. Yes, I said $20.

It's kinda small,but it puts out a lot of light and while we have high ceilings, it's not a big room. Did I mention I love it?

So here's the dining / kitchen area - I scored the brand new 18" dishwasher on Craig's List (still in the box and taped up with that weird blue sticky film stuff) for $300 - which was cheaper than a new one from Scratch and Dent World. The range and microwave were also Craig's List scores. $250 for the glass top range, the microwave, a regular size dishwasher and a super capacity washer and dryer (replaced my old W/D at home with that set, resold the dishwasher that we didn't need). Can't beat $50 per piece!  The curtains were re-purposed from our family room at the Florida house - they had a tapestry panel across the top with dragonflies. My mom covered the tapestry with blue and white ticking stripe for me. Moms that sew are awesome! (so are aunts...hi Ali!) Mr. Paisley whipped up the shelf / curtain rod holders over the windows. I wanted some display space for all my country / Americana treasures, but mostly I wanted to break up all the wood. The curtain tie-backs I bought on clearance from some catalog a long time ago and never put them up at the Florida house. The drop leaf table came from Goodwill - $18. Mr. Paisley sanded and re-stained the top. I tightened the legs up, cleaned it up and good as new, only cheaper. The lamp base was less than $2 at another thrift store, the really nice (but crooked in this picture) fancy lined shade was $10 at a resale furniture shop. The ladder back chairs came from Craig's List and thrift stores. All the decorative stuff came from: thrift stores (almost all $6 or less per piece), clearance sections at TJ Maxx or Marshall's, yard sales, stuff I already had or inexpensive catalogs (ABC / Lakeside / Terry's Village / Collections).

The quilt was a Christmas gift from my aunt Alice. She rocks too! The Dooney bag was my Christmas gift to myself ;-) the beyond awesome wood bowl on the coffee table was a $7 clearance find at Marshalls. I would have liked to pay less, but I wasn't going to pass it up.

Here's my herb window and my kitchen sink view in the winter. There's a better shot of mom's handiwork on the curtains. Ticking is very hard to find when you want it...just sayin'.

This is over the herb window. I got the vintage Chinese checkers game board on ebay, the crock at an antique mall and the half round at a yard sale.

More fabulousness. Antique picnic basket ($4), metal stars on sticks ($.25 ea), layered wood star ($1), tin roof birdhouse ($2), vintage inspired MILK canvas ($7), vintage red milk can ($25), small white milk can ($4 - too much, but I liked it)

Framed apple basket piece ($6 at Goodwill), Chair ($5 Craig's List storage unit sale)

Close up of Mr. Paisley's shelf - McCoy crock cookie jar was another Goodwill score ($2), angel cat doll was $2 on clearance at Marshall's - Linda Spivey framed print $3 at Goodwill, little house and black star (far right) were $.25 each at Beall's Outlet.

Don't you love this floor lamp?! It's handmade and signed on the bottom. See the peg sticking out under the bracket? There are 4 holes in the pole and you can adjust the light arm up and down to where you want it! The little houses are too cute and I got it at a thrift store for $1.99! I walked by it twice before I even noticed it (because it didn't have a shade and it was stuck in a corner at the end of a wall rack). I got the shade for $1.99 at Old Time Pottery. Finding a shade was kinda hard. The pole limits you to a narrow shade... (please ignore the water marks, the roof was leaking...hence the mold in the BEFORE photos - it's on the to-do list)

Sofa and loveseat were also from Craig's List - someones living room set. $220. Eventually I want to put a smaller scale leather set in there. This works for now. The coffee table belonged to Mr. Paisley's grandparents. My mother-in-law offered it (and 2 end tables that more or less match it) to us. The coffee table is perfect because it's narrow and fits the space. I think it was made up in upstate NY where Mr. Paisley's side of the family is from...the green table and the other vintage metal floor lamp are also from Craig's List - the TV came from my parents when they bought a new flat panel. Free is good.

More goodies - do you LOVE the blue horse as much as I do?! It's on wheels - like an old pull toy. No idea if it's old or not but picked it up at a thrift store for $2. The Fishing Lure piece was in an auction box my in-law's bought - it was the right feel and colors, so I absconded with it it was offered to me. Another $.25 house and FREEDOM from Beall's Outlet and a $1 or $2 for the tin bucket and the bottle cap style wall hanging. It has a quilt on it. Me likey.

I love that shelf. I got it at the same yard sale as the half round over the herb window. The rusty star had me at first sight. I added a country willow tree, a battery op red berry scented candle, another $.25 LIBERTY and Welcome star, an old Brownie camera (ebay $5), a vintage red white and blue top and an old textile bobbin for some more color. The lamp is cool right? Chippy paint and a too high watt bulb that washes out the chambray shade.

Closer upper - the framed piece says SIMPLIFY - it's hand stitched with a checked border.

And last (for today) this is the little side wall that hides the fridge and of course the landing at the top of the stairs. That is actually a rug - I suppose I could put a quilt there, but the rug was too "pretty" to throw on the floor!