Craigslist Find

I purchased two old 50's style desks on Craigslist. The desks were dirt cheap and in a bit of bad shape. I almost questioned whether I wanted to take the task on but now I'm glad I did. I'm pleasantly surprised by the outcome and the kids LOVE their new desks. First I sanded and primed the desks on a drop cloth in the basement.



I then painted about three coats on the desks. And here they are!

Makeshift Mudroom

I have spent a lot of time staring at this entryway furniture from my Pottery Barn catalog. Everytime the catalog comes in, I've looked at the picture and wondered where I could make such a set up work in our house. We don't have a mudroom. Once I figured an area where it could work, I got real and thought about cost. I couldn't justify spending $550 (plus $60 S&H)--not including cushion and baskets. But then I came across this unpainted pine version at Target. At the time of my purchase, Target offered an additional 15% off total purchase and free shipping. I spent $255! I then spent $25 on paint and $23 for fabric/cushion. I got the baskets at Michael's at 50% off. I saved $260 and think the end result is pretty cute.

New Chair for Sewing Table!

So, do you recall my refinished sewing table? If not, read the background here and here. It never came to mind that I'd need a chair for my table. Duh! I was able to find this white beauty! Now here is my next question. Should I paint the chair same color as the table, paint it a totally different color (granny apple green, chocolate), or leave it alone? I have enough paint from the table, that seems the most obvious choice but I'm unsure. What would you do?

Finished Table

Do you remember this table? You can read about it here. Basically I paid $15 for it on Craigslist (and got a nice Singer sewing machine with it too!).

Well, I sanded, primed, repainted, and put all new hardware on it and here is the finished result!





I am so happy with the end result. It is hard to get a good image that captures the color but it is basically a green/blue shade of paint. I think it is cute and much more functional than my old table!

Oh what a find!

I have been reminising about my sewing history. I learned to sew at 12. But prior to that, my mom sewed many of my clothes, baby clothes, and dolls. My mom passed away when I was 16 (actually, 19 years ago today) and I was given her sewing machine. My heart breaks to say that I no longer have it. I was young and things happen in life we regret--it was sold in a garage sale. I was headed to college and wasn't thinking of the future.

Lately I've have been flooded with memories of my mom sitting at her sewing table, threading her machine, asking me to try something on for her. I can't help feeling so sad that I didn't predict how much regret I'd have that I don't have her machine. I called my dad and asked him the year of her machine and started scouring online. I don't necessarily need another machine but it would be nice to have two. I found the Singer pictured above on Craigslist. It is exactly as I remember my mom's! And, score, it was only $15 and came with a sewing table! I should mention that we sold my mom's table too. Here's the table:



Do you think I should paint it?

As we were driving home from picking it up, I started to think again about my mom's machine. Did you see the movie, Definitely Maybe? The part of the movie I love is [SPOILER IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN IT]....where the character April buys any copy of Jane Eyre that she finds because her father wrote an inscription in a copy for her before she died and she lost the book. One day Will finds the copy with the inscription in a secondhand store and gives it to April. What a gift! I so wish life could really work out that way. I just have to hope that maybe my mom's machine is out there somewhere being cherished and this machine I've acquired once belonged to someone who wishes they'd kept it.