FRIDAY FINDS

Today, I'd like to welcome the talented Cathy Wall from Room RX.
I discovered Cathy's blog a short while ago and I instantly became a big fan.
She has a great eye and has a really fun weekly series called "Color of the Moment".
She highlights a few beautiful colors and puts together a design board based on those colors.
This is one of my favorites. 

You can read all about it here. 

Not only is she a fabulous designer, she has also tackled some pretty amazing DIY projects.
I love the nail head trimmed bulletin board she created.

You can get all the details here.

I could go on and on about how great Cathy is, but I think I'll let her take it from here....

A big thanks to Andrea for inviting me to share my favorite find on her new feature "Friday Find."

I am fairly new to reading her blog, but was enamored immediately both by her great eye for decorating and refurbishing her lovely old home, and her friendly and delightful comments and communications. Oak Ridge Revival is now a daily read for me and I look forward to Andrea's posts.

Picking my favorite find was difficult because I thrive on a good find, often locating items I have no  money or need for. In those cases, I am usually found texting photos to friends and clients because I want someone to get a bargain. Since many of the items I have in my own home are second hand pieces, living an upcycled life, I figured that it made sense to share one that I found over 10 years ago and that I still love!

This baby was once topped with glass and probably part of a vintage patio set (I searched high and low on the web to find something similar to show you, but no can do). When I stumbled upon her during a jaunt to the Kane County Flea Market way back when, she was sitting sadly in a vendor's booth waiting to be snatched up... I walked right by.  It was my girlfriend with the great eye who spotted her and convinced me I could make her into something beautiful. For 40 bucks I figured "what the heck?"

Because I had been wanting an upholstered ottoman in my living room, I decided she was an ideal candidate to be transformed into just that.  I had the perfect fabric and just the upholsterer to call in for the job and voila, here she is. I love how the circles on the fabric repeat the circle detail on the table...

 I love the bronze/brass finish.
(It's back in vogue now, meaning that if you buy what you love, it will always be in style....sometime!)

 

 She is big and heavy, so that that when my kids put their feet up, they can't shove her across the room.

 Here she is in the teeny tiny living room in my former home, yep...lots of brass!  I think was ahead of the curve, or maybe that was in the curve!

When all was said and done I think the whole piece cost me around $165 

(not counting the fabric, which I already owned).  

I am married to a CPA and because I still love this ottoman, he would say that its value has not depreciated in any way over the past 10 years! I guess the point here is to buy what you love

 and fill your home those items, and if they happen to be a deal, all the better!

Thanks again for having me Andrea.

It is always good to take a fresh eye to your "stuff" and pick your favorites.