DUMPSTER DIVING DIVA

I am not really a Diva, far from it. I just thought adding it to the title made it sound a little less "trashy".  Let me be perfectly honest and let you know that I did not actually get into the dumpster.  My treasure was sitting next to the dumpster with a sign on it that said "trash".  As soon as I saw it, I thought to myself "trash"?  "I think not"!  I immediately scooped it up and put it my car.  My children were mildly embarrassed.

Here it is. I'll let you be the judge.

Can you believe someone would call this little beauty "trash"?  

It was by the dumpster at my children's school.  

It is one of the old metal rolling carts that would hold overhead projectors. 

I must admit, the color is what first caught my attention.

I thought the casters were pretty cool too. 

And it is practically the same color as my favorite thrifted lamp. 

As soon as I got home, I gave it a good wipe down and then added these baskets, which I already had. 

It must have been meant to be, because the baskets fit perfectly on the bottom shelves. 

It also helps balance out either side of the fireplace.

 I might have to start doing a dumpster drive by every once in a while.
Oh, I almost forgot, I also snagged a gray one.
I don't have immediate plans for it yet, but I'm sure I'll come up with something.
Anyone else been dumpster diving lately?

I am sharing with:
Perfectly Imperfect
Burlap and Denim

ON A ROLL

Sometimes when I'm less than thrilled about a room in my house, I'll make a change.  That change will lead to another change and then another change.  Fortunately my husband is a "roll with it" kind of guy so he is very accepting of my incessant changing, rearranging and painting problem.  Well, is it really a problem?  I think not.  It's more of a habit/hobby.  Let's just go with that!

Once I added the vintage school chairs to our family room, I started yearning to make more changes.
It was another one of those episodes, like this one, where I grabbed a can of paint and a paint brush (around 9:00 p.m. on Sunday) and jumped right in.  Not even my husband asking "Really, you're going to do that RIGHT now?" could stop me.  However, I am concerned that if he had to ask, does he really know me at all?

Anyway, this is what I painted....

Before I attacked it with my paintbrush, it looked like this....

We have had this chair for a long time and I have loathed it for almost as long as we have had it.
Not sure why I never got rid of it.  It has definitely seen its better day.  I have been thinking about painting it for a while now and I even shopped around a bit for some spray paint in a color that would work.  I never came up with anything.  Itching to get it done, I remembered we had some exterior paint in the basement that was the perfect color.  I would love to tell you what it is, but I have a really bad habit of getting the paint can so covered with paint that I can't read the color.  We used it on our outdoor shutters and it's a Benjamin More green/gray color.  That really helps, doesn't it?   Painting it with a paint brush certainly wasn't the easiest way to go about it, but I still spent less than one hour on the entire project.

I originally thought I wanted to have the cushions recovered, 

but the leather is very durable and the color goes pretty well in this room.  

I think I need to go on the hunt for the perfect pillow (or fabric to make a pillow) 

to complement this chair. 

So here it is all nestled up to the vintage school chairs.  Don't they look cute together?

More changes to come, to, you guessed it, this room. Stay tuned.  

Anyone else share my problem hobby/habit?  

Sharing with:
Savvy Southern Style
Primitive and Proper
DIY by Design
Miss Mustard Seed
Perfectly Imperfect

VINTAGE CHAIRS

I had a crazy busy Saturday, so on Sunday I decided to chill out and go do something I love, antiquing.  

I made my way out to the Burlington Outdoor Antique Show, which happens every third Sunday from April to October.  The show opens at 5:00 a.m., but I wasn't able to get out there until 12:30ish.  There are not too many things that will make me want to get out of bed before 7:00 a.m. (not even shopping).  There's good and bad to arriving late.  The good, is that the vendors are ready to make some serious deals.  The less they have to pack up and take home, the better.  The bad, is that lots of vendors start packing up early and we missed quite a few of them. Oh well, back to the good. 

I scored these vintage school chairs for $10.00 each.  They are not completely metal like I thought I wanted, but they are vintage and the blue/green color on the legs is perfect.  I'm even digging the rust.   

One slight problem is that two of the chairs sit a bit lower than the other two.  

I will have to add something to the bottom of the legs to even them out.  

A few years ago, I would have never thought of mixing wood tones.
If my dining room table was dark wood, I would have wanted every other piece
in the dining room to be dark wood.  Not anymore!
Now, I love the look of mixed wood tones.  Funny how your taste evolves.

I wasn't completely sold on using them here when I bought them, but when I got them home, I knew they would work perfectly.  Mixing styles is something I am slowing learning to do better.  I am truly a traditionalist at heart, but modern and vintage style has been tugging at my heart lately.  Mixing these styles together is what appeals to me the most.

One more time, here are the chairs we were previously using.

And now...

This room is finally coming together.  I have a couple other projects in this room to share with you this week too.  One of them even involves dumpster diving.  You won't want to miss that one!

OLIVE LEAF STENCIL GIVEAWAY WINNER...

Drumroll please!

Amy R. said...

I want to stencil something, my bathroom, a hallway, something! 

Fingers crossed! P.S. your powder room looks lovely.

So sorry I didn't post this yesterday.  We had our neighborhood block party and I was in charge 

of it this year.  It was a busy day and time got away from me.

Congratulations Amy and thanks to everyone who entered.  

Be sure to check out all of the lovely stencil designs Olive Leaf Stencils offers.  

WHAT "WOOD" YOU DO?

I'm sure most of you have seen this done before, but I am dying to do this in the fireplace 

in our living room.  We cannot burn wood in this fireplace.   

It has a gas line in it, but we have no plans to have gas logs installed.

Here it is currently. 

My heart was set on stacking logs in the entire box. Much like these inspiration pictures.  

                  Source: flickr.com via Andrea on Pinterest

                  Source: livecreatingyourself.com via Andrea on Pinterest

However, I have recently seen a lot of this.  

I have shredded old book pages to make a nest 

and I have torn pages out of old books to make a book page wreath. 

So why not stack old books in the fireplace?  

This would be an inexpensive project using books from a thrift store.  

Kind of unexpected, don't you think?

                                     Source: livecreatingyourself.com via Andrea on Pinterest

                            

Source: apartmenttherapy.com via Andrea on Pinterest

What do you think, logs or books?   

I love the natural element of the wood, but the quirkiness of the books appeals to me also.       

I would love to know your thoughts.  

Also, Friday is the last day to enter the Olive Leaf Stencil giveaway.  

The giveaway will close at 11:59 p.m.  Be sure to check back on Saturday to find out who won.  

Lastly, thanks for all your kind comments on my thrifty artwork and fab fabric find.  

It really makes my day to read all your comments.                                                  

FABULOUS FABRIC FIND

So while I was out scooping up the $6.00 artwork on Saturday, I made a quick trip into Hancock's.  It must have been my lucky day because while I was in there, one of the workers was bringing out boxes and boxes of remnants (I love remnants)!  He said they had just received a huge shipment and wanted to get rid of them all for, you guessed it, $4.00 a yard.  My eyes were immediately drawn to this lovely print.  

It's called Latika by Echo.  It is 100% linen and retails for $79/yard.  I bought 7 yards for $28.  I did a search on-line when I got home and found it for anywhere between $79/yard and $29/yard (but not $4/yard).  I love the pattern and the colors.  I know just where it's going to go.  

These are the current curtains in my family room.  Another $4/yard find.  

I still like them, but lately I've been longing for something a little lighter in this room.  

I will keep these curtains and maybe use them in the Fall/Winter and use 

the Latika ones in the Spring/Summer. 

I am going to have the Lakita curtains done with a pinch pleat for a more tailored look.  

Can't wait to hang them up.  

I also found this on etsy.  Makes a pretty pillow, doesn't it?  Since I have 7 yards, I think I'll save a little for a pillow.  Don't want to overdo it, but I think one small pillow will look great.  

So that's why I don' buy expensive fabric.  I change my mind way too often.  Anyone else fickle over fabric (and rugs, and lamps and mirrors)?

There is still time to enter the Olive Leaf Stencil giveaway.  It is open until Friday at 11:59 a.m.

THE MISSING PIECE

The mantle in our living room has been missing something.  I found the missing something over the weekend at Goodwill.  As soon as I saw it, I knew it was coming home with me. The colors are perfect for this room and the price was even more perfect, at whopping $6.00!

This is mantle in its sad depressing state before the vibrant piece of art took over.  

It is an original piece of art which is exactly what I was looking for.  

I even love the rustic frame it came in and if you look closely, 

you can see two tiny crosses on the left side of the painting. 

It helps tie all the warm and cool colors in the room together.  

While I am thoroughly enjoying my $6.00 original art, I am saving my pennies for a piece of art from a friend/neighbor of mine, Glenna Adkins.   She is an extremely talented artist and I can't wait to own one of her masterpieces.  Her amazing work can be seen here.

I am particularly fond of this one.

And this one (I love the idea of adding a piece of abstract art to my fairly traditional living room).

Don't forget to enter the Olive Leaf Stencil Giveaway HERE.

It is open until Friday.

Sharing with:
Savvy Southern Style
Boogie Board Cottage
Coastal Charm

OLIVE LEAF STENCIL GIVEAWAY

I'm very excited to partner with Olive Leaf Stencils  to offer a free stencil (valued up to $60) 

to one of my readers. 

A few months ago, I won an Olive Leaf Stencil giveaway from Emily A. Clark and I chose 

the Ikat No. 2 pattern.  I used it in my powder room and I love the way it turned out. 

Here are a few other inspiring projects involving Olive Leaf Stencils.  

Stenciled curtains from Amber Interiors

Lovely laundry room from the Mustard Ceiling

A dining room wall from Our Fifth House

Here are a few other Olive Leaf Stencils that I am currently loving.....

Chrysanthemum No. 2 Pattern

Pin Cushion Protea

Geometric Pattern

You know you want one now!!  Here's how you enter.....

1.  Go to Olive Leaf Stencils, browse the beautiful designs and then 

come back here and leave me a comment telling me which stencil you would choose. 

2.  You must be a follower of this blog to enter the giveaway.

3.  For extra entries:  

-  tell your Facebook friends about this giveaway and link to this post

- "like" Oak Ridge Revival on Facebook

(leave me a separate comment for each additional entry)

Be sure to include your e-mail address so I can contact you if you are the winner!

The giveaway will remain open until Friday, August 19th  at 11:59 p.m. 

The winner will be announced here on Saturday, August 20th. 

WHAT TO DO, WHAT TO DO?

A while back I posted about wanting to paint these four chairs blue.  

We have owned these chairs since we got married and while I still like them, I am ready to mix it up.  

This was my inspiration for wanting to paint the chairs blue.  The chairs are great, but how about that mirror.  I would love to stumble upon one of those in the thrift store (for about $20).  Yeah, right. 

image via Style at Home

After I thought for a while about painting the chairs blue, it donned on me that I already have this fabric that will be used to make slipcovers for our dining room chairs.  The dining room is just on the other side of the wall from the chairs I want to paint. Too many blue chairs in too close of proximity to each other.

Then I saw this lovely thing. 

I love the idea of mixing in some metal chairs with the wooden table.  

However, at $199/chair, that is more than I want to spend. 

I will now be on the lookout for some vintage metal chairs at a more reasonable price. 

Lyle Side Chair

Crate and Barrel

Just to refresh your memory, this is what the space looked like before we purchased the house.
(My husband was reading over my shoulder as I was writing this and he said
"Did we really buy THAT house?"

Here is is during construction and before we moved in. 

And here it is now.  Well actually this was a few months ago, so of course, 

I have restyled that bookcase about 25 times since then. 

What do you think?  Think the metal and wood mix will work well in this room? 

I will need to sell these chairs before I purchase anything else.  

Anyone looking for some great, sturdy chairs?