Coop Makeover

When we started house hunting I was always drawn to the fixer uppers. The ones that once upon a time had their glory days. The ones that have squeaky floors. The ones that despite the awful shape they are in they still stand a chance. The ones with character.

            Ah, character. The one thing that I don’t notice when I see newly built houses. Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate new houses. They are perfect in every way. Every wall color, trim design, and flooring selection match perfectly. They’re beautiful. But they lack character. Now don’t be upset if you live in a new house. There is just something about the design of older homes that doesn’t exist today.

I wanted a fixer upper. The hubba hubba wanted something with minimal to no fixes. Let me just explain the issue I have with this. My husband is a carpenter. He can fix pretty much anything and he does an excellent job at it. So why not want to come home after a long day at work and work some more to make our fixer upper livable? Yea, I wasn’t going to win on this one. So we decided to change our search for something that was older but was livable and we were able to add our own character to.

            The house hunting wasn’t as fun as I thought it would be. It was heartbreaking. We were in negotiations for the house that I thought I couldn’t live without when someone else placed a bid during our negotiations and the seller took their offer. I was devastated. I didn’t think I could find another house as perfect as this one, yet I was wrong. We had been looking at houses online when we found one that the hubba hubba could not wait to see. He was so impatient and excited about this one that he couldn’t wait for me to get off work. He drove by it that night and called me to say, “it’s the one.” The next day we had our realtor meet us at the house and I was just as excited. The hubba hubba was right it was the one. After a month, we closed on our first home together.

            Instead of moving in right away, we started working on the house. Chris spent the first month installing new hardwood flooring (one my of must-haves) and painting the entire upstairs. Side note: the hubba hubba did a vast majority of this by himself, he’s a keeper! Once the floors and walls were done, we were able to start moving in. I had been collecting several furniture pieces and accessories waiting to buy my first house. I even kept them all in boxes so it would be like Christmas when we moved. If you are able to do this, I highly recommend it! Once we placed what he did have we started working on one room at a time. With the exception of the living room, the office was the first to be completed.

            I started collecting items that matched my style and designing in my head how they would all go together.

            The desk was made from an old door and metal found while junkin’. The colors on the door and metal worked perfectly together (see original post here).

            I had a harder time deciding which chair would be perfect in this room. Fortunately, I was able to get both chairs I had narrowed down for this space. 

            I always wanted a mantel (see post about my mantel here) and was able to grab this beauty up at First Fridays in the West Bottoms.

            Another great find was this rusty filing cabinet. As soon as I saw it I knew I had to have it. I have had several people ask if it is functional, and it is! The rust is contained to the outside so the drawers work perfectly!

            My gallery wall (see original post here) is made up of a majority of items I found while junkin’. With the exception of our gorgeous wedding photos (Thank you Aftyn Marie Photograph!).  

Below is the before (with the previous owners belongings) and the after! It is amazing to me the huge difference!

            Whew! That was a lengthy post just to get to our office make over. Let me know what ya'll think!

Rather be junkin'!

Heather

Junkin' Tips

Hey Ya’ll!

During my junkin’ adventures I’ve come up with a few tips that make junkin’ easier and safer! Check out the 5 tips below!

Tip #1: Wear tennis shoes or boots. Depending on where you go, especially junkyards, there may be broken glass or metal that could cut your feet.

Tip #2: Take gloves. Some items can be in really bad shape, have sharp edges, or even a nail hanging out, wear gloves to protect your hands just in case.

Tip #3: Bring a camera. There have been times that I haven’t taken pictures of some of my finds. I get home and start thinking about them and wish I would have taken a picture so I could decide if I really want it. Having a photograph can jog your memory and help you decide.

Tip #4: Buy it if you love it. If you see something you really like, buy it. I know this defeats Tip #3, but I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to go back and buy stuff I wasn’t sure of. That isn’t always the case at some places.

Tip #5: Bring a truck. Maybe even a trailer, too. Who knows, you might find a bigger piece than will fit in your car.

Those are my tips! Let me know if you have any additional tips from your junkin’ adventures!

Rather Be Junkin <3

Heather

#RatherBeJunkin

I love Junkin’. I love not knowing what I’m going to find. It’s like a surprise waiting to happen. You truly never know what you’re going to come across. It’s wonderful stumbling across new antique and junk places. Adding more places to my list of places that I have to frequent.

            I have had several people ask me how I got into junkin’. When I graduated from college I suddenly had more time on my hands. When I was about 10 years old I sponge painted my wooden headboard and footboard but other than that I had never refinished a piece of furniture before. So when I came across a beautiful wing back chair I figured how hard could it be? I can’t tell you how many staples I pulled but I do know that reupholstering is still the hardest project I’ve worked on. 

After finishing my chair I started going to garage and estate sales, always going for small wooden pieces. Shortly after I became a vendor for a local repurposing store called The Red Apron. If you haven’t checked it out, you’re most definitely missing out.  A few months Chris and I purchased a home and all of my projects became “our” projects for our new home. Then we got engaged and my design projects took a back seat to wedding planning. Of course, like after graduation, when the wedding was done I was back to having some spare time. This time though, I found a new love. Junkin’.

I have always had a love for the old and rusted but it took on a new meaning. I had begun frequenting my favorite antique places and started to branch out. What places had I not been before? I started out local and began broadening my radius. Every weekend I would find a few new places to check out.

That is how I got into Junkin’. If I had it my way, I would be out junkin’ across the country every day.

Rather Be Junkin' <3
Heather

Chalk Holder

I get the feelin’ I need to be junkin’ quite often. It’s so much fun to rummage through the old and rusty. Every time I go I have no idea what I’m going to find and am always surprised. Of course, this time was no different.

While out on a Saturday morning for MISSION: Office Chair, I wasn’t having any luck. I decided the best way to save the day was to go junkin’. Unfortunately for me, my three junkin’ companions were busy and couldn’t join me. That didn’t stop me. I decided to make an hour drive north to a small town with a wonderful antique shop that I have passed many times. You may wonder how a junkin’ lovin’ gal like me has passed by such a wonderful place so many times and never stopped? Well, I am a family of hunters and when it’s hunting time, we don’t have time to stop. I digress.

My trip to Bethany went a lot quicker than I anticipated, of course that’s probably because I listened to the likes of Miranda Lambert and her song about me called, “Old Shit.” Look it up, it’s wonderful. Anyway, while on my trip I found this awesome old metal matchbox. I picked it up and turned it over in my hands a few times wondering what I could do with it when the light bulb came on. Chalk holder. With my new fireplace and the hubba hubba’s brilliant idea to paint it chalkboard in the opening, I was not fond of just leaving the chalk sitting on top of the mantel. I was so excited. I wish I had bought a few more so that I could share them!

Chippy Ol' Fireplace

A fireplace. Growing up my family had a fireplace and I remember in the winter my sister and I would snuggle with a bunch of blankets next to it while we watched TV. Lets fast-forward to now where I own my own house and I don’t have a fireplace. Though a fireplace was on my “must-have” list, it became a back seat need when we found our beautiful home. However, my longing to have a fireplace did not go away.

This must be the reason I became infatuated with the idea of having a faux fireplace in our house.  So the search began. I initially found an old white one in the West Bottoms on a Saturday afternoon. The hefty price tag deterred me from making the purchase, which in return haunted me until the following month when the West Bottoms opened up again. This time, making my hubba hubba tag along, I was sure to get that darn white fireplace.

Of course, my plan did not go as I expected.  We get to the store that the fireplace is supposed to be at, has to be at, I look high and low on the 3 floors and even ask someone if they still have it. No. it’s gone. This makes me pout the rest of our shopping trip. I can’t leave empty handed. I came with the intention of getting that fireplace.

As we leave with my lip sticking out, I decide to stop into one last store. We walk in and there it is. My fireplace. It’s not the one I intended on getting. It’s better. Like a million times better. Unfortunately, the price is higher, too. The owner of the fireplace sees us eyeing and comes over to give some additional information on the piece. Then she says those magical words, “if you have cash I can give you a better offer.” YES! I was ecstatic to be getting a fireplace, better than the one I originally wanted and it was even at a lower price, too!

I am now the proud owner of my very own fireplace.

Rather Be Junkin'<3

Heather