From Trash to my living room.

The girls that lived above us moved out. Which is awesome on numerous levels. 1. They were loud. (I greatly enjoy my sleep and these girls made that difficult with all their shenanigans.) 2. They left 2 chairs and a couch on the street (Now... this happens a lot here in California. It baffles me. At home we would take things to the dump, have a yard sale, or donate anything that was nice enough. These people literally just leave their stuff on the sidewalk. So strange) The chairs had potential. So after three trips to Jo Ann's I am rather proud of the finished product. I've never reupholstered anything like this before. And they aren't perfect, but much better. Sadly Jo Ann's didn't have enough fabric for the entire chair which is what lead to the orange bottoms. Also, I decided to hot glue rhinestones to cover up the nails. Everyone loves a little sparkle. The total cost was around $40.

TV Table.

So. The apartment was starting to look really homey. Which I love. But the poor TV (thanks for that by the way Brendan) was just sitting on the floor. So luckily the thrift store provided this great table (which is actually quite heavy being completely metal) It kind of reminds me of an old teachers desk or something. But anywho, the table was listed for $30, we talked them down to $20 and then I found 3 cans of spray paint at Home Depot for around $4 a can (cheaper then Wal Mart-who knew?) and I am quite pleased with the end result. Some other good finds pictured are the phone which I got for $1 at the LA Flea Market. The lamp was free given by a neighbor we just got a new shade from Target. What I love the most is the "Beware of Dog" sign that was left inside one of the drawers of the table.

The frames hanging up are those sticky wall kind from Target. I really loved them at first but because we moved them around to find just the right fit, they decided to all fall down some taking bits of paint with them (whoops). So I'm currently looking for something to replace them on the wall. Hoping to "frame" the TV like I did before.

Side Table/Fish Holder

I found this side table at a thrift store for $10. Plus 1 can of leftover spray paint from the kitchen table= this cute table. Which is now the proud home of the fish.

My cute-n-cheap kitchen.

So I just moved across the country and I am attempting to set up and decorate my apartment. But I have a small problem. I.am.poor. So that lack of cash flow makes decorating kinda difficult. Luckily I have my sister and brother in law to help me find some good deals using a "yard sale" website. First up...the kitchen table.

My Sister found this table for $20 on a yard sale website. She was kind enough to store it for me AND help me refinish it. We got some super cute fabric from JoAnn's ($17) and some spray paint from Wal Mart (about $8) and got to work. The bottoms of the chairs screwed right off so we were able to cut and measure (I am already the proud owner of some nice fabric scissors) the fabric. In true cheap-o fashion we used nails to secure the fabric to the wood, making sure nothing came through. Screw the bottoms back on and we were set. My brother in law painted the table top for me. We thought the green would look nice and pull out the light green in the print.

With the left over fabric we decided to make a table runner. However neither of us know how to sew (I'm hoping Mom can teach me some tips on her visit out here) so we did our best with the "iron on" sewing tape (that is definitely not the professional name, but I can't remember). I'm rather happy on how it turned out.

Thanks Marme.

My mom is a fantastic knitter. She can make everything. She tried to teach me as much as she could before I moved. I do... alright. She just got back from a 3 week trip to England and Ireland and with her she brought all sorts of knitting goodies for me. I love the tea towel.