Steal of the MidCentury: Bertoia Chairs

This Saturday we headed to Cricket's folks' house to celebrate my father-in-law's birthday. On the way, we passed what appeared to be a garage sale and something caught my eye. What looked to be vintage white Bertoia chairs caught my eye from the road, and sparked my curiosity because I'd eyed them for our new patio table...until I realized they retail for $300.

Even these on Fab.com today are offered for $279 in RUSTED condition.





So after celebrating at the in-law's, we drove back by the house to check out the sale. We trodded up the driveway and learned that the owner was cleaning out her basement. She had an assortment of stools, chairs, and such.

These beauties were marked $15, which I assumed was per chair. NOPE --for the set of three. WHAT?!?!?

So we snagged those puppies up in an instant. Packing them into the car, I kept expecting us to be arrested for snagging such a steal of a deal. No sirens. No lights. We made it home safe & sound with our new old chairs.

I wish I had the fourth, but the owner wasn't sure where it'd been misplaced. Of course I left my number in case it turns up...please Lord let it be discovered to round out my alfresco dining ensemble.

According to Fab, this classic Vintage Modern chair was designed by 50's designer Harry Bertoia as part of the Bertoia collection of wire sculpted furniture for the Knoll furniture company. In Bertoia's own words, "If you look at these chairs, they are mainly made of air, like sculpture. Space passes right through them." They've probably been in her basement for 50 years, and are in excellent shape. These guys are in perfect condition, chair pads included.

Mason jar sippy cups

Since a neighbor's tree fell this morning and woke me up, I perused my regular websites before getting out of bed.

And MUCH to my amazement Fab.com is offering these sippy cup lids for mason jars. Pretty sure these ain't for your toddler. Say what? I had to share.

It's true than mason jars are multi-use, and now we can add travel mug to the list!

Have a great weekend, and may no trees fall in your yard...

ballard designs shelf makeover

when we bought these shelves, they needed some love. but for the sweet deal we got on Tuscan media console, hutch, + bookshelves, it was totally worth it.

when we moved our bedroom furniture around, it was the perfect time to give these guys some long overdue attention.

the Lowe's shopping list:

• quart of paint, matched to a chip from the busted backing
• panel of beadboard to match the existing backing
• 1x12" boards to make shelves
• ribbed trim to match the shelf-fronts
• brackets to mount the new shelves

we cut the new piece of paneling to fit, then rolled on two coats of paint. while that dried, we built the shelves and glued the trim to the front of them. once dry, we primed + painted. while all of the paint was drying outside, i touched up the shelves themselves.

once everything was dry, we put the shelves into place + replaced all of the accessories. it's amazing what a coat of paint does! the new shelves really help to anchor the fixture, and now the TV doesn't look so miniscule amidst the massive hutch. it's a much prettier site when you walk into the bedroom now, don't you agree?

before:

[busted backing]

[there's a reason they call it scratch + dent]

the makeover cost less than $100, bringing our total for the Ballard Design Tuscan shelves to about $850...still WAY below the $2,600 retail price tag [plus delivery]! woo hoo. i think i could give william shatner + his negotiator buddies a run for their money.

[via]

happy hunter

one of the local bloomingdale's stores is closing its doors + their sale started today. we made sure to be some of the first to arrive, but were pretty disappointed. cricket's in the market for a winter coat + he's had is eye on a few. i was shopping for a wallet, maybe a pair of boots.

just about everything in the store was marked a whopping 10% off. excuse me? that's no sale. while cricket perused the men's section, i wandered to the shoe "salon." there was such a frenzy, and no wonder. the shoes were all 40% off. it was a madhouse. but i finally walked away with these babies.

thanks to my massive calves, they're the short version of the classic, in gloss gray. who are the people who have skinny calves? able to tuck jeans in and still have room for the boots to move about? not me. and since i expect to be wearing these in the summer, the thought of super-tight rubber rub-a-dub-dubbing against my calves wasn't too appealing.

a score at $70 (reg $115)...you have to admit it's a wellie good deal. sorry, couldn't help it.

great scott! it's goodwill.

this week i've been perusing goodwill in search of tabletop decor, and i took the day friday to spend at scott's antique market's monthly show.

at scott's, i only have the budget for the South building. and, really, i like their stuff much more anyway. it's been said that the North building dealers often shop the South building on the first day, then mark up their finds to resell during the show! i got there early and browsed around. i could've spent 5 more hours there, but i had a new baby to visit.

here are some finds!
this chippy door has a bright future, so stay tuned.

[oddly, yet precisely perfect, sized door. future project reveal coming!]

[silver trophy. not sure what KLDN&Y Champions means, but it's charming]

[former churn from a creamery turned umbrella stand]

[warty gourds + oversized gourds]

[big ole gourds]

i was fulfilling a personal shopping mission for my boss, too. she needed a trophy to hold her wine at an annual horse racing social event. for $15, this should do the trick. it's nice and solid, too. others were more than $80 and this guy was looking to get rid of it, as he'd bought a whole set. score!

[trophy cup/wine chiller for my boss]

at goodwill, i scored a set of 6 gold chargers. see that original price tag? $25 a pop. see the price scratched onto the back? $2.22 each. nicely done. that's a total savings of $136.68. (who on earth paid $25 for each of these suckers in the first place??)
*granted, my local target has gold and silver versions for $1.95. i bought the silver ones, but these are much heavier and more solid quality.*

[goodwill steal #1]

a pair of brass candlesticks. i really liked the size + scale of these. after a bit of polish, they brightened right up! yep, that says $2.29.

[goodwill steal #2]

30 day resolution

so i never shop at sears. we went specifically for the dyson sale a few weeks ago. as we walked into the store, i think i said "the last time i was here i was considering buying an elliptical machine." cricket laughed.

cricket wanted to check out the free weights as we passed that section en route to the vacuums. and there's a nordictrack elliptical on clearance. originally $800, now $240. what? so i played on it and it didn't feel cheap. i didn't worry that i'd tip over. i could actually use it at a normal pace without thinking i'd fly off of the wheel thingy. hmmm...

so yeah, we went home with it. it was missing the battery pack cover, but the associate said we could call for the replacement part. (for now, there may be a duck tape solution.) we loaded it up (love having a truck!) & brought it home. i was even able to help get it up the stairs (maybe i don't need to work out afterall, i'm buff. hah, right.)

we have the space for it, and it's literally the ONLY piece of gym equipment i like to use. with winter coming, i expect it will be very useful. we have an awesome new gym at work, but well, it's still a pain to get there, work out, and then get dressed for work there. and working out with co-workers is a little odd to me still. i'd rather do it all in the comfort of my own home, right as i roll out of bed. and i can still take advantage of the free gym classes (and YOGA!!) at the office to mix up my routine a little.

we have 30 days to decide if it's a keeper. cricket says i have to use it 3x/week or it's going back. our decision period ends this week. so far, i've been really good about using it--usually in the mornings. the time change has helped me motivate, too. it's not the prettiest thing in our master bedroom, but i love rolling out of bed onto it. i mean, it's hard to ignore it en route to the bathroom. no excuses.

a little order to the bedroom

we moved into our house in june 2010 + still had some un-packed boxes by the holidays. that's normal, right? our dilemma was that the boxes were full of books, accessories, + photos that we simply had nowhere to put. yes, we gained TONS of space in the new house, but we were missing any shelving/display space for our wares.

i think i've already gabbed about how we were bitten by the motivation bug when we visited our west coast bro + sis in laws over Christmas. so, in the days that followed during my work vacation, i headed to the ballard designs outlet. oh yes, that's a major perk of living in atlanta. we have not one, but two.

low and behold they were having a sale on bookcases. and by sale, i mean S.A.L.E. picture a car lot banner waving in the wind, the hot air balloon flying overhead, light show beckoning you to be tempted.

these tuscan bookcases were basically being given away. the narrow bookcases = $99 [retail: $499 each] and the larger one = $199 [retail: $799 each]. that means i could get this entire set for $400. retail is $1,797. fireworks.we'd been talking about doing floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, but weren't sure how we'd work with the vaulted ceilings. for the price, this might solve our problems.

mind you, these weren't in perfect shape. there were a few dings + scratches, but i planned to paint them anyway. i was sure the "tuscan cream" would be too creamy to match our trim. the biggest problem with these was that there were some major holes in the back panel. this was just the cardboard-esque backing that could easily be replaced with a sheet of beadboard. i was thinking i'd paint the back a contrasting color anyway, so it wasn't a dealbreaker.

i called the hubs to make sure the dimensions would work on our bedroom wall. he gave the thumbs up, so i scoured the aisles to pick out the three best-looking pieces i could find. knowing where we were putting these, i could work with certain imperfections that would be covered. finally, found the pieces and purchased. yay!!!

on new year's day, hubs rented a uhaul to go pick up the bookcases. we got them home + a friend helped get them up the staircase.

UH-OH.

the big one isn't going to fit. no way, no how. it just won't make the tight turn of the stairs. CURSES. all sales final. DOUBLE CURSES.

okay fellas, surely you can take it apart and re-assemble it upstairs. right? nope. ugh.

i remembered seeing another option that was actually two pieces: the tuscan media console and hutch. the prices were a little higher [outlet price: hutch = $60, console = $290; set retail: $1,598], and the width was bigger than the center bookcase, BUT it came in two pieces and would actually fit up our staircase. so, i called the wonderful folks at ballard + they graciously allowed me to exchange it.

so, cricket, lu-dog, and i headed back to the outlet. why take the dog? well, she'd had foot surgery the day prior + we hadn't tested her temperment with the infamous cone yet. so, she got to tag along.

again, not perfect. the top shelf was missing and there was no hardware. easy fixes in my book. knobs from hobby lobby @$3 each.

we finally got the pieces upstairs + i got to decorate. after the 6-hour task of getting the stupid shelves, i had no energy to tackle painting them. save that for another day. surprisingly, the "tuscan cream" matches splendidly + i was able to disguise some of the bigger imperfections with a little styling. we also need to add the center shelf so the TV doesn't look so miniscule, but it works for now. check it out...

the bedroom is cream, taupe, mushroom, + robin's egg blue. the window shades are "eaton blue" and "kelp" from premier prints:

i was thinking painting the shelves the darker taupe/mushroom color, with a robin's egg blue backing. any paint color suggestions???

total cost:
2 x small tuscan bookcases @ $99 each
1 x media console @ $287
1 x media hutch @ $60
1 uhaul rental @ $150 [that extra trip to the store really killed us. stupid mileage]
2 x knobs @ $3 each
TOTAL w/ taxes: $750
RETAIL: $2,596 + tax & delivery

SAVINGS = OVER TWO THOUSAND BUCKAROOS!!