A couple favs of 2012

We're quickly approaching 2013, all!  I took a little look back to see how I had done with my plans for Lively Grace during 2012, and I'm pleased as punch!  I think I did quite well with my goal of posting 2-4 times per month.  I increased views during the year.  I have a few posts I 'linked up' with other blog posts, which says something for a gal with less than awesome computer skills.  I have written two articles for Pocatello Magazine (so far!), and saw my blog and name printed in Flea Market Style Magazine.  And let's not forget, the fun that is being a vendor in the Wildhare Flea Market!

I choose a couple favorite posts from the last year to share.

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Thursday, July 12, 2012

Kiddo's dresser

I had been keeping my eyes peeled for a dresser to replace the one in my kiddo's room.  I had made a stop on the way home from work when I came across this dresser.  I actually measured to see if it would fit in my car... I was about 2 inches shy... you would be surprised what I can finagle in the back of a small 4 door car!  Instead, I paid for my purchase and quickly returned with the truck to load up.

Here's what it looked like when I brought it home.  Well, actually what it looked like after a good cleaning.  It had been in a garage for many years.  My dad saw it before and after just dust and cobweb removal and thought I had stained it ... nope, just removed layers of old dust!

 

The kiddo was not immediately smitten as I was.  Yeah, even with those key holes! If you follow me on facebook, you may recall I learned that 10 year old boys have criteria of what makes a good dresser that are different from mine.   I learned that fort making capability is an important factor while dresser shopping, and one young man was concerned that this one was too 'stubby'.  

After reconfiguring the options of fort building within his room and his input on paint choices, he began to warm to the idea.  He decided he wanted to leave the top the natural wood color, with all the dings from many years (yeah!).

We actually tried about 4 or 5 different paint colors;  one I had at home, some I mixed, one that I ordered, and then finally found just the right one.  This piece is all wood with lovely rough cross pieces on the back.  I was able to use the side of one of the drawers as the test area until we found the blue he liked best.


                                   

The kiddo chose the drawer pulls- good taste,  'eh?  (He appears less than enthused here, it was a hot day in or out of the garage!)

We moved it into his room the day we finished.

I threw this picture in because I love the stamped numbers on the side.  They're well worn with age, but a bit of paint helped them be more visible.

His room is not 'done', and may never be, as the process of making a space your own is part of the fun and you never know what you may find next (insert mental picture of the bathroom sign here!  If you have no idea what I am referring to, you should check out my facebook page www.facebook.com/LivelyGrace )

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Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Story of the Lockers

Early last fall, I had gone to a 'moving sale'.  Anytime I drive up and see a shed or barn structure, I'm ready to roll.  This guy's place was amazing, with a huge 3 sided workshop.  To protect the innocent, we'll call him Walt.  Walt was moving out of the country on a new adventure.

I nabbed this fan at first sight!  And it still sits atop a project table.

I spied a set of lockers, dusty, and tucked all the way in the back, without a price.  The color was awesome!  I continued to look around, contributing to my 'pile', while still physically holding the fan.  Although I wasn't in the market for one, Walt was selling an enormous rain collection bin that he use to catch rain from his shop's roof and then watered all the trees on his property.  I knew then we were a bit of kindred spirits;  in a good rain storm my kiddo and I go 'catch' rain in buckets by setting them under drain spouts to use later to water the garden and flowers!  And when I say enormous, think larger than a horse trough, raised up, next to the shop - too cool.  While I visited with Walt, I wished my kiddo was with me, just to see the rain collection system and pretty property, we kinda get excited about recycling and reusing in the Lively Grace household.
So I asked Walt about the lockers.  I recognized that immediate hesitation;  he had a connection with the lockers, kinda like my new connection with the fan.  He had pulled them out of the dumpster at work, he explained, just knowing they could be put to good use.  He had planned to build shelves horizontally on the inside, but alas, many other projects had come before this one.  He admitted he couldn't take them out of the country with him, but they weren't for sale today.  As I loaded up my car (he was impressed how I could fit so much in a 4 door car!) he took my number, maybe he would contact me later about the lockers.

I went home and swooned over the fan.  The weekend passed and I didn't hear anything more about the lockers.

Then, over a month later, I had a message on Facebook.  Not from Walt, but from his neighbor, Kathy, who owns Her Alibi Antiques in Pocatello, and had been helping him with his sale.  How sweet is that of Kathy?  We had visited a bit at the last flea market, she also had a booth, and at various estate and yard sales.  Walt had misplaced my number, but had passed his number along to me thru Kathy, if I was still interested in the lockers.

 IF!  Walt and I played phone tag and then came up with a time I could drop by.  When I pulled up to his property (this time in the truck with my kiddo), I noticed the shop was completely cleared out.  Except for the lockers.  Even the enormous rain collection bin was gone;  he had auctioned and sold everything else.  But there were the lockers.  He explained how he had set them aside, that if I appreciated their awesome junkness as much as he did, they should go to me.

Since it was gone, Walt described the enormous rain collection bin to my kiddo.  We took a look at some of the trees it had helped grow.  We loaded the lockers in the truck, joking that they 'probably' wouldn't have fit in my car.

I snapped a pic immediately after I unloaded them in the garage.

Although I was super excited to put these to good use, they had been stored in a 3 sided shed and had become a haven for spiders, cobwebs and dust.  Lots of gloved scrubbing occurred before they went into the house.

The vintage ice-cream bucket with orange handle was also picked from Walt.  And, like Walt, I have a long project list (which includes re-painting the walls in this room- not quite as blue in person)  that frequently gets re-prioritized.

After such a story, you may think, "and she stores paint in those?".  But if you have ever used, priced, or talked to me about Annie Sloan Chalk Paint, you would understand that this paint deserves a special storage place!  One may also find, on occasion, mini peanut butter cups on the top shelves : ).

I think Walt would approve.

-Jen

Are you a reader of Flea Market Style Magazine?  These are the lockers I mentioned as one of my favorite finds when I wrote to Flea Market Style Magazine.  Imagine my excitement when I saw my name and blog in the article Reader's Choice favorite cities (Winter 2012)!

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Well, although I was painting in that room today, it wasn't the walls.  Guess I can add that to the plans for 2013!  

 

Happy New Year!

-Jen