Category: Deals, Steals, & Thrifting

Last week, I was wandering through my second home Target, and I saw an abstract floral cotton rug for $19.99.  I thought it was a door mat size, but it opened to a 3 foot by 5 foot rug. 

I liked the pattern and the price was great, too, but I didn’t think Ben would like it.  (He seriously hates almost every rug I pick out, including our Flor rugs and our entry rug.)  So, I brought it home anyway, not quite sure of where it would land.  I laid it down in the basement bathroom and asked Ben to look at it.  Never one to disappoint, Ben did hate it.  So, I decided to return it.  Then, a light bulb went off.  What about in the laundry room? 

It’s a tight squeeze, but we can put the washer and dryer on it to help keep it in place. 

But, we’ll have to wait to use it.  We still need to tile the floors (did you notice the tile ended in that first picture?).  i had hopes of finishing the laundry room around Black Friday, when we looked at getting a new washer/dryer set, but Home Depot had hit their LG quota.  Hopefully next year.  Until then, here’s a shot of our ugly laundry room, because blogging and home renovating aren’t always pretty. 

Sadly, not much has changed since this post.

What about you?  Any deals you’ve found at Target recently?  Maybe your laundry room is just as ugly as ours?  Raise your hand if you want a new front loading washer and dryer!  (Me!)

Remember when I asked if you’d be interested in a Best of the Worst thrift store post?  Well, I’ve got some doozies for you today.  Are. you. ready?  Be prepared for some serious ugly.  I apologize in advance if any of you have any of the items below.  On second thought, no, I don’t.  You should donate (or throw away) immediately. 

Need a Humpty Dumpty coffee creamer?  Didn’t think so.

How about a creepy, bug-eyed kid figurine?  Pass.

Maybe wooden dolls are more your style?

Moose Christmas ornament missing both legs and one antler?  Why wasn’t this thrown away?!?

Polished rock lamp anyone?  Whoever priced it thinks it’s “neat.”  Hmm…

Insanely gigantic lamp?  Ohh, you’re more interested in a pair?  Don’t worry, they had two!

Maybe a seen-better-days couch featuring golf scenes will tickle your fancy?  Yeah, me neither.  Now, you’re gonna love this.  I saved the best for last. 

Shrunken apple turned head of an old woman plaque.  Did you notice the teeth?  Creepy.  Any best of the worst that you’ve found?  Spill!

My sister-in-law and I decided to make a weekly trip to a few near by thrift stores.  Our first thrifting date was on Thursday, so I wanted to share my deals with you.

I picked up two small file boxes for $.99 each.  I saw an idea for a perpetual calendar from Ashley Ann on Design Sponge and want to make one and one of these boxes would be perfect.  I also found a light aqua vase for $1.99.  I don’t know exactly what I’ll do with it yet, but it might find its way to my office for more sneaky storage.  A small candle holder was $1.59.  I had one just like it, but V broke the glass.  Finally, I found a down insert pillow (with a lovely cover!) for $2.99.  No worries, I do not plan to keep the cover, though I told Ben that was the new color scheme I wanted for the living room. 

Have you found any steals at the thrift stores recently?  Has anyone attempted to transform ugly thrift store brass into silver using Blue magic?

Recently, our family took a trip to the great state of Minnesota for the Christmas holiday.  We had a lot of things to do, including a wedding, bridal shower, and of course Christmas.  Between the wedding and Christmas, I was able to sneak in an IKEA shopping adventure and finally meet my blog bud, Jen from IHeart Orgainzing in real life.  We (well, at least I did; Jen may be too polite to say she didn’t) had a great time, falling naturally into conversations.  Not only does she have a great blog, beautiful home and awesome organizing ideas, but she’s so sweet and genuine.  We spent a few hours in IKEA, browsing the upper level, soaking in the ideas; we forgot to take pictures because we were so chatty. 

One item on our list was to find cheap winter organizing solutions for my entry closet.  Unfortunately, IKEA didn’t have many wire mesh baskets in the dimensions I needed, but I did buy two sets Emu boxes, hoping to screw them into the wall.  I showed them to Ben, but he wasn’t so keen on affixing these to the wall, so it’s back to the drawing board.

I have also had my eye the Ofelia blanket my past few visits, so I decided to finally buy it.

Unfortunately, when I returned home, I realized it had a huge snag, so I’ll have to return it.  I guess it wasn’t meant to be.  I did plan to make some textured pillow shams out of the blanket, though.

Another item I’ve considered getting more than once are the Limmaren bottles.  Jen and I had a great idea, why not use one of the bottles for our Tom’s of Maine mouthwash?  So, we both added them to our big yellow bags. 

I know this is late for Christmas, perhaps if you’re headed to a New Year’s party, but I think one of the bottles would be part of a simple and useful hostess gift.  Make a spice blend of any seasonings you’d like, add extra virgin olive oil, and pair it with a delicious bread and small dish to pour the oil mixture into.  If any of you have been to Johnny Carino’s, that’s exactly what I’m thinking. 

As you know, I’m trying to get our entry more organized and better suited to handle all our winter gear.  I love the deer hooks I found at World Market, but I thought I’d buy some back up hooks, just incase the deer were too deep for behind the door.  So, I took a set of three Bjärnum folding hooks home with me too. 

Jen and I also bought matching trays that we have plans to gussy up.

Believe it or not, that’s all I bought from IKEA, though I did have to keep in mind that we had a truck load of stuff to haul back to Montana already, so space was very limited. 

After IKEA, we ventured over to Home Goods.  Can you believe this was my first time in HG?!?  I know!  I found a few great items there, like these Chilewich pressed vinyl place mats for $2.99 each.   

I’ve seen similar Chilewich place mats for sale at Crate and Barrel for $7.00 each, so I bought two.  I love the detail and the fact that they’re vinyl makes for easy clean up.

I know quatrefoil patterned items are hot right now, and I not the only one unable to resist.  So, when I eyed this black lacquer capiz jewelry box, I snapped it up.

It’s perfect on my nightstand, holding my necklaces.  Again, I love the pattern and texture!

Here are a few other beauties that caught my attention.

Loved their side tables!  I also fought the urge to pop a set of these pillows in my basket.

You know me though, I’d rather sew it myself.  I’m already formulating my plan of attack. 

We walked over to Marshall’s, but neither of us bought anything.  After Marshall’s, we got lost, but finally found a Goodwill.  We definitely found some ‘interesting’ items, but nothing that I needed.  Though, I had to fight Jen over this potato bowl…

Umm, yeah.  There was no fight.  Not cute.  We actually considered a little ‘Best of the Worst’ post, sort of a ‘What Not to Buy,’ but we didn’t know if you’d be interested.   

Any other Home Goods virgins out there?  What is your best buy?  Would you be interested in seeing a ‘Best of the Worst’ post?