Exploring "deconstructed"

Did I tell you?

I've been thinking a lot about what to do with myself once the kids are all in full time school. So on the spur of the moment I rather impulsively signed up for a part-time Interior Design program at our local Technical Institute. I'm just starting with the intro class for now and I'm excited to see where that leads me.

My second class assignment is to research a hot design topic. So being the junk lovin' gal that I am I had to stay true to my taste. Here is a what I came up with.....

I love the casual comfort of the...

Deconstructed Chair

Can you relate?

These chairs look like they haven't been finished yet, or perhaps they've wore out and haven't been patched back together. Maybe some well meaning DIY'er had started to reupholster their favorite chair with the best of intentions but realized they were in over their head and gave up, or suddenly got distracted.

I can so relate to this trend - I may very well be ahead of my time on this one!

Christmas Morning for Junk Collectors!

My favorite time of year!

Not only is it the start of garage sale season, it is spring clean up week.

In our community we have a city wide garage sale weekend one each year.

The city wide garage sale is meant to get rid of as much as you can for profit before you start to bring your unwanted items to the curb.

For one week you can drag anything that you don't want and that can't fit into your garbage can to the curb and the city will come and take it away for you - for free!

What I love about this is that a lot of people (including myself) drive around

and find perfectly good, reusable stuff and save it from going to the local landfill.

I'm always amazed by what people throw out.

Last year the highlight of my spring clean up week was a perfectly good industrial sewing machine.

The owner of the sewing machine saw me hauling it away and came out with spare needles.

It works great once I played with the tension a little

and it really helps me sew through all those thick wool sweaters.

Here are a few of the free roadside finds that I've picked up this year.

This old wooden bankers chair - in great condition!

I've always wanted one of these. The little case beside it is a roadside find as well - I love collecting old suitcases.

My boys needed a dresser big enough for the two of them to share and I spied this baby on the side of the road just waiting for me.

I couldn't lift it by myself so I took the drawers and put them in my van.

(I knew nobody else would take a dresser with the drawers missing!)

The little desk has already received new knobs and a new paint job - I'll show you that soon.

I also picked up this solid oak mantle with the intentions of turning it into a headboard for a king size bed. It is the perfect width and height for it. Sadly I don't have the bed yet and I don't have anywhere to store it so it may end up on craigslist we'll see.

My sister and I had a super fun day. She is single again and in the process of decorating her whole house so she really picked up a fabulous haul. Between the two of us we had three full van loads, and a ton of laughs trying to fit this stuff in. In addition to my free finds I spent a total of $28 on a few other bits and pieces. And my sister has got a super good start on her decorating for $120.

Time For Some Changes

Each January once the tree is down, I find that the bare spot where the tree once stood makes me question my space, and somehow makes me look at it a little differently. I realized that when we moved in to this place (3 years ago) we plopped the furnishings down and then never really thought about it again. So this January I began to question my placement, moved some things around, and have now come up with a few changes I am happy with. I feel like I am now finally beginning to finish things off a bit around here.

I've had this great braided wool rug for years but have never really put it to good use, it has now found a home in a cozy little corner beneath this chair and ottoman. I purchased the chair and ottoman at Sears of all places - they were sitting in an opposite corner of the room and now they look way more inviting in their new home. I recently found an old burlap sack and stretched it over a canvas, then added it plus a couple family photos to the wall above. Although this corner is not perfect, it is an improvement and feels a bit more finished than the blank walls we have had since we moved in.

I love little spots just for one - the perfect little place to sit quietly and read a book or flip through a new magazine.

I saw the burlap sack art idea at Junk Sophisticate if you haven't been there yet you should really check her out!

You can barely see our phone sitting on an old suitcase, I need a little table, or a stack of suitcases to lift it off the floor. Maybe I'll build a little bench. Ana at Knock of Wood has inspired me! If you haven't been to her blog yet you should.

Now I had to fill the bare spot where the chair above stood - so I brought out the chair below which was a roadside find and is actually super comfortable. It has been begging for new upholstery ever since I brought it home, and I'm happy to say that this will be happening soon. I found this ugly little ottoman at the local thrift store the other day and it will be joining the chair in the make over. I've ordered some new turned wood legs off of Ebay and will soon shop for some new fabrics to freshen this pair up.

Is this ottoman crying out for some new legs or what?

The PB lamp is a gift from my very generous mother-in-law.

My Hubby works in the film industry and is big into movies, so this piece suits us quite well.

I bought this old vintage movie reel off of ebay for my him this Christmas,

but still haven't found the right spot for it. Soon!

Then there is my curtain dilemma. We inherited these drapes with the house and although they go well enough they are perhaps not what I would have picked, but I think I can work with them. Notice the ugly standard drapery rod, and what do you do with patio doors anyways.

This patio door is ridiculously close to the fireplace and I have no choice but to have all this heavy drapery mashed right into the side of the fireplace. Talk about a focal point!

After a lot of looking and considering, I realized that these pinch pleat drapes actually extend far beyond the windows they are meant to cover, and once shut they turn that wall into an entire wall of drapes. So my plan is to hack off a bunch of curtain, chop the patio door drape right down the center so that half can hang on either side of the patio door, thus reducing the huge amount of bulk that has been butted right up to my fireplace. Then I'll pick up some nice little oil rubbed bronze rods with some rings and hopefully that should improve this nasty situation.