Two things for you today....
Firstly, I'm having a stencil giveaway contest. Help me name my new Raised Plaster Stencil Design and if we choose the name you come up with, we send you that large, beautiful stencil for FREE! (US residents only) Simply like our Facebook Page and then post your suggested name. The contest ends later today so hurry!
I also wanted to share a train of thought with you:
Decorating with Class doesn't mean you need to dash out and spend a lot of money. It's truly about taste, about placement and colors, about the quality you can find.
I love thrift stores, garage sales, salvage shops and consignment stores and I've been decorating my home with many of the treasures from these places for decades.
The music studio in my home in the mountains is an enormous space with a concrete floor. I faux finished the floor to slab flagstone a few years ago which covered the "football field" green that it had been painted previously.
All I had since I moved in was a hodge podge of throw rugs to cover what I could of the floor. I'd spent all my time decorating the upstairs main floor for the past year but now it's time to get busy on this floor as well.
Yesterday, I stopped at the first country yard sale I've seen since I've actually lived here. An old couple who had decided to consolidate were the sweetest folks I thought I'd ever met. Everything I picked up had a price tag, but they would quote me much less than what was posted. "You're a neighbor" they would say.... A neighbor? I'm 5 miles up the road! Gotta love this place for the sweetness of the people.
Well, there it was...on the floor, all rolled up tight: A very large area rug in GREAT shape!!!! On the back was the Belgium manufacturer. No, it actually wasn't made in China!
$25.00???? They surely must be kidding! This was in GREAT shape! I asked: "$25.00? Are you sure?????" (Knowing what I had found). They said, "Make it $20.00". I about fell over. They wouldn't let me talk them out of it (and trust me, I tried).
Since they were being so generous, I bought more items just to make up the difference. They were delighted!
I took the rug home and found no stains, no tears, no wear! Didn't they ever walk on this thing?
I shampooed the dickens out of it and placed it in the music studio (since I've been doing a mega cleaning in there this weekend anyway, it was the perfect time to clean that as well).
Yes, I had been planning to decorate in more subdued colors, but with a find like this, my colors will now change to accommodate this incredible find...and it will be beautiful!
The hunt for high quality, little used pieces for your home can be tedious. But if you hold out and wait for the perfect addition, the hunt becomes fun... a "mission" of sorts. And when you find it, when you find that piece that's worth much more than what you paid (because you didn't buy it new), you feel like the goddess of bargain decorating.
Now, remember that round table I'm working on? The one I just finished priming and that will get painted black with gold raised designs? It's going to fit perfectly in this room because the carpet also has black. Tah Dah! This was simply meant to be!
Vist the VictoriaLarsen.com website for exciting stencil designs, new Raised Plaster Stencils made just for furniture and cabinetry and ornamental plaster molds for exquisite interiors.
Firstly, I'm having a stencil giveaway contest. Help me name my new Raised Plaster Stencil Design and if we choose the name you come up with, we send you that large, beautiful stencil for FREE! (US residents only) Simply like our Facebook Page and then post your suggested name. The contest ends later today so hurry!
I also wanted to share a train of thought with you:
Decorating with Class doesn't mean you need to dash out and spend a lot of money. It's truly about taste, about placement and colors, about the quality you can find.
I love thrift stores, garage sales, salvage shops and consignment stores and I've been decorating my home with many of the treasures from these places for decades.
The music studio in my home in the mountains is an enormous space with a concrete floor. I faux finished the floor to slab flagstone a few years ago which covered the "football field" green that it had been painted previously.
All I had since I moved in was a hodge podge of throw rugs to cover what I could of the floor. I'd spent all my time decorating the upstairs main floor for the past year but now it's time to get busy on this floor as well.
Yesterday, I stopped at the first country yard sale I've seen since I've actually lived here. An old couple who had decided to consolidate were the sweetest folks I thought I'd ever met. Everything I picked up had a price tag, but they would quote me much less than what was posted. "You're a neighbor" they would say.... A neighbor? I'm 5 miles up the road! Gotta love this place for the sweetness of the people.
Well, there it was...on the floor, all rolled up tight: A very large area rug in GREAT shape!!!! On the back was the Belgium manufacturer. No, it actually wasn't made in China!
$25.00???? They surely must be kidding! This was in GREAT shape! I asked: "$25.00? Are you sure?????" (Knowing what I had found). They said, "Make it $20.00". I about fell over. They wouldn't let me talk them out of it (and trust me, I tried).
Since they were being so generous, I bought more items just to make up the difference. They were delighted!
I took the rug home and found no stains, no tears, no wear! Didn't they ever walk on this thing?
I shampooed the dickens out of it and placed it in the music studio (since I've been doing a mega cleaning in there this weekend anyway, it was the perfect time to clean that as well).
Yes, I had been planning to decorate in more subdued colors, but with a find like this, my colors will now change to accommodate this incredible find...and it will be beautiful!
The hunt for high quality, little used pieces for your home can be tedious. But if you hold out and wait for the perfect addition, the hunt becomes fun... a "mission" of sorts. And when you find it, when you find that piece that's worth much more than what you paid (because you didn't buy it new), you feel like the goddess of bargain decorating.
Now, remember that round table I'm working on? The one I just finished priming and that will get painted black with gold raised designs? It's going to fit perfectly in this room because the carpet also has black. Tah Dah! This was simply meant to be!
Vist the VictoriaLarsen.com website for exciting stencil designs, new Raised Plaster Stencils made just for furniture and cabinetry and ornamental plaster molds for exquisite interiors.
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