Chic on a Shoestring Decorating: June 2011

Flaunt it Friday #60

Hey friends! Can you believe that the 4th of July has crept up on us already?!

Holy Cow!!!!

Does that mean summer is half over?!? I hope not, I feel like it's just started!

Anyway, another week has already flown by and it's time to party! Please check out my other new blog The Besties and show some love to some new bloggers doing awesome stuff (but no one sees it because they don't have any following friends, what a shame!!!)

Interior Decorating, Client Family Room Makeover

Hi friends, hope you all had a wonderful weekend! I had a great weekend with Mr. Chic working in the yard remodeling our landscaping. I will share some pictures with you as soon as we get eveything finished up.   Right now I have one too many "irons in the fire" as the old saying goes, SO many projects and NOTHING complete. Awesome!

Since everything is in a state of half done-ness I thought I'd share another one of my interior decorating jobs with you. This family room makeover was for one of my oldest and bestest friends. This made it kinda easy because I had somewhat of an idea of what she would like, but it also made it kinda hard because I wanted to do a really great job for her... not that I don't want to do a really great job for everyone   ...you know what I mean?? :)

A few things before the pictures, they didn't want any window treatments because they wanted to leave their beautiful window molding untouched. Since I wasn't able to use any curtain panels I added extra punches of color elsewhere (like the lampshades).  Also, I need to explain the not so fabulous quality of the pictures... I had a heckuva time taking pictures because most were shot towards the window or at night which makes everything look way dark. So, on to the pictures...

BEFORE:

AFTER:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Colors on this pic are very off, the accents are an icy blue but look sage green!

I loved this cool vase near my funky metal wall hanging.

This one seems to have lots of empty wall space BUT, they are planning on getting a bigger TV soon which will take up a lot more space .

My sweet friend loved the space and I am helping her decorate her beautiful new house one room at a time. Hope you enjoyed taking a peek!

XOXO

PS: Check out the new feature over at The Besties!

Linking: Whatever Goes Wednesday, Fingerprints on the Fridge, and Serenity Now

Flaunt it Friday #60

Well hello there.

Have you checked out my fun new blog The Besties yet?? Please check it out as I will be featuring some of your awesome link ups to Flaunt it Friday there. The best part is that you get a whole post all to yourself, sweet!

I am still recovering from post-garage-sale-exhaustion but never too tired to party. Can't wait to see what you've got this week!

Garage Sale 101 & a Winner!

Hallelujah!!!

Hallelujah, Hallelujah,.... Halleeeelujah!!!

Did you hear the angels singing? My garage sale is over!!!!

Phew.... I am SO glad that it's over!

I told you about my love/hate relationship with garage sales here... how much I hate having a garage sale but love the money it earns and the junk it gets out of my house.

My garage sale this year did pretty well and I thought I'd share some garage sale tips with you that I've learned after having several sales of my own.

I'm sorry I have NO pictures... I thought the pictures downloaded to my computer, they didn't, I had already cleared the memory card. But, how exciting can garage sale pictures really be?! You're not missing much peeps. I know I'm breaking all kinds of blogging rules but whatever, this is an educational post anyway. :)

GARAGE SALE 101

COLLECT: Gather garage sale items from your home all year. Yes, all year. I keep a running storage tote in my basement storage room and when it fills up, I start another one. Another helpful hint is to price the item as you put it in the storage bin but I have to admit that I'm guilty of not doing it. Do as I say, not as I do, right?? :)
THE MORE THE MERRIER: Have a garage sale with others. Whether your neighborhood has a sale or you just ask a few neighbors on your street, the more sales in an area bring a larger crowd. I always have a better turnout when there are more houses involved.
ADVERTISE: Place a free ad in Craig's List at least a week prior to the sale. Add pictures of big items to draw people but expect to have people email you about buying stuff early. Place an additional ad the day before the sale. Also, place an ad in your local paper. I know this can be pricey but if you're splitting the cost with a few neighbors it's well worth it. Our local paper runs their garage sale ads on their website as well so even people who don't subscribe can look up the sales.
SIGNS: Make good signs! I live in a neighborhood that gets significant traffic past the entry. I always place a large sign that can be read by passing cars there. Many people coming and going will stop by because they followed my signs. List address, dates and times of sale. If your house is off the beaten path put signs on busy intersections near your home.
PRICE: Price everything! Many people will not ask if an item isn't priced (are they scared of me??) which can mean lost sales. If you don't have time (or patience) to price everything use a system like "All kids shirts $1, all shoes $1, etc.," Make sure your pricing signs are easy to see or people may just think nothing is priced, look at you, get scared, then walk away. (Just kidding! Wanted to make sure you were paying attention. :)
PREPARE: Set up early. If you have lots of stuff to sell start setting up in your garage 2 weeks in advance (especially if your main job is taking care of small children, not garage sale-ing). I set up a week before the sale and spent some late nights in the garage (partly because I had to price everything, see above number 1), could have definitely used the extra week. This will help you be organized when the sale starts and those early birds inevitably show up.
HANG: Hang clothes up. My ingenious hubs, Mr. Chic, hung 2 bicycle hooks in the ceiling, he suspended 2 strong metal chains from the hooks and added a wooden pole. This works perfect to hang clothes and then easily stores out of the way but putting the pole up in the bike hooks. People do not like to dig through piles of messed up clothes (they will not stay folded no matter how often you refold them, trust me on this) on a table.
DISPLAY: Place like items together, housewares, holiday items, cds and dvds. It's easier for people to find what they're looking for.
PLACEMENT: Put large desirable items down toward the end of your driveway. This will draw attention to your home and hopefully draw people in to shop! Some people do the opposite and place desirable items in the back of the sale so customers have to walk through the whole sale (maybe picking up more to buy) to get what they want. Tricky, tricky, tricky.
MONEY: Have lots of small bills and change. Someone gave me a $50 last weekend (after I'd had some business thankfully) and I was able to cash it, no problem. Also, it might be a good idea to have a screwdriver and batteries on hand in case someone wants to test a toy. I've never had this happen but you never know.
TIME: Have your garage sale on the first day that people start having sales in your area. Around here people start on Thursday afternoon, run all day Friday, then Saturday morning. Thursday is always, always my best day.

What to sell besides the obvious....

JEWELRY: I sell tons of old jewelry, you know, the fake stuff you buy at Target, not like real diamonds.

MAKEUP: I know, you're thinking GROSS! I'm talking about the new pieces you get in the "freebie" stuff from Clinique and the like with purchase. I sell mine at $3 a piece and people bought it like crazy! Just make sure you put "New, unused" on the sign with it.

TOILETRIES: I know, another weird one but people will pay for half used shampoo/conditioners, lotions, hairsprays, whatever. I stick to the same hair products but every once in awhile I get a wild hair (get it?!) to try out something new that will make my hair smooth/shiny/full/voluminous/curly. Inevitably, it won't work and I won't like it. Why throw out a perfectly good bottle of stuff when someone else may be able to use it. I sold ALL of my toiletries items.

SNACKS: If it's hot sell ice cold bottled water for .50 cents. Set them out in a cooler with ice so people can see them. Involve your kiddos, make some cookies or lemonade and let your little ones learn about business and handling money, plus it will keep them busy.

I'm always surprised at what people buy. The stuff I think will fly out doesn't sell, the junky crappy stuff that I'm half embarrassed to sell always flies out the door. Again proving the old adage that one man's trash is truly another man's treasure.

Have I convinced you to have a sale yet??

Now... the winner of Kate's Creative Salvage giveaway, #38 Monica! Congrats and I'll be sending you an email soon.

Flaunt it Friday #59 plus Giveaway Extended!

Hey there!

Blogger continued to have some wacky commenting problems last week so I've decided to extend the giveaway with my cool new sponsor Kate's Creative Salvage, enter HERE!

Now, time to party. :)

Why You Should Have a Garage Sale...

Did I mention that I have a love/hate relationship with garage sales? Yes, I did. Ok, then.

If I have a love/hate relationship with garage sales, why would I want you to do it.

Well, the love outweighs the hate... let me show you why.

Here's why I hate garage sales:

They are SO much work.
They require tons of time to go through all of your ~~junk~~ stuff, especially if you're trying to do a major purge like me.
They require lots of thinking (what should I price all this ~~junk~~ stuff, I'm not just going to give it away, I paid good money for it and it's practically new! But, I want someone to buy it...)
They take up lots of time. You sacrifice your weekend to the sale. Plus, all the preparation, purging, pricing, etc. Lots of late nights pricing/organizing while the kiddos are in bed.
Usually it's really hot and muggy outside during garage sale season in my neck of the woods. I do not enjoy sitting in my hot garage when I'm oh so close to my cool and airconditioned house. (Does that make me a wuss?!)
Customers who want something for nothing. Don't offer me a quarter when I'm asking $2 for something that originally cost $30. $1 yes, quarter NO.
My husband, aka. the purging maniac, tries to get me to sell things that aren't for sale, like our children. Just kidding! More like the crock pot, it takes up lots of space and we don't use it everyday but Hello... I totally use it all the time in the winter!

Here's why I love garage sales:

They force me to get rid of ~~junk~~ stuff I don't use. I am purging from the whole house! I pulled so many clothes out of my closet that it filled up my garage sale "holding area" office! The toys that are unmanageable will be purged to a manageable size (I hope?!). I am blessed with a generous family who likes to spoil my boys. We have a TON of toys. So many that they don't even notice when something is missing. I rotate the toys every 4 or 6 months so that they have "new" things to play with. Even so, we have an abundance that are outgrown or just not played with enough and they are going to the sale.
$$$MONEY MONEY MONEY$$$!! My ~~junk~~ stuff earns me money! This outweighs all of the negatives in the list above. If you are on a budget having a successful garage sale can give you some extra guilt free cash. Maybe take a little weekend getaway and not have to feel guilty about pulling money out of savings. Maybe you desperately need a new dishwasher, maybe you are saving up for a trip to Disney, maybe you are trying to get out of debt. Whatever it is, garage sale money can give your fund a boost without taking from your day-to-day budget.

In my experience the extra money is completely worth all the hassle if you have a successful sale. My next post after Flaunt it Friday will be how to have a successful garage sale. I'm doing it this weekend... come back to see how I did!

A Bee Pillow for Me!

Happy Weekend!!

My giveaway from sponsor Kate's Creative Salvage ends tomorrow... sign up HERE for a chance to win $50 worth of cute handmade tags or knobs!

I have been admiring from afar many French inspired burlap-ish stenciled pillows. I've seen lots of stencil how-to's in blogland but never actually tried it. Maybe because I already have 6000 other projects going on... I'm trying to be very picky about starting something new. Plus, did I really need another decorative pillow?? Don't answer that.

I came across this lovely bee pillow at TJ Maxx, I happily swiped it up since I had a Mother's Day gift card burning a hole in my pocket. Plus, it was super cheap! I could buy more with my gift card! Woot Woot!!

I love how it pulls the colors from my damask curtains and softens the look of our leather chair.

To make this pillow I found a similar stencil for sale online for $14.99, plus I would've had to buy fabric paint ($5), a stencil brush ($3) and a pillow ($10, if I was lucky to find the right color for that cheap). It would've cost me approximately $35 to make (plus my precious time) and I bought it for less than $15 (with a gift card no less).

So, this it the anti-diy project. Why spend your time making it when you can pay half to buy it (and use a gift card!)! Ha! :)

I realize you can't always find what you want for the right price and if that's the case, by all means, make it yourself.

I just happened to get lucky! Hope you do too!! :)

Linking: Tatertots & Jello

Flaunt it Friday #58

Hi friends! Time for Flaunt it Friday!

Don't forget to enter my giveaway with a $50 value from my sponsor, Kate's Creative Salvage, HERE!

Check out my new discount store HERE!

And link up down here!!

(I'm so bossy today! ;)

Cabinet Organization, Making use of the space you've got.

Hello, friends! Are any of you out there like me with a home lacking a pretty walk-in pantry?

I would love a walk-in pantry but instead have a built-into-the-cabinets type pantry, I'm not complaining, it's better than nothin'.

Someday, in another house, I will have one of those neat walk-in pantries painted with a pretty stencil and organized with big glass containers with cute chalkboard labels cut by a vinyl cutting machine (which I don't even have by the way).

But, I've got plenty of cabinet space so no complaints.

I have a cabinet where I keep lots of baking stuff which was terribly unorganized. The problem: large round canisters stuffed into a square space.

The last time I did a shape sorter with my 2 year old I realized that the round pieces did not fit into the square holes, why was I trying to do that in my cabinet?

Messy, Messy, Messy. Can you tell we like popcorn? None of that microwave stuff either!

There was all kinds of wasted space behind those round canisters.

I came across one of these tall square Oggi storage bins months ago at TJ Maxx on clearance for $5. I bought it thinking they'd get more in soon. They didn't.

After searching around and finding them for $29 a piece, I decided to wait on TJ's to get some more.

And wait.

And wait.

And wait.

They finally got some in in all different sizes... Woo Hoo!!!

I brought them home and realized my 2 smaller ones had cracks in them, thanks TJ Maxx.

So, I got 2 more big ones (which you need for a whole package of flour and sugar anyway) and a medium one.

I then started to fret as I realized that the tall ones were too tall for my cabinet! Then I left.

I came home to this.

Organizational Bliss!

Mr. Chic did it! He even labeled the new canisters! Using a no-nonsense label maker knowing I will never get around to buying chalkboard labels that will only be hidden in a cabinet. He did good, huh?!

Sometimes all it takes to find more space is to look differently at the space you've got. After getting rid of those big round canisters and a few expired food boxes I've got all kinds of empty space in this cabinet.

Mr. Chic would say just because there is empty space that doesn't mean you have to fill it Yes dear, I know. But, I will likely move some things in here (chocolate chips, sprinkles, food coloring) and make it more of a baking supply cabinet and freeing up some space in my "cooking" cabinet.

So take a second look at that cramped cabinet, I bet there might be some expired long grain rice and some recipe you cut out 3 years ago that you still haven't made, or even some round pieces in a square hole. Pitch em'... it feels really good!

Don't forget to enter this week's giveaway HERE.

And, check out my store of discount decor HERE.

Linking: One Project at a Time, Whatever Wednesday,

For Sale and Garage Sales

Hello there! Hope you had a great weekend. Not sure how it is already Monday again but it is... and schooooools out. for. Summer!! I actually got to sleep in until 7:50 this morning (thank you boys for sleeping in!)! Woo Hoo!! I am easily excited by extra sleep, no matter how little extra it is.

Anywho... Are you having a garage sale this summer? I am. UGH... I mean, Yes!!

I have a love/hate relationship with garage sales. I like to go to other people's sales. I love to earn some extra cash for ~~junk~~ nice stuff lying around and cluttering up my house. But I hate the preparation.

My house has been torn upside down digging out stuff for the sale. We are purging, big time. We just have too much stuff.

I am a recovering pack-rat, not the awful kind of pack-rat you see on TV. Just the kind that thinks "hey, this is a perfectly good lamp, I may have to use it in homestaging for my business, I can't donate it/garage sale it/throw it out! I'll just let it sit here in my basement and collect dust for the next who-knows-how-long 'til it goes out of style."

I'm reading a great book to help with my recovery as I still have some pack-ratting tendencies. I will share with you in another post fellow pack-ratters.

In an effort to purge my stuff that is too nice to garage sale (and be offered .10 cents for a $50 item that I was only asking a measly dollar for anyway) I've decided to open a discount shop here on my blog.

This will be an on-going shop as most of the new items were for clients and ended up being dropped out of the design for one reason or another. Since I'm purging right now, there will also be several quality gently used items until I am purged out!

My shop will feature budget friendly decor and housewares for sale. They will be listed on a page on my blog at all times so you can access it any time. A link will be added at the top of the left middle column.

Here's a sneak picture of new DKNY bedding I am selling... click HERE to shop!!

New Sponsor Kate's Creative Salvage $50 Giveaway!

Hi everyone! I'm excited to introduce my newest sponsor Martha from Kate's Creative Salvage (no affiliation to this Kate :). Kate's Creative Salvage has lots of vintage inspired handmade items along with real vintage items and has been featured in the Etsy Treasury several times!

Kate's Creative Salvage is offering a generous giveaway of her handmade tags or knobs up to $50. Her handmade knobs wrapped in antique paper won an Etsy Treasury!

Here are some examples of what you can win!

handmade knobs

handmade tags

To enter the giveaway:

Go to Kate's Creative Salvage Etsy store and leave a comment with your favorite item (mandatory for one entry),
follow Kate's Creative Salvage blog (one entry)
twitter or facebook about the giveaway (one entry)

Please leave separate comments for each. Winner will be chosen by Random.org.

Good luck!

Flaunt it Friday #57

Hey- Howdy- Hey! (name that movie :) How are you this fine June evening? I can not believe it's already June!!

Have you been checking out The Besties to see if you've been featured? Blogger has had some trouble with comments this past week so you could've been featured and not even know it because I wasn't' able to comment! Please check it out and share some blogger love with the newer folks featured on The Besties.

Great party last week... let's do it again! :)