A garage-sale table two ways

Last weekend my mom and I went to what was advertised as a large community garage sale. It was held in three different neighborhoods of Eichler homes fairly close to where we live. I grew up in a mid-century modern home and we were hoping we would not only find some nice modern "stuff" for sale but also see some great houses. It was disappointing. There were only a few homes that participated and nothing for sale that was all that exciting, but it was a fun day with my mom and we made the best of it by going out for breakfast afterwards and perusing through some antique stores nearby. I did pick up a couple of side tables at one home we stopped by though. They were $10 each. 

I knew immediately that I would paint one of them gold and wasn't really sure what I would do with the other but for $10 I decided I couldn't leave without them both.

They are great little side tables. I painted one of them white.

I am not sure how long this will stay at my house as I am continually shuffling things around and moving them out to other people's houses ... 

But for now it will make a lovely side table that can move from room to room as needed.

I used this spray paint. I was a little worried the gold might end up being too shiny but it wasn't. It is just perfect.

It adds a little extra flair as we head into the holidays (because they are coming really soon!!!) ... 

Bar carts, a great lunch and my latest obsession

My youngest daughter, the one who is a farmer, is in town and yesterday we took a little trip up to Venice to check out some vintage stores and to have lunch. 

 I am not normally that into vintage, but since I have been doing the weddings I have been scouting the vintage stores more and more. It is amazing what you can find!

We started in The Mart Collective on Lincoln Blvd. The Mart Collective is 16,000 sq. ft. of vintage and antique objects, furniture and art in 120 dealer spaces. It opened last year and is owned by the former managers of Wertz Brothers Antique Mart in Santa Monica which also closed last year. We spent an hour browsing around ... we could have easily spent two. It was packed with so many fun things and a lot of bar carts. I have a thing for bar carts. Have you seen my Pinterest page devoted to them?

I found this one first. I kind of liked it. In fact, I thought about it the entire time I was walking through the store. It was not in the best condition but it was only $60. Or so I thought. I went back to look at it just before we left thinking it would come home with me ...

I really need to get better glasses! 

This one was a much better deal at $225.

This 1960's Danish cart was selling for $495.

And they were asking $745 for this 1970's brass plated cart. 

The Mart Collective is just across the street from the Hardware store. I couldn't resist shooting the sign - remember my sign obsession during our Route 66 road trip last summer? After we left the vintage store we headed over to Abbott Kinney Blvd. to walk around and have lunch. We ended up at Lemonade a fresh and colorful cafeteria. 

I loved the colorful pots ... and they even had a gluten free cookie I could eat!

It was a really fun morning! My favorite salad was the beet salad. Funny thing ... right after lunch I had an appointment with my kidney doctor who told me that I need to avoid certain foods from now on so I won't get another kidney stone. Guess what was first on the list ... beets! And then he went on to say that citrus will help balance the bad foods so I should drink plenty of ... lemonade!  It made me smile anyway (until I saw that chocolate was also on the bad list). Oy vey!

Oh ... I was going to show you my latest obsession ...

Have you tried this gelato? It is delicious! (#helpmeIcan'tstop) Happy Friday everyone!

A good shopping day

Sometimes I have to pinch myself to believe that I actually get paid to shop. Today was one of those days. I really don't enjoy shopping for myself - especially if it is for clothes or shoes ... but walking around Homegoods to pick up a few things for the upcoming weddings is just more fun than anyone should have while working.

It is not always like that ... sometimes there is not much to be found and it takes more effort. But today I hit the jackpot. 

When I style a wedding, I like to put mock gifts on the gift table to make it look pretty even before the guest arrive.  I also have a little wrapping paper addiction going on. I was able to satisfy both today. At $2.99 a roll you really can't go wrong!

I also found these napkins to use during the cocktail hour for a rustic/vintage wedding next month. $2.99 each for 20 napkins. I wasn't sure which ones I liked better so I got them both.

And they had the most amazing rugs today ... This 9x12' wool rug was on clearance for $249. It killed me to leave it hanging on the rack. 

It takes a lot of self control to not buy all the amazing things I find. Even if I don't need them I am always tempted to get them and put them in my inventory. I am usually pretty good, but today there was one piece I just couldn't resist ... 

It is neutral and just the right size. And very lightweight which is a huge plus when I am styling a wedding. I think it will make a nice seat for a sweetheart table and can work for a rustic wedding and also for one that is more elegant. 

I love the detail on it. 

And I'm going to pick this up tomorrow. I found it on Craigslist. 

Once the upholsterer gets ahold of it, it is going to be a partner for this chair. 

Not a bad shopping day I think and a good start to the week. 

Some unexpected bargains

It is still un-styled but we added a few more pieces to my "tight-budged-princess-with-champagne-taste" client's home today ...

The media cabinet is one of my favorite pieces. We went to pick it up from HomeGoods today and came home with a new leather chair and rustic side table as well (that place is dangerous!). 

The leather ottoman, the lamps and the nesting tables and artwork were all purchased last week from HomeGoods. We will definitely be working on replacing / adding pillows to the generic sofas and need to bring in some personal touches but it is getting closer to being move-in ready.

We also added a few more things to the playroom ...

The best is a couple of pieces of art that my client's 10-year-old daughter created. We need to get them framed but I think they are just perfect! I LOVE children's artwork and this is one creative little girl - we used her art previously in her mommy's psychology offices ... you can see her earlier artwork here.

The rustic desk is another of my favorites. We picked it up from Living Spaces. Seriously. I was expecting the worst when we went into the store but it was an inexpensive option where we could get some furniture quickly and honestly, I have gone to worse places. [Did you know that once I went to a gas station in South Central L.A. to purchase a sofa out of a container? Oh yeah, I did. It was for a client who has a gorgeous home but her nanny told her she could get a sofa for a couple of hundred dollars and asked me if I would help her select the fabric.] Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised (and very relieved) when we walked into Living Spaces and they had an entire section of one-of-a-kind vintage finds. Who knew?