Great Auction Finds and Faux Mirror Project

We attended a "Trade Day" auction this past Saturday which was essentially an outdoor flea-market type thing where different vendors sold various merchandise. To be perfectly honest, most of the stuff was "junk" but I was lucky enough to spot a few "diamonds in the rough" to bring home.

Here is one of the treasures I found....a wonderful floor lamp with that great aqua color! I'm really finding myself drawn to this color more and more and I am using it quite a bit in my "cottage kitchen" makeover. I will have to get a light fixture for it but I just could not resist the vintage feel of the lamp. Don't know where it will end up but never fear....I will find the perfect spot for it!

Hubby spotted this architectural piece on the ground and pointed it out to me. The way the auction was operating Saturday afternoon was that everything was staged outside. The auctioneer would go from vendor to vendor so you could bid on stuff. When we saw this piece, a guy standing nearby said "I was hoping no one else would see this....am I going to have to fight you for it?" So naturally I replied "of course." I did point out to him that it was in bad condition and he surely didn't want it......and he, being a Southern gentlemen, did not argue with me! I picked up this little beauty for $5.00! It looks like it came off the top of an old dresser. There is a little damage to it, nothing that some wood glue and clamps won't fix. Right now I don't plan to do anything to it but clean it up and then hang it over our bed.

You can see the damaged area above

She's a beauty!

Here's another little piece I picked up for $5.00. It belonged to the owner of the auction and when I spied it, I asked him how much he wanted for it.....he said $5.00 and I said SOLD!

Love all the chippy white peeling paint....this will go over my narrow bathroom window.

This piece above the bay window is certainly not an antique nor an architectural piece yet I love the way it fills up the space over the window. I bought it at Kirklands. It's a metal piece that was finished off in a bronze color.....took the trusty white spray paint and instant "architecture"!

I've always wanted some of those oversize salt and pepper shakers to put some bath salts in but I've never found any in good enough condition that were reasonably priced. Friday I went to a new flea market and found this set which were in great shape.....look at the price!

I went to my local spa (Wal Mart) and got some extravagantly expensive bath salts......

...oh yeah, it cost about $2.00 a bag!

How pretty is this? For under $5.00 I now have some "pretties" for my bathroom

At the same flea market, I picked up this urn for a little over $6.00

I wanted to get a plant to sit down inside the urn that would survive my non-green thumb. Saw this great plant at Home Depot and it reminded me of the "rabbit's foot ferns" my grandmother used to have. Now that might not be the "technical" term but that's what I've always called them. You could rub the little soft "rabbits feet" spilling out from the bottom of the plant....this brought back some good memories of my grandmother (who did have a green thumb)

If you have been reading my blog, you'll remember my posting about my friend Linda's gorgeous cottage style home. Since I was already redoing my kitchen and bedroom in a white cottage style, seeing her home really inspired me and gave me some good ideas, which I have unashamedly (is that a word?) copied! She had a beautiful aqua painted round mirror in her dining room. I spotted this one recently at T.J. Maxx and while it was not wood, it was a very reasonable price and I thought I could give it the "aqua treatment" and hang it in the kitchen.

Here's how it looked before.....(nothing wrong it the white, I just wanted to use the aqua color on it)....

First coat of paint

Although I coated it 3 times, some of the white still showed through. After glazing with Ralph Lauren's tobacco glaze, it still needed something else so I took some matte black paint and just dry brushed it on. You can click on the pictures below to see how it turned out....like the original paint is chipping off and the "old wood" is showing underneath

I played around with several vingettes on this little table in the kitchen. While I liked the sparse look (see below), I eventually settled on placing the urn on this table. I first had the urn and plant on the kitchen table but hubby complains because he has to move it so he can see the TV (hate it) so I will leave the kitchen table bare for now.

Some of you astute ladies will remember my post on Linda's house and recognize some of the same design elements here as in her dining room

I love these turquoise plates I found at Pier 1 (on sale)....they only had four so I got them all. If I find any more of them I'll add to these.....the shape and color are so interesting!

Well, that's all for now. I'm finally in the home stretch in putting the finishing touches in the kitchen and bedroom and then I'll post pictures.

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