Obsession?

So back in July (around the time of my last post!:) I was stalking my usual blogs, you know the ones of people that I haven't talked to in 10 years, but I found their blog through a series of other friends' blogs, and I stumbled upon the Thrifty Decor Chick. Well, I was instantly hooked...er, um...obsessed? No, INSPIRED! I started hitting up the DI on my lunch breaks and falling asleep at nights thinking of projects I wanted to accomplish.

I have always loved interior design (I was declared as an interior design major my first semester in college). Now that I have a house of my own where I can paint the walls I feel freedom to change things. Hopefully in the next few months there will be some fairly major changes coming to a couple rooms in my house! But for now I am limited to small projects to spruce the place up here and there. TDC is doing a Before and After party that I have linked up to. Check it out for some amazing ideas (if you're into that sort of thing). So here we go. You ready? You sure? There's quite a few of them. K. Buckle up!

First, I decided we needed another lamp in our family room area. Whoever decided that family rooms don't need overhead lighting should be shot! Well I found this beauty at DI for $2.

Before:

A little spray paint, some hot glue and some extra fabric I purchased over a year ago and presto!

P.S Since I didn't have an area to put the lamp, I also built a sofa table following Sarah's instructions on TDC. As she would say, luuuurve it! I still need to finish painting it, but it is so fun!

After:
I am currently part of a Stampin' Up card club. We each host a month and get the hostess benefits. For one of my freebies I got these really cute vinyl jack-o-lantern faces, but needed something to put them on. Enter Tai Pan Trading a.k.a. a thrift decorators reason to live in Utah! I picked these Perfectly Pumpkin Plates up for around $1.50 each.

But then I needed something to display them on. I knew what I wanted and scoped out my local DI every day for about two weeks until I found this:
Ahh!!! Perfection!
The top of the shelf even had these perfect little grooves in the top to hold the plates up. Oh, and did I mention it was only $2?
Cutesy little detail on the side! Fun Fun! Of course the coloring was hideous (i've never really been a gold fan) and the layout of the shelf wasn't quite right. So I unscrewed the top of the shelf, re-attached it upside down and gave the whole thing a good covering of black spray paint. Voila!

After:
Yes, it sits on my homemade sofa table. Did I mention I MADE a sofa table!?!?! $20 bucks and it works great! (it even adds extra storage to my small condo - double bonus!)

Next, I decided I wanted candlesticks. They're a decorating classic, right? Again to DI. I believe I paid around 3 or 4 dollars for the three of these. All different heights, colors and decorations.

Before:
But again a little black spray paint and they look like they belong together. I have a new found love, nay, obsession with black spray paint!

After:
Eh, still a little plain needs somethin' extra...
Ah much better!

You tired yet? No? GREAT! 'Cause I saved the best for last! You ready?

K. So when I hosted the card club I also got some really cute red vinyl Christmas ornaments (for FREE!). As soon as I ordered them I started thinking of what I was going to do with them. The picture in the catalog had them on a window, but I wanted something that I could put up and reuse each Christmas and I wasn't sure where to find a cutesy window. So then I started thinking other glass and my thoughts ended on a mirror of some sort. But then I decided a grouping would be nice. Hmmm...a cheap mirror grouping? Where could I get something like that? Oh, I don't know maybe...

THE OLD BATHROOM VANITY THAT MY PARENTS HAD JUST BARELY REPLACED!!!!

Of course I had this epiphany as I was falling asleep and had to wait until the morning to call my mom and see if I could have the vanity! Frustration! Well, it all worked out. As it turns out, my parents still had the vanity in the garage waiting to take it to DI. They graciously agreed to let me have it instead. When I asked my mom if I could have it her first question was : "Are you going to do something cool with it?". Ah, my mother knows me well!

Before: (See that wood piece in the mirror...that is coming in another post. That piece is so special it deserves is own post! But it is another before or after! Sweet anticipation!)

During:
And After:
ACK! l-o-o-o-o-o-v-e it! I can't wait to decorate for Christmas this year.

Oh, and this project...FREE! Free vinyl, Free mirrors, spray paint I already had! Cute and FREE! Can life get any better?...I submit that it cannot!

So yeah...that's why I haven't posted in 3 months. I have more to post about other activities we have been participating in. We'll see how far I get!