Colors of the Month: Blue and Orange for Fall

I knew I wanted to use fall colors for my Color of the Month this month, but I wasn't sure what direction I was going to go until I saw this chevron pillow in my 'spare throw pillow pile.'

I picked it up from Pier 1 a couple months ago (See this post for more details on the purchase.).  When I combined it with the orange pillow from August, I knew that blue and orange would be my colors for the month of September.  

Here is how the room is currently looking:

I picked up this orange mum from Home Depot for $3.50.

I also picked up a bag of assorted colored mini-pumpkins from Home Depot for about $8.

My new blue ghost chairs ended up working perfectly for this color scheme!  

Even my new hard cover design books are orange and blue!

I had the fabric for the blue pillow* in my fabric pile.  I love it!

I made a quick leaf garland with twine and faux leaves from the dollar store.  Cost: $1.

I even had enough pumpkins left over to make a fall centerpiece for our dining table.

Total cost for the room this month: $12.50 for the pumpkins, mum and faux leaves.  Everything else was previously owned or purchased for another reason this month (ie: Lou Lou chairs and decor books).

And to keep it real, here is what our throw pillows and blankets look like most days:

And no, the fake pumpkins in front of the fireplace don't stay there long.  Charm was all over them the second I put down my camera. That's his big stuffed dog taking a nap on the pumpkins.

At least it's a white dog.  It sort of works in the room:).

*And also, I never did sew a cover for the blue pillow I mentioned above.  It only takes about 20 minutes to sew an envelope pillow like I did here, but this month was an especially busy one, so I never got around to it.  Maybe next month?

Have a wonderful weekend!

Linking up to Finding Fabulous.

Christmas in September!

I'm not sure what's going on, but two of my favorite home decorating stores, Target and Pier 1 Imports, have been having fantastic clearance deals as of late.  And as a result, I need to start selling some of our extra furniture pieces on Craigslist to build back up my 'home decor' fund fast:)!

Here are my recent Target finds:

It's an amazing haul, no?

The sunburst mirror was $12.08 (50% off).

The quatrefoil mirror was $9.64 (50% off).

The yellow rosette pillow was $12.48 (50% off).

The yellow shower curtain (which may turn into regular curtains) was $3.74 (75% off).

The leaf curtains were $4.98 (75% off).

The blue king bedding set was $24.98 (75% off).

After much searching, I did track down an azul floral 5' x 7' rug for $49.98 (75% off).

And a super comfy Home Medallion 5' x 7' rug for $32.48 (75% off).

The other rug that you see the top of on the left side of the image above is the azul floral runner for $22.48 (75% off).  I'm still debating whether or not that one is a keeper.

Since I picked up the blue duvet for my parents, my total for everything else is about $150, including the runner rug which may get returned.  That total is pretty amazing considering the 5' x 7' floral rug is normally $200 alone!

Now, on to Pier 1.  Here are my finds:

Total for everything pictured: $40.69.

2 Beaded Pillows: $6.18 each (75% off)

Fun Teal Throw: $12.48 (75% off)

Lantern: $6.18 (75% off)

Fall Potpourri: $1.78 (90% off)

Blue Bottle: $2.98 (75% off)

Succulent Tea Lights: $1.48 (75% off).

I've got big plans for all of these goodies.  Many of them will end up in our basement once we turn our focus to decorating that space later this fall.  I heart clearance scores!

My Latest Craigslist Score: Ghost Chairs in Time for Halloween

This find was actually found a couple weeks ago, but I'm just getting around to writing about it now.  Have you ever seen ghost chairs in designer spaces?  They look like this:

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They are also made in a smaller version for kiddos:

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At $133 each for a child's chair, they aren't cheap.  

This pair of blue Kartell Lou-Lou Chairs was listed on Craigslist for $50 buckaroos total:

They are really liking life at our house!

Junk Bonanza 2011

As I promised here and here, here is a round up of images from the Junk Bonanza held in Shakopee, MN two weekends ago.  I had never been to this event before, so I had no idea what to expect.  Apparently, there are a lot of people who love junk as much as I do:

I apologize for the quality of some of these images...it was crazy in there...crazy in a good way though:).  Here are some of the things that caught my eye:

 Orange Factory Cart:

Old Suitcases and Trunks Galore:

Lots of Letters and Signs:

Antique Dress Forms Galore:

Old Birdcages: 

 Repurposed Items:

License Plate Bracelets

Old Music Sheet Wreath

Coffee table turned Ottoman

Amazingly Unique Light Fixtures:

Old Parts, New Hearts: 

I love card catalog-like pieces of furniture with multiple openings for storage.  The Junk Bonanza had a plethora of these type of pieces:

At the Junk Bonanza, I realized that our basement exercise room needs one of these...

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or these:

My seasonal items could be stored and labeled so nicely in these instead of using the big rubbermaid containers we have going on now in our exercise room!

 Knit Chevron Blanket

Even the displays were amazing:

For the first hour that I was there, I didn't purchase a thing.  Instead, I think I was walking around with my jaw dropped at the sheer volume of junk and people in one place.  Also, many of the pieces that I was really interested in already had 'sold' signs on them by the time I walked through about 15 minutes after the start of the 'regular bonanza hours' (Early birds could enter at 8am with a $25 ticket charge.  My ticket was $8 and allowed me to enter at 10am.).  Here are the few things that did come home with me:

I love these locker bins.  Seriously love them, but they aren't cheap.  This one cost $22 (insane for an old bin, right?!), but it was one of 2 bins that were being sold individually at one particular booth (The booth also had a locker unit full of the same shelves but they were sold as a set and the entire unit had already sold!)  I probably would have passed on it because I'm too cheap, but the numbers on it are very meaningful to me.  I lived in 2 houses growing up from the age of 2-18 and both homes (located about 2 blocks apart) had the same address numbers '134'.  What are the odds of that?  When I look at these numbers, I can't help but be taken back to the days of my youth!  This bin spoke to me, and I answered the call!

I also picked up these old tags.  The '79' one is an old cow tag.  Perhaps the 11 one is as well.  They were $5 and $3 respectively.  I chose the 79 one because my kiddos were born in 2007 and 2009.  And I liked the 11 one as well.  I don't have any specific plans for them yet, but I think they may be used in our office, once we make some changes in there!

Overall, I loved the Junk Bonanza and plan to return next year.  Maybe I'll be an early bird and maybe I'll take Bill along (mark your calendar, dear!) to help load a big ol' card catalog or locker set or something else junktastically wonderful!