Exceptionally Eclectic - So Stylish It's Hard to Believe It's a Basement!

She designs her own furniture  (that fabulous banquette), builds (well, her hubs does), makes her own stencils,
sews up a frenzy - what can't Amanda from Dixie Delights do?

Her skills are on display in her fabulous basement - which definitely does not look like underground living!

Amanda designed and her hubs built this fabulous banquette.

The chevron pattern over the bar is fun - and can you believe Amanda made her own stencil by piecing together poster board!  Click here to see how she made it.

Board and batten on the walls was easier to install than drywall and the ceiling tiles
 (necessary with old house plumbing!) are a nice modern touch.

I love the way she hung the curtains to the floor - it really helps disguise the small window size.

Open shelving over three unfinished cabinets that were painted make great counter space.

Go check out the scary before of the basement bathroom to truly appreciate how they transformed it in only one weekend!

Not only does Amanda have a stylish basement, the rest of her house is equally amazing.

She's a plate wall loving girl like me and from the looks of this numbered staircase, she really gets my number!

What are you waiting for?  Head on over to Dixie Delights and say hi to Amanda!

Exceptionally Eclectic - Graphicly Cool Home Office

Kelly at JAX Does Design created a very cool home office and transformed it from the drab basement space it was before.  

Kelly created a letter mural on her computer and then used an overhead projector to project the letters onto the walls.
She traced and painted all the letters by hand (does she have the patience of a saint or what?).   See how she did it here.

More words on the desktop - Kelly designed a custom table base for the simple glass Ikea top which came
adorned with all kinds of words for love - love it! 

Crown moulding above gives the illusion of a coffered ceiling.
Fun abstract art adds color to the office (Kelly painted the turquoise one).

An ugly oak door in the kitchen was cut down to size and given a dark coat of paint on the brass trim
to get the look of a black steel door - very industrial chic!

Go check out JAX Does Design to see more of her amazing home.  

Fabulous Friday Finds - House of Thrifted Lamps

I think Andrea of Oak Ridge Revival may be my separated at birth thrifting sistah - I may demand a DNA test!
So we decided to swap (we’re kinky like that!) blogs for the day and share some of our thrifting scores.  

Hi, I'm Andrea from Oak Ridge Revival and it appears that Kelly and I were separated at birth. 

I stumbled upon her blog a few weeks ago and was instantly smitten.  

She is a woman after my own heart with her thrifty buying habits and her fabulous found treasures.

While I love hunting through thrift stores for all types of items, my favorite thing to

happen upon is a unique vintage lamp.  Almost every lamp in my house has come from a thrift store. 

Here are a few of my favorites (in no particular order).

This is the most expensive thrift store lamp in my collection.  I paid $20 for this lovely thing.

A little pricey by thrift store standards, but I think it was worth it.

This lamp is right at home in our family room.

  

Next up, is the artichoke lamp I snagged for $4.00.  

The shade was also a thrift store score for $2.00. 

This lamp makes a perfect addition to our office. 

This one ranks up there at the top of my favorites list.  I bought this lamp at Goodwill for $8.00.

It was previously yellow.  I spray painted it red and it really makes a statement in my living room.

I paid $1.00 for this little gem.  My last name happens to start with an "S" and thought 

this lamp was perfect for our house.  Pretty sure it's supposed to resemble some sort of old fashioned candle holder, but I pretend like it's an "S".  

I have grand plans to paint this one a glossy color, just not sure what color yet.

The shade was $1.00 also!

This vintage lamp came from an antique store and I love the casual vibe it brings to the piano. 

Another $4.00 find.  

This one works perfectly for lighting up the kids' art desk in a corner of our family room. 

This was a Target closeout special at Goodwill.  

Not sure how much it sold for at Target, but I got it for $6.00.

It sits atop the desk in my daughter's room.

One of my most recent finds is this vintage desk lamp.  Again, found at Goodwill for $4.00.

It serves as a reading lamp in our guest room.

I just found this lamp a few weeks ago at Goodwill.  It was $6.00 and I already had the perfect shade.  

I wasn't quite sure where this one would go when I bought it, 

but it works great in the reading corner of my boys' room. 

I lusted over this lamp for several months at a local thrift store. 

I felt it was priced unreasonably at $8.00!

I patiently waited for it to be marked down and finally broke down one afternoon and  

politely brought to the attention of the sales clerk that the lamp had been there collecting dust for months.  After I talked her down to my normal price of $4.00, the lamp was mine!

This lamp was a very shiny brass and I used Rub N' Buff on it to tone it down.  

You can read all about it here. 

I still weep over the loss of this lovely lamp. 

I found it at thrift store an ended up selling it to a client I was working with.  

It worked perfectly in her home and not so well in mine.  

I absolutely love the elegance of this lamp.

In addition to lamps, I also have a bit of an obsession with fabric.  

Hop on over to my blog and see for yourself.  A big thanks to Kelly for having me over today 

and for sharing a few of her favorite finds with my readers.

Thanks Andrea - gotta love a gal that stalks an $8 lamp!  
Stop by Oak Ridge Revivals to see more amazing thrift shop finds!

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Exceptionally Eclectic - Bold & Bright Mudroom

This is such a fun mudroom from The Mindful Nest that's filled with color and fantastic thrifty scores made over with a bit of paint.

Chalkboard wall in green combined with an old school pull down map - makes me (almost) want to hit the books!

Can you believe this is a $19.90 ($20 minus the dime found wedged in a drawer) dresser found on Craigslist!

A coat of red paint transformed the mid century dresser, Ikea light fixture and mirror.

Another Craigslist steal - $30 for the ginormous pull down map (I found a few recently at an estate sale and love them).

I have a slight owl obsession - isn't that little pillow a hoot (my lame attempt at humor, I know)!

Visit The Mindful Nest to see more of this fun room.  I can't wait to see what else she's got in store for us!

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Exceptionally Eclectic - Farmhouse Kitchen

Since I will soon be showing you my kitchen, I thought it would be fun to show off one that has a lot of pizazz!  Diana at Our Vintage Home Love lives in a 1905 house and created a great vintage feel in her kitchen.

Check out that amazing double towel rack on the island.  She loved the rack so much, she built the island out of old barn wood for it!

While out on a leisurely bike ride, Diana found the white cabinet (it used to be yellow) sitting curbside.  I am still trying to figure out how she got it home!  A bit of barn wood behind the cabinet is a great backdrop for an old rolling pin collection and check out those breadboards which she makes!

Love the open shelves for showing off all things white.

It may look like an old ladder turned pot rack but Diana actually built this!  Click here to find out how she did it!

Diana created the wall art for her hubs to resemble a 1950's baseball concession stand menu.  

These old stools were faded red vinyl with a high back (see the before pics here) and were transformed into these beauties.  

The rest of Diana's house is equally fabulous - check out her living room here!

So head on over to Our Vintage Home Love and see her whole house in all it's vintage glory!

Exceptionally Eclectic - Vintage Inspired Dressing Room

How would you like to have a whole room devoted to your clothes and high heels?  Me too (but it would be more like boots and purses)!  Carla at Hammers and High Heels did just that in her 1924 Dutch Colonial that she and her hubs have been DIYing.  

What a cool storage idea - a vintage crate holds Carla's collection of heels (check out those leopard babies)!

To mimic the look of the old crate, she transformed plain boring crates from the craft store that now look like they could have been picked up at an antique shop.  Not only do they look amazing, they offer great storage.

The vintage dress form holds belts and baubles.  

Ikea to the rescue with a huge mirror and faux sheepskin rugs - they add a bit of glam to the room.  

Carla made the sign to hang over her garment rack.  Translation from French:  Life in High Heels!

The rest of the house is equally amazing, like the adorable powder room with chalkboard painted walls.  What's not to like about a gal that encourages you to Kick Up Your Heels!

So click here to head on over to see the rest of Carla's amazing home (the before pics really make you appreciate the afters all the more!

January 31 is almost here for our multi blog link party- hope you've joined our challenge!  Learn more here.

Exceptionally Eclectic #5 - Lucky Mudroom

Her heart skipped a beat when she first saw the red cottage in Norway, where Trine is from. Although it was farther from civilization than she had planned, the Cottage of Vinnord called to Trine and she had to have it.  I can certainly see why!  

Trine has worked wonders as can be seen from her mudroom renovation.  Dark and dreary is now soothing and her love of all things equestrian shows.

Love the horseshoes on the stair risers - they have obviously brought good luck to this renovation.

The iron horse hooks and riding helmet are not just for show - this gal is a real equestrian!

Visit Trine at The Cottage of Vinnord to see more of her fabulous Norwegian cottage and her pony and kitties too.

Exceptionally Eclectic #4 - So Chic Shed

This frigid weather has me dreaming of spring and I can't wait to get outside and start planting.

So when I spotted this garden shed (it's more like a miniature house - crystal chandelier and all!) of Christie's at Three Pixie Lane, I wanted to track it down and move right on in!  Since there are laws against that, I decided against such rash actions and am now content to live vicariously through these amazing pictures.

The chandelier is rigged to a pulley system that Christie lowers when she's in the mood for candlelight - love it!

The shed is filled with her kids artwork and vintage finds which all combine to make a very cool one of a kind space.

The shed was built by her hubby to ‘house’ all the things Christie uses for decorating and to be a place to craft, garden, paint ... In the summer, when she is at work in the shed, her kids hang out, nap or paint with her.  There's even a small bed for her kids to relax on when mom's a busy bee which was moved to the shed when she realized it was too big for the tree house (Christie, will you be my mommy!?).

Click here to see more of this chic shed at Three Pixie Lane.  The rest of Christie's South Carolina lake front house is equally amazing so go check out it out!  

Exceptionally Eclectic #6 - Wow Powder Room!

What do you get when you take a dilapidated old house and two young DIYers?  Carrie and Chris of Hazardous Design (they live on Hazardous Road!) have been tearing down and building back up this cute house all by their lonesomes (and with a bit of help from plumbers and electricians)!

Their powder room is a great example of their fabulous sense of style!  Check out the before and after!

Classics such as a marble tile floor (love the mini mosaic border), bead board, and porcelain sink look fab with fun touches like the bold wallpaper (the star of the room) and orb chandelier.  Carrie & Chris did all the work themselves except for the rough plumbing and electrical - tipping my hats to them!

Found at an antique store, Carrie spray painted the ornate mirror and transformed it from gold to a more contemporary black.

Carrie bought a plain white roman shade and added the grosgrain ribbon trim (she how she did it here).

You don't have to beware of Hazardous Design so click here to check out more of their amazing before and afters!

Don't forget January 31 is the big link party for our Imagine the Impossibilities Challenge!  Click here for the deets!