Thrifted Thursday - Side Table

In college, I worked as a mechanic in a bicycle shop located in the creepy basement of one of the dormitories. One day, I looked out from the shop, down the long hallway dimly lit by flickering fluorescent, and noticed the custodians pulling items out of a side room. One item that stood out to me was a little white half-moon table with perfectly timeless lathed legs and a little shelf. I made a note to myself to ask them about it later (to see if it might need a new home, of course) and went back into the shop to finish up my shift.


Once my shift ended, I quickly walked back into the hallway to ask the custodians about the table... but they were gone! And the table was gone! In fact, everything they had emptied out into the hallway had disappeared (and there had been a lot of stuff). I tried to accept that it was gone forever, but I just couldn't get it out of my head.


A few days later I was walking around campus and saw the dormitory's hall director off in the distance. It immediately dawned on me to ask him if he knew anything about it. I sprinted over to him, explained the situation, and he happily took me down to the basement to track it down. Once we reached the grimy basement, he unlocked the door to the storage room and revealed to me an enormous room filled with mounds of things long forgotten. Most of it appeared up for grabs, but most of it was also covered in a lot of dead spiders and cobwebs, things I wasn't in the mood to dig through at the time (hey, bike shop work may be dirty, but it never involves dead things).


I turned a corner, past a massive heap, and there it was: my little white table. I had nearly given up, but now it was mine! I was still quite surprised that the hall director was so happy to let me take it; but I think he realized that no one else would probably use it again, so why not give it to someone who actually appreciated it? This little table epitomizes the phrase "shabby chic," but really, it's mostly just shabby. It's still one of my favorite pieces of furniture, though!


Sure, it needs some new paint, and it's a little wobbly, but it has served me very well and, I'm sure, will continue to do so for a very long time.

*swoon*
Paige

Thrifted Thursday - Entry Table

Our apartment doesn't have much of an entryway. The front door opens straight into our living room, and it's a bit of an awkward place to greet or send people off.

I've tried to solve this problem by making a bit of an entryway/"landing strip" across from the front door using an antique table built by my great grandfather, which I "thrifted" (was given to me) from my mother. I've been tempted to paint it, but I like the original burgundy color. It has gorgeous original handles that I just love (similar to antique replicas sold at Anthropologie).

To be honest, there are usually shoes littered underneath it!

I put little hooks on the wall to hang coats and bags, and a bowl on the tabletop to catch keys and other doodads. The lamp next to it has a much more flattering light than the overhead living room light, so I placed it at this "entryway" so I can immediately switch it on right when I set my things down.

How have you created an entryway in an awkward space?

*swoon*
Paige

Thrifted Thursday (a day late) - Mismatched Silverware

I love mismatched cutlery, as long as each piece is beautiful on its own, and there are rarely duplicates (I promise I'm generally not so high maintenance when it comes to my table settings!).

Photo by Twin Lens Images (via Style Me Pretty)

You can scour eBay or antique shops looking for heavy, hotel-style pieces made of real silver, but surprisingly (or not so surprisingly) this can get rather pricey.

via Absolutely Beautiful Things

The Boyfriend and I just went to Goodwill and found some pretty ones. We initially did this because we were going camping and we (ahem, I) didn't want to bring any of our current silverware set with us in the event they got lost or somehow ruined; it turned out to be a wonderful idea, though, because now we have a set of mismatched beauties that can add a more eclectic feel to any table setting, camping or not.

My new collection (click to enlarge)

Collecting silverware just might be a new-found obsession of mine and could be quite dangerous... but hey, if we have a lot of people over, having a lot of silverware on hand is always better than plastic cutlery!

It's too bad we don't have a dishwasher.

Happy Weekend!

*swoon*
Paige

P.S. The linen tablecloth in my photo is also thrifted!