Vintage Elephant Lamps

As seen on Craig's List Chicago. Look at these adorable vintage elephant lamps. I love the red trim on the lamp shades. I'd pair them with turquoise walls and a black and white chevron rug.

They'd be so cute in a nursery or little boy's room. At $50 for the pair they are a steal. Find them here http://chicago.craigslist.org/nwi/clt/2800306385.html

Just Because Its Pretty ...

I have this problem. I'm easily distracted by pretty and shiny things. I like to window shop on Etsy and Craig's List even if I don't need anything, have the space to put anything, or even have the money to purchase anything. If my ancestor cave woman was a gatherer then I was the one who was trying to trade my berries for the other cave womens different colored berries, not happy with just one color and deciding that it was time to switch things up a bit.

Now I think I've mentioned that my condo is furnished in a mid century modern style with a bit of folk art  thrown in. I have a really tight color palette that I furnish in. And my space is small so it's minimal by design and necessity. And yet I still shop. And torture myself with all the fantastic bargains and gorgeous items I find.

Like this recent Etsy fabric I was lusting after. Yes, pure lust. Right style, right colors, OK price ...but I just couldn't find a use for it. I wanted to own it because I wanted it. Just that, no real purpose for it. I had to be talked down from the ledge by Alison.

Just because it's pretty doesn't mean I have to own it. Sigh. Life is hard.

What have you been lusting (gasp) after?

Tip of the Week - Craigs List

If you've read my blog posts about organizing, you probably know I have a deep and abiding LOVE for Craig's List. I have furnished, repurposed and redecorated, sold and furnished yet again many items in my condo. (Probably more purchasing than reselling, but whatever). I shop for family and friends. I find so many cute things for so little $$ that I seriously have considered going into business purchasing, fixing and reselling stuff. The only thing that holds me back is 1) 650 sq. foot condo so no space. 2) a small-ish Saturn car so no way to pick up the large items. 3) my predisposition to hyper focus and become a wee bit obsessive about things but easily distracted so follow-through is an issue. (That last one is hard to admit to.)

Lets back up a step. Do you know what Craig's List is? It's free (!!) online classified ads for stuff, jobs, housing, and other things I don't pay attention to. I focus on the stuff. You choose your city and search for anything, say 1960's or walnut, or dresser. Since it's free to post and it's free to buy, you can find a bunch of neat, local things. Anywho, onto the tip.

The listings on Craig's List are just a bunch of titles. It's not like eBay where you see the picture and the title. If you use Firefox as your browser (and you should, it's great) you can use an "add-ons" (little program or widgets) to add the pictures to listings. That way you can quickly scroll through volumes of ads glancing at the photo and not even having to read each title. I stop when I see something good looking then read the details. If it's not cheap enough, I move on.

Go here to get Firefox. Add-ons are available at the top of the page, just click and search for Craigs List. There are about 1/2 dozen add-ons that will come up. The program I use is called CLIP:CraigsList Image Prefetcher. There is a suggested donation of $.99 cents for this add-on and it's so worth it. Choose Add to Firefox and follow the on screen directions.

It's so simple! Here's hoping you'll find it as addictive as I do.

Organizing the Storage Locker

Hi there! Welcome to my inaugural post on my blog. This should be fun!!

One of my projects for the New Year is to organize my basement storage locker. It is packed and to get to anything I have to move dining chairs (another project) out of the way. So organization involves destuffifying (made up word) it. I listed 2 black leather slipper chairs I'd been holding onto for a couple of years (with no possible place to put them in the condo) for sale on Craig's List. (I LOVE LOVE Craig's List.) They sold within 3 days. Score! The young couple who purchased them drove 45 minutes to my condo and could only fit one chair in their car (these chairs are huge ... what were they thinking?). Today they made a second trip in their SUV to get the second chair. Here's a picture of the chair. Cute, Comfy and now Gone!

Bolstered by my success, I listed a metal bookshelf for sale (I should have dusted it first!). This sold in 2 days. It was picked up today. Gone!

On a roll, I listed these Mid Century Modern hanging light fixtures for sale. I purchased these for a steal on Craig's List 2-ish years ago. That was before I understood that you can't really hang something from a cement ceiling. In my defense, I didn't know it was cement. It's covered by a thick layer of white fluffy stuff (probably asbestos). Someone has committed to picking them up in 2 days. Almost Gone!

With this new influx of cash, I'll fund a couple decorating projects I've had on the back burner. Stay tuned for more info on these.