Adventures in Furnishing & Decorating

We've had a successful week this week!

We were out Goodwill hopping,. we try to do this every Wednesday since they give 20% off to military members on Wednesdays. We unfortunately did not make it to the Airman's Attic at all this week. They are only open 4 hours each on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

While we were out Goodwill-ing, we came across a rug store that was having a HUGE going out of business sale. We got a lovely rug for our living room that is 5x8 feet for only $150. It matches our furniture perfectly with grays, browns, and blues. Here's a pic of it in our living room:

Ignore the huge mess on the table...we've actually already cleaned it up since I took this photo :) Moving in is a mess!

We also bought this little rug (2x3 feet) for TJ. He was not enjoying the cold tile when he got out of bed in the morning. I already had a little rug on my side of the bed. His is actually wool and very plush. It was on sale for around $50. I love all the colors:

We also found some 'nightstands,' which we were in need of for our alarm clocks. Mine is the 'real' nightstand but it is EXTREMELY beat up.This will probably be my first refinishing and painting project when I have the time. It has so much potential though! For only $8, too! TJ is temporarily using a TV tray table for his nightstand. We snatched it up for $3 at Goodwill, knowing we'll use it for it's actual purpose at some point. Once we get him a "real" nightstand.

We have been hunting for dining room chairs for a while now, and they are much harder to find than you would think. Most come in sets or are in horrible shape. We already have a table, so we are just looking for a few chairs and a bench. We are temporarily using my pink patio chairs as dining chairs. Pink obviously does not fit the decor. I found this lovely chair for $20 at Goodwill. It is VERY sturdy/well built. It is going to be my chair, since it did not have any friends. It matches our office decor better than the living room, but the colors aren't obnoxious like the pink polka dot chairs at least. By obnoxious, I obviously mean awesome.

Speaking of matching our office decor better, I got the office "mostly" done! Since it is not really a main room, not everything matches. It is our gaming room/office/library/cat's room, so how would that all match anyways? Since I already owned a TON of Palm Tree/Jungle/Egyptian Oasis decor, that is the main theme of the room. I've put up some of my wildlife photos in the corner, hung up curtains, and decorated the walls. The wall above the little TV will have some autographed prints (we still need to pick up a couple frames). The tapestries are TJ's and all the stuffed animals are mine. Here are some pics:

In addition to all the thrift store finds, we got our new TV! Best Buy was having a one day deal earlier this week that we could not beat. We were originally looking for a 40", but this 46" was on sale for less than the sale price of the 40". We snatched that up. I'm glad I kept checking sales for TVs, or I would've beat myself up for missing that sale. It is Best Buy's Insignia brand, which we have bought before and haven't had any issues with. Also got the extended warranty. I believe Insignia is Best Buy's name for LG? Something along those lines.

We also got a very much needed vacuum cleaner! We bought a little one that has a 'no-brush' setting for tile floors (it actually works even better than I expected it to, with all the pet hair). It works GREAT. Since it had been three weeks since we moved in, I had only been sweeping and that doesn't do much for pet hair. I had to empty the vacuum's canister three times while vacuuming. I guess that's about one canister per week? Totally gross. I guess my allergies should be getting better now though...

Today I worked on my garden out front. I'll post a separate blog to show what I have so far with the garden!