Mad Props

I'm sure that's what the Critics will be rewarding the Set Designers at the Huntington Theater Company with next month when this Salvage Chic Find takes center stage for the performance of "Fences", a 1950's-based play based on the novel by August Wilson.




When the guys came today to pick up the table I tried to act all cool like Professional Set Designers come here all the time, but really it was just once before. And the guy wasn't exactly a Professional, at Set Designing anyway... he was a nice teacher from a pre-school in Duxbury where the kids were putting on Annie. So I loaned him a suitcase, and a strand of pearls, in exchange for a free ad in the Programme; and so-began my Set Design career. This time, they actually BOUGHT the table. I'd say I'm making progress! Hollywood, Here I Come!

The Way to a Man's Heart...

is NOT Through is Stomach! Let's put that old theory to bed right now. Trust me Ladies, the way to a Man's Heart is through his... TV. Specifically his flat screen LCD model, which Kenny has been clamoring for for quite some time. Luckily I already have him in my Clutches so I was able to stave him off by telling him he could get one, WHEN (and IF!) I found the right piece of furniture to house it. He seemed satisfied with my excuse and I promptly forgot all about my promise until I stumbled upon THIS piece of furniture at Salvage Chic:

The key to converting a piece like this into a TV stand is it has to have the dust liners under the drawers so you can take the drawers out and house your cable box/DVD player etc. on the 'shelves'. My first step was to remove the bottom 2 drawers and spray paint the inside in a color of close proximity to the chocolate brown color of the piece. Then I had Kenny drill some holes in the back for ventilation:

By then he had already dismantled our old setup (insert horrifying Psycho stab sounds) and unearthed THIS mess of wiring:

The old TV cabinet from Target was put out to pasture or rather, the curb (HEY, we all make Poor Design Choices from time to time...)

Next I was bound, gagged and blindfolded and taken to Best Buy, where I don't really remember what happened but I suspect I racked up serious mileage points on my MBNA Mastercard.

A few hours later the New Technology was in place and Kenny was happily enjoying the Red Sox Game while his Trusty Assistants gave new meaning to the words "Dog-Tired".




I, of course, had seized the opportunity to completely re-arrange the living room and was unable to relax and enjoy the fruits of their labor, because my dining room table now looked like The Place Where Old Technology & Random Accessories go to Die!


SIGH. Luckily I knew JUST the place to get the last few finishing touches I needed; so after sleeping on it, I came home from the shop today with the tall French Windows I stole from Jack (shhh, he's on vacation, I'll just Blog a lot this week and he'll never read this post.) I tried to shoot the photos in panoramic fashion so you get a sense of the room; it's really an odd configuration because someone knocked a wall down at one point leaving a large but L-shaped room I've never been happy with the flow of. Fireplaces are cool to have, but only on HGTV are they the Focal point of the room; in real life, it's YOU GUESSED IT - the TV! And I have to say, I could tell my non-Antiquer friends I got the TV stand at Crate & Barrel and they'd TOTALLY believe me; of course, I'll proudly brag it's from Salvage Chic!! And even better, aside from the TV & the rug, I think almost everything in the room was bought second-hand... Now THAT's Salvage Chic!

This Little Piggy Went to Market... This Little Piggy Stayed Home...

and THESE Little Piggies went to Teeka Lynne's Salon & Day Spa in Halifax tonight for a Pedicure. I've been getting a lot of nice compliments lately on my hairdo & color so thought I'd give a little shout out here to my Stylist Teeka and her wonderful staff. About a year ago I decided to finally Divorce my old Hairdresser in Needham because let's face it, a 4-hour round-trip for a cut & color was just unrealistic. Now, you ladies know it can be a REALLY DAUNTING TASK to switch hairdressers; I mean, I'd almost rather ditch my Husband and take my chances on Match.com than pick a new hairdresser, which was why I was still commuting to Needham. (I said ALMOST, Kenny, Calm Down!) Anyway I was so gun-shy about picking a new place at random I went to the Salon on a Spy Mission and got a pedicure. I had no idea what I was going to find in there, I wanted to make sure it wasn't an "Old Lady Hair Factory", you know? One step into the Salon and I knew I was gonna be a regular. And not just because the place is divided into little rooms painted in warm colors which TOTALLY reminded me of Salvage Chic! Teeka gave me the Pedicure on that Fateful Day and I had a grand time dishing dirt with a Fellow Small Business Owner. There's so much that goes on behind the scenes that people don't realize, I remember saying "People complain that I'm only open 4 days a week, but really, I work every day; it's not like when the shop's closed, I'm sitting around having a Pedicure!" She just looked at me, and then we both burst out laughing. Really, it's THAT kind of place, just a relaxed, un-pretentious environment. And have no fear, they have plenty of 'Normal' nail polish colors. But I'm really not a girlie-girl when it comes to nail polish so mentioned to them that 6 weeks ago when I came home with Pink Toes Kenny exclaimed "You think you KNOW someone... and then they come home with pink toes... (shaking his head). Imagine my delight when tonight I found this fun new aqua color they bought just for me. If you're looking for a new 'Do or need a relaxing Spa Treatment, go check them out just off Route 106 in Halifax and at www.teekalynnes.com. And Please, tell them Christine sent you (I'm not sure they know who "Salvage Chick" is, LOL)

Operation Motivation

Since I've been hounding folks to send in photos for the "Salvage Chic @ Home" page I decided it was time to put my money where my mouth is and show off some of my own home. This serves two-fold as a Motivational Exercise to Stop Procrastinating and get things back in order. Once in a while I fall in love with something at Salvage Chic and if it doesn't sell in a timely manner allow myself to adopt it; but then I am faced with the items I displaced and a Husband Who Hates To Move Furniture, so I invariably end up with Large Ghosts of Furniture Past loitering for weeks & months on end. Today I decided it was time to tackle this room downstairs that's become known as "Izzy's Bedroom" because she likes to hang out there and I needed a Girlie Reason to Shabby Chic a room.



That's Duff on the bed, he doesn't mind hanging out in all this Shabby-foo-foo because he is very much in touch with his Inner Dog. The little chippy dresser is actually one that haunted me for the months and months it was for sale at Salvage Chic, so I finally bought it from Jack for the $60 he paid for it, he was just happy to have his money back. The window treatments I got at the Christmas Tree Shop (proving to Kenny that they don't just sell 'CRAP' there) at the bargain clearance price of $1.49 per pair of curtains, $9.99 for the white iron rod and $9.99 for the Roman Shade. Really, where can you fully outfit 3 windows like this for $65?



Here we come to a couple of Problem Habits of mine, collecting Quilts and old Samplers. Really, I've stopped, I swear... The quilt rack I bought for $5 at the Yard Sale on the Town Green in Halifax when I first moved to town; it's slated to be painted but Hey it's only been waiting 5 years.



These suitcases have all been for sale at Salvage Chic at one time or another but apparently I'm the only one who thinks Vintage Suitcases are cool so I finally got sick of looking at them and took them home. They serve remarkably well as a place to hide Christmas Presents (OOPS I think Kenny actually reads The Blog... Note to Self: Find New Hiding Place This Year.) The old coal stove I think I'm going to sell when Fall comes around and I can't for the life of me remember which larger radiator I was going to displace with that little one but somehow it landed in the fireplace and I definitely cannot lift it myself so there it stays!



Finally the bed if you can get past Duff's Handsomeness is a full-size Walnut Bed I bought at a Consignment Shop for $400 back when I had a 'Real Job'. Actually that's not too horrible of a price but I shudder to think I laid out that much money for something I don't even like anymore. Which is why this episode is called "Operation Motivation": I'm going to paint the bed. I've been wanting to paint the bed for a LONG time now but like that old saying about how the Shoemaker's Kids Go Without Shoes... the Salvage Chick's house has a lot of unpainted furniture. Now that I've blogged about it, I know every time I talk to my Dad he'll innocently ask "Did you paint that bed yet?" To the point that finally I will be so sick of him asking I will lie and say "YES." Then soon enough, he'll be coming to visit, and I'll be up until 2 AM the night before painting it. Stay Tuned... I'm sure it will be blog-worthy!



PS - What's this? An Empty Wall? I need something to fill it! And I know JUST the place to go shopping... see you all at SALVAGE CHIC!

Back in the Saddle Again

Well, so much for all the Blogging I thought I'd get done during vacation... For the first 4 days it rained cats & dogs so I spent a ridiculous amount of time trying to coax Izzy & Duff out of bed.


I also watched a lot of that TV show, you know the one with the guy on the couch that comes on every night around 8 PM? It seems to coincide with Red Sox games.




Finally on Friday after Claudia & I picked up some furniture in Whitman, the SUN CAME OUT! so we literally dropped everything and ran. Unfortunately my pool still looked like THIS so I did not dare go in it for fear of needing a penicillin shot afterwards.


By the time Monday rolled around I was itching to get back to work, especially because I left everything a shambles when I dropped my Rainy-Day-Rearranging. What was I thinking? "Gee, I'm going on VACATION, I think after the HUGE SALE I'll move The Little Kids' Room over where The Office was and then turn That Room into a Giant Potting Shed so the former Country Primitive Area can become a Seaside Respite." No wonder when we re-opened on Tuesday the first customer that walked in the door asked "Are you MOVING?"

A few days later, it's finally all back together and we've been re-stocking with Boatloads of New (to us) Furniture. Even if you were just in for the Big Sale, I GUARANTEE it's worth a visit back. Hope to see you soon!

V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N... in the Summer Sun!

Of course, there was no sun yesterday and Monday/Tuesdays are my usual day off so it didn't FEEL like vacation yet, and I spent the day doing the usual boring Monday Household Things. Indulged in one of my favorite hobbies, which I call "Ripping off CVS." Calm Down, I'm not doing anything illegal! I'm just a serial coupon cutter who likes to take advantage of those CVS Extra Bucks. One of those adjustments I made when I quit my obnoxiously-stressful-yet-ridiculously-lucrative job to open Salvage Chic. I stopped getting the Sunday paper for a while in a further effort to cut costs, but recently realized that was detrimental when Kenny ran out of deodorant and borrowed the household ATM card to go get some. I should've known better! He's one of those types that favors the additive-free granola-crunchie aisle in the store and came home with some deodorant that was gluten free and packaged in hemp but cost like, 12 dollars. SIGH. Back to clipping coupons... I'm not 100% brand loyal, with most things there are 1 or 2 brands I prefer so I'll tell you the key here to the 'Ripping off CVS' game: Clip any coupons for a brand you would buy; Read the CVS flyer on Sunday. If it's on sale AND you have a coupon, buy it. Even if you don't need it right now; it's not like in 6 months you're suddenly not going to need shampoo. So here's my booty from yesterday, and what do you think it cost?



2 bottles of 32-load Wisk HE detergent
3 cans of Aussie/Herbal Essences mousse
1 bottle Aussie shampoo
2 guy Speed Stick deodorants
1 chick Secret deodorant
2 tubes Colgate toothpaste
1 guy Edge shaving cream
1 box Bandaids
4 tins altoids (a treat for Kenny who eats them in one sitting like they are crack)

Well I'll tell ya... the pre-sale/coupon price was $68. I paid $32 bucks, PLUS I got $11 in Extra Bucks to use next week; so essentially $21. Pretty good, huh?

How Much is that Doggie in the Window?

Turned out, the DOG was not for sale, but everything at Salvage Chic was 20% off this weekend, and it was truly a Smashing Sale Event! The shop opened early yesterday at 9AM and folks started trickling in. I was busy with last-minute things like putting out the flags, hanging sale signs, etc. when I noticed this cute little terrier wagging at me from a vehicle in the parking lot, but thought nothing of it. A while later Claudia mentioned she was getting worried about this little dog out there in the car, as the day was quickly heating up. I figured it belonged to this lady who had been browsing for a while, she was probably just about done, but just in case when she appeared around a corner I struck up a conversation. "Your dog out there is so cute, what is its name?" The woman looked at me blankly and said "I Don't Have a Dog." OOPS, sorry! gesturing at the car... I figured that was your car, it must belong to someone down at the pizza shop; "That IS my car, but I don't... OH MY GOD! I forgot, I am dog-sitting my mother's dog!!" Well BRING IT IN, we said, and a moment later she returned with just the cutest little bundle of wire-haired terrier we ever did see. Holly was a doll and such a polite little customer, sampling water out of a vintage Pyrex bowl we offered her and hopping up on the seat behind the counter when we invited her. Meanwhile her Big Sister/Dog Sitter mentioned that there were several pieces of furniture she was interested in, if she bought them could she pick them up after our vacation? SURE! I said, but figuring she'd want them sooner than later, mentioned that we offer delivery. Then proceeded to follow her around the shop slapping SOLD tags on about 8 pieces of furniture, all the while making small talk only to discover, she recently bought a house on the street where my mom works at a Dental Practice in West Roxbury! Small world. We discussed delivery logistics and I said since she was new to the area, when she needed a dentist she should visit Family Dentistry. "Only, not until after the delivery; if my mom finds out we'll be in the area she'll book me for a teeth cleaning." Her eyes lit up; YOU must be THE BLOGGER! (Sigh... Guilty as charged! and then more Salvage Chick Sarcasm came out: You have no idea how un-nerving it is to get a reminder postcard from The Dentist that you're overdue for a visit... and it's in YOUR MOM'S HANDWRITING!!) We spent some more time with our new favorite customer and then sadly, she scooped up Holly to make the trek back up to Boston. Of course as soon as they left, Claudia said we should've gotten a picture of Holly for the Blog! Duh. Maybe later this week when we make the Special Delivery... but please, don't tell my Mom we're coming.