Royal Oak, MI Flea Market Find

Very shabby, but oh so FRENCHY! Vintage Rococo style wall hanging. 24" x 20"
I purchased this at the Royal Oak, MI flea market a few weeks ago. It was priced at $60, I paid $15. I rock.
It took quite a bit of scrubbing, but look at her now...still tacky, but it totally ties the room together! And no, I'm not being sarcastic.

Creations Craved

I thought I should give a bit of insight into what I do and would like to do regarding this whole "blog" thing...

I'll be posting images and descriptions of items; where I found them, how I recreated them, what I paid, what I didn't pay, what ideas I totally stole from my friends (yes, I'll give them credit) and ideas they totally stole from me

Also, I will occasionally post items for sale. I have a lot of them. I don't need all of them and frankly, my shabby-chic Frenchy apartment is also a shabby-chic tiny Frenchy size. I need to make room for more creations. So, if you want what I have, it can be yours for the right price. Stuff will be posted on ebay and I will post the links on the blog.

So, back to what Haley likes best...and what this blog is all about:

Furniture: Repainted, refinished, using furniture in creative ways (i.e. not for its original intent)

Jewelry: I LOVE shopping for antique and vintage costume jewelry. Some of which I will sell via ebay and post the links here.

Books: Not only do they make you look smart, but they also make your apartment look super chic! And, if you open some of them you might actually learn something cool!

Picture Frames: These are SO easy to come across and you can make a ton of things from them!!

Clothing: I'm super tall and not so slender, so I often have to come up with creative, yet classy ways of making typical Target clearance rack findings look fab!

Accessories: See above. I ALWAYS hit the clearance accessories and nine times out of ten come up with ways of making casual attire fit for the office, fancy for ladies night out, or if I'm lucky...classy-sexy for a hot date.

Note: I'll be using the words "Creative, recreate, re-this, re-that...blah blah blah". If you have any other suggestions, please let me know. My "Widgets" Thesaurus can't seem to come up with enough synonyms.

And the list will continue to grow!

My Shabby Chic Frenchy Apartment

Nearly everything you see here (in my living room) is either from a garage sale, flea-market, garbage-picked, from a resale store or a hand-me-down from a friend. By the way, I'm totally obsessed with all things French...if you haven't already noticed!



Living room area: 6' Shelving unit is from a garage sale: $ 10, Framed drawings are post cards from an art show: $3 each, frames are Target clearance: $2 each. Two hanging lamps (you can see the bottoms) are from Ikea: $ 10 each. Misc. items on the shelves were gifts, random finds at TJ Maxx and from resale stores. My television is cropped out under the framed drawings...there's not really anything shabby chic about a television.




Living room area: Curtains...I LOVE these curtains. I purchased them at a yard sale in Birminham, MI. I paid $5 for the set, and they were brand new in fancy packaging! The full length mirror was a gift from my friend's Christina and Courtney (not sure where they found it). The framed image leaning next to the mirror was a garage sale find: $1 (and it's a nice frame). The ledge below the window is an unfinished wood board placed atop an iron radiator (my apartment is 120 years old)...and the ceramic pieces were hand made by me! Bamboo is cheap from Ikea!



Bedroom area: I really need a great headboard and many, many more pillows. I know it's hard to make out the bed spread, it's a Damask patterned duvet cover (queen) from Kohls. I believe I paid about $40 for it, also came with two shams. The long, round pillow (sorry, blanking on the technical term) is from Target clearance: $ 7. The two tiny pillows on the nightstand are from World Market (clearance): $4 each. The bamboo nightstand is from a garage sale: $5. The lamp was a gift from Cera: Fratz Consignment in Fenton, MI; price unknown :) Window curtain is stolen from an old roommate: Free.

The Economy May Be Tanking, But That's No Reason For Style To Suffer!

My Mother always told me "do with what you have". Great. Fabulous. Whatever.

Many of us are already creative in some way shape or form, doing with what we have, creating new out of the old. Blah Blah Blah.

Well, I'm in my late twenties. I'm in the same financial situation as most single, twenty-somethings. And, I often find myself trying to reinvent my shabby-chic apartment in some little way.

Through the creation of this blog I am hoping to create a forum for the exchange of fabulously inexpensive ways to recreate.

I think I use the word "create" way too much. Oh well.