Blog Swapping

Happy Thursday everyone!  I want to introduce you to my friend Andrea from Oak Ridge Revival.  We are doing a blog swap today so she is posting here and I'm over at Oak Ridge!  I'm honored she would even consider swapping with me!  She is one seriously talented lady!   Her house is absolutely GORGEOUS!  They've given it a complete overhaul and if I could dream up my ideal kitchen it would be hers.  It is to die for!

Hi there, Richmond Thrifter readers, my name is Andrea and I am here from Oak Ridge Revival.  Erin and I have so much in common and we thought it would be fun to do a little blog swap.  I'm so excited to be here today sharing some of my thrifty projects with you.  I would love it if you would stop by and check out my blog sometime.  

My husband and I bought an old fixer-upper in 2009 and the entire thing was renovated during a six month period.  All the big stuff was finished when we moved in, but the fun of decorating was just beginning.  Having spent a good deal of money on the renovation, we had to be thrifty about decorating.  Plus, I just love the thrill of the hunt and, of course, getting a good deal.  

Here are a few of my thrifty projects.

I bought this mirror recently for $15. 

I removed the mirror, painted it with chalkboard paint and then strung some twine across the back.

It's a great place to display all kinds of things.  You can read more about it here.   

Now, this isn't necessarily a thrifty find since my parents bought it for us when we got married, but it is a transformation that hardly cost me anything. We have had this bookshelf for almost 13 years and for most of those 13 years, I loved it just the way it was. However, once we moved into our new home, the dark stain felt a bit heavy to me.

So what's a girl to do?  Get out her paintbrush, of course. A nice coat of cream paint made all the difference, and the terra cotta color on the back helped give it some life.  You can read more about this transformation here. 

This giant ottoman didn't come from a thrift store, but it was a great deal for only $49.  This is what it looked like before my mother worked her magic on it.  You can read more about his makeover here.

She made this beautiful slipcover with box pleats from some fabric I had sitting around.  She is very talented and has saved me tons of money by making almost all of our window treatments.

I lucked into this Belleso mirror from Ballard Designs.  I walked into a thrift store I frequent and low and behold, there it was, just sitting there waiting for me.  I snagged it for a mere $20.00.

Or you can purchase one here for $169 plus shipping.

I might be my favorite thrifty find so far!  Thanks, Erin, for sharing your readers.  Hope to see you all again.

Thanks Andrea!  So come over and see me at Oak Ridge Revival today and then go back and see Andrea every day after that!  And make sure to find her kitchen redo on her blog.   You won't regret it! She will have you wanting to gut your whole house though, just warning you!