Home Improvement (Coffee Table)

While shopping for new furniture for my apartment I became a little obsessed with a coffee

table from Pottery Barn. I think I mentioned that I have been buying a lot of my furniture off of 

Craigslist. When I visited the home of a girl who I was buying my World Market kitchen 

chairs and table from I saw it.... the coffee table that would not compare to any other I had seen. 

Do you ever have an obsession that manifests itself immediately and nothing else will compare and 

no amount of money will stop you from getting what you want?! Ok, maybe a certain amount of 

money, but you know you HAVE to get this thing that you have become obsessed with. 

This Pottery Barn coffee table was that thing for me. After not being able to locate the table

on PB website I made a call to the store here in B'ham and found out it was the "Hastings

Reclaimed Wood" coffee table and retailed for $599. Yowza!! That's a bit steep for a coffee table, but

again I was justifying my decision to spend this money with things like... "this will be a piece that 

will last forever" "I have never bought myself a really nice piece of furniture and this can be my first"

"I haven't seen anything else that I like this much and I know I will be so happy with it" and on 

and on. You get the picture. Us girls have our ways of getting what we want and it making perfect 

sense. 

So, before purchasing the table from Pottery Barn I contacted a guy in Montgomery that makes

tables and furniture to see if he could imitate this table for less money. After a few emails and him 

assuring me that he could make it as close to the real thing as possible for half the price I said let's do it.  

He assured me that if I didn't like it I wasn't obligated to purchase it so what was I losing! 

I am so thrilled to announce that my coffee table turned out just as I had expected and I saved $300!!! 

I am in love with this table and it really is the most favorite thing in my humble little abode. 

See pictures: 

Ain't she a beaut?! A rustic beaut. 

She's a large beaut... measures 56" wide, 35" deep, and 17" high. 

Latches that are on top 

Here she is in my place nestled away with her other family members! 

She fits in so nicely. 

Got to finish my decor on her top! 

I tried to save the actual pictures of the table from Pottery Barn, but am having a hard time

getting them to save... so if you are curious to see what the actual table looks like to compare click

here. 

Let me know what you think and if you would let someone build you a knock off table. 

Have a great day! 

Home Improvement (Walls)

Happy Hump Day. 

I meant to do this post Monday as my "Weekend Rewind" post and again my motivation lately has been zapped. I literally think I could sleep for about a week and not think twice about it. I feel like 

a bear wanting to hibernate lately. The weather here in Bama has been cloudy and rainy so not 

sure if it's the weather or just me, but whew I've been soooo tired! 

Anyway, this post is a non-make up or product review. I moved into a new apartment a couple 

weeks ago and have been doing some things to spruce my place up and wanted to share some 

decor ideas. 

I literally ditched everything that was in my old living room and started over since most of my 

furniture was college/post college stuff that I had merged with roommates. Bleh! So ugly. 

Patience is not a virtue I possess very gracefully. So, trying to be patient in buying new pieces

and decorating has been a struggle. I want my place looking like a page out of a Pottery Barn

catalog now! 

Craigslist has been my new best friend. I have never been someone to get on craigslist and shop. EVER! Thought it was kind of creepy. But, buying furniture and home stuff is SO much fun and 

such an affordable way to piece together your home. I'm not one to really buy used clothes, but 

furniture has never bothered me. So far I have bought my couch, kitchen table and chairs, and 

a lamp. But, I suspect there will be many more purchases. : ) 

Anywhoo, here are some before and after pics of what I decided to do with the wall behind my 

couch. Hope you enjoy! 

I got the idea to hang a collage of empty frames behind the couch 

while shopping at a furniture consignment shop in Pelham, AL called Encore Resales. 

Most of the frames that I bought were a distressed matte white. After buying my 

pillows at TJ Maxx I decided I wanted to pick three colors... white, blue, and mustard. 

I had to try a couple times to get the right shade of blue. My first try was a can 

of spray paint that was too bright. So, round two seemed to work well for what I was 

going for. 

Wall and couch before. 

Yay for my Craigslist couch! It was originally purchased at Metropolitan Deluxe

at The Summit for nearly 2,000 and I paid a whopping $350!!! I love it. 

Wall and couch after. 

I still want some more pillows to go on the end... not sure what, but I am thinking something

oversized and white. 

Collage of frames. I love the white and blue... I am still eyeballing the 

mustard. Good thing about this project is frames are pretty inexpensive so if I decide

this look is not what I want to end up with I haven't lost a ton! 

Side view with my sweet burlap lamp from what other than craigslist! : ) 

What do you think?! Would you do a frame collage on one of your walls? 

Give me your thoughts and stay tuned for more Home improvement posts! 

Have a great day!