I am fortunate to be able to see things, not for what they are in their current state, but for what they can be. This is especially good when you are young and in college or just starting out and don't have a lot of money to spend on your decor. My older sister Stormi lives in Southern Maryland with her husband and my little niece Haven. After trying to describe decorating ideas to her over the phone for months, I was so excited that she and my mom were coming out to visit me for a week this June! Finally! I could introduce my sister to the magic that is thrift shopping! We left Haven with my mom and set out early one morning for the Community Thrift Store I've mentioned in previous posts. That place is a goldmine. We had a very successful shopping trip and ended up getting Stormi 3 lamps, a tray and a mirror that I was going to do makeovers on... My weapons of choice:  

 

 

I thoroughly cleaned and dusted each piece first. Then, I laid out a big plastic drop cloth in a secluded area behind my apartment building and got to spraying!

 Finally, a shot of me in action! Stormi could only take a few pictures before the paint smell got to be to much for her. I've gotten to the point where I hardly even smell the fumes anymore, I guess that's happens after working in a paint store for so long... Alas, here are some before and after shots:

 

 

These are the lamps we found for Stormi at Community Thrift. The first two, we chose as a "matching" pair to go on either side of the bed in their master bedroom. We loved how they were similar heights and shapes, but little details (like the rounded shape in the first one) made them look like "His & Hers". After a couple coats of Krylon Metallic Silver and a finishing coat of spray Laquer, they were totally fresh and new! See how they go together?

 

 

The master bedroom is getting painted Sherwin-Williams Mannered Gold, a rich yet subdued golden color with espresso furniture and accents of black, white, brown and metallics. We are thinking of matching white drum shades for this pair of lamps, with a thick stripe of black around the top and bottom. I'll post a picture of the finished product once Stormi finds the perfect shades!

 

We found another lamp that we just couldn't pass up! This one is for their living room, where the color scheme is going to be teal, gray and silver. The walls are going Sherwin-Williams Dovetail, with an accent of Canal Teal on the wall with their white painted brick fire place. Stormi already got beautiful strie Silver curtains with an ombre effect for her large picture window and I am picturing a dark gray or black shade to add elegance to this already dramatic shaped lamp.

 

 

 

I think the silver definitely brought out the details of this lamp, which is what we loved about it in the first place! See?

 

 

We found a few other great accessories at the thrift store, one of them being this vintage metal framed mirror/tray:

 

 

 

We decided it was the perfect tray to top her dresser in her master bedroom. I could already picture it with elegantly arranged perfume bottles and a small dish to hold her favorite jewelry. I was tempted to leave it as is, since we wanted to bring in a mix of metallic tones, but after looking at the frame closely, I could see that the finish was wearing off unevenly. I decided to just go for it and I am very happy with the results! The silver gives the tray the modern edge that it was missing before, which goes right along with Stormi's sense of style (mostly clean lined and modern with some traditional accents thrown in). I think it will contrast nicely with her very sleek and simple espresso colored bedroom furniture.

For our last piece, we went with something a little different. I was immediately drawn to this oval mirror (I actually just bought a similar one for myself) and convinced Stormi that it would look awesome painted black against the golden tone of the walls in the Master Bedroom. I ended up using the same Krylon Oil Rubbed Bronze that has been my favorite since it definitely reads as black, but has the added benefit of having multicolored metallic flecks that I thought would draw on the wall color and give the color more warmth to go with the warm black/brown of her furniture. I think it looks great, but the final judgement will come once it is hanging up above her shorter dresser. I might be driving down to Maryland to repaint it straight glossy black, but we'll see!

 

I can't wait to see Stormi's house all put together! Her and her husband are working on painting some rooms this weekend, so hopefully I can get some pictures of the final results up soon! What do you guys think?