Night stand score!

I'm replacing (slowly) a lot of our cheap, beat up furniture. Its going slowly because I buy second hand, or refinished items. Some I repaint myself. But with others sometimes I'm blessed to find a good piece and a good price. As is the case with my new night stand. it barely fits in its new spot. Its so tight I had to move the blankets and comforter off the bed for the picture.


I've been looking for a new nightstand for over a year. What I had before was very ugly open shelving. I had become so desperate I was eyeing new $60 night stands! Imagine my glee at finding this little cutie for $17. Already painted the white color I wanted! YAY!

Thrift store mirror re-do!

I love pretty things. And i feel better when my far from perfect house feels nicely decorated. Unfortunately I can't afford to furnish my house by buying all the things I like from Macys. But that is okay. It means my house is full of different, sometimes unique items.


Our bedroom is purple. A pretty dark purple. I want to repaint it. But, hubby doesn't. So i am doing my best to lighten the room with accent pieces. I wanted a frilly white mirror. It took forever but I finally found a frilly black mirror with gold accents, it was horrible. The price was perfect $7. It took some spray primer, and several coats of white plastic paint. But now the mirror looks like this:
I love it! And the best part was I already had the paint. It didn't cost me a cent to re-do my thrifted treasure!

Bento Baby's playroom

That is MY beautiful baby girl. *love*
This is bento baby's playroom. Well honestly the whole house is her playroom. But this is her area. I wanted to make it cute but not overly decorated. I don't believe in buying small children new furniture. When I pay a lot for something I want to keep it nice. But I don't want to stress about the toddler's furniture. I want it to be used but well made. She can beat it up all she wants and I won't care.

Her table and chair set was $10
The Dora organizer was $15
The wheel barrow she rammed into the table several times $5
Wall Decals $14 (and they stink, constantly falling off the walls. They look great but don't work well)

Total $44

Add that to the other total of $27, and it comes to $71.

Small house

Our home isn't large. Its 1300 sq feet. It was huge to us at the time, but as our family grows and our stuff grows we're finding it more cozy. We can't afford to move and sell since the market bombed. We have to bloom where we are planted. One thing I'm quickly learning is that stuff makes the home feel smaller. More stuff equals less space. Of course that means we should be picky about what we buy (which should save money) but it also means stuff that isn't being used, has got to go!

Not only is our home cozy, its also laid out weird. Our main living area is downstairs. Upstairs there is a bedroom (where we do bentobaby's sensory things) a tiny bathroom, a hallway and a small nook. We store most of our things in the hallway because we don't have a garage. And yes, we do have to keep the 3rd van seat even though i think about getting rid of it every time i see it. Most of our food storage is upstairs too.


The old never used computer desk however, that is toast. I've been eyeing that spot. And when Bentobaby was very blessed with gifts it became necessary to do more then eye it. It was time to tackle it. It took a few hours of hauling things outside to the van and a few more hours of painting but now she has a cute little play nook.

So far i've spent $14 on paint $10 on paint supplies

And $3 on a goodwill shelf.

So $27 total.

I'm looking for another shelf from the thrift store, a Dora adventure rug, a used small table and chair, and I have a $14 well decal picked out. Probably a pair of comfy chairs for mom and dad too.

Its a small space but judging by the tantrums when we leave, she loves it. and i enjoy it too. Its not our main living area so it feels different to go there. And i get the satisfaction of knowing i fixed something that wasn't working for our family.

Btw according to BentoBaby, Mr. Potato head has a 'nakey tummy!'