thrifty thursday: i liked it, but didnt buy it

since i dont really need anything more to decorate my home, or rather i am not doing any more decorating, i still browse around the thrift stores and capture some great pieces.

here are photos of items i liked, but didnt buy.

the sales associate said these were like "$50 a piece." they were clearly marked $15 each, maybe i need to get a hearing aid or something.

i shared this on FACEBOOK yesterday. its solid wood so its definitely a piece that will last.

since my one day pop-up shop will be held in new york i am trying to find as many great pieces as i can before i go. this ensemble was going to be mine, but i cant wear it. sad. hopefully someone will pick it up.

i shared this 99 cent chair on FACEBOOK the other day. a single chair for 99 cent is a good deal. although the seat is faded, i actually dont mind the worn look. a high lacquered finish and maybe an accent pillow. yerp. for less than a cheeseburger you could have a nice swanky occasional chair.

these portfolio cases are so convenient for the man. sometimes i carry a briefcase and sometimes i just carry one of these. i have been finding a lot of them of the thrift stores and have started a little collection.

 anyone who knows me outside of the blog and my few tv appearances, knows that i sing. when i saw this hammond m3 my heart sunk a little bit. i love the sound of a hammond organ. unfortunately i dont play, but boy did i want it.

this plane was $44.99 at goodwill. that is way too much to pay for a used toy plane in a thrift store.

this red trunk reminded me of a makeover i did with nate. many of  you may like it because it is all chippy and worn. okay i like it too. red is my favorite color.

alright what amazing finds did you come across recently but didnt buy?

also dont forget #ilovethrifting t-shirts are now available HERE for a limited time and a limited quantity. 

THEY ARE HERE!!!

many of you have asked for the "i heart thrifting" shirts i wore on the nate berkus show. well they are here! last year the heart was "<3". if you typed that onto the screen it automatically meant heart. now when you type it a heart symbol actually shows up. so i thought it best to just go ahead a add a heart.

i choose green because thrifting as a lifestyle is eco-friendly and i want to make sure everyone sees that.

ORDERING PROCESS:

orders will be taken from may 29th  - june 15th and will be mailed out the week of june 25th, right in time for #ilovethrifting day on july 7th.

the price is $14.99 plus shipping. i am using a small print company as a means of supporting small businesses, because i am one. you can purchase on the left side bar.

there is a LIMITED QUANTITY, when those are sold out i will come back with a re-stock date.

don't forget the celebration is july 7, 2012!!!!

all hosts that have any questions please email me (mr.goodwillhunting@gmail.com)

so guess what happened...

after 3 years of fighting the lebron james hairline i decided to go bald, permanently.

i rarely blog actual photos of me, but i do share quite a bit on INSTAGRAM and TWITTER.

the truth is, a receding hairline is big issue for a number of brothers. there are all kinds of small tricks that can help disguise it. i've done a few and have been able to mask it. however, after 2 weeks straight in a row of my barber being unavailable, i decided to shave it all off. first of all, not being able going to get my hair cut is not cool. if i do get it cut from a different barber it is a high probability that my tape line will be jacked up. a messed up tape line can really make things awkward. the other thing is that when i travel or speak at various events, i like to have a fresh look. this does not always happen because i am not always able to get an appointment when i need it. sooooooo going bald works on a number of levels for me.

all in all, i am okay with it.

thursday morning i attended the annual cornerstone luncheon, held by goodwill industries of the southern piedmont. there were so many inspiring stories of how people's lives were touch by the community partnerships of goodwill.

i was really moved by the story of a young lady who said she was incarcerated for 18 months because of fraudulent activities performed by her former employer. she said she had no clue such corruption was happening at the place she worked. she had to leave her four children and ended up with a criminal record and quite the story to tell.

what you don't know can hurt you.

i was so moved, touched and inspired.

i think the room of about 700 attendees were moved as well as she received an immediate standing ovation for telling her story. i am quite sure there were some tissue being passed around.

the luncheon was emceed by my client, turned friend, ms. erica bryant anchor woman for wsoc tv channel 9 news. i had a small speaking role, which led ms.erica to think i can do voice overs. truthfully, because i talk a lot...i've always wanted to do it.

a special thank you to holly cooper (pictured above) for the personal invitation to attend this years luncheon as well as the opportunity to have a small part in their presentation to their sponsors and partners. holly rocks. seriously. you will see.

my thrift shopping buddy kim (picutred in purple) was also at the luncheon and yea we hit up the thrift stores afterwards. we did a lot of good talking about the landscape of design bloggers. funny stuff.

well i hope you guys have an amazing memorial day weekend.

if you are having a cook-out don't forget to invite your friendly designer...me!!

its a wedding!!!

hahaha! nope, not mine...

a groom contacted a few weeks ago and asked me if i would style him for his wedding. i said yes.

this is the visual he sent me (left) and this is what i sent him (right).

i paired a vintage grey pinstripe suit with a custom astor and black shirt, a thomas pink tie and my custom flower lapel pin. i really like this look and honestly, i may even wear it. lol

congratulations to the couple!

thursday's thrift tip

 i have no idea why i rarely put my own tips into play. every time i go to a particular thrift store for clothes, i never have my measuring tape. this particular store does not have a dressing room and often the jacket of a suit may fit, but the pants are right tight and i cant do anything with it. if i had my measuring tape i could easily measure the waist and the inseam and make a decision of whether i can wear it or not. women don't really have an issue with no dressing rooms as they can wear spandex and try clothes on in the aisle.

ain't mad at that.

if you are trying to decorate your home, a random measuring tape in your car or bag is essential. the worst thing is to buy an amazing piece at a great price and one it doesn't fit in your car (if you haven't a truck) or two you get it home and it just doesn't fit the space. often there are no refunds on furniture bought from second hand stores.

i would add that a brightly colored or a fun measuring tape will help you keep track of it...maybe.

so remember having a measuring tape on hand at all times can save you time, and money.

POP-UP Shop!!!

i am definitely excited to be hosting my first pop-up shop in brooklyn new york.  to RSVP for this event visit this POST. to see some of the amazing pieces click HERE.

New York!!

i am really excited to be back in new york, this time brooklyn. this time i am having a pop-up shop in brookyln with EXCLUSIVE vintage pieces from my own wardrobe that i will be offering.

please RSVP to the address listed if you would like to come out and shop some exclusive pieces.

if you would like to set up a DESIGN CONSULTATION while i am in the city the day of june 6th and june 7th please email mr.goodwillhunting@gmail.com to book an appointment. i can only do a few, so make sure its yours!!!

i will see you in New York in 2 weeks!

from the weekend...

hey everyone!

i hope you had an amazing weekend.

here is a little bit of what my iPhone captured.

 i popped my head into lowe's this weekend and saw this display of gelato inspired colors from valspar. i guess this hits home because i used valspar on all of my makeovers for the nate berkus show.

while thrifting i came across this grade school over-head projector. these are perfect for transferring large decals to a wall, creating a mural, or even tracing your company's logo onto a wall for a grand opening or party.

this definitely reminds me of the projector screen i used in this makeover.

 i finished the fourth flower lapel pin that i have added to my summer nautical collection. you can purchase them HERE if you would like to.

my all time favorite meal, is a bowl of buttery grits along with it's accompaniment. i can seriously have this 3 times a day and will be quite alright.

i came across these tartan curtain panels this weekend. they were only $4.99 for the pair and $2.49 for the one. the good part is that they are fully lined and looks to be professionally made. the bad part is that they are too short for the window i wanted to use.  now i have to find something to do with them. any suggestions?

 speaking of tartan, these rugby loafers i purchased from ebay, finally arrived. i bought them pre-owned. bad idea as they are a bit small. if you would like to purchase or bid on them they are listed HERE.

for the better part of the weekend, mr. benjamin was asleep beside me while i worked on a few projects. 

so how was your weekend?

 

PINteresting...

well everyone i hope you had an amazing week.

mine wasn't too shabby. i enjoyed all of your kind response to this post.

before you hit the weekend here are 10 interesting pins (PINteresting) from my PINTEREST boards.

have a safe weekend everybody!

p.s. the latest little guy is mr. benjamin when he was a baby on his first snow day. i did not put in in the sweater...a friend did. lol

DETAILS: outdoor space from Nate

did you see the outdoor space makeover i did on the nate berkus show yesterday? we actually filmed the makeover earlier this year, but it was saved until may. they actually gave me the date, but the date i wrote down was a saturday. so i apologize for not giving the heads up.

if you missed the show, you can click the above video to watch the reveal segment.

i actually blogged about the makeover earlier this year and you can check out more photos HERE.

i will come back on tomorrow to give some tips and answer a few questions about the makeover...as much as i can.

for $3.13...you can do this

as i child i remember my mother going to piece goods, the salvage shop and a few other places and my sister and i would flip through wallpaper sample books. im not sure what it was, but the colors and patterns were always of interest to me.

fast forward many years later and here i am discovering a wallpaper book for $3.13 since wallpaper is not readily used in mainstream design anymore, it seems as if wallpaper sample books are either hard to come by, are already dismantled and redistributed or a bit pricey on the interwebs. so imagine my surprise when i came three wallpaper books.

i flipped through all of them and saw a lot of flowers, toile and children. not my design style. at all.

 when i got to the last sample book, there were tartan (plaid) sheets. score. as long as there was two or more sheets it was a win. to my surprise there were 11, including a few vintage maps.

if you have been following me for any length of time, you will know that i advocate buying frames second hand. hence the reason for THIS post. i wouldn't spend more than $10 on a frame in a thrift store. if it costs more than $10 you can easily go to wal-mart, target, or any craft store and buy them full price or at a discounted price. remember that. don't get hood winked.

after i pulled one of my frames out, i went online and printed this silhouette of a terrier, since mr. benjamin is a silky terrier.

 

after cutting it out , i spray painted the matting gold and placed the image atop the paper and ...

here we are. a simple easy project that costs less than $3. this project is actually one of my favorite inexpensive decorative updates to the home because a number of updates i see floating around are very female oriented. not mad at it, just not for me.

wall paper books are great because the pages are oversized and can normally fit a number of modest sized frames. i often find that attempting to frame pages from books always leave a little room on either side and i hate having to do extra for a simple project.

of course you could visit the interwebs and make a search for old wallpaper sample books and pick up one that has a few samples you like. as with anything, this project can be amended to fit any design scheme.

i was so fortunate that this find, was great for a small update in my space. 
i have intentions of framing the others, but i dont want to mess up the wallpaper samples just yet.

from the weekend...

i hope you guys had an amazing mother's day weekend. i did. i spent the whole weekend with mom.

mom and me (and dad and then my sister and her children arrived later...lol) went for brunch on saturday.

mom is the diva...we all know it. she wanted me to let you ladies know that her shoes were faux snake's skin. no. i didnt know. i thought they were lace. lol.

of course we went thrifting together. saw this sign and stopped because i thought my sight was failing. then i laughed and realized thrift stores that aren't so glossy have some of the best finds...ever.

quite naturally, my niece, saw this little pocketbook and wanted it. mom said if she put it down dont worry about it. ha! she carried this lil pocketbook throughout the whole store, so i bought it. grandma says she is going to keep it and give it to her on her 18th birthday. LOL.
sunday we went to church and this is what i wore. a vintage double breasted suit, with a ralph lauren shirt and a vintage tie. my spectators are by mezlans. since my mother is still with me my flower lapel pin was appropriate.

for mother's day i gave mom THIS. sigh.
it was all worth it when we visited my eldest aunt and she started going through all of these gospel LPs. there are some old songs that arent really popular enough to make it to mp3s. when i saw how excited mom was as she went through the stack from my aunt, i knew it was a good gift.

as always i have been updating the SHOP with a number of unique pieces and they have been finding great homes. if you haven't done so, please lock my SITE into your rss feed, or in any other way that you stay updated with new inventory. 

that was my weekend. what great things did you do over the mother's day weekend?