If you thought you were getting a juicy discussion on Hollywood’s best lifts and enhancements, I’m truly sorry to disappoint.  This topic is not nearly as scintillating. 

I’m talking about closet doors.  Those standard white doors installed by contractors in every house built in America in the last 15 years.  (That is, unless you can afford those upgraded wood or custom doors that we drool over in glossy décor magazines.) 

As you regular readers know, I am in the process of remodeling my home office.  I have ignored this space for years, but no more ! I’m starting from scratch this time.  A blank canvas.  I realized that before I could hang my gorgeous grasscloth wallpaper (in the most amazing slightly luminescent gray blue, oh joy!), I had to touch up some trim.  And I had to paint the closet doors.  The paint was dingy – yellowed from years of sunlight – and they are the first thing you notice when you walk in my home office.  No. Thank. You. 

Instead of just painting them white, I thought I’d give them a bit of interest and a hint more sophistication.  After all, they practically take up the entire wall, so why not embellish? 

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I’ve got this thing for wall mirrors in sets of three.  Come to think of it, I try to display anything in sets of three.  To me, in décor, odd numbers reign, and trios are just more interesting than pairs. 

So I found this set of mirrors last week at the local Goodwill that called out my name.  “Kate, over here, over here !”   Alas, the poor downtrodden mirrors had been sitting in a corner all by themselves.  Apparently, from what history I could gather, these mirrors used to belong to a dresser, but sadly had been abandoned by their bigger mate.  But oh, the potential within !  You know I have a soft spot for hidden potential, so naturally I brought said mirrors home with me.   

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I once publicly proclaimed that I would never buy a sofa second-hand unless I knew the owner.  I declared that if I was going to lay my head on it, well then it would certainly be new.  Kind of like that time I said I didn’t like burlap, but now find myself completely fixated on it. 

Funny how sometimes when you draw a line in the sand, you get that sand thrown in your face. 

I confess I have browsed at used sofas on Craigslist, but was always afraid to invest in someone else’s rejected couch.  In fact, I skip merrily past the sofa section at the local thrift stores, because “Ewww” is all I have ever seen in that department. 

But as fate would have it, I was at the St. Vincent de Paul last week

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I’m feeling a bit more like royalty today, since I found the perfect little bench for my master bathroom vanity.  I snagged this little bench off Craiglist for $10 that had (allegedly) “never been used” by the owner.  While the tots were resting, I whipped up some extra padding and a simple slipcover and voila – my little bench is now fit for a queen.  Or at least the Queen of My Castle. 

Before and After:

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