Happy Friday friends, what’s cookin’ this long weekend?  Are you off on a little vacay or grilling at home?  We’re having a little shindig with some close friends here at our casa.  We can’t wait to show off the new stone patio we installed, you’ll get to see it next week! 

Summer has me dreaming of a few days off, so I’ve scheduled some family time over the next few months.  A few road trips and a mini vacation are going to interrupt those Fair Weather Forums I planned earlier this year, so I’m announcing a new schedule.  I’ve moved a few topics around, so sorry for any inconvenience!  Also, in honor of Memorial Day, there will be no link party on Monday May 30th. 

Here are the new Summer Link Party dates:

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Last year I remodeled my home office, and it’s been a genuine pleasure working in this pretty and personalized space.  For the longest time, I was loving the sofa that sat on one wall, but over time, paperwork started piling up, and I reasoned I needed a more practical solution if I really was going to run a business from home.  So I made some changes!

I started with a credenza I found at (where else?) a thrift store.  A few weeks ago, I stumbled across this piece for $40 dollars ~ it was the perfect size measuring six feet long and mostly solid wood, but the finish was all wrong wrong wrong.  First, the top is laminate, and all scratched up.  Ick.  Second, the base was a different shade of honey tone wood that clashed in my eyes.  Usually, I like mid century modern style furniture in a medium stain, but this two-tone finish just wasn’t working for me, so I gave it a makeover to suit my space.

Before:

After:

Slate blue/gray paint + sleek contemporary pulls + geometric pattern on top = perfect!

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Hiya friends, happy Friday!  What are your plans this weekend?  This afternoon I was at my local True Value, picking up some weatherizing strips for a drafty door and some stain to experiment with for my ongoing staircase project.  Ah, the joys of home ownership, there’s always something right?

Well, speaking of improvements in the home, I’d like to spread the word about two contests going on at True Value. 

First, I’m here to encourage all of you fellow DIYers with a disastrous design dilemma to enter the Design SOS Contest for a chance to win $2,500 (for both you and your friend!).  The winner will get all that moola to use at a local True Value store along with an in-person consultation with a True Value “Master of All Things Hardwarian” who will help take that space from drab to completely fab. 

Perhaps you know of a bathroom that’s a blast from the past?

A kitchen leftover from the 1960s?

A dungeon of a dated den ?

Yikes.  Those spaces are in need of help !!

Images via Ugly House Photos

Well, friends don’t let friends live with disastrous design !

Entering this contest is super easy.

Simply submit short entry along with a U Tube video or up to 3 photos of a friend’s decorating disaster.  Don’t forget, you can nominate your own home  in this contest too!  Submit your story by October 7th, and America will vote for the winner from the Top Ten Finalists.  If you’re chosen as a finalist, I will surely help spread the word to get people to vote for you!

Click over to StartRightStartHere for the details of this contest.  You can also go right to the simple entry form here.

Second, here’s another promotion going on: the True Value Mobile Sweepstakes.  You can win one of four $500 Grand Prizes to spend at True Value for signing up with True Value’s text message program.  There are also eight weekly drawings for a $50 gift card.   All you need to do to enter is text SWEEPS to 30364 before October 31st.  Once you’ve signed up, you will receive a few messages a month via text notifying you of special deals and sales at your local True Value.

Meanwhile, True Value has graciously offered two Centsational Girl readers a $50 dollar gift card in this weekend’s giveaway.   That’s right peeps!  Two winners will receive a $50 dollar gift card to spend at your local True Value store.

Yippeeeeee ! I bet YOU are in need of a little home improvement at your humble abode.  Could you use a fresh gallon of paint?  Some electrical supplies or garden gear?  Perhaps a new power tool?  $50 buckaroos could surely help!

Eligibility to win one of two $50 dollar gift cards to True Value Hardware

1)  Simply leave a comment answering this question: "What improvement would you make to your home with a $50 gift card to True Value?"

2) For a second chance to win, either link to this giveaway on Facebook, or spread the word on Twitter with a link, then leave a second comment telling where you linked (FB or Twitter).

Two winners chosen at random. Giveaway ends Monday October 4, 2010 at 8 p.m. PST.  US Residents only this time.

Good luck friends, have a great weekend, and happy home improvement!

.

I was tra la la-ing my way through my local Habitat for Humanity ReStore a few weeks back, admiring all the great salvage and scheming of ways to put some of it to good use.  I was there because I had spotted a few cool cabinets on Diggers List and wanted to investigate further. 

As I chatted it up with one of the managers, I couldn’t help but notice the sign just behind him. 

Do you love the exclamation point for added emphasis?  Like rejected brass light fixtures are something to get excited about?  Well actually, I kinda do get excited about them.  A lot. 

I actually like antique  brass fixtures, just not these super shiny leftovers from the early 90s.  So with a fixture like this, one that just happens to have a completely fantastic shape, I see no reason why it shouldn’t be spray painted.  White.  Pronto! 

Hello gorgeous.  Don’t you just fit right in ? 

Aaaaaand, she was free.  Fah-reeee. 

Yep.  Free.

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