Guest Post: Melissa from Shabby Love

Today we have Melissa with Shabby Love sharing some of her awesome projects.

Hi everyone! I'm Melissa from Shabby Love. It's so great being here with you today! Thank you Monica and Elaine for this amazing opportunity!! Today I'll be sharing with you my top 3 most popular projects. 

The first is my craft room. I set up a crafting space in our spare bedroom using furniture I already had and added some fun rustic/industrial touches to dress up the space like this vintage crib mattress spring inspiration board. 

My next top project are my homemade shutters. After searching for months at antique and thrift stores with no luck for shutters, I decided to make my own. My husband cut down a louvered bi-fold door for me. I painted them and used vaseline to make them ultra shabby!

My third most popular project was my nature inspired Christmas wreath that I made out of branches cut into small slices and glued to a styrofoam wreath form.

I hope you'll visit these top 3 posts to check out the details and tutorials!! Thanks again for having me here today! Come by and see me anytime at Shabby Love to see what I've been up to.


Thank you for coming to visit Melissa.  We have enjoyed your top 3 post.  Don't forget to visit her.


xo,


mONICa

Weekend Features #2

Here is some of the awesomeness I've found around blogland this week.  

Shelly @ Shizzle Design turned a chest into this beauty.

Feral Turtle built this beautiful and functional piece for wine storage.

Megan @ Polish The Stars created this great Superman closet door for her little boy.

and Julia @ 551East Design turned a dresser into something that is classic and high-end.

If you've been featured don't forget to grab a " I've been featured" button from my sidebar.

xo,

mONICa

Furniture Friday #2

Wow what a crazy week.  First off, he back!!  Yes, that would be my husband who has been working out of state for 5 months.  With that comes some readjusting.  It also feels like moving and reorganizing all over again.  The good news is I managed to sneak in a few projects this week and not for the store.  Yup, for my house!!  Oh my goodness, you guys are going to finally get to see my house.  So here is this weeks Furniture Friday.

A hutch that I did a quick repaint on, 

The hubby wanted a bar in a home office/ dining room and I had this in my garage forever.  Worked out perfectly.

and it's the perfect place to hide my printer.

This dresser was across the street with a free sign on it. Now granted it was a little beat up for resale (missing moldings, notches in the wood, etc.), but was perfect for a little sideboard in our house.

I

I've been in a very teal mood lately, so teal it was.  With the help of some butterfly hardware I got on clearance and some leftover paint from my Moroccan Screen, this project came in at $6.00.

This little side chair was a bargain at $3.00

With some leftover paint from the hutch it has been transformed.

and since I'm in such a leftover mood, I'll share with you this chair that is sitting in my hallway also made of leftovers.

Looks very similar to this bench that is in our shop.

Oh and one last thing.  I am loving the play kitchens out there, but since my boy/girl twins share a room, I'm really not finding room for a big fancy one.  My compromise, I found a small area in their closet where they can have fun and play kitchen. A little extra shelf and viola!!  insta-play-kitchen.

So there you have it for Furniture Friday.  BTW...I'm looking for guest bloggers.  If you are interested please email me at decoratinginsanity@gmail.com.

xo,

mONICa

As you can see we're partying all week long. I probably need to go to link party rehab.  Oh well,  grab a martini and join us....Monica


Sunday
Sisters Of The Wild West: Sister Sunday 


Monday
Between Naps on the Porch: Metamorphosis Monday
Boogieboard Cottage: Masterpiece Monday 
Dittle Dattle: Amaze Me Monday
Keeping It Simple: Motivate Me Monday
Making The World Cuter: Monday
Skip To My Lou: Made By You Monday
Sumos Sweet Stuff: Market Yourself Monday
The DIY Showoff: Project Parade
Thrifty Décor Chick
DIY Home Sweet Home
House in Roses
Pinkapotamus
The Girl Creative
Making the World Cuter
Dittle Dattle
Be Colorful

Tuesday
A Bowl Full of Lemons: One Project At a Time
A Diamond In The Stuff: Time To Shine
Charm Braclet Diva: Charm Bracelet Diva Party
Coastal Charm: Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
Crafty Confessions : Tuesday Confessional
Crayon Freckles: Tiptoe Thru Tuesday
DIY By Design: Swing Into Spring
Domestically Speaking: Power Of Paint Party
Giggles, Glitz, and Glam: Who's Got Glam?
Homemaker on a Dime
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia: Tuesday's Treasures
Not Just A Housewife: Show Me What Ya Got Tuesday
Reasons To Skip The Housework: Tuesday Time Out
Sugar Bee Craft Edition: Take A Look Tuesday
Tip Junkie: Tip Me Tuesday
The Ivy Cottage Blog: Say What? Linky Party
Today's Creative Blog: Get Your Craft On
Your Sassy Sites: Tuesday Trash 2 Treasure
Very Merry Vintage Style: Share The Love

Wednesday
Blue Cricket Design: Show And Tell
Creations by Kara: Look What I Made
Eisy Morgan: Inspired By You Wednesdays
Gingersnaps: Wow Us Wednesday
Handy Man, Crafty Woman: Wicked Awesome Wednesday
Laugh Love & Craft: Share The Wealth Wednesdays
Momma Hen: Whatever Wednesday
My Girlish Whims: Your Whims Wednesday
Night Owl Crafting: Hoo's Got Talent?
Polka Dots on Parade: Wow Me Wednesday
Primitive And Proper
Primp: Primp Your Stuff Wednesday
Restore Interiors: Restore It Wednesday
Savvy Southern Style: Wow Us Wednesdaylu
Sew Much Ado: We Did It Wednesday
Someday Crafts: Categorically Crafting
Sugar and Dots: What I Whipped Up Wednesday
The Trendy Treehouse


Thursday
Beyond The Picket Fence: Under $100 Linky Party
Fabulously Flawed: Super Sweet Thursday Par-tay

Fun to Craft

House of Hepworths

Fun to Craft

Katies Nesting Spot

Momnivores Dillema: Creative Juice Thursdays

The 36th Avenue: Share Awesomness Thursdays
The Shabby Chic Cottage: Transformation Thursday
Somewhat Simple: Strut Your Stuff
Thrifty Decorating: Thrifty Thursday

Friday
2805 Potpourri Fridays
504 Main: Tickeled Pink Fridays
Addicted 2 Decorating: Addicts (not so) anonymous
At the Picket Fence: Inspiration Friday
Chic On A Shoestring Decorating: Flaunt It Friday
Common Ground: Vintage Inspiration Friday
Fingerprints On The Fridge: Feature Yourself Friday
Faith, Trust & A Little Pixie Dust: Fabulous Friday
French Country Cottage: Feathered Nest Friday
Gingersnap Crafts: Fab Friday
Homemaker in Heels
Miss Mustard Seed: Furniture Feature Friday
My Repurposed Life: Catch Me If You Can
My Romantic Home: Show and Tell Friday
Naptime Crafters: Friday Fav's
Redoux Link Party
Remodelaholic: Remodelaholic Friday
Simply Designing: Simply Link Party
Simple Home Life: Simply Creations Friday
Stuff And Nonsense: Fridays Unfolded
The Shabby Nest: Frugal Friday
Southern Lovely Show and Share
Wipperberry
Young & Crafty: Free For All Friday


Saturday
Funky Junk: Saturday Night Special
Sas Interiors: Saturday Spotlight
The DIY Showoff

Welcome to Charlie's House

Last week well taking our lunch break from Antiques Off Fair Oaks we stumbled across the cutest little store.  It had been a while since we took a walk in Old Town Monrovia and we soon realized that many new stores had appeared since our last time there.  Charlie's House was one of them.

This store has an eclectic mix of flea market chic and New York loft.  Her store fixtures are amazing which are a combination of thrift store score and her husbands major craftiness.  There are many new items as well as repurposed items and vintage finds.

I am majorly in love with the black cabinets her husband made (which by the way can be order custom if you ask about them)

and the whole greenhouse looking room, repurposed from old doors and windows.  Super cool!!

Anyhoo, if you find yourself in the vincinity of Old Town Monrovia do not pass Charlie's House.  Kristin the owner is awesome.  

and if you happen to stop by on a Wednesday, don't forget to visit us at Antiques Off Fair Oaks, which is our work day.

xo,

mONICa & eLAINe

Thrifty Fireplace Gears

My score of the week are these two gear-like decorative pieces.  Somehow my living room seems to be evolving into New York Loft meets Mid-Century Hollywood Regency.  So these two pieces fit perfectly into my eclectic theme.  They are metal and I'm thinking possibly meant for the outdoors, but flanking my art on the fireplace mantel seemed to do the trick for me.  I picked these up on clearance for $7.49 each.  The trick for me was that they were cheap, there were two, and they had a hint of a peacock color (more to come).

I was hoping for something a little taller since I have high ceilings, but I love the randomness of gears flanking my fireplace so I think I'll keep them.  

xo,

mONICa

Furniture Friday

Take a look at some of our completed projects this week.  Surprisingly we actually had more, but they were rushed off to the store before I got the opportunity to snap a photo.  Still some great ones.  The Moroccan screen is my favorite.

xo,

mONICa

Participating in these link parties

White Coffee Table

So I'm sure yesterday you noticed that my coffee table was now white, or maybe you didn't but it is.
In case you forgot here is what it looked like before.

I absolutely fell in love with the french provincial lines on this table.

Here it is now.

I decided to go white because I recently picked up a black area rug for the room and thought it could use some pop.

I'm thinking of painting the end tables black.  Any options?

xo,

mONICa

Thrifty Steve Madden Pillows

I've got to show you my post recent score.  I  stumbled across these at Ross the other day and YES!!  They had a clearance sticker.  Ok, I take that back actually only 1 had a clearance sticker and the other one had no sticker at all.  I must say I had to do some serious digging to find the second one, but I was excited when I did almost to the point that the jumped in the air raised it and said, "Whoo hoo".  In order to avoid being jumped by security I held it all in.  Aren't you proud of me?

Anyway, here they are... Silvery and shimmery, and at $3.99 each they are virtually child friendly (ie very affordably replaceable).

As you can see, I've still got a lot of furniture to paint, but at least I have some cheap pillows.

xo,

mONICa

Reclaimed Wood Furniture

I am officially on the hunt for a desk/ dining table, because the desk I have now is not making the cut.  In a perfect world I could afford something custom, like out of reclaimed wood.  Better start saving my pennies because all though well worth it those babies are not cheap (ok they are not expensive, the problem is that I am so cheap).  I must say that they are beautiful.

In scouring the internet for an affordable Monica option, I stumbled across these gorgeous pieces from Arbor Exchange, right here in my own town.

Aren't they just beautiful?  

These guys do everything with 100% reclaimed wood and hand built to perfection. So Arbor Exchange if you are out there, what is the discount for a local furniture fanatic like me?  Just saying.....

xo,

mONICa

Our First Antique Store Sale

Well a little excited today. As many of you know, we just started putting some of our things in a local antique mall.  After all the madness of the holidays people are out shopping again and today we had our first sale.  This gorgeous onyx antique table.

So hopefully this is the first of many, as we are growing our business by expanding the kind of things we sell, but you can still get a custom piece.  If you are in the Los Angeles area we welcome you to come visit our space anytime.

xo,

mONICa & eLAINe