Treasure Box Wednesday: Ya Gotta Start Somewhere

Given the only item I thrifted this last week, and why, I figured you all might enjoy seeing the Before, and then getting a glimpse of the Future. Cryptic, I know. But it'll all make sense shortly, trust me!

Here's the little hall table I found at St. Vincent de Paul thrift store...

I'd seen it two days before I bought it, and hadn't been thinking outside the box enough to realize that it would be perfect as a printer stand.

So I went back to the store with hope in my heart. Would it still be there, waiting?

But when I roamed around the furniture section of the store, I thought my fears were justified. My little table was nowhere to be seen. And then...

Over by the clothing, as a part of an elaborate Christmas display, there it was. And it still had a price tag!

I told the nice lady at the cash register I was interested in buying it, and that's when she said the words that thrill the bargain-hunter's heart:

"You know, this table's been here for a week now. Let's see if we can get you some money off of it."

A week didn't seem like a long time to me. But in thrifting terms it must translate into Dog Years. Anyway, the table came home with me. And after some hefting efforts that left bruises on my bruises, it, my desk chair and my computer desk all moved to the unfinished third floor of my house.

The area has only been used for storage these last years-- by me and by all the people who previously owned my house. There are two dirty but usable rooms, with aged wallpaper, ancient painted pine floors, and blinds that seem to have seen the Great Depression.

I'm going to work in the one room, while I finish the first one. Eventually, I'll have book storage...

The stained and yellowed wallpaper will go and be replaced by something subtle and off-white, to help brighten the rooms. The nifty old light switches, however, will stay...

The dirty, holey roller-blinds will be replaced with fresh curtains... maybe sheers...

And the pine floors and molding, which were painted a dark brown, will get a few coats of something light and bright, too. Maybe a cream floor and a pale colored (aqua or green?) trim.

You can see what I'm up against here, though. A patterned layer of wallpaper shines through from under the yellowed, more plain paper...

And here's part of the room that's already been relieved of its wallpaper. The walls need to be washed down again and then the cracks, plastered.
I was taking a look at potential wallpaper patterns and having small heart attacks over the cost per roll. $40? Seriously?! I need to do some more digging, because ya shouldn't have to mortgage the house in order to paper it!

Yep-- ya gotta start somewhere. And so, post-Christmas, the new project begins! I'll keep you folks up-to-date on any improvements.

• If you missed Sunday's post on the last of the Christmas decorating, click here.

Otherwise, I'll see you perhaps this coming Sunday for some new fun.