This is a good idea of what our room looked like.
Of course, it is usually not this messy. I took these right after kids left for school.
Given we planned to muck out the room and do some rearranging, I saw no point in making the bed or picking up.
Of course, a good breakfast is always a plus before going on the hunt. I just love Whataburger! I like breakfast but hubs, not so much. So he can get a burger and I can get breakfast. Perfect!
We found nothing in town. The Goodwill and resale shops sale things like chest of drawers almost as soon as they get them. There are couple antique malls here but hubs and I decided not to check them out on this day. Mostly because he didn't like them when he shopped there before.
This had us going to nearby Cleburne. They have all kinds of shops. The first place we stopped at had one chest of drawers and it wasn't exactly antique. At the second antique mall, I found two potential chest of drawers. Hubs, was not enamored of them. Something about too 40's ish. I think that's why I liked them.
So, on we went. First to the Goodwill there. Which again had nada. Then to a new/used furniture store. Which also had nothing and were very proud of what they did have.
Hubs then decided we'd also look for storage cabinet or something of the sort for his massive coin stock. Off we went to a place he knew of. Sadly, they didn't have what he was looking for. We did however meet a rather unusual occupant of the business.
Apparently, he/she is sort of a pet. It uses a kitty litter box. Repeat customers bring he/she food. I think the workers are even able to pet it. I know they hand feed it. We were told he/she appeared at sometime in the summer. Since we are in extreme drought conditions it makes sense he/she would seek out shelter. It was just a baby raccoon when the business noticed it was hanging around. He/she keeps the same hours as the business.
We then headed to Benbrook. The antique mall there was really nice. Hub did get a little irritated of my several too many Oooo Shiny Moments. But, in the end we found just what we were looking for. Two potential chest of drawers. One eve had matching vanity. We were leaning towards that set so we could be rid of the rickety shelf that called itself our desk.
The price was putting us off. Especially since we were on limited budget. The mall owner contacted the seller and she brought the price from $370 + tax to $300 and she'd use her own tax id so we didn't have to worry bout the tax. We had told the sales lady of our recent experience of being robbed and that they of course had no care for the furniture they were so mad to go through. Thus why we were looking for replacements. We'd have brought ours when we moved but didn't think it'd fit.
An unexpected blessing, she was willing to not only help us out but work with us. We briefly considered taking the chest of drawers and putting the vanity in lay away. Decided if we truly wanted to organize the room we needed to take both pieces home. Okay, so I talked him round to it. (He said just that to me when he decided to agree with me.)
Isn't it lovely! It's quirky beautiful! Big bonus that hubs loved it, too!
I wasn't fast enough to snap pic of the chest of drawers.
We aren't quite done getting our room all organized but it's coming together quite nicely.
I wasn't brave enough to take a pic of the closet before. It was filled w/all kinds of MILs and maybe BILs storage stuff. It looked like a closet ready to burst. I have no idea how we got anything in or out before.
Again, not yet picked up from the morning rush.
The chest of drawers! Finally, we can find clothes easily w/o digging through laundry baskets!
Our room is finally starting to feel like a room. Who knows how much longer we'll be here. It's just nice to have a room and not a storage closet.
Plus, since Sean sleeps on a pallet in our room, this arrangement gives him more space on the floor that before. He had been laying between the rickety shelf/desk and our bed. No bueno. He's much happier now that he can stretch out a bit. Me, too. I no longer have to pick up items he knocks off in middle of the night. Nor do I worry that shelf/desk will fall on him.
Hopefully, I can share the 100% finished pics soon. This at least gives y'all an idea of how it is now.
As I was cleaning the chest of drawers and the vanity/desk I realized something. These two items are the first ever chest of drawers and vanity/desk we've ever bought. Most all of our furniture had been given to us by MIL. The only exception was the sofa and matching chair we bought when we moved in together. There was once that make do desk from Wal Mart, but I don't count that as a major furniture purchase. That will forever make this set very special to me. Some day it will have a home in one of the kids rooms or a guest room.
We had so much fun spending the day together on this adventure, I hope to be blessed enough to do so when we do finally have a place of our own again. Was definitely more time consuming and more adventuresome that going to a major furniture store. It was also infinitely more rewarding.
(P.S. While mucking out the room no music was on. Just the sounds of kids totally taking advantage of distracted parents and running amok. In case you were wondering.)
