It's the Little Things that Make a Big Difference- [Thrifty Finds]- New Sink(s)!

The Plumber finally came and changed out our bathroom sink and our kitchen faucet!

We originally purchased a Peerless faucet from Goodwill, brand new never used for $7.00. Our Plumber insulted it at first because he heard how much we spent, then he saw it and was like, "WOW, this is a really good brand, this is normally really expensive!" We had this rusty circle thing on the kitchen sink that he said he'd put a sprayer in place of it. Well, the faucet we bought wasn't equiped to handle a sprayer, so he drilled a hole in it and ruined it. So he ran to the hardware store and picked up a cheap replacement-  cheaper brand than the Peerless. *sad face* The faucet neck is not as tall as what we had chosen, but whatever.

Here's the Kitchen:

"after" faucet with sprayer:

Here's the Bathroom below:

Here you'll see a few transformations that I'll blog about in time.

This is the nasty "before" with the ugly rotting pink sink with nasty hardware on the sink.

getting better, still stuck with the pink sink. I changed out the hardware and put these funky placemats in the grate- this is an AWFUL picture of the placemats but we're just focusing on the sink for a moment, LOL

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AND FINALLY! much better, just need to clean up the Plumbers ugly dingy colored caulking and get my green toothbrush out of the picture. Ewww, I just saw that my bar of soap is stained up cause the Plumber used it! LOL at him, cause he doesn't know what I use that bar of soap for!!

My boyfriend and I bought the faucet from Goodwill- never used, still in it's box, for $13.00! It has the words "hot" and "cold" on each handle.

Man I should have staged the set rather than quickly snapping a picture after he left. Normally my soap dispenser is faced out and toothbrushes and lotion are put away. 

It's the Little Things that Make a Big Difference- Thrifty Finds- Ceiling Fan!

In trying to keep with the color scheme of the kitchen and eliminate as much ugly wood as possible, I found a larger ceiling fan for $13.00 NEVER USED still in it's box at Goodwill. The pull chains will be painted and any of the GOLD screws to black, LOL, but it's still 100% better looking!

                                                                   Old fan:

New Fan below:

                           

PS The curtain and the curtain rod are changed out as well- it's so much brighter in the kitchen!
PPS We also need to find better energy efficient bulbs as the globe can not fit over it *sad face*

It's the Little Things That Make a Big Difference- [Thrifty Finds]: Salt & Pepper Shakers:

I never thought to change out my salt and pepper shakers, they did the job, they fit into the decor, and they rarely got used. But we took a trip to Goodwill, and he tracked me down in one of the isles and said, "What do you think of these?" Well, they were a little weird looking to me at first, but they we .99 a piece and black, white and gray. I thought, "Suuuure, I can work with them".
Took them home, cleaned them out (just incase), and they look beautiful! Great find! (I'll post a better picture of it later this week).
After: (feel free to click on the pictures to enlarge them)

Before (below):

**SIDENOTE: The sign fits PERFECTLY in my home in more ways than one! Of course it is black and white (well creamy) and the flowers on it fit into what I am trying to achieve, and the saying "May all your weeds be wildflowers" reminds me of an old friend who decided to rid people of her lives then titled her blog, "Picked all my weeds and kept the flowers" and wrote about how insensitive she was. Weeds are beautiful, and when ignored can be even more beautiful when you let them run free. That was .99 cents from Goodwill... well spent!

It's the Little Things that Make a Big Difference- Longer/ Higher Curtains:

I've learned that you should hang your curtains higher to make your room appear taller. And let's face it, this tiny trailer needs all the help it can get.
Sadly I don't have a "before" picture of the short curtains attached right above the window sill, but I do have a picture of how silly they look with the rod placed at the more appropriate level.
[Nevermind the blank walls as they are a work in progress].

AFTER: These are actually 4 long scarves with the bandana "do-rag" type pattern, They are from Goodwill, brand new - Target rejects. Goodwill gets a lot of the Target merchandise that doesn't sell. These were $2.00 a piece, and I put them on curtain clips from Ikea. I love how flowy they are, they let the light in and it's a lot more clean and crisp looking. I do want to get more- hopefully there are still some left. I got this idea from someone I was following who made "Bohemian" style curtains with fabric that she cut into strips and then knotted around the rod. I thought it was so simple, so bold, unique and very pretty. If you ever see her blog- please feel free to tell me who she was so I can give credit where credit is due.

BEFORE: Yuck! WalMart Curtains.

It's The Little Things that Make a Big Difference- Coat Hanger:

Entry way... well sort of. This is our front door area, but we don't use the front door, so we use it for storage and a catch all.

My boyfriend has a habit of taking off his sweatshirts and putting them EVERYWHERE but on a coat hanger, and even still, we only had 2 coat hangers. I was on a mission to break him of that, and that I did.... well sort of (he's working on it).

I purchased a dual level, sturdy coat hanger from Marshalls on clearance for $4.00!
After:

The LAUGHABLE Before (below)!

It's the Little Things that Make a Big Difference- Pup's Toy Bin:

My pup is SPOILED, plain and simple. Anytime we go somewhere we always buy him a toy or two. Our cars are packed full of toys, and his toy box was overflowing in the house.
His toy box was originally a small clothes hamper. He loves beating up toys that are bigger than him, so we decided to upgrade him.

(If you notice, I've been putting the "after" pictures first, because of how Blogspot displays the first picture as the main picture, and let's face it, it's NOT cute!)

Final Result:
I purchased 2 toile bins on clearance at TJ Maxx for $10.00 each.

The First BEFORE:
Laundry basket below- PS That is a plastic turtle in the background not a "present" left behind for me!

Second BEFORE:
Then I purchased (below) the brown basket with cloth lining for $18.00 at WalMart, it was of poor quality, located in the Arts and Crafts section. It didn't hold his toys much at all:

Then I saw these!!! Thank you TJ Maxx!
AFTER:

It's the Little Things that Make a Big Difference- Office Chair:

sneak peak at the "office":
A few weeks ago we took a trip to Ikea and found this beauty in the "As Is" section because it was a floor model. There was the tiniest scratch on the arm, but you can't even tell.

After: Much more inviting, as it is pretty much the first thing people see as they walk through the door.

Before: YUCK! My before is a hand-me-down chair, I think because the one we had broke several years ago. I'm embarassed to even show this picture. It came from a place where dirt was EVERYWHERE, and ewww I guess I never scrubbed it down. Plus this chair weighed like a zillion pounds!

It's the Little Things That Make a Big Difference- Mouse Pad:

My "office" is in my kitchen, so I've incorporated the black, white, gray and yellow theme for the computer area.

It looks so much more sleek, clean, organized and mature. I will have a full blog about the office soon (sadly I don't have a before picture of the file cabinet or the desk).

Here's the old mousepad: (it's a deep red, NOT pink like the camera flash makes it appear like)!

Here's the new mouse pad. This was at Dollar Tree for $1.00! It is a picture frame/ 2010 calendar/ mouse pad!! When I saw it was black and white, I just HAD to have it!

AHHHH, so much better!
Truth be told: My boyfriend HATES it, he removes it and uses the red one because of the squishy wrist rester and he says the red one doesn't slide all over the place like the black and white one [boo hoo]. So, I will be COVERING the mousepad or spray painting it for him, LOL!