Lamp Revamp

From funky to spunky.....

Ok. I know this isn't exactly a knock-your-socks-off kind of thrifty makeover, buuuuut, it does show that you don't need to spend a lot of money on "new" items for your home. And since I've newly discovered all the wonderful blogs chockful of thrifty makeovers, I couldn't wait to do my own. Plus, I've been needing to get a new lamp for my living room for years. The one I was using had a way too skinny pole-like base that just did NOT go with all of my chunky furniture. Then I discovered that I can buy any old chunky lamp and PAINT IT! Duuuuh!

I was excited to find a plethora of chunky lamps at my local Goodwill and this one was a whopping $3! Woohoo! Score!

Ok, now let's get down to business. It's time to prime....

Ooh, la, la! Nothing like a little black dress to feel fabulous.....

And here she is. Ain't she purdy? You may be asking yourself why I chose to distress her, or maybe you're not but I'm going to tell you anyway. Do you see that little black side table she's sitting on? Well, that was actually my husband's nightstand when he was a little boy and his mom painted it herself. Well, over the

many

years, it became a little naturally distressed and I decided to leave it like that. So that's why I chose not to leave this lamp so "perfect" looking. Just FYI. Also, that lamp shade came on a lamp (the one I was using before) that we "inherited" from my husband's nana. I decided to put it on the "new" lamp.

Socks! Ya Gotta Keep 'em Separated!

One of my least favorite parts about doing laundry, and I have many, is separating every one's white socks. But then one day, I had an epiphany! My idea was to purchase a small, mesh "lingerie" bag for each member of our household. The kids each have a hook to hang their mesh bags in their closet just for their dirty white socks since those always get washed separately from the clothes, but since they also get washed with everyone ELSE'S white socks, the kids just throw them into their zippered mesh bags and in the washer they go! 

They stay this way through the dryer as well, and every one's socks stay nice and separated! I leave it up to the kids whether they want to match up their socks or just dump the whole bag into their sock drawer. This has been a real time-saver for me, and I no longer dread "The Big Sock Load." It's been especially nice since my teenage son's socks look the same as my husband's socks now. You can get one of these mesh bags in the laundry section at Wal-mart for just a few dollars. They're worth every penny!

*bonus tip: This also works for adding colored socks to your loads of dark clothes. Socks stay separate, thus making it easier to put them away. And guess what else? No more socks disappearing into the blackhole of the washer and dryer! Yay! ; )


My teenage son has switched from all white socks to all black socks, so his sock bag gets thrown in with other darks. It makes it much easier to find them since they don't get lost in the clothes! 

Hanging wet swimsuits

There's a huge pet peeve of mine, and that's walking into one of my kids' rooms and seeing a crumpled up, WET swimsuit on the floor, or in the hamper to sit for a week to turn into a mildew mess!! And even if they are considerate enough to hang them over the shower, it never fails that eventually when one of them uses the shower and swings the curtain open, those swimsuits will fall and end up on the floor, not to be picked up again until they need it. Ew.

To make things easier, I added 2 suction cup hooks, (1 for each child,) on the inside of the shower wall, opposite of the faucet. They can hang there to dry, even if the shower is used in the meantime. When it's time to swim, or wash the suits, they always know where to find them, and our floors and hampers are saved.