The staff at Painters Place are all fans and have had the pleasure of meeting Cityline designer Leigh-Ann Allaire Perrault. She calls herself the Frugalista and we are ga-ga over this set she did for a recent show.
It’s one thing to stumble upon a great sale item at your favourite retail store, but it’s a completely different story when you have a hit list of shopping hot spots in your back pocket where you are guaranteed to find one heck of a sweet bargooooon!
When I was asked to participate on the October 18th Décor Panel: “Getting The Most Bang For Your Buck”, I immediately went into Frugalista warrior mode! I took the show on as a personal challenge to see just how fabulously thrifty I could be….
So, if you PROMISE not to tell anyone, I will share my list of fave “Frugalista” shopping destinations and break down where I found each item for my glamour dressing room set...all for under $1000 (and that includes labour and materials!)
First up….the lovely blush dresser!
This item nearly broke the bank ;-) It came from a store with no name or fixed address, also known as THE GARBAGE!
Bless my dear Mom who spotted it on the side of the road and immediately called me with the exact coordinates so I could check it out. She explained that it looked to be in great shape, but it could use a fresh coat of paint (my specialty). I hopped in the car and pulled up a mere 10 minutes later to discover my Mom standing guard so that no one else could grab it before I got there. I proceeded to load in into the back of my car (while trying to be as discreet as possible), but I hadn’t realized that I had been spotted! The owner came dashing out of the house, and recognized me as “that girl with the paint chips on TV”…Tee Hee. She was thrilled to hear that I was planning to give the dresser a face lift and explained that she herself had found it in the garbage and always thought it had great potential.
I unloaded my new fabulous find into my garage and got to work! A quick sand and a coat of Fresh Start primer…then I loaded her back into the car for a trip to my friends at Paint It Like New! Sure, I could have painted the piece myself, but there is nothing like a gorgeous high gloss sprayed finish in my opinion, and for only a few hundred dollars, my once forgotten dresser now looked like a million bucks!
(Benjamin Moore Advance paint was used in High Gloss, “Glamour Pink” 2006-40)
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