Animal Print Art & Chair for the Nursery

I'm working on getting the nursery together and I thought I'd share my progress. We decided to switch things up (and by we, I mean me) and put the guest bedroom downstairs in the playroom. The playroom is in Taliila's old room now, and the nursery is going in the old guest room. You lost yet? I think I win the award for switching rooms the most amount of times in one single house.
Here's the old guest bedroom:

Color-wise it obviously works really well for a boy's room, but in person our paint job was really shabby and needed another coat. Since I no longer had the same paint (darn), I took this opportunity to go with a whole new color scheme. Surprise! I'm always painting, I know. New colors are along the lines of a soft blue, white, and pops of red. It's my husbands favorite color combo so I thought that'd make him happy. 

The crib will go where the bed was, and I found the most fabulously, soft rug at Gabriel Brothers for get this, $65! I'll post pictures of that soon. We'll be using my husband's grandpa's old mid century modern dresser that I originally had for sale at the shop, but so thankful I changed my mind. And I found this chair on a facebook for sale or trade board (that I'm currently obsessed with perusing):

I know this chair is slightly old school with that flame-stitched pattern, but I love it. And how cute is that buffalo print? I knew I'd seen these animal prints on some blog before, but I wasn't sure where so I asked the seller if she minded telling me. It's from theanimalprintshop.com and they're all real photographs of real animals with photo-shopped backgrounds. I love the idea of a little collage with white frames so I ordered a few (the giraffe, elephant, and of course the buffalo that inspired it all in the first place). 

And then I splurged on this Ryan Berkley print for Taliila's room... I thought it'd be the perfect gift for her. We're a little obsessed with the personification of animals in this family :)

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So that's it so far- animal prints, a chair and a rug. I have a little ways to go, but it's coming together nicely. 

Real Estate Monday: Fineview

I've been sick with a stomach bug for like 3 days now... turns out you don't fight things off so well when you're prego. So what do I do? Send my husband off to Kennywood with the 3 yr. old and blog/surf the web. Do people still say, "surf the web?" I'm not so sure.
Anyways, this past week I went exploring the Mexican War Streets to check out an investment condo I've been trying to talk my parents into. They're my toughest clients ;)
As I meandered up Federal street, I happened to find Fineview, yet another unique, little Pittsburgh neighborhood tucked away with a million dollar view. Hence the name Fineview, I guess. It's actually home to one of Pittsburgh's longest set of steps. If you want more info on its history you can click here for a great neighborhood profile. The views are seriously breathtaking.
The house I went looking for is a new build at only a whopping seven years old! It's curb appeal can't be beat, in my opinion. Here's a 3 bed/1.5 bath house for $159,900 with a view that's priceless.

1910 Meadville St, Pittsburgh, PA 15214

I wanted to make sure the neighborhood was decent before I took a client to see this house, and I was pleasantly surprised to see most of the homes were kept up quite nicely. There's a mix of both old and new as well. I especially love the mustard doors against the gray siding. 

 While I don't think the decor maximizes the potential of this space (those windows and high ceilings are amazing!) I still think you get the general idea of what a cute house this is.

I always want to paint those standard oak cabinets. Maybe some new light fixtures, too. Not a huge kitchen, but adequate for sure. 

I think this is the view at the end of the street. Not bad, huh? 

Another reason I like this house is that there's room to put your own stamp on it. The rooms are simple and clean. The bathroom needs a little updating, but with this price tag I think there's room for that. All in all, an adorable house with the comfort of it being a newer build sounds good to me. 

* I am not the listing agent for any of the homes I share on Real Estate Mondays, unless otherwise stated. I do not receive any compensation for these posts. If you'd like more information on any of the homes, I am a licensed Realtor, so please contact me via email or cell and I can schedule a showing for you. 

My Top 5 Used Furniture Stores (East End Pittsburgh)

I still get a lot of calls for my furniture business, which is both awesome and sad for me at the same time. Sad because, well, that's a season of my life that I've seriously cut back on (especially now that I'm prego). There really isn't a huge selection of used furniture stores in Pittsburgh to choose from so I'm going to share my top 5 go to's in the east end of Pittsburgh (sorry it's not a broader region, I live here, so I shop here):

5. Miller's Antique Mall: located in Verona, this place has 4 floors of different vendors. It has its ebbs and flows (like everywhere), but since it's so big, I usually walk away with finding something.

4. Thriftique: Located in Swissvale in conjunction with the National Jewish Women's Council's store Home Consignments. I find the consignment store to be a little too pricey for my taste, but the thrift store works off donations and tends to be a lot more affordable. My biggest score there was a mid century desk made by Hooker furniture.

3. Goodwill Monroeville: They have a pretty big furniture section (believe it or not). Sometimes it gets a little junky, and they don't seem to move out the old to allow for the new, but when something's hot, it's usually cheap and sells fast. I found a mid century modern daybed there not too long ago and it was MINT.

2. Saint Vincent de Paul's: I really like this thrift store, especially the one in Monroeville.

1. Second Fiddle: While this is quite a far drive out to Delmont, it always proves to be my favorite destination shop. This place has fantastic finds at amazing prices. The owner is great, and all the employees are extremely helpful (most of them contribute to the furniture finds themselves).

So there you have my favorites. I'd be curious to know yours, especially ones that are sort of hidden gems.
Also, while not a physical store, ayptoday.com has become another favorite way of both obtaining furniture and unloading furniture. They run local auctions almost weekly now, and often times you can catch a huge steal. 

Real Estate Monday: Oakland

Today we're going mountain lodge style in the middle of the city. Sounds fun, huh? This is such an interesting looking property I dug up when looking at comps for someone selling their home in Oakland. I think it could be spectacular with a little leg work.
3816 Wolf Way, Pittsburgh Pa 15213 4 bed/3 bath for $199k
Doesn't it look straight out of the wild west? So atypical for Pittsburgh. I love the wrap around porch on the second story. Can you imagine filling those window boxes with some gorgeous flowers and just kicking back out there?

 This is a really dark kitchen, but I'm sure you could do a lot to keep in the style of the house, yet brighten it a bit with some new countertops and appliances. Maybe some beautiful, Tuscon-patterned granite? Some modern art piece on the brick wall. I love mixes of rustic and modern.

That fireplace is awesome. I want to see a huge driftwood chandelier cascading down over it. 

 I kind of like the paneling on the ceilings, but I think I'd go with a fresh white coat of paint on the walls...brighten it up a bit, but still give it that cottage charm.

How about some inspiration photos of what it could look like, so you don't think I'm crazy?!

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I realize it'd take a lot of work to get it to this point, but I think it's totally doable without breaking the bank...just lots of painting skills. :)


* I am not the listing agent for any of the homes I share on Real Estate Mondays, unless otherwise stated. I do not receive any compensation for these posts. If you'd like more information on any of the homes, please contact me via email or cell and I can always schedule a showing for you :)