Let’s Snoop in My Sister’s House
by Katy on July 28, 2024 · 29 comments
I’m still visiting with my sister in New York City and we’re spending our time in the house that she bought in 2023. You may not aware of this, but my sister is a groovy and creative artist and her homes have always been a outlet for her personal style.
The previous owners of her house did not share her aesthetic. However, it’s all perfectly functional and like me, my sister forgot to be a trust fund baby.
Take her lampshade as an example. This antique floor lamp was a hand-me-down from a friend who moved to Germany and the standard lampshade was garbage picked. My crafty sister crocheted around it using yarn she already owned and then beaded the trim to create a unique and one of a kind shade.
This is my sister’s dining room light fixture and while it’s perfectly functional, it doesn’t match her style whatsoever. However, it’s functional and can work as a place holder until some random New Yorker sets an amazing vintage chandelier out on their front stoop.
It’s a “place holder” and place holders play an important role in frugality as they allow time to patiently source a second hand (and hopefully free) replacement. That process can take years, but since there’s no deadline, there’s no hurry.
My sister’s elaborate window treatments are another example of something in her home that are currently serving as a place holder. They came with the house and there’s nothing technically wrong with them, but they’re just not her style. Her plan is to sew less formal curtains, but she hasn’t had a chance to prioritize the project. Until then they’ll do.
These kitchen curtains are a better example of her personal style. She made them from a vintage tablecloth and even crocheted the cute trim onto the hem. Think HGTV Handmade Home instead of a ten-year-old Southern Living magazine.
Please note the lampshade, which she made using fabric from a garbage picked vintage flat sheet. Again, yes, my sister is both creative and groovy.
One of the key tenets of frugality is the art of patience. (Purchase in haste, repent in leisure?) This is because you rarely find a bargain when impulse shopping, plus it’s a more complicated process when your budget is “garbage picked” and your style is unique. I’m sure she’ll figure out cooler lighting and window treatments, but until then, she can “make it do.”
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
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{ 29 comments… read them below or add one }
She could spray paint the chandelier, replace the shades, and add drops–colored glass, maybe.
A can of spray paint is a wondrous thing!!
My sister says “Keep the suggestions coming!” and also “thank you!”
I think your sister could have a side hustle crocheting lamp shades!
She really could!
My recent design on a dime was a box of home decor I bought for $20 on Facebook marketplace.
Three items I used on the ledge of the garden tub
One decorative tray is on the dining room table
Another decorative tray is on top of living room coffee table
A few of the items didn’t work so they were donated
Since I broke the pedestal fruit bowl, I pulled out a ceramic bowl to use
It is all a matter of taste: I love the curtains your sister is longing to replace. They remind me of my much missed and adored grandmother, so I would trade her something for them in a heartbeat. I do admire the crocheted lamp shade though. I am totally lacking in that sort of talent and believe me I have spent a lot of money on yarns just trying to develop that talent; bravo to her.
A friend of mine crocheted this shade. I like it. Not a fan of the other one.
https://thefrillseeker.com/2020/11/21/finished-crocheted-lampshade-skirt/
Thanks, I’ll pass that along. 😉
I like the term “place holder”. Much of my house is furnished this way.
Though as a former colleague pointed out, after two weeks things become invisible. The not-put-away items, the broken bits that are leaning together, the almost-good-enough upholstered chair: I need to make conscious efforts to look at my home sometimes and see what is useful, colorful, depressing, useless, inconvenient, no longer necessary, helpful, amusing, cheerful (like the kitchen curtains above), etc.
I also would paint and reglass that light fixture. It has nice lines and just needs a but of customizing. I have that same shade of nicotine & cat pee glass on our den fixture and cannot wait to replace it. The gods of thrift and the ReStore just have not blessed us yet.
Ruby, I just snorted root beer into my laptop at your “nicotine & cat pee glass” description!
So happy to provide virtual keyboard watering! 😀
Buy plain glass ones (cheap) and paint them with glass paint.
“Nicotine and cat pee” is so spot on, I almost like the shades more now! Seriously though, thanks for the ideas.
Thanks to Katy for snooping at her sister’s for the benefit of us all, and to Katy’s sister for giving permission for it.
And I envy all of you who have such good relationships with their bio-sisters. I have two, and I’m not close to either of them, for different reasons. (I won’t go into details, even though I could if I wanted to. Sister #1 is only vaguely aware of what a blog is, and Sister #2 wouldn’t read a frugality blog if her life depended on it.)
Also envious of those with good relationships with sisters!
I’ll share my sister with you. <3
Another envious of healthy-sister-relationships person here. Like A. Marie, I won’t get into details. Suffice it to say I just can’t buy into the drama.
Thanks for sharing. It seems your sister has already put her stamp on her house in the past year. You are right that playing the long game is the way to go.
I am shocked at the amount of work people do on the modest houses in our neighborhood after they purchase them and before they move in. Most of them are rather up to date anyway, not at all like they were when they were built in the late 1950s. I don’t know where the money is coming from as the houses are expensive and oftentimes a lot of work is contracted out.
I was shocked when I read a frugal tip somewhere that when needing a new-to-you toilet, contact local plumbers for a used one. Seems many people put in brand new toilets when they buy a new house, considering old ones somehow dirty, and paying plumbers to do the replacement.
Guess they don’t use public restrooms, either?
I’ve heard this before also. It makes me laugh, by that logic do they also replace the plumbing pipes that carry all that waste out of the house?
I would seriously consider replacing a toilet if it was too low to the ground. My aging body needs a higher “assist.”
Casey, I agree with you there! Tall toilets are worth the price.
I did garbage pick a new looking toilet seat once!
https://thenonconsumeradvocate.com/whats-the-cheapest-thing-youve-ever-done/
The houses in my father’s neighborhood are constantly being remodeled and these are perfectly fine million dollar houses!
Three years ago I moved from a “too big for an old lady” rural property to a perfectly-sized 1950 house in town. I love the mostly original pink-tiled bathroom, but the Y2K kitchen redo is cheap and hideous; I will rip it out as soon as I am able. In the meanwhile paint and curb shopping are my tools.
I love a cute “Mamie Eisenhower” pink bathroom!
I love her dining room light fixture. Ours is considerably more awful.