We've been living a frugal existence this year. Having said that, I've prided myself on the few great buys I've made.
Today, for instance, I picked up these cracker metal chairs from the lovely Katherine at the oldboathouse.
The second I saw them on instagram, I knew I had to have them. They're sturdy, robust and easily cleaned. They replace my grandmother's teak and wool dining chairs. The seats were moth-eaten and covered in all-sorts of you-don't-want-to-know.
For Mothers' Day I had the choice of perfume or a chest of drawers. My search for a signature fragrance has borne fruit, however a bottle of par fume doesn't hold a range of clothing which has spent the last two years in a pile on the floor. So I chose the chest of drawers.
Here are some more bargains we've picked up recently. I'm only showing you because I'm quite surprised at, what I see, is a recent change the buying trends of major chain stores. It's as if every store's suddenly hired buyers with an ounce of taste.
Lama Shirt. $5. Cotton On Kids. Who doesn't love neon and a lama? In a scarf?
Laundry baskets. $10. Bunnings Warehouse. Perfect for splitting kids' clothes from parents' clothes. Au pair washes the kids' clothes. I wash the parents' clothes.
Teens' cardigan from Target. I forget the price. Big enough to fit me, cheap enough to be deemed as kids' clothing.
Good ol' Converse. $40 from the Converse outlet store. Love a quality bargain.
Those chairs = perfect.. the colour, the style.
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Thanks Zara. Thanks for being a new reader too!
DeleteNice chairs (although the boyo looks like he might like a cushion!), nice chest (much nicer than perfume), nice clothes (I've always quite liked Cotton On Kid stuff - mine of course are too big to wear it). I need a new pair of Cons - I'm sneaking Annabel's at the mo - when she's not looking. So what's your signature fragrance?
ReplyDeleteThe boy was sulking. The chairs are very comfy as they're moulded. You need some Converse of your own, lady. Signature perfume? I think it's called Miss Dior Cherie. I have a hard time understanding the Christian Dior ladies in David Jones, and they're sick of me asking them questions. Regardless, it's with gay abandon that I make use of their sample bottle.
DeleteLike the chairs but worried that as you all live in the tropics (!) and have bare legs most of the time you will get mesh marks on the backs of your thighs, won't you?
ReplyDeleteBut love what I can see of that chest of drawers. The handle detail gave me a sudden sense of deja vu. By chance, only yesterday I was looking at several sideboards of a similar mid-century design by Ercol and G-Plan in a back street shop in a town I rarely visit. Then I spied a divine Ercol book trolley from 1956 (as illustrated in an old catalogue I found online later). It's made of golden waxed English elm. Although I'm also on a tight budget I was able to buy it because just moments before I was contacted out of the blue by someone I used to help out with admin for pin money to see if I could help out for a couple of days next week. Hurrah! Serendipity. Cx
Ms E-M, you obviously know your chairs vs weather conditions. YOu're right. We may end-up with pock-marked thighs. At the moment, they are a bit chilly due to the cold weather. But them's the breaks.
DeleteErcol and G-Plan are fabulous. I do admire an Ercol sofa. I hope you're going to reveal your book trolley as now I need to see it! Good news on the casual work front.
Everything's grand! Around here in NA, MCM is definitely making a comeback.
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Wait a minute! Mothers Day???? What the heck is that? I was pondering this post whilst in the shower and it hit me. I had to share Mothers Day with the Venerable Mr LC as it was his birthday as well. It's only happened a couple of times in our thirty year reign and it has never been pretty IMHO.
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Deb - long time no see! Do we think Blogger is a busted flush these days? I am more on Facebook with friends. I'm thinking of keeping my blog for business activities only.Cx
DeleteDeb,
Deletethat's not kosher that you have to share a celebratory day with another celebratory day. You need to demand a Mothers' Day raincheck.
Ms E-M, I miss Debbish on blogger as well. She was one blog that made me laugh. I think a lot of people don't blog any more. Seems there are many who now favour instagram. I do. It's quick and easy. I wish you two were on instragram. I don't like Facebook I must admit. I thinks there's an element of evil to it!
Ms Elegance, Friend me on Facebook. I would blog but I'm tired of the constant picture taking et al. Also, Mr LC is not doing any funny stuff lately.
DeleteAt least we can convo here at MMMCM's place.
I love the chairs with the table. The seats of our teak chairs are falling apart and I'm thinking of replacing them. I like the splash of bright color. The dresser is beautiful! Cotton is my go to fabric. It's difficult to find nice quality cotton clothes for adults...why?
ReplyDeleteI agree with your position on cotton. I much prefer natural fabrics. Synthetic fabrics, even synthetic mixes, don't wash well with me (there could be a pun there).
DeleteAustralia seems to be flush with cheap, fairly decent clothing though. The downside to that, however, is that masses of under-paid workers are making them in sweat-shop conditions in Asia.
Definitely get the teak chairs upholstered. That's my ultimate plan as well. There's no use while everyone's little and spilling juice and sauce though.
I'm relieved that the chairs will be ultimately reupholstered.
ReplyDeleteThose metal ones will always come in handy.
You can never have too many chairs, I say.
The chairs are too good to get rid of. They need to be completely re-glued at the joins, and I'd love to uphoslter them in black leather. The metal ones are good for this stage of everyone's life.
DeleteLove the chairs and the chest! And Converse will never go out of style. A pair of bellbottoms, a pair of Converse sneakers and a Mickey Mouse tee shirt were a go-to outfit for me in my hippie days. :)
ReplyDeleteThe chairs are fabulous. They remind me of the CB2 miniature red metal chairs, which are very MCM, and cool. I have a similar problem here, my mother's art classes, combined with unnamed family members spilling things, plus cats doing cat things, have pretty much destroyed my dining chairs. Since this my third set in six years, I would love to move to metal, if I could find any as nice as those.
ReplyDeleteBTW, I agree with you about Facebook. Whenever I log on, I have an eerie feeling that I am being watched. Then I find emails that "welcome back to Facebook." That never happens in the blogosphere.
I love your dresser, gorgeous, as are your children!
Cheers, Neen
Great chairs- lairy reupholstered her teak oldies in charcoal leather and they looked pretty schmick.
ReplyDeleteCool shoes- a pair of red Cons is almost like the little black dress these days. I'm sure we are lapping each other at DFO. I'm getting the boys stuff I really like this year as they will grow out of it in six months and all three are my size!
I miss Deb too. Maybe all the bloggers just went back to work like us. I need to get on Instagram but haven't got time to figure it out.
Facebook has my mum and her friends and my kids and their friends. Too crowded for me!