Wednesday, July 6, 2011

A Vintage Warehouse Stool In Need of Some TLC... and a Confession

I was enjoying some free time wandering through Bauer Brother's Architectural Salvage yesterday and found this guy:
This little stool seemed to say to me "hey, I am rustic, chippy, industrial, and a bit vintage- Carla you can take me home and give me the Hammers and High Heels treatment and make me look cute!"

For just $10 I decided I was up for the challenge knowing this stool has the bones to turn into something really stylish.  But it sure is going to take some work!
The chair back had 'warehouse' written on it.  Call me Captain Obvious, but I assume this was used in a warehouse at some point.
I am pumped to get working on this warehouse stool and turn it from trash to a treasure!

And now, I have a confession to make... 
 I don't really have a need for a stool, or even a place to put it in our house, I am just DYING to do some DIY work on something!!!

Why? Because we can't work on anything in our house right now- and it's driving me BONKERS!
Since the upstairs of our house is still a big ol' fat mess with a hole in it and water damage from the tornado, we can't work on anything we want or need to. The only rooms we had planned to do some redo's/ DIY on are all upstairs (like the Master Bedroom redo I really wanted to get started on in May).
Our bedroom is still in 'Before' condition- when I was hoping to be closer to an 'After' 
It has been almost 7 weeks now, or 47 days to be exact- yes I am COUNTING days now.  I apologize if you are sick of hearing me complain about it, but I can't seem to help it at this point in time.  (Insert super sad face).  I am getting less and less optimistic as the days go by.

We have no idea when it will get fixed- and that totally stinks. I used to fill my time thinking up fun home decor and DIY ideas.  Now, the daydreaming has been replaced constant thoughts and worries about so many things related to the tornado damage (and I feel like it just gets worse as time goes by).  Worries like...

-Damages to our house, and if it sitting there still is going to cause more damage (water damage = mold)?
-Our insurance company, are they really trying to help us or save their own money?
-Is my cell phone ringer on and by my side in case insurance or the contractor calls?
 -Could Rocco and Sadie run away when they are outside because our fence is still broken?
-Will my house still have a hole in it when winter starts?
- How much more money out of pocket is this going to cost?
-Whenever a storm rolls through, will our tarp covering our house fly away?
 -Will Alex and I have to fix or repaint things ourselves?
-Our garage has no tarp, is that going to grow mold and deteriorate?
-Will they find more damage once the house starts getting fixed?
-Are all of my coworkers annoyed with me because all I talk about is the house damage?
-Will our house look/ feel the same once it is fixed?
-Are our neighbors having these problems too?  Are they feeling as worried as I am?

A bummer for Alex and I, anytime he asks me what I am thinking about I rattle off a question about our house, insurance, or the contractor.  It has made for very boring and depressing conversations for 47 days now.

Alright, so there was my confession.  Maybe putting all my worries out there will help me stop thinking about it so much.  And hey, maybe after spilling my guts here on the blog I will finally get resolution from our insurance and the house will get fixed.  Then this post will seem kind of funny- hmmm, I hope!

Thanks for listening, sometimes just venting helps :) 
If you have ideas for my stool redo let me know (and keep my mind off the house damage, hehe!).  Should I go totally industrial looking?  Or shabby?  Add a cushion?  What do you think?
-Or- 
I'd love advice/ words of wisdom from others that have gone through a similar situation with severe home damages.
Comment away! Pretty Please!

11 comments:

  1. I love the stool! I think you should paint it all one color (i'm thinking white) and distress/antique the seat and the backing. Then you should stencil a number or letter on it somewhere, either the front or back of the backing or the top of the seat.

    Good luck with the insurance issues, I can't imagine having to endure a disaster like that and have to wait on getting things fixed. I think you are entitled to all of your thoughts and worries. If you have done everything in your control to get things moving on their end, then all there is left to do is wait it out and try to enjoy yourself in the meantime. It will all eventually work out :) Sending positive thoughts your way so you can get everything fixed and start your projects, and then I can enjoy your blog posts about them :)

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  2. Hey Carla, I think all your concerns are very valid considering what you're going through. My heart continues to ache for NOMI, and I feel like everyone has forgotten about the tornado. The sad reality is that people are still affeccted by this everyday. And it is good to be able to vent. I can't speak for your co-workers (they are lame and not very sympathetic if they are annoyed with you), but I promise I won't be annoyed if you need to vent some more on Saturday while we get our thrift on. Looking forward to seeing you!

    And that bench...I hope you help me find some sweet things like that. :) Love. It.

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  3. Awww! Nice comments already! Reading them made me feel better
    guys, thank you! Lauren, I am pumped to finally take you to Bauer Brothers! Deana Marie- I LOVE your idea... I'm going to start googling images for inspiration now :) you rock!

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  4. I told you about the bad damage we had with our MN, tornado years ago and I guarantee you, this to shall pass, really it will! I Love the stool and would almost leave the bottom red part, it is perfect rusty and worn. I would just spiff up the top with White, black, or aluminum colored paint. It is so cool you should try to find a place for it.

    Good luck
    Carol

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  5. Love that stool! I feel like doing some venting myself, maybe that will be a future post, lol. I agree, your concerns are very valid and it does help to voice your concerns out loud sometimes, ya know? Try not to worry, though I'm sure it's hard not to, and enjoy fixing up that stool! Can't wait to see it when you're done!

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  6. paint it make it special and use it as a plant stand.........so many things to use it for i sure would keep it...u paid a great price

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  7. Love the stool. It reminds me of the one I have for my computer desk. Mine has grey legs. I LOVE the red legs. I would leave that as is and just wax up or varnish the wood. I would even let the warehouse words show through.

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  8. I agree with Karen - leave the red, polish up the wood and the warehouse handwriting is kinda cool! Is there a hallway corner to place it with maybe a vase of flowers or a stack of big, old books?

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  9. Carla, I haven't been through anything similar with home damage, but just after getting hit by a car two years ago, I went through the same thing where I felt like it was all I could think or talk about. All my worries were about that, even if I wasn't consciously thinking of it, it was there in the back of my mind weighing me down.

    So yeah. I have no good words of advice. I wish I could help. But all I can say is that I've been there with that kind of all consuming trauma! I REALLY hope that your insurance helps you get everything fixed ASAP.

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  10. :) Can't wait to see your finished project!!

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