The Great Storage Hunt

In my last post, I shared that I recently moved into a new apartment. My soon-to-be-husband will join me in...gasp...17 days.

(Breathe. Just breathe.)

It's hard enough moving one person into a new place. There's the unpacking, organizing, sorting, and figuring out how to decorate all over again. Combine that with another person's belongings and you essentially double the chaos.

That's what the den/office is right now. Total chaos.

Well, maybe not quite chaos, but it's certainly a room with boxes upon boxes on the floor and a hodge-podge collection of stuff that needs to find a place other than the floor. I'm the type of person who feels chaotic when my environment is chaotic. If there's disorganization around me, then I have a strong urge...no, desire...no, NEED to create structure. When I'm done, I stand back triumphantly as I survey my success. Everything is put away, logically placed and grouped as it should be.

Cough...TYPE A...cough...cough...

Long story short, the office is currently driving me crazy.

To quell my need for organization, I set out on a hunt for unique storage pieces. I'm trying to use the move as an opportunity to nail down my look, which is a mixture of rustic, farmhouse, and industrial pieces. It's time to get rid of hand-me-downs and put my personality into our future new space.

The hunt began at a local gem called "Crickets".

This shelving unit made of tobacco lathe caught my eye for $50.

And right in front of it was a cute turquoise industrial rack with wheels.

Nice, but maybe a little too rusty for my taste. Not to mention that it's on the shorter side.

This cute cabinet caught my eye. It's tall, has industrial hardware, and has that "I remember seeing this in my grandparent's house" kind of vibe to it. It was $225 unfortunately. I really liked the style, but I felt like I could do better. (Apologies for the blurry picture. These pieces were outside in the barn and it was freezing cold. I was probably hitting the shutter button mid-shiver.)

This pretty white cabinet could work for $150. With a new coat of paint and some updated hardware, she might be just the ticket.

Or this one for $190. I really liked the texture and the beadboard construction. Again, not bad, but for some reason, I just couldn't bite on the price.

This industrial beauty was striking but the price tag sent me away at $330. Warning: The common theme of this hunt is, "I liked it but it was too much money."

Justifying the price of pieces is always the hard part. I wanted to make sure I was putting my dollars into something that I really liked, would be sturdy enough to last, and had plenty of character.

I stored these away in my mind and took off to a place that I had never visited before - Shank's Barn. After figuring out where to park, I got out and felt like I was in an episode of American Pickers. This place was a mecca for people like me. There was stuff EVERYWHERE! And not just any stuff...goooooood stuff.

There was building upon building of pulleys, hooks, barn wood, table legs, galvanized buckets, knobs, door handles, old signs, windows, shutters...

You name it, it's there. And there's a lot of it.

I was drooling over their selection of corbels. These would make the perfect shelf or fireplace mantle.

It was really hard not to get carried away and buy everything. I had to focus. Storage pieces. Cupboards. Shelving units. I had to put the blinders on.

This sturdy barn wood piece had so much natural age and patina.

And this cupboard reminded me of the one I saw at Cricket's.

Ooh! There's another one!

Ugh, how do you decide? Better yet, how do you fit all of these great finds in your 4-door sedan. Hmmm...

I drove away with lots of ideas, pictures, and yet...no final purchases.

Now you might be thinking to yourself, "What is your problem, Girlfriend? These pieces are AMAZING!" Believe me, I was thinking the same thing. I was just holding out to see all of my options.

A few days later, I took a trip down to the Habitat for Humanity Restore in Kennett Square. They were having a 50% off sale, so I thought I might just score the deal I was looking for.

Sure enough, there was a cabinet that caught my eye.

It didn't look like much at first, but I honed in to take a closer look.

It's certainly screaming, "Make me pretty!" And it definitely needs to be cleaned.

But, it was all wood construction and there was something about it's potential that kept me interested. A new coat of paint would really make this pop. Some new hardware and shelving inside. Hmmm...

Now for the price. Are you ready? Originally $40. Marked down 10% to $34. Then I got to take an additional 50% off making the grand total...

(drumroll please)

$18! (Ok, it was more like $19.08 with tax.)

Now that is what I call a deal! I can't wait to get cracking on this piece. It's being picked up on Saturday and I already have some plans in mind.

How about some color and distressing like this?