Make mine a Rubble

Just up the road in the charming little Alabama town of Cullman is a dream-come-true type of store for me. Some girls get giddy over designer shoes and handbags. Some love clothes. Some love makeup. Me? Not so much. I love houses. And cool stuff to go inside of houses.

Actually I don’t get giddy over much of ANYTHING these days, but there are a few things that make me squeal (on the inside at least). Like finding the perfect piece of furniture/decor for my house. I can search stores and websites for YEARS before I find the right piece for the right spot sometimes. Seriously, years. You might say I’m a lil’ bit picky. You see, when it comes to decorating my house, I’m not one for art as artwork on the walls. I don’t really like classic French paintings or even cheapo landscapes from the starving artist sale. I don’t want Andy Warhol reproductions using my dog’s face in technicolor like Marilyn Monroe. Those abstract paintings that are big splotches of paint in muted colors?? Bleah. I cannot think of one single painting that I’ve ever looked at and said YES! THAT’S exactly what I want adorning my fireplace mantel!

Call me weird, but the two main things I love to use for decorations on my walls are original photographs (mine, others, doesn’t matter as long as it’s a cool photo) and big chunky architectural accents. One glance around my Pinterest boards shows my love of all things architectural and rustic.

Minus the UBER-creepy tuxedo dude above the toilet, this bathroom is the culmination of all bathrooms to me! I frin-diggin LOVE this room with all my heart!

Image Via Pinterest

So yeah…. old windows? rustic doors? tin ceiling tiles? layers and layers upon layers of paint? big hunks o’ metal that are all rusted and weathered and totally unique??? Sign me up. I’ll take ten and store them in my basement for my next project that may or may not ever happen. Funky Junk Donna‘s blog is total eye candy for me.

Sorry, I got a little sidetracked there for a minute. Back to the reason for this post!

Southern Accents Architectural Antiques in Cullman is my dream-come-true store. They sell nothing but architectural salvage. They have huge warehouses full of anything and everything you could ever salvage from houses and buildings across the South (and beyond). This place was like my mecca. I made my first trip to Southern Accents last year on the way home from a concert road trip in Nashville.  J and I stopped by and browsed the store and the back warehouse and my jaw just kept dropping over and over again. Words can’t really describe how unique and AWESOME this store really is.

At Christmastime last year when I saw they were having a facebook contest AND running a great 50% off on one of the deal-a-day sites that I’m addicted to, I was first in line to sign up both. I bought three coupons on the deal-a-day site to increase my odds of winning the facebook contest. And increase it did! I won the contest!! So not only did I get 50% off on my purchases, I also had an extra $100 to spend as the contest winner! WHOOP!!

I knew exactly what I wanted to buy with my winnings. I spotted these gorgeous bead board wall hangings that were in the window on my last trip there. They were bright blue and distressed and super cool.

I knew I needed one somewhere in my house. For a split second I thought about trying to DIY it with a 4×8 sheet of beadboard and my sander, but the effort and time involved seemed like too big of a project for me. Thankfully, I procrastinated on the project long enough that I didn’t even have to do it!

See? It pays to be lazy! Looky what is sitting on my mantel right now!

We took another concert road trip to Nashville (Garth Brooks) and stopped to pick up this beautiful hunk of architectural accent with my coupons and winnings! Come.To.Mama.

On that same day I bought this delicious picture frame. Look at this color. It is stunning. The perfect gray-blue. It would look even better if I’d take a minute and put a picture in it, huh?

I LOVE these two piece so much. The beadboard is perfect in the living room with my happy blue dresser and other things I’ve brought in during Operation Aqua and Grey-Blueing of my house.

Right now it’s on my mantel, but I’ve considered moving it to another wall soon with the help of some heavy duty hangers. I also considered asking J to make me a coffee table out of it, but then I bought a super cool coffee table at The Foundary that I’m still waiting to be delivered.

I thought that was going to be the end of my Southern Accents purchases for a while, but then, last Friday I got a huge surprise from my awesome husband. He knocked one out of the park with this next project, but I’ll save that one for a second blog entry! Here’s a little sneak peak for you though…

Oooooooohhhh yeahhhh. I’m ecstatic to share this one with you! Now if I can just find my picture hanging kit so I can finish the job we’ll be in business.