*Lyrics from All Day Today by Hospitality. I’m attempting to seek out new artists, new sounds, new experiences for my ears. Check it out, if you like. And feel free to recommend some ear-sounds for me.
I love impromptu house projects. I really, actually do. What I don’t love are the crazy deadlines that accompany them. But the spontaneous impetus to make something better than it was before? Yeah, love. So, last weekend when we were continuing to deal with the state of the basement…
The basement! It's a total work-in-progress filled with cast-off furnishings, DIY supplies and other remnants of our life that got boxed up during the renovation but never got unboxed.
…we began by clearing out the laundry room. Before we began our mini-makeover the following things were issues: the folding area wasn’t working as well as it could; the floors were grungy to look at; and, there was unused space that could have been better utilized for household storage (to get it OUT of the basement once and for all!). All of these things were fixable by a little elbow grease (and a thorough vacuuming), paint, reorganization (and imagination) and some thrifty re-purposing.
Instead there was hot pink flashes in the sky…*
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*Lyrics from Lemonade by CocoRosie. They’re a strange group, with a haunting sound and intriguing lyrics. Note to self: investigate them further. Note to readers: please do the same.
Beauty shot: orchid porn.
It has been said (by me) that there is nothing quite like a fresh coat of paint to improve one’s mood, one’s space, or one’s perspective on life (and I especially like it when people call that fresh coat of paint a ‘lick’ of paint – so English, so dreamy). Well, the same could be said for a new shade of blush. Now, I’m not a huge make-up wearer, and we’ve already established that I don’t often wear dry clean only, hang this up right away kind of clothing. But, I do wear make-up (I am a licensed hairdresser after all) frequently enough. Infrequently enough to have a spent tub of blush awaiting replacement for, oh, it’s gotta be at least 6 months. Maybe more.
It’s only echos in the Valley love…*
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*Lyrics from Feist’s How Come You Never Go There from her latest awesome album, Metals. I recommend a blind purchase on this one, especially if you’re a Feist fan. Which I am. Naturally.
I also spotted this little silver bread basket that I thought might be a nice addition to my office mantle.
We have the best neighbors. Seriously: generous, kind, fun, smart, and just a pleasure to live near. So when we were chit-chatting with them the other day about heading out to help my mom do some grocery shopping and to get some curtain rods they sprang into action offering the exact right color, size and number of rods we were after. Sweet! (The rods were earmarked for giveaway, so we knew we weren’t taking the shirts from their backs, so to speak.) And, since you all know our time together as marrieds is precious, being able to tackle a chore like hanging curtains right away when we got to mom’s place was a huge time saver. (Of course we still ended up spending hours going here and there, fully and completely exhausting my poor mama. But still.) And what a huge difference did the curtains (and rods) make! Makes me want to sew up some curtains tut suite for my own abode.
Curtain rods from generous Erin & Nellie. Curtains from sale department of ZGallerie.
I had to cram so many things to store everything in there…*
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*Lyrics from David Bowie’s Five Years. We’ve officially owned this house for five years, and it feels like that’s how long each project is now taking. My brain hurts. A lot.
AFTER, for reals: beauty shot.
Weekends around here have become mighty precious. Jeff’s work schedule has been non-stop since about September (I’m not actually exaggerating – it might even have been like this since August), with small pockets of time off here and there. And by small pockets I mean a day here, or a few hours there. It’s been hard on both of us, and even harder on the state of the house. With so few hours to spend together who wants to spend it cleaning out the garage, or organizing the stuff in the basement for giveaway, or otherwise finishing projects that are half done all over the place? Jeff did manage to get the week between Christmas and New Year off and we were able to finally tackle some of those half done projects. Like the closet in the master bedroom.
It’s too early to say, it’s too early to say goodnight…*
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*Lyrics from this sweet little song I heard watching a sweet little indie romance (which I was completely in the mood for) called happythankyoumoreplease. The song’s by Jaymay and it’s called Never Be Daunted. Good song inspiration for a year opener, wouldn’t you say?
Office progress at the end of 2011.
And now it’s time for the ubiquitous post on what the new year means to me. I know everyone’s doing it, and with good reason. Turning over a new calendar page can be quite bracing, forcing you to itemize your life, to measure your path and to judge it accordingly. Or perhaps it gives you a moment to cleanse your palate, to step back and say yesterday is gone, today is my focus. Turning over this calendar page (figuratively, of course – who has paper calendars anymore?) has been a most welcome occurrence as 2011 was an emotionally tough year for me. But it wasn’t all bad. I’m just glad to leave it behind, and start again.
I oughta say no, no, no, at least I can say that I tried…*
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*Lyrics from Baby It’s Cold Outside as sung by Doris Day and Bing Crosby. There is nothing more comforting in winter than cozying up to old black and white movies or listening to old black and white songs.
December is a month loaded with obligations, expectations and often times disappointment. The build-up for the single greatest day of the year (be it Christmas or New Year’s Eve) can often leave people feeling like, “Really? That’s it?” I have been known to feel that way a time or two (or a dozen). It’s only natural to sense the anticipation around you, and to feel the optimism creeping in when thinking about the promise of a brand new year. And, having been raised to celebrate the most basic bits from Christmas (all the non-religious stuff) – the tree, the gift giving, the time with family, the sparkly lights, the hand made crafts – this time of year usually holds a special spot in my heart. I have to admit, however, to not really feeling into it this year.
I should be better, but I’m worse…*
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*Lyrics from The Bird and the Bee’s song You’re A Cad from their album Ray Guns Are Not Just the Future. This came up on my genius mix as I was in a frenzy cleaning, organizing and rearranging the whole house.
Who would have ever thunk (that’s right, thunk) that I’d be talking about styling something? Say whaa? I know, I’ve been so focused on the grand schemes of things – the construction, the ergonomics and flow of spaces, general colors and moods – but never have I spent the time to actually tweak tchotchkes into a pleasing arrangement. I guess I have done some “decorating” in the past, and by that I mean displaying holiday ornaments, hanging pictures and plugging in lights… you know, the stuff beyond the furniture arrangements and structural placement of walls, plumbing, electrical, etc. Until now, I’ve barely given it a second thought, except to fully appreciate others’ skill and talents in making stuff seem like something else.
Time after time you’ll hear me say that I’m so lucky to be loving you…*
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*Lyrics from Chet Baker’s Time After Time. Not to be confused with Cindi Lauper’s Time After Time. That’s a whole different song.
We now take a break from our (ir)regularly scheduled, interiors focused blog posts to breathe, and thank the nature gods that our house survived the 8″ of heavy, wet snow that was dumped on us last weekend. That’s the weekend before Halloween. All plans I had to get pumpkins and mums during the weekend (since I’ve had nary a chance to do anything for my own house due to moving my mom into her condo), to carve up some scary scenes to light up in the lovely fall night to beckon small children to the door, to simply go grocery shopping (!) were dashed by lingering details that needed doing at my mom’s old place, and the enormous storm that left nearly everyone I know without power.
Out with a whimper, it’s not a blaze of glory…*
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*Lyrics from MGMT’s Congratulations from their album Congratulations. Don’t ask me what the video means. I have no idea.
Summer has effortlessly shifted into fall, marking the official close to a season that was full of fire and energy, heat and flooding, plenty and too much plenty. Windows were unceremoniously closed, yet screens remain in place; sweaters were unearthed from the drawers, or backs of closets, yet summer clothing has not been put away yet; seasonal cooking has shifted from tomatoes, fresh herbs and all things raw to squashes, soups and an increased interest in baking. The tides have changed, without us really noticing, though we are certainly aware.
Way back when, in late spring (a full two seasons ago!), we met with Mr and Mrs K to discuss ideas for their new kitchen (at that point merely a hope). Meeting after meeting, month after month and we weren’t sure they were going to choose us. Or even start at all. Drawing after drawing, email after email and we finally arrived at a direction, picked a start date, and boldly attempted to renovate an entire kitchen and bathroom in a month. Well, that didn’t quite happen, but it very nearly did: the kitchen is finally done!
A grown up woman should never fall so easily…*
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*Lyrics from ABBA’s Lay All Your Love On Me. Because I was smitten from the get go. Not because I’m Swedish.
Ok, it’s been a while since my last post. That’s because this happened:
Sweet tender niece merely hours old.
See, I was all set to head to Mr and Mrs K’s for a day or two of tile work, electrical and plumbing finishing touches when my sister-in-law went into labor. Needless to say, nothing much mattered after that. Well, all except for her, her husband, and their new daughter (who is perfect, healthy and quite precious – and of course I’m not at all biased). So I missed those bits at the clients’ house. Don’t worry, though, I still have one more visit on the horizon – pictures will be coming.