Living Room ReDo

I'm sharing this post on Julia's Hooked on Houses blog, because I'm so excited about the great difference a few subtle changes have made in my living room.
First, the only truly "before" picture I could find, since I never ever think to take a picture right before I paint.

This was the basic layout of the room, minus the tree and other Christmas decoration. Note the bookcases, trim, and the extra large garage-sale coffee table & 8-yrs-old-rickety Wal*Mart magazine table between the chairs.

Fast forward several months. I painted the trim in the living room a dark gray/brown, and the bookcases high-gloss in the same color as the walls. Got rid of above problem tables and brought the beautiful glass-top table in from the major space it was taking up in my bedroom. Ahhh, but... the table was just too high, and everything felt a bit crowded. I got the wild idea of switching the couches in this room and our TV room (dark brown leather in the other room). I 'bout threw my back out moving the two couches into their new spots, only to have the boys declare it looked bad and nothing matched anymore. They were mostly right, so I moved them back, but not to the exact same spot.

So this is now. (Really, yesterday. Today the Brazil scrapbook has been put away and there are Legos and library books all over.) Notice the attempt at symmetry with the lamps on either side of the pellet stove. (The wall comes out on the window side, as you can see below, so no room for a table - I thought that mini lamp matched the other pretty well.) Next is the view of the symmetrical window side of the room.

(This taken this morning, thus the different lighting.) That little bookcase was stolen from... well, it's been in just about every room but was originally part of Isaac's nursery furniture. I washed the inside-back of it with light blue paint. Oh, that beautiful glass-top table? We had to admit there just isn't space for it in this house, so to the attic it went. We kept the chairs around though. Useful for putting on shoes, when extra company comes for dinner, etc.

I have to say I'm the most satisfied I've ever been with one of my rooms. (Well, I love the kitchen remodel too, you know.) *But* I'm not convinced I love the way the front door looks. That stain color is gorgeous on the outside of the house, but I wonder if it's too orangy for the scheme on the inside. *And* I still feel like there is sooo much empty space in that tall, tall room that I'm pretty seriously debating using designer Steven Gambrel's oft-used trick:

I think I would use the deep/light blue color from the walls of the adjacent TV room (I'll have to show you another time). Oh yeah! *And* I already bought some lovely sheer-ish fabric to go under the blue curtains and hopefully in that little side-of-the-door-window, to help filter the scorching summer afternoon sun. Guess I'll have to update you when I get around to sewing those.

Anyway, what do you think? (A huge thanks for all the nice comments already posted by friends on Facebook.)

Blue & Green

I was looking through my digital design files the other night and noticed this theme...

Those rooms make me so happy! Then House Beautiful came this month with a more traditional home designed by Lynn Morgan all in shades of mostly blue with accents in green...

I wouldn't mind moving right in!

I can never decide which is my favorite color. Guess that's why my kitchen is green and the living areas are blue. I love the idea of not deciding: use them both! Maybe I can make our new class/playroom a lovely combo like these. I am definitely hooked on blue & green. You can go to Julia's blog to see what others are Hooked on Fridays.

(First four images are designed by: Celerie Kemble, Katie Ridder, Steven Gambrel and ? all found on flickr)

I can't justify buying this...

...But maybe you can? I found this via the SugarDoodle site (ideas for church activities). The designer/artist who created this banner also designed that website. The company name is Michelle Studio Art and she has an etsy shop too (where this so-sweet banner is for sale).
The banner has a flag for each of the Young Women's values: Faith, Divine Nature, Individual Worth, Knowledge, Choice & Accountability, Good Works, Integrity, and Virtue!
Though I serve as a leader in my congregation's Young Women's group, I don't have a girl at home who's room I could hang this up in. Posting it here will have to be the closest I get.

Ch-ch-ch-changes

No, I'm not going to talk politics today. Just wanted to say something about my new layout: I created it! Can you believe it? I know it's not as super-fabulously-cute as some of the ones I could have just used free (and fast) off the internet, but it's mine... Thanks does need to go to The Cutest Blog on the Block for posting a how-to page (under "Blog Secrets"), I wouldn't have had a clue without that.

There are so many more meaningful things I've been intending to post lately... Soon, I promise.
And belated Happy Valentines Day, hope yours was filled with love and gratitude.

Another Domino Falls

I haven't written much about this facet of my personality, but I loooove shelter magazines. Well, the good ones. Which, in my very specific opinion, consists of only about 3 or 4 titles. House Beautiful being my favorite by a slim margin over Domino, followed again closely by Traditional Home. Occasionally I'd pick up an issue of Elle Decor, O at Home, Cottage Living and the like, or a Martha or BHG special edition. Anyhoo, it was announced yesterday that there will be just one more issue of Domino - it can no longer generate the ad revenue to keep printing. That is a real bummer to me as so many of their columns were completely unique... but the even bigger bummer is that so many other shelter mags have shut down already this year and the rest are hanging on by a thread. All the rest! See this article for the sad deets.

One Week til Christmas

Our ward (church) Christmas party was held the first weekend of December. I don't think we got our tree up for another week or so after that. I have a dear friend who had hers up, along with the whole Christmas decor shebang, the day after Halloween. I love the feeling of Christmas, don't get me wrong, but seems to me that Thanksgiving is an important enough holiday not to "skip."

Santa passed out oranges to the kids this year. I heartily approve of that choice, but...

...the only time my kids have ever been thrust into the "sit on Santa's lap" situation is at our church parties. Does that seem wrong to anyone else? Just what are we celebrating at Christmas?

Anyway, eventually I put together our lovely nylon-needled tree and the boys helped me decorate it. I am so grateful to have collected ornaments throughout my life. Some are homemade by me as a child (wire & bead candy cane), some from the boys (gingerbread stocking), some fanciful (a plumed peacock), but many represent images or symbols of Christ. I love a fully decorated tree!

I also love vignettes. We don't have very many surfaces to use for display (no mantle for instance) so the bookshelves got re-arranged or added to. (See above and below - different bookcases.) Then there's the shelf above the French doors. I need to find something great to put there the rest of the year - totally underutelized space.

Here's a full view of the front room. Between the windows I hung my little nativity plaque. I haven't shown much of the house before, have I?

I know I mentioned repainting the TV room when my dad & brother were here in the fall, but I never showed the finished look. Before & After will have to be some other post, but here is my wooden nativity that I thought would be child-friendly... Well, the shepherd had his hand broken off this year in (successful) efforts to get his staff. Hmm. The plant makes the table look lopsided here. Maybe it's because I took the speaker off the other end (for the picture)?

Lastly are the little vignettes on the kids' bookshelf in the hall and the kitchen shelves. So glad we made the kitchen cabinet people figure out a way to add those!

There are no pictures of the outside because, sadly and for the second year in a row, we have no outdoor lights up. Next year I'm going to ask Mark to hang lights outside for my birthday present or something!

What about your place? Does the outside of your house rival the Griswalds? Or maybe it looks like the Grinch visited (when his heart was still too small). Do you decorate just in time for the Twelve Days of Christmas, or will it have been done for two months by New Years?

New Look

That's my new PC wallpaper, snagged here. From the French Alps. Some people like to view an Island Oasis in the winter, but I prefer to maintain the mood of the season I'm in. At least for now.

Something you probably noticed immediately: my blog's new look. I've been thinking & reading articles about fixed-width versus fluid-width web pages. (My previous layout was fluid-width, specifically "minima stretch".) Since I have this fabulous widescreen monitor, but actually since forever, I appreciate using all the space I've got. It really kinda bugged me to read everyone's blogs in one tiny center column, with no options for photo-arranging. (Rachel, I think that's what you thought was "so creative" about my posts.) But I've been frustrated with the lack of layout options for fluid-width and since I'm no html programmer, I'm not even going to think about flex-width (and if you care one whit what I'm talking about, google the terms).

Anyhow, the preponderance of evidence states that in fixed-width 1)you actually have greater control over the finished design of your blog and 2)the columns width maintains the most reader-friendly text margin. In other words, it is easier to read and however it looks like in my browser is how it looks to everyone else (which is NOT the case with a stretch layout).

Bonus: the plethora of free blogger layouts for us non-techies to download.

So, what do you think?

A Few of My Favorite Things

In an effort to get me blogging about something other than the weather, I decided to have some fun writing about a few things I really love that either a) are lesser known about me or b) I've neglected to mention in the past. Not all-inclusive and in no particular order...
1. My favorite foods are: Cadbury creme eggs, Skittles, rootbeer floats, sugary cereal, tropical punch Kool-Aid, Baskin & Robbins ice cream, brownies, Seattle's Best fudge, sugar cookies with frosting, pretty much all homemade cookies, pumpkin pie with whipped cream, banana cream pie, Good-n-Plenty, cotton candy, black jelly beans, strawberry freezer jam, French toast.... Okay, so in all honesty, I do have some savory favorite foods (popcorn, nachos), and even some with nutritional value (Fuji apples, salmon), but it really is an understatement to say I have a sweet tooth. Most ironic thing about that? I've never had a cavity! Not surprisingly, I love going to the dentist. Not enough to give it it's own paragraph, but I do love getting a good cleaning (and hearing the dentist say "I wish all my patients had teeth like yours.")

2. Something else totally sweet, er, rad? The 80s. I know that decade is kind of "in" again right now, but I've always loved it. Hmm. Well not the style. Neon goes with no ones' complexion, just as spandex pants go with no ones' figure, and big hair is an impossibility for me. But the entertainment of the 80s, I have no complaints. All the music was good, in some measure. Even the maligned genres of rap & heavy metal were a little saccharine in the 80s. And the movies were all more innocent. Or at least their production value was so much lower that they appear more innocent. I'm sure if I thought really hard and did just a little research I could come up with a hundred exceptions to my overly-general statements but since I came of age in the 90s, I'm just going with my memories here. But the television shows, I'm certain that they were truly ALL kinder and gentler than todays. I recently came across this blog which painstakingly compiled a list of the 80 Happiest Songs of the 80s. Of course many people wrote in with suggestions after the fact because how can you really narrow it down to just 80?? It was totally, like fer-sher, the most happiest decade ever. I was pleased to note that my suggestion (yes I too wrote in, picky picky) was written in the next blog entry as a totally regrettable oversight. I'm just ashamed it wasn't the Depeche Mode song. Hands down my favorite band, even beyond the 80s.

3. Now's probably a good time to say how much I love my husband. I warned you this was in no particular order, right? I don't think I mention him and his awesomeness very much in the blog, which is a crime. Mark and I have at least as many things not in common as we have shared interests but we share the biggies, such as our faith in God, devotion to family, political leanings, commitment to recycling and other "green" ways of life, enjoyment of Skittles, and our mutual ability to spell. Mark is totally easy to please in the kitchen and never complains, well hardly about anything, except how Congress and the President are destroying our liberties; that bugs him. He is a smart & hard worker - putting together his entire factory almost singlehandedly! He's a great gardener and household handyman. And he's always willing to help others as well. (All that hard work makes for a pretty sexy bod, too. Sorry, had to say it.) He is an amazing teacher - he should get nearly all the credit for how early Isaac started reading and how far along Sam is getting - and he is so patient to always invite the boys to "help" him with his projects. He is really supportive of me (my moods, my endeavors, my sometimes unorthodox approach to organization). I totally love that he's the math & hard sciences guy while I'm the music, art & social sciences gal, and yet he appreciates great music & entertainment (he actually watched all my Veronica Mars DVDS!) and has started really educating himself on economics and other "soft sci" things as they relate to his desire to be more politically savvy. I briefly mentioned music but I can't leave off his voice! He is a strong tenor but can be pitch-perfect in a wide range. I get goosebumps whenever he sings. And if music is the international language, then Mark is fluent in FOUR, including English, Spanish & Portuguese. All this and he's humble to boot.


4.I'm a sucker for DVD special features. No matter how foolishly late I stayed up to finish watching a movie after the kids went to bed, I will inevitably add at least an hour to that by watching any outtakes, interviews, commentary, etc. that are included on the disc. It almost doesn't matter if I've really enjoyed the film or not. If I thought it was lacking, I'll check out what the director cut to see if I think that would have improved things. Or maybe the only redeeming quality was the cinematography, in which case I'll click around to find out more about the making-of. And if I loved it? Well then obviously it's just gluttony, wanting more of a good thing. I've actually watched all of the Lord of the Rings Director's Cut versions with the commentary on: Counting watching with it normal the first time through,that's 24 hours of Tolkien drama and New Zealand beauty! No, I did not do that for 24 hours straight, and for the record I had already read the unabridged novels which took much longer.

5. I'm addicted to shelter magazines, interior design and architecture books, and I'm afraid soon I will also spend valuable free time checking out design blogs (it's a good thing we don't have cable). I just love looking at professionally decorated homes and tearing out what attracts me the most. I collect my favorite images in a binder. I like to try to imagine how to translate those ideas into looks that are practical for my home now, and dare to dream once in a while of some far-future home built & designed by me. Just in case you were curious, House Beautiful is my hands-down favorite mag. It shows entire homes and has great text that corresponds. I hate how most other design magazines show one or maybe two shots of a location and then the article goes on to rave about some unpictured room! I also love HB for it's monthly articles on paint colors and fabric, and it's one of the cheapest.

6. I love lakes!! And oceans, seas, sounds, waterfalls, rivers, and streams. No one can ever really convince me that a place is beautiful unless it has some water nearby. Yeah, yeah, jungles and forests have their green appeal and "oceans" of sand seems exotically charming but for me there has to at least be a pond or creek or tiny oasis in order to concede the view is truly one of beauty. I think that's why I felt a visceral ache of longing when I was checking out my friend Tysha's blog this week: she had been kayaking in Seattle, and taken lots of pictures (like this one I borrowed). You see in this part of the country, southern Idaho, it's pretty dry. We live quite close to two decent-sized rivers but vegetation is limited to the extreme edge of their banks (farmer's irrigated fields excepted) thus removing Fruitland and pretty much anywhere within a few hours of here from the category "Beautiful," causing me occasional bouts of homesickness. So what I'm saying is, I really love being near water - lots of it - and the pretty things that come when you have lots of water.

7. Which leads me to one of the gazillion reasons that I miss Brazil: we got to go to the beach a lot! (Okay, not a lot a lot, but more often than any place else I've ever lived.) And Iguacu Falls (went twice) is one of the natural wonders of the world. But those are not even really high on the list of things I miss about Brazil. Number One? As Pessoas!! (The People.) Brazilieros are so friendly and fun and hard working and happy and enthusiastic and... They literally welcome you with open arms (and a kiss/beijo). I so miss hugging people! (I mean outside of my family.) I told myself I would start a hug-when-you-greet revolution when I returned to the States but I have completely wimped out. I also miss the language. O portuguese esta a lingua mais bonita no mundo. Before I learned it, I was pretty frustrated that it wasn't Spanish - why couldn't they just convert to what the rest of the continent spoke?! Ha! Now I just want to cry whenever I hear people around me speaking Spanish - why can't I just talk to them in Portuguese and have them understand? So I covered the land, the people, and the language, what else? The food! Well, truthfully there was much I did not like about typical Brazilian cuisine but I do miss the fabulous churrascos (similar to BBQ but with amazing cuts of meat) and fresh fruit drinks and Guarana soda, and having Jaque prepare lunch for me (and do the dishes afterwards)... An explanation of the things I love about Brazil would indeed be lacking without mention of the relief it is (once you get used to it) to have hired help around the house. Entao. Beijos para todos, ate mais...

My Martha Moments

Every once in a while I get a creative burst and I must do something, usually copy a cute idea from a magazine. Some projects don't get far: a baby-themed cross-stitch started before Sam was born still just 1/3 completed. Some start & stop, but are finally done: recovering the seats on the rattan chairs we brought back from Brazil.

The latest achievement was a stuffed-sock puppy I made for Charlie's birthday. I'm not really happy with the purple ribbon collar (it was just a bit I had around), so it will get changed eventually - maybe when I decided on a name and make a tag for him.

But my very most recent little craft was arranging these Valentine carnations into my heart candy dish with floral foam. Cut my left pinky pretty good with my new Pampered Chef kitchen shears, but I did get the festive centerpiece I was hoping for, just in time for dinner last night.

Next up: finish adding the coordinating patches to my living room throw pillow covers, and make a window treatment for Isaac & Sam's room out of the extra sheet I have that matches their bedding.

The Kitchen Remodel

For those who haven't been in our (current) home, or those who can't quite remember what it looked like at first, the BEFORE pictures... Which, unfortunately, don't do justice to how awkwardly the cabinets functioned (non-adjustable shelves, no pulls or finger space to easily open the cabinets, and only two drawers in the whole place) or how very little counter space there was, or how difficult it was to access the refrigerator from the sink. Nor did I capture where the previous owners replaced the failing (brownish) grout with black grout that they did not seal so it was chunking out and turning everyone's feet black - in turn creating dirty paths on the carpet. Still, you can note the mis-matched tile (floor vs. counter vs. monster stucco hood). The third picture you can see the start of our demolition: removing the wall between the sink and the 'fridge.










So next we have DEMOLITION phase. Just a couple shots that don't remotely capture the amount of dust and chaos we created. But it was kinda fun, too. And it gave me lots of reasons to be grateful for my awesome handyman husband. (Okay, let's face it, the fact that he approved the kitchen being redone is reason enough to be grateful to my frugal husband.)





The empty space called "scratch" that we re-started from.
We had to do a lot of plumbing and re-wiring (because of removing the wall and the "sink peninsula"), wall repair (from removing the tile back splash), move a telephone line, and we had to lay two extra layers of sub-floor in order to make the height even with the rest of the house (since we expanded the boundaries of the kitchen flooring). We also had to install the "micro-hood" ourselves. Of course you know that all this "we" was really "Mark." I was the designer/painter/babysitter.

At long last, the RESULTS:
I tried three shades of green before committing to this one. We ended up with the super-cool under-the-cabinet lights because there were dangling wires (see above) that the sub-contractors said they couldn't patch over (despite that they'd been hidden behind the previous cabinets for 12 years). Over-all, the installation had more glitches and took a little longer than expected, but it was done by Thanksgiving... But, don't look too closely, you'll notice that we still haven't replaced the baseboard moldings. And, not noticeable to the naked eye, but certainly to the feet, we still need to create a heat vent at the sink toe-kick location. These things were bumped in priority because Mark began remodel project #2 - install the pellet stove. He laid the new tile (for underneath it) tonight! But I digress... We are really happy with the results (seamless counters and floors! drawers! pulls! counter space!). Fortunately this "we" really is a "we."

Phew! Posting with all these pictures was a lot of work. Hope you enjoy.