2008 July | chatting at the sky

the next step: STEMS

July 15, 2008

Thank you all for your encouragement on the baby steps I’ve been taking with the extras in my home. You will be glad to know my sister has arrived in town and she has been encouraging as well.
Here are the stems I talked about yesterday. This is what happened when Emily walked in the house from Hobby Lobby. I saw a vase, I put them in it. Done. I kind of knew it was not the right size, but I didn’t have anything smaller and wanted to get a feel. The Nester pointed out that they actually don’t look bad there, but the vase is a bit too tall for this space: tall lamp, tall vase, tall lamp. Too much tall.

So this is what happened when The Nester came over and saw what happened when Emily walked in the house from Hobby Lobby.
She got out the glue gun and went to work.
And she shot out all that hot glue all over my black hat box that had been on my bookshelf. I had also bought those green things when I went to Hobby Lobby. Again, didn’t know what to do with them, but thought they might come in handy with stems.
Turns out I was right.
The key to this project is to buy what you love. Buy what looks real. And buy a lot of it. I did all that right. You don’t have to know exactly what you are going to do with it all. If you love it, you will use it.
Or you will get your sister to use it for you. Either way, you win. Or in this case, I win. And I feel a lot more confident on what to do with stems.
So much better. Stay tuned for what we did with that $5/yard fabric. I will be using the term “we” very loosely from here on out, just so you know.

Filed Under a house-lover, a sister 65 Comments

baby steps

July 14, 2008

When we were first married 7 years ago, I was a decorating idiot. I remember nearly having a nervous breakdown because in one room of our house we had 15 foot ceilings. The walls were all white and I knew I wanted color but the idea of choosing one brought me to my knees. I’m not exaggerating. Like, literally crying on my knees, an emotional new-bride basket case. The man wasn’t sure what he had gotten himself into, I’m certain of that.

I’ve gained confidence in what I like over the years: a lot less crying and a lot more trying…and buying. At least when it comes to the basics.

I’ve been encouraged and motivated the past few weeks to do some more things in our house, namely adding fabric and layers of texture to help it feel more cozy. I’ve been waiting for stems to go 1/2 price at Hobby Lobby. This week, they did. So I bought these.

I have no idea what to do with them.

I’ve also been waiting for a good chance to drive south to a discounted fabric store. Today the chance came, so I bought these.
I have no idea what to do with them, either. Are you seeing a pattern here? Other than the obvious checks and toile?

I have the basics down. I can pick out a couch, no problem. I can pick out a table without help. I know a must-have tassel when I see one. I have confident taste in paint colors, back splash tiles and light fixtures. It’s the the little extra things that give me problems. Like how to arrange those stems that I love. And how to mistreat a window without being laughed out of town.

Seriously, I mistreated a window in our half bath. Yeah, there is no way in Tinsel Town I would show you the result. It was an abomination to all things Nester. Forget the normal Window Treatment people, I would have been arrested by the Mistreaters as well. It was a crooked hot mess.

Do you have trouble with the extras? The layering? The textures and patterns? I think my biggest obstacle is a lack of confidence in that area. I need to give myself permission to try something, hate it, and then try something else. I would do well to remember The Nesters’ mantra: it doesn’t have to be perfect to be beautiful.

Still, what to do with all those stems?

Filed Under a house-lover, a mess 27 Comments

the solution

July 13, 2008

As I’ve said before, the people who previously owned our house must have been small people with magic clothes that apparently never got dirty. Otherwise, they never could have tolerated the washer in the kitchen for TWENTY YEARS. What about the piles? Where do you put your detergent? What about the piles? Oh. I said that one already.

I can’t really take credit for this next transformation. It was decided more by the men involved than by me, but I nodded my head a LOT while they were talking about it.
As you can see from this wider shot, the kitchen was not lacking in the sink department. There were three. I could have washed both my hands and my right foot all at the same time in three separate sinks. Anyone up for a friendly game of sink twister? I could see the reasoning behind having a prep sink on the island, but the secret sink behind the back door had to go. But what to put in its place?

We didn’t want to spend money to buy any new cabinetry. So it was jigsaw puzzle time.
See that cabinet there on the left in the breakfast area? Pretty random, right? Well, we took that out and put it in place of the 3rd sink. Here is a peek at the process. Look how awkward that fridge is there!
Then, the other cabinetry on that wall was simply rearranged, the sink was replaced with a counter top and moved to the far left and the fridge fit perfectly in the space where the washer and dryer had been. Again, we didn’t have to buy any new cabinets, we simply rearranged what was already there. Here is the end result.
And by the way, we do still have a washer a dryer. You can read about that room here.

For you who are interested, the paint color in the kitchen is Ivoire from Sherwin Williams (the same color I used in my former kitchen), the granite is New Venetian Gold and the back splash is a bisque mini-subway tile. I’m not sure the official name of it. I think the wall color looked better in my other kitchen because the cabinets were black and it was a nice contrast. But this kitchen is still in progress, so stay tuned.

Filed Under a house-lover 48 Comments

pizza and picasso

July 12, 2008

We found a highly skilled artist to pencil sketch this portrait of us…
…who happens to be an anthropomorphic mouse.
It only cost us one token. And it’s signed. Stupid rat. I’m gonna make a killing from this on eBay.

Filed Under Uncategorized 18 Comments

another kitchen do-over

July 10, 2008

If you are coming over from Today’s Creative Blog, I invite you to stay awhile and chat at the sky! Kim included some before and after photos from my old kitchen in my old house (we miss you, Sophie Marie). It was just the inspiration I needed to go ahead and post some before and afters or our kitchen in our new house. I haven’t done this yet because some of it is still in progress, but I think the results so far are drastic enough to make it interesting.
Here is a view of the kitchen on the first day we walked through the house. Notice the laminate that goes all the way up the wall. Notice the green. Notice. Just notice.
I couldn’t wait to get rid of that green. I am still testing out hardware, as you can see there are many knobs missing. And I definitely miss my black cabinets from our old house. Maybe one day these cabinets may see some paint as well.
Obviously, we left the cabinets as they are. We did replace the countertops, added a back splash, some under cabinet lighting, changed a few fixtures and painted the walls a nice, neutral Ivoire from Sherwin Williams.
And this is what you get. As much as I miss my old kitchen, this one is bigger. It also has a lot more natural light, which I love. Can you spot the 1960′s light tube in the ceiling? And two points extra if you can tell the color of the paci in the child’s mouth.

I will be posting more before and afters of the kitchen soon. After all, I’ve got to show you how we remedied this:

Filed Under a house-lover 55 Comments

the shameless promoter of sisters

July 8, 2008

As many of you know, last week I did a couple of guest posts over at Nesting Place because her computer was in trouble. It has been running slow and loud for some time now and over the last few weeks, it began to present symptoms of an incurable disease. Hospice showed up towards the end of the week and by Friday, they paid their last respects and laid that fella to rest.

My sister has been open on her blog about her and her Manly Man Husbands’ desire to get and stay out of debt. They are committed to buying their computer with money they already have rather than putting it on credit. She has been working her little bird tail off making tassels and other goodies to sell in order to raise money to buy another computer.
So she’s hosting a giveaway. All you have to do to enter is buy something from her etsy shop and you can win this basket of lovelies. For those of you who have compassion towards the cause but don’t think you have any use for something made from ribbons and fringe, allow me to try to change your mind.

Enter: The Tassel.

According to The Nester, this is the prettiest thing you’ll never need. I completely agree except for the part about not needing it. I saw this bird tassel listed in her Esty shop and couldn’t buy it up fast enough. And I’m her sister. She would have given it to me for free. But still, I was willing to pay for the birdie goodness.
Look, she has a birdie bustle with her trademark Nesting Place ribbon peeking out from underneath. I just love this bird. I look at her every night before I go to bed. And since The Nester fussed at me for buying a tassel when she could have just given me one, she threw this surprise in the box with the birdie when she shipped it out.
A bonus tassel. A church for birds. My bird tassel loves Jesus. And she goes to church in this little church house. For bird tassels.

The bird was the first tassel I bought, but it isn’t the first tassel I’ve ever had. When the twins were born, along with the garland she made for them, she also made several tassels to put in their room. Here is a close up of one of my favorites.
I am beginning to realize I am somewhat partial to the tassels that have an animal as a topper. The dogs are to die for. My girls love the rabbits. And the horse. Oh my. The horse. I saw one on her blog yesterday and I nearly spilled my coffee for all the lurching I did toward the screen to get a better look. Then I clicked on the image to make it larger. Then I just left it up there on my screen and gazed. Oh, that horse.

I know not everyone can afford to buy something they don’t need, no matter how pretty it is. I respect that for sure. But if you have had your eye on any of those tassels and have been meaning to get yourself one, I would encourage you to do so this week. And be sure to pat yourself on the back for contributing to a worthy cause.

Filed Under a sister 27 Comments

sweet veggie tales

July 2, 2008

I went to the grocery store tonight. I came home with these and piled them on my counter.
It made me so happy to see all those fresh veggies waiting to be fed to my family. It also made me remember this wasn’t the first pile of veggies I’ve seen today.
I’ve actually been to the store twice. My first trip was this morning in my kitchen with two sweet little cashiers. And they didn’t even make me pay.

Our mornings aren’t always so fun and creative. But today, it just was. As I watched my girls pretend to shop at the grocery store, I thought about how they were imagining themselves to be real mommies with real babies at a real store. They were pretending to be me.

I kept waiting for them to snap at their baby dolls or shove a pretend cookie in their little pretend mouths. Of course, their pretend babies didn’t whine. But still. They were sweet and kind and patient. They were good mommies.

What an incredible responsibility it is to have a little audience all day, everyday, watching your every move. That is why on days like this, I can’t help but be thankful that somehow they are able to see beyond my faults and learn from me anyway.

Filed Under a mother 30 Comments