Urban Outfitters = $32
That’s right. A fake stick is worth $32. Gee, if only I could find a real stick. I could make my own! If only there were real sticks just lying about on the ground!
Money really does grow on trees, I guess. I’ve got an extra $32 in my pocket thanks to a stick I spotted in the bushes by CVS.
(For those of you who know me, yes — that is every single piece of jewelry I own.)
Conventional wisdom states that decorating the place where you sleep should involve picking soothing colors. There was nothing conventional about this house’s previous owners, though, and that’s how I ended up with a radioactive yellow bedroom. On top of this yellow, I got a weathered old window hung as if it were a framed painting — to showcase the brilliant color choice? — and a shelf made specifically to match it.
Well I’m still dealing with the yellow, but today the window got a facelift.
Ferns to match what (someday!) will be a pale gray-green color scheme. I was actually inspired by the duvet cover; those stripes are made of tiny little fronds.
Until I have time to finish the bedroom, though, I will continue to feel as if I’m sleeping on the surface of the sun. Hand me a pair of tanning goggles and remind me to turn over every half hour, will ya?
It’s been a busy week. Worked my real job Monday-Saturday, worked my part-time job on Sunday, and stole a few hours Sunday afternoon to work on this bookshelf project. I have a funky 23″ wide alcove in my home office that came with a metal bracket storage system from the Home Depot… you know, this crap:
Except my variation included plywood shelves wrapped in adhesive paper. With a daisy motif. They had to go.
23″ turns out to be a really weird size to work with, so after hours of googling around for the perfect piece of furniture I gave up and hacked a couple of IKEA shelves apart — literally. REXBO shelves must be the only IKEA item that comes almost fully built. I had to saw a set of them apart to join them up with a second set. But hacking out that fourth rail saved me exactly the inch and a half I needed.
REXBO before:
Double REXBO:
It’s a little stuffed right now ’cause it’s the only bookcase I have use of at the moment, and I got a little carried away when I started cracking open my old boxes of educational goodies. When the living room is finished, I hope to move the collection of art books (and there are many more!) downstairs.
But this is a start! I’m wondering if I should paint the inside of the alcove a fun color, just to spruce the room up a bit. I did snag a cute little rug (for $7.99!) on my IKEA trip; it’s tough to see from this tiny picture, but it’s white with random colors woven in every third layer or so. I like how it plays on the different colors of the book spines.
It’s time to stop fooling myself; someone wandered off with my digital camera as I moved out of my apartment this summer. My money’s on the Lowe’s delivery guys… sigh. Anyone looking to buy me an early Christmas present? Or, anyone have a recommendation for a relativity inexpensive model that’s good for keeping in a purse?
Anyway, I’m still plodding along on the house, but my documentation is a bit spotty. Here are some camera phone shots of tonight’s progress. Half of the living room ceiling is caulked and painted, now!
Wow, thanks for the comments on the last few posts, guys! Blogger is supposed to e-mail me when I get one, but I guess it hasn’t been… so I just noticed them yesterday. Now I feel all warm and fuzzy. 
Anyway, I’m sorry that my blog has become the house’s blog. I wish I had something more cerebral to write about, but my brain can only think in paint chips right now. This might change when I get the living room finished… but that’s a monster of a project and I’m not anticipating its completion until (possibly) winter. I can share pictures of what I’ve finished so far, though!
Dining Room, DURING:
Dining Room, AFTER:
Kitchen, BEFORE:
Kitchen, DURING:
Kitchen, AFTER:
Well, my tweet didn’t get any feedback, but I forged ahead with my idea, anyway. Here it is!
This was an unpainted wooden broom closet built by the guy who owned my house before me. I think he meant it to match the kitchen cabinets (the door with the trim down the middle is the same style), but the wood was a different color and it bugged me. So I tried to pretty it up a bit with a two-toned painting of an aspen tree, and I think I like the results! In fact, I might paint my whole house like this. Art hasn’t been this fun since… uh, I went to art school and started to hate it.
Painting the kitchen ceiling. Or, growing paint flavored basil. Tasty.