Using What I Keep

I have been cleaning house for what feels like months. Last week I gave away all of our chemical-y cleaning and bath products. I have ruthlessly culled cthockies, fabric, unused jewelry, things in triplicate... On and on until I can finally feel a little more space. I saw somewhere once, probably on Pinterest, to not have anything in your house that you do not find truly beautiful or useful and I am running with that thought.

So now I am at the part where beautiful and useful things are left. Time to start using them and displaying them. This can get very tricky however, if I find that I do not have a place for my beautiful/needful thing.  Stuff can still get culled if I can't find a place to put it.  Nothing goes back into "storage" unless it is holiday/time of year specific.

For years I have told my family, "why have it, if you never see or use it?!" Well here is where I start living the walk. Or something like that. And I'm going to start with an item that I have refused to part with since 2006, even though my last 3 living places did not have places to use it. It has been stashed in the back of our linen closet for nearly two years now and every time I reach back there I pull it out and consider whether or not the time has come to part ways.  I still love it, it stays.  But before I get into what exactly "it" is, let's back story a bit shall we?

This is our "new" half bathroom. I call it new because it isn't original to the house- we added it last year. And I use quotes because it's been there for a year now.

But anyway- when one is using the facilities, this is what one would look at:

Charming huh? You can see I was actively doing laundry during this photo. Well, now it looks like this:

A little short, yes, but very shiny? Very yes.  Let's get a better angle.  Excuse the weird lighting, that curtain is shiny.

My Nanny bought this polyester curtain for me when I moved in with my college roommate sophomore year and I loved it. I love it now. I will love it forever. And now it hides my laundry when guests use the guest bathroom. Using what I have success!  I'm not 100% sold with the gold on gold action, but I have been unsure of the gold paint in that bathroom since the very beginning.  It is the same color of our dining room- and I love it in there, but I'm feeling a little overwhelmed by it in this tiny space.  I am sure we will figure it out- but until then, and probably after, the curtain stays!

Have you dug anything out of your closet's depths lately? I'd love to see it!

Winter Workings: Phase 1

I have been pretty quiet over on Oxford Handmade the last few weeks- you know Christmas, parties, whatnot.  But honestly, most of the silence is because Marco and I have been working on a little side project we like to call  Living Room Makeover 2013.

(Technically, it started in 2012, but just go with it ok?)

This is where our living room was sitting at the beginning of December:

Charming right?  That MDF bookcase on its side acting like a sideboard.  The 31 decorative pieces on the mantle.  The 6 mini tables in the living room.  That second picture is actually a during picture, but it shows some good before-ness too.  Continue to just go with it.

Well like I mentioned here, we had some winter plans that we needed to get started, so when Marco's office closed for the holidays, get started we did.  Suddenly our fireplace wall looked like this:

Blank except for the Instagram photos and the Trevi fountain canvas.  That's also why that picture of the couch is so cluttered, most of the stuff just got moved across the room.  Then suddenly through the power of the internets, the room started to look like this:

Turns out that phase one of Living Room Makeover 2013 involved 60 feet of bookshelves plus 12 feet of table height surface space.  We added trim, filled in the holes, painted, painted again with a different white, and we when we finally sat down on the couch four days later, we were looking at this:

I waited a whole 72 hours before putting our books and collections on the shelves to make sure they cured nicely, but I gotta tell you, it was a little painful waiting that long.  Having these shelves makes the room feel so much more balanced.  That weird corner, to the left of the diningroom opening (you can see it in the picture right above), is suddenly useful.  Plus the trim along the bottom of the shelves makes them look like they've been there forever.

And the best part?  This bookshelf project really started the ball rolling with other living room projects. But you'll have to check back to see those.  In fact, I should probably be working on them now...

Winter Projects vs Summer Projects

I know its been slow around the ol' blog lately.  I've been working on OxfordHandmade and doing a lot of deep thinking about my future, oh and a lot of watching the entire series of How I Met Your Mother, but I digress...

The truth is, this warm winter weather has really upset our winter project schedule.  When Marco and I first moved into this house we had a lot of projects that we knew we needed/wanted to accomplish.  But to not be so overwhelmed and to help budget them out we put them in order of preference (or logic) and then ordered them again for each season. Until our list looked like this:

Summer projects:
Raised bed garden
French Drains
Deck
Workshop
Fence
Paint front door
Stain and seal porch/new deck
Flowerbeds
Update big bathroom

Winter projects:
Painting the living room, dining room, bed room, guest room, hallway, bathroom, kitchen
Remodel kitchen and laundry room/guest bathroom
Install built in bookshelves
Update light fixtures in dining room and hallway
Add ceiling fan in living room and/or update light
Add insulation to attic and winterize other areas in need
Have an energy audit
Install organization to kitchen cabinets


Now why would we want to separate the list into two parts for winter and summer?  That's easy.  No one wants to dig post holes for a fence when the ground is frozen and why would you want to be working inside on bookshelves when it's so nice and pretty outside?  Plus, this helps us prioritize and buy supplies bits at a time so we're not always storing loads of wood and materials.

Ok, that last part was a lie.  I'd take a picture of my backyard to prove we're still hoarding materials, but I'm too embarrassed, so you'll just have to trust me.

Anyhoo- the warm weather during winter working time is really messing up our schedule.  We're trying to accomplish more "summer" projects like working on our flower beds or finishing projects floating in our back yard instead of focusing on our built in bookshelves which are next on the list.  But the time has come the walrus said!  So here is an official before picture:

I just snapped it and uploaded it- no lighting, no care to clean up or move the cat out of the mirror.  That's a legit picture.  My best?  Nope.  But isn't that how before/afters work?  You take a really bad before and then a really, really nice after.

Here's hoping we can finish before it turns warm again- I have a lot of books that need new homes and a tv that needs to move out of the bedroom.  Who's up for painting 300 feet of shelving??

Too Much Stuff

I suffer from two very different but very terrible illnesses.

The first is my overwhelming addiction to yard sales and Goodwill and other people's trash.  True story: I can (and have) scale a full sized dumpster with no ladder and remove a half broken full sized dresser, by myself, in less than 3 minutes.  I love the thrill of the hunt and the dealing and the stories behind vintage/antique items.  I love it, and the amount of stuff in my house is proof of that love.

My second illness is my equally overwhelming habit to declare "TOO MUCH STUFF" and decide that I don't really love any of it.  I have been working on limiting my intake of possessions, saving time and space and money for items that I will love forever (my green velvet chair, my chifferobe, my Cheezburger painting).  It takes practice.  I still find myself looking at items I've brought home and think "hm.  Could have lived without that actually." But at least I'm trying.

So right now the too much stuff side of me is winning- hard.  And Marco and I are preparing for our first yard sale since moving into this house.  We had a half attempt yard sale before we moved in over a year ago, but that was ill planed and only half heart felt.  This time I'm being ruthless.  I'm cutting from the bone.  I'm cleaning out my fabric stash!  Y'all.  Bags and bags of fabric stash.  That's how you know it's serious.  But we're going through closets too.  And boxes we never unpacked.  And emptying corners of the house that collect dust.  And going through things that's we've put up "in storage."  Our "work in progress" philosophy is "If I can't enjoy it all the time, then why do I own it?"  Nothing is in long term storage.  Nothing is hidden away without a proper home.  Everything has been used at least 3 times the last year.  And everything else is getting put in the yard for others to fight over.

Now we're still working on our different pricing strategies, one of us correctly wants stuff to move and therefore puts realistic prices, and the other wants to haggle and get the best deal ever so he puts higher prices with wiggle room.  This is also a work in progress.  But come Saturday, we'll have gotten there somehow.

Oh, and if you're looking for pre-lit Christmas trees or an elliptical machine, televisions (from a former roommate), ironing board, craft stuff (lots of fabric), plastic shelving, a movable closet rack, tv trays (lots of tv trays) or other household goodies, stop on by.  We'll be here Saturday morning and ready to play Let's Make a Deal.

Adding to the Walls

I have been in a state of re-doing.  Maybe that will account for my absense on my blog and my presence in my own life, but I hope to start making up for it soon.

I thought I'd start with this new find.  Well, new to me.  I've been trying to find ways to actually get our bedroom to a more finished state.  You know, away from "We just moved into our new house!  This stuff goes HERE!" and closer to "Look how nice that looks!" I've been looking for some art work to help get that ball rolling and happened upon society6.com.  I love a nice, small time artist and a nice small time price tag so I've been allowing myself a lot of window shopping.  Here are my top choices for our new bedroom.

Medusozoa by Edwardblakeedwards

I love the black and whiteness of this print.  I also love jelly fish.  I think I would actually frame it vertically, but I do love the composition of it horizontially too.  I really don't see this as as a starting point for a new bedroom though.  Maybe later, but not first.

Rabbit by Carrie Booth

It's a rabbit.  And it's blue.  I think it is perfect.  But again, I'm not sure if this is a great starter picture. 

Untitled (landscape) by Tchmo

Actually, I'd take just about anything from this artist.  Like this, or this or this too.  I love the colors and the texture, even if this is only a print.  There may be too many colors to chose from?  Or much busy for a room that I want to feel cozy and relaxed.  Maybe a wide mat and simple frame will help contain the motion...


My Bologna has a First Name by David Schwin

I may need this one just because.  No color inspiration, just a good time.

And finally, Fractal Dandelion by Mark Nelson.

I really love this one.  I think it has wonderful colors and some great texture.  Nice and soothing but still plenty of detail.

Very interesting.