Too Many Grays!

How am I supposed to decide, they all look good!

Salon Walls

I love me a good salon wall. I haven't put one up yet in our new place (we had one in our old apartment) because plaster walls make them considerably more difficult to install, and because I wasn't sure where the best place for one would be. I've been thinking about what to do with my office/ library/ art & craft space, and I think it might be the best place for it. Because this room is almost completely open to the dining room I've been having a tough time deciding what to do with it. I think what will be best for this room (though suggestions are always welcome) is to paint the ceiling the same pale blue as the dining room to have some continuity. I think the walls should just be white (probably decorators white by BM) to be a clean neutral backdrop for all of the many "things" in the room. The wall behind my desk I think would make a good spot for a salon wall. That way it will provide some interest when viewed from the dining room and should distract a bit from the inevitable clutter that will be on my desk. Here's how it looks now (see, clutter)


I found this picture in an Apartment Therapy house tour and loved that they had created a sort of salon wall using picture hooks and some sort of cord. Apparently there is hope for my plaster walls! I'm going to try to find a white cord so that it isn't too distracting from the art itself.

When any of this will actually get done is quite another story. With two jobs, bellydance lessons, wedding planning and this intensive leadership program that I am enrolled in. I'm not sure when any of this is going to happen.

Dining Room Ramblings

Remember back in October when I found these two paintings at different yard sales? Well they still haven't been hung anywhere because, well I'm indecisive, and I've run out of picture hanging hooks from Rejuvenation. When I saw the picture above on a blog a few weeks ago it got me thinking about hanging them in the dining room and looking for others to add to the collection. Maybe I could even paint one myself! I love how they look like lots of little windows to worlds outside. I was thinking of hanging them on the wall where the mystery plate is hanging, but then I though the sunlight there might wreck them over time. Now I am thinking that I can hang them along side the the window facing east because the sun will never hit them and it will look like little windows surrounding a bigger window. If only there was a local place to buy some more picture hooks.

That last photo just reminded me, I'm still not 100% in love with the dining room fixture. Every time my mom comes over, she mentions that I should get it hardwired in, but I'm still not certain enough about it to commit. Though since it's probably long past any return date, I might as well. I think it's because it's still a bit too matchy-matchy for me. I have a problem. My instincts always lead me towards the matchy-matchy, probably because I am a bit timid and don't feel completely confident in my decorating skills, but I am always attracted to the pictures of rooms that look so effortless, where everything "goes" but nothing matches. Same goes for fashion. Oh well. I guess even if I do get the fixture hardwired, the actual fixture itself will be relatively easy to change in the future if I ever find "the one." Having the electrician get the wiring into the walls and connect a switch is the hard part.

Stay tuned for more, I'm feeling chatty today.

kreative blogger award

I want to thank Liane from Enhabiten for nominating me for a kreativ blogger award! I'm a little behind in posting this - this week has been absolutely crazy busy. But now I am calmly sipping coffee so I will tell you seven things about myself and nominate seven other bloggers for this award.


1. I have a slight obsession with music from the 30s and 40s - the cheesier the better. Right now I'm listening to the Andrews Sisters.


2. I have a split personality when it comes to clutter. On one hand I get agitated when the house is messy and full of stuff, but on the other hand I am usually too lazy to tidy up and have a compulsion for yard saling, thrifting and other means of finding and collecting cool old junk to fill up the house. Frustrating.


3. I love the movie Charade, alot. I mean, I could watch it every week (and sometimes I do)


4. I finally saw Julie and Julia the other day, after everybody else already has, and I loved it! I know many people said that Julie was a bit whiney, which she was, but I could definitely relate to her frustration. Sometimes I want to just sit on the kitchen floor and cry when things don't go right. I'm definitely more of a Julie though I wish I were more of a Julia.



5. I have, and am wearing, a pair of bright orange socks with MCM furniture all over them.



6. I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before, but I take belly dance classes and occasionally perform - though, usually at libraries and nursing homes.



7. My family seems to think that I have a very good sense of color and are always asking my advice when choosings paint colors, yet I am completely unable to choose them for myself.



Here are the seven bloggers who I am nominating for this award:

http://www.lillieinthecity.com/

http://www.bromeliadliving.blogspot.com/

http://www.oliversbungalow.blogspot.com/

http://www.gettofixin.blogspot.com/

http://www.noaccountingfortaste.com/

http://www.renovationtherapyblog.com/

http://www.notsoshabbychicshop.blogspot.com/

Thank you Desire to Inspire!

Yesterday Desire to Inspire featured a round up of pot rack pictures and included our little pot rack from the old apartment in the mix! I'm honored to have our old rental kitchen included with all of the other beautiful kitchens. Unfortunately, our new place has no where to hang a pot rack, so we are back to storing them in an inconvenient lower cabinet. I really miss the convenience of having one.

Photographs vs. Real Life

Many of the design blogs that I read feature quite a bit pf photo-styling lust. Now I will certainly drool over a beautiful interior photo as much as the next girl, but I wonder how much these photo-perfection-fantasy rooms are skewing our perception of actual places? I look around my own house and all I see are things I'd like to change "Why did I pick that green for the living room, it should be a soft gray" or "how can I arrange the magazines on my coffee table to make them seem less cluttered?" because I am constantly comparing it to places I see online. They appear so beautiful that I don't think that my space could ever match up. Sometimes when I take pictures to post here or on flickr, I realize that the green paint does look soft and pretty in photographs. If my own humble little space can be improved by a well taken photograph (on occasion I do accomplish this), how do these spaces that we lust over in photographs actually look? Are they as beautiful and inspiring as we think they are or are they simply nice spaces, but not nearly what we have imagined them to be? What do you think, are we sometimes too hard on ourselves because we cannot attain a level of design perfection that may not really exist in the first place?

Redecorating

I'm updating the look of the blog for the new year, so please bear with me while it changes over the next few days.

Christmas Decor

Oops! I realized after my last post that I mentioned taking down my Christmas decorations, but I never showed you what they were. Here's a few highlights from this year's...

Happy New Year!

A little chilly outside this morning. This fella seems to be all fluffed up and cozy while munching on his breakfast. While sipping my coffee this morning, I couldn't help but take some pictures of my plants all grouped by the window, with the whiteness of snow outside. They've all been moved into the dining room to make space for the Christmas tree in the living room. I've taken down the rest of the Christmas decorations already which is unusual for me. Most years I let the Christmasiness linger for a while into January. This year, however, I was itching to get started with the new year and start styling/decluttering/cleaning the house.



I have a vague sort of new year's resolution this year...


I have a tendency to come up with ideas or start projects and never see them through. I get easily distracted (damn you world of design blogs!) and recently have been getting stressed more than I should. I'm going to try harder to implement some of the many things I daydream about which I am hoping will lead to me feeling a little more positive and productive and a little less down and stressed. 2009 was a tough year and I'm really hoping 2010 will be a whole bunch better. I'm going to have a lot going on this year between work, wedding planning (!) and other personal stuff (maybe resurrecting my etsy shop), so I'll need to stay focused and keep moving forward. I'm going to be taking on quite a bit this year, and I hope it will prepare me to take on more projects in the future without getting overwhelmed, as I have a tendency to do. Here's to a happy, healthy and productive new year!