03 October, 2007
Go vote for me!

Well would you look at that! My craft room is one of the contestants in the Apartment Therapy Fall Colors Contest!

Please go visit the site and vote for me (you do need to register to comment/vote but it’s quick & easy).

Be sure to check out the other contestants as well, there’s plenty of gorgeous color inspiration to be had! Thanks guys!

If you’ve never been, Apartment Therapy is a daily blog whose goal is to connect people to the resources they need to redecorate their home, while reducing their reliance on stuff. They have dedicated blogs for New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and San Francisco as well as separate blogs for the kitchen and nursery, a technology blog and a brand new “green living” blog. They really are an invaluable resource for home and life inspiration. Check them out!

09 July, 2007
The Craft Room

So busy this weekend! Got some knitting done, some cleaning done, and tons of organization in the warzone that was the craft room.

**Click on any of the pictures in this post to go over to Flickr and see notes of what those things are and where I got em.**

At some point I had a video on my camera showing the wasteland that used to be the craft room, but it seems to have disappeared. Probably for the best, I don’t want y’all thinking I live in filth all the time (only half the time). First thing I had to do was clean up all the garbage left in the wake of me frantically preparing for Pile of Craft. After doing that and ironing about a mile of wrinkly fabric that needed to be put away, I got to hanging and prettying it up. I got these two little shelves on sale a while back from West Elm.

Here’s the section of the room that makes me feel all yummy inside, the stash corner. The white bookshelf is from IKEA, and you can buy the shelf inserts separately to make the compartments. I thought it would be perfect for my somewhat pathetic yarn stash, although it does cut the depth of the shelf about in half.

I also have ribbons, notions, buttons, glue, brushes and other stuff on these shelves. My straight knitting needles are all in a roll that sits on top of the shelf, and the circulars are in a basket until I can come up with something better.

Here are the curtains I made, just a really simple half-curtain (I do not know the technical terminology for curtains so that’s probably a word I made up just now). The fabric is from Reprodepot and it’s expensive but I knew I wanted it for this and got it 25% off. Yay. Those paper lantern string lights have flamingos on them and were in the $1 section at Target.

Here’s my sewing area. The table and chair are from IKEA. The lamp was getting thrown away at my work so I rescued it. I love it cause it swivels to the left so I can have a light above my cutting table as well. The sewing machine is a Bernette 60 I got off Craigslist. The cute vintage paper lanterns on the ceiling were a gift from Amanda.

I got this mirror in a craft swap a long time ago, I just love it and I’m so glad it finally has a place.

These “artlines” are something I had in my head for a long time, but on my last shopping trip to IKEA, finally became a reality. These are actually curtain wires (DEKA) and I thought they’d be perfect to hang snapshots, postcards and rotating artwork that I don’t want to frame but that I do want displayed. I’d like to grab three or four more of these and take them all the way up the wall.

Just love the way these look.

Here’s my cutting table, which is actually a regular old drafting table that I put at maximum height and flattened out. The huge cutting mat was being thrown away at my work as well. It’s got a few gouges but is more than good enough for me! That hanging thing holds a tealight candle.

I also have a closet in the room for storage, which is where I keep my bins of fabric, lip balm making stuff, packaging stuff, and miscellaneous supplies.

I’m so glad I finally got everything organized. Just walking in the craft room now makes me smile, and I can’t wait to get in there and create something!

Kitchen Additions

Finally, finally installed the pot rack/lid holder/hanger thingy I bought from IKEA (it’s called Gruntdal if anyone is curious) like a decade ago. I actually bought two, but one went into the craft room (will update on that later). I like the way this side of the kitchen has shaped up. The OTHER side of the kitchen has a new addition as well, courtesy of FUTURES Antiques, but I’m not showing you that til I get some artwork on that wall, which will be happening shortly. Click on the pictures to go see notes in Flickr.

09 February, 2007
It’s coming together

It’s amazing to me how much one rug can add to a room. I feel like it pulls the whole living room together. Here’s my new Angela Adams rug from Design Public. I think I’m in love. More detailed pictures this weekend, hopefully.

31 January, 2007
Little things

Picked up four of the magnetic knife racks from Ikea last weekend, and moved my little spice rack over to the wall. Now the many, many, many, many concerned souls who very enthusiastically told me I was destroying the flavor of the spices by exposing them to scalding stove heat and searing bright kitchen light can calm down a bit. Now they only have the unsatisfactorily dim kitchen bulb to contend with. Somehow, I think they will survive.

Also many, many moons after I featured it on my Daily Click, I broke down and bought the large bird branch from PB Teen since it was on sale. Looks like I got it just in time too, cause they are all sold out now! I like the little birdies watching over my bracelets and necklaces. In other news, putting together flatpacked Ikea items is exhausting.

Oh, and tonight is the premiere of Top Design! I told a few people that I wanted to do recaps of the show, much like my beloved Project Runway, but seeing as starting next week it will be conflicting with LOST, that may not happen. Sawyer is way cuter than Todd Oldham, and a girl has to have priorities, for real.

24 January, 2007
It’s Organization Week at Design Public

Hey kids, did you know that January is National Organization Month? Well now you know, and luckily my favorite little online purveyor of good design, Design Public is bringing us Organization Week, with plenty of tips to get your space in order.

So far we have tips from architect Sheryl Drinkwater, who got some professional help in remastering her kitchen and utilized some drawers and containers on pullout tracks to do some very cool things!

There are also a couple kitchen organization tips from me, just two small projects that anyone could do themselves. The idea behind DIY projects is to take a good idea, adapt it to your own needs and execute it. You get a totally customizable solution and you get to create something in the process. I think most DIYers aren’t striving for perfection, they are just being creative and using that creativity in a functional way. So have fun with it!

I thought I’d add in a few of my favorite sites for organizational inspiration, I need it especially as my office and craft room start coming together. Please feel free to leave comments with your own organizy-goodness type links!

• Martha Stewart Organization Headquarters—Need I say more?
• Pretty Organized and Craft Rooms Flickr groups—Photos from real houses as well as clips from magazines for inspiration.
• Simplehuman—Clean, modern, well-designed products. I own several things by this company and I love them!
• The Container Store—Can be a bit pricey, but they have everything!
• Organization from DIY Network—Videos, and plenty of DIY tips and tricks.
• Charles and Hudson—Not strictly for organization, also has plenty of tips on repairs, remodeling and all things DIY for your home.

Pictured above: Offi Perf Boxes would be a great way to store office supplies, magazines, books or records. Available at Design Public.

21 January, 2007
DIY: Magnetic Spice Rack

Edited to add: The spices have been moved to the wall, go here to see how things are permanently arranged.

Another easy little DIY project that anyone could do. I hate hate HATED my spice cabinet. I always forgot what was there, plus it was up high and I couldn’t see anything. After seeing a magnetic spice rack like this one, I knew I wanted to do something similar, but I would need more tins and didn’t want to take up any counter space. Plus I could do it myself cheaper.

I picked up some watchmaker’s tins from Lee Valley Tools and used some of my leftover super strong magnets from my magnetic poster wall, plus the trusty hot glue gun, and in minutes I had a really cool solution to my problem. Plus they are right there on the stove when I need them.

I was able to free up enough cabinet space to make a cabinet dedicated to baking supplies (yay!) and now I have a really colorful and beautiful spice rack. And since I know someone will ask, I just jotted the names of the spices on the back with a fine point permanent marker. That way my cinnamon won’t get mixed up with my cloves. I made chili last night and it was great to have them right in front of me and not have to knock bottles down on my head trying to reach them in a high cabinet.

17 January, 2007
Magnetic Poster Wall

One more DIY project under my belt: a magnetic poster wall for my office. I remember at some point taking “before” and “during” photos but I have no idea where they are, so you just get the “after.”

This project was pretty time consuming, but easy overall. All you need is some magnetic paint. I used Rustoleum brand and I found it at Lowe’s. This stuff is pretty expensive ($20 per quart) and is probably more suited to smaller areas than a whole wall. I used two cans here and got four coats on this wall, but if I decide to do another area (like in my craft room), I’ll do a small area and put a lot more coats. All you do is paint the magnetic primer onto the wall, and then paint over it with your wall color of choice. Don’t use your best painting tools for the primer because you will have to throw them away. The primer has tiny flakes of metal in it and is very clumpy, make sure you mix it well.

The magnetic paint recommends at least two to three coats, and it will supposedly hold things up but I had to end up buying really strong magnets. Here’s a closeup. I couldn’t even get a regular piece of letter-sized paper to stay up with a fridge magnet, although the magnet stuck with nothing under it. I purchased these magnets from Teacher Source. They are Neodymium magnets, which are super strong — be careful when you’re using these, they have a very strong polarization and will pinch the crap out of your fingers if you don’t watch it. The item number I ordered was M-185, which is a 50 pack of the Neodymium Magnets, for $19.95. I searched all over the internet for these and this is absolutely the best price.

I also painted my red accent wall last night, I think it looks great against the gray and it’s gonna look even better with a white bookshelf in front of it. I only had one problem.

I peeled some of the tape off this morning so I could get the full effect, and paint bled all under the tape! I’m so annoyed! I’ve never had this happen before and I’m wondering if it’s because I used tape from the end of the roll? Anyone know how to prevent this?

Edited to add: I got a great tip on how to prevent paint bleeding!

05 January, 2007
Pantry organization!

My brother gave me a $75 gift certificate to the Container Store for xmas. Here’s what I bought! This totaled a bit more than $75 but I feel was really worth it. There are three sizes of container here, the two large 8x8x4 ones on the bottom, four 8x4x4 long ones stacked on top, and eight 4x4x4 smaller containers. So I actually have more room behind each of the small ones. I am amazed at how much room this gave me! I wish I’d bought a few more for the bagged stuff on the left, but they don’t fit well in that cabinet. I’m thinking I might move some of that into one of my cabinets with doors and put dishes or something pretty there since those bags are on display (that cabinet doesn’t have a door).

The dismal BEFORE picture:

Now I just have to figure out what to do with the last pantry cabinet below that one. It has dog stuff, potatoes, onions, and more baking stuff.

11 December, 2006
Christmas Chez Moi

Holiday festivity is in full swing over at my place. Saturday after my race I cleaned, grocery shopped, then took a long relaxing bath and geared myself up for some holiday decoration. I adore my house right now.

I finally got all the ornaments on the tree. I don’t have a tree topper or a tree skirt, and I only have a few ornaments with character, but I still think it’s gorgeous.

A 7.5 foot tree that’s also really big around might be overkill in my tiny living room, but it feels a little magical to me. I LOVE the white tree. Everything just sparkles and the tree itself seems to put off light. When I was picking up ornament hooks and a few other things at Target, a little boy came over to the tree displays and was totally captivated with the white tree. He said, “Oooooh mommy this tree is beautiful. Can we have a white tree?” “Of course not, a white tree? That would be sacrelige!” I snorted loudly.

I made some of these origami paper balloons and popped them onto a string of mini lights. They are super easy to make (thanks Alicia for yet another idea). I just used the 12x12 scrapbook paper from Michaels, because that’s what I spotted first, but I’d love to seek out some actual origami paper, something with more festive designs, and maybe leave them up year round!

I already had the idea to put strings of lights in tall glass vessels, but when I saw these Tord Boontje hurricane candle holders at Target, and knew I’d found them. He’s one of my favorite designers and I was so excited when I found out he’d be doing all Target’s holiday packaging. I wanted one of his paper garlands but they are sold out everywhere. I got a couple lovely candy dishes though. Isn’t that ribbon candy just gorgeous? Once I got the lights in the glass vessel I knew they needed something else. Those ornaments make it look perfect. I LOVE these pieces.

Here’s my little garland to hold all the lovely cards I’ve received this year. I just grabbed a bag of assorted white pom poms and strung them together with a needle and thread. Easy!

Hey the microwave needs some Christmas lovin’ too. The house feels so festive now, I think I may have to throw a party!

11 October, 2006
In Living Color

Remember that one time I was featured in the article in the Christian Science Monitor? I got my hardcopies of the newspaper yesterday. I love this picture! Go here for a bigger version on Flickr. Thanks for scanning it, Nicole!

04 October, 2006
Amber goes national.

I hadn’t mentioned this yet because I wanted it to be a surprise, but I got interviewed for a national publication! They also sent a photographer down from DC to take pictures of my hot self inside my hot dwelling. Ha!

The Christian Science Monitor, which apparently has not much to do with Christian Science, and is more just a really well-respected national newspaper, interviewed me for an article on the Apartment Therapy Home Cure Online Class and on my interior design skillz. Yeah you like how I said “skillz.”

The article went live today along with a few pictures of my house, as well as some awesome tips and wisdom from Maxwell (the Apartment Therapist) as well as other people who participated in the class.

Check it out here: Do-It-Yourself Design.

The new 8-step Online Home Cure Class started today, so join up!

19 September, 2006
Before & After

Remember the Paul McCobb table I got for cheap from FUTURES? Some idiot spraypainted flecktone crap all over it. Thanks to my dad for the help sanding and painting it. It looks good as new.

11 September, 2006
Changing my surroundings

What a weekend. I spent literally all day Saturday cleaning, purging, rearranging and redoing my house. I also got my new couch!

Here’s what my living room is looking like these days. Isn’t my couch great? For anyone who’s interested, it’s the GUS Design Group Jane Sofa, which I picked up from Design Public. It’s wonderfully firm and I love the way the flannelsuede feels. Kyla likes it too.

I plan on putting a tree/large plant in that back corner, and getting a big piece of artwork (probably a canvas I paint myself) on that wall. The couch also needs a throw.

See? She likes it.

I had this little 1951 Richard Galef telephone table that I picked up from FUTURES Antiques that I was gonna put in the office (which is gonna be all black and white with hints of red) but I decided this would be a great way to have some books or magazines nearby and also not have the remote controls on the coffee table.

Here’s a better view of it. I love that little table! Kyla’s like sooooo bored with life.

Here’s the front door/entryway. For those of you just joining us, that’s a vintage Kreuger fiberglass chair (also from FUTURES), a table I picked up at a yard sale and revamped for $3 (see that entire project here) and an unidentified Danish modern walnut chair I found at a yard sale for $20.

So here’s my one lingering concern about the living room. THE GAP. I guess it split this way because of the hallway and the flow right through to the kitchen, but I just think it’s TOO much. Too fast of a flow. I don’t know how to break it up. Another chair facing the coffee table? Another sofa? A big runner? Someone help me here.

I also worked in my bedroom. I rented a carpet cleaner and cleaned the disgusting carpet. I have to tell you doing that TOTALLY improved my mood and I feel like it changed the energy of the room. I also dusted the blinds and wiped down everything. Getting the dust out just made me feel refreshed. Please ignore the fact that I need a bed skirt/duster and actual BED. That will happen soon.

My brother helped me repair the closet door that wouldn’t sit in its’ track. Now it no longer whacks me in the back when I’m trying to get my clothes. I moved the bed from under the window to the left wall. This makes me feel much less vulnerable and it breaks up the space better too. I moved the dresser slightly. I put Kyla’s crate on the other side of my bed and she is actually using it now. She wasn’t before. I got some African violets for the bedside table and flowers for the window.

I need artwork in here, and I think a comfy table and chair near the window for a reading area would be really nice. There’s a lot of unused space in here. I’ll just have to make it happen one piece at a time. Changing this room, cleaning and fixing things and putting plants around just made it feel so different. I slept like a baby both nights.

I also bought paint for the office and bathroom, and started on the magnetic wall. I’m doing one wall of the office with magnetic paint (use it like a primer then paint over it with wall color), and am going to put all my posters on that one wall. I don’t have to frame them and they look like a collection. It’s gonna look great. I got four coats of magnetic paint up (my sister helped me) and I think it’s ready to paint over. I bought these tiny superstrong magnets, and they stick just fine, but I need to make sure they’ll hold up the posters before I put up the final wall color. I stuck some regular refrigerator magnets up there this morning and they seemed to hold.

I have pictures of all that. It’ll be a separate post when the wall is finished. I also finished repainting that Paul McCobb coffee table (remember the one some idiot painted with that flecktone crap?). It’s drying at my mom’s house. I’m gonna pick it up Thursday when I go over there.

Also this weekend: Kyla escaped and attempted to eat the mailman. Yeah THAT was a fun time.

13 June, 2006
A Cautionary Tale

I almost forgot about my little adrenaline rush moment over the weekend. As you all know, the love of my life is not my boyfriend or my dog, but my Paul McCobb Planner Group credenza. Why I decided to place a vase that I got on sale for less than $5 (thanks, West Elm) on top of a priceless (okay maybe not, but still) piece of antique furniture, I have no idea.

I guess I just assumed that a glass vase wouldn’t leak, but Sunday when I was changing out the flowers, to my horror I noticed A PUDDLE OF WATER on top of the credenza, coming from the green vase. Trying not to hyperventilate, I sprinted to the kitchen, ripped a paper towel off the rack and frantically wiped up the water. I obsessively ran my hand over the wood for about five minutes, checking for warping. No warping, no white cloudiness, etc. Apparently I have perfect timing.

I carried the vase over to the sink and just as I went to set it in the sink, the bottom actually fell off the globe and smashed into the sink! Needless to say both vases are off the credenza now, and I’m not putting anything else on it unless it’s Italian glass. Or stainless steel. Or on top of a trash bag.

Anyway, just figured I would mention that. Be careful about thin membranes that separate water from your furniture.

01 May, 2006
Change is coming

Dear readers,
I know I’ve been a little sparse lately. I know all the people who click over from Apartment Therapy: Chicago are really confused as to why my site was linked under the “Design” category (see here). I know it’s just been forever since you’ve had a cute dog fix. But please be patient with me just a little longer. Jimmy kidnapped my camera for half of last week (including the weekend when everything interesting happens), so I have no proof of anything I did. Pics or it didn’t happen, right?

Okay so onto what actually did transpire. The landscape designer came over and evaluated my “yard” AKA large dirt-covered area, and we talked. He came up with a brilliant idea that is so why-didn’t-I-think-of-that it isn’t funny. Okay you guys remember my living room, right? Here’s a photo in case you forgot.

Now comes the photo which I’ve bastardized in Photoshop to illustrate my meaning today, since I can’t make overexaggerated pointing gestures with my hands. I mean, I could, but you’re reading this online so that wouldn’t do much good, now would it?

Hey like I said, my camera was kidnapped. Now, observe the front door, and observe the two windows directly opposite the door. Here’s the plan. Knock out the wall where those windows are and put in french doors or some sort of all-glass doors. Solves the following problems:

1. Right now the only access to the backyard is through my bedroom. That means I have to do the following activities by walking through my bedroom: taking out the trash, letting the dog out to pee, carrying food to the grill. The carpet in there is a disaster as a result, besides I’m pretty sure carrying garbage through your bedroom isn’t very feng shui, even if you do recycle. These doors will give me a second access point.
2. There’s not a lot of natural light in the house because of all the wonderful trees that shade my lot. This will let a ton of additional light in. Yes!
3. Instead of putting the grilling/hanging out/patio garden area in the side yard like I was thinking, he suggested putting it at the back of my house. That way when you come in the front door, the first sight that greets you will be a gorgeous patio garden.
4. One more way to get away from burglars/hoodlums. Or, you know, one more way they can get in to steal my TV.

I talked to my boss (Bob Vila incarnate) about it this morning, and he said he would love to help, and that it’s so simple that me and Jimmy could do it ourselves with a little instruction. I’m pretty stoked. Also, on the landscape forefront, in 3-4 weeks, we will go over a preliminary design (walkways here, mass of plants here, etc) and once we agree on the bones, 1-2 weeks later I’ll get the final design with specific plants, substrates and materials.

Turns out that what I wanted to do in my yard (heavy on foilage instead of flowers, warm colors, ground cover instead of grass) is what will work best in my yard anyway (due to the shade/sun ratio). I’m extremely excited and you can expect progress photos as everything happens.

Times like this it would be nice to have a second income so I could get a lot done at once. I have a feeling this will move pretty slowly. Patience was never a strong point of mine.

27 March, 2006
Spring, sprang, sprung.

Purge, purge, purge was pretty much the order of this weekend. Jimmy and I worked around the house Saturday and Sunday, cleaning, organizing and paring down. In the end, four bags and two boxes went to the thrift store, a bunch of stuff went up into the attic, and I now have a living room that makes me extremely happy to be in it, a bedroom that’s a step closer to being a real bedroom and an art studio that I can maneuver around in!

So I snapped some photos to show off some of my new furniture.

Everyone, here is my new Paul McCobb credenza. Isn’t she loverly? This piece is from the 1947 Planner Group, and it’s pretty wonderful. On top you can see the new TV I mentioned earlier. Also in this picture for you newcomers, my vintage Krueger fiberglass chair (both the credenza and the chair are from FUTURES antiques in Norfolk, VA). Also the walnut chair was a $20 yard sale find. How about that? However, it’s painfully obvious in this photo: I need some curtains and artwork, man.

There’s a little close-up.

Here’s my new dresser, which is a mid-century walnut piece (also found at FUTURES). I am just loving this thing. What an awful photo, it does no justice to the richness of the wood. Ew, look at my carpet (soon to be ripped up).

Oh, and just because you haven’t had a cute dog fix in a while, here’s Kyla, exhausted from chasing geese, and pulling me everywhere.

I’m also happy to report that my leg muscles are back to “sore after a workout” status and not “crippling, hobbling weirdo” status.

It’s warming up this week!

03 January, 2006
First pictures, then text

Yesterday I was off work and decided to paint my kitchen. I am so amazed at the difference a little color made.

BEFORE (the yellow is creeping up on the left, I forgot to take one before I started painting).

AFTER. I think this looks SO much better with the floor. I’m amazed at how it totally changed the feeling of the space.

In case anyone was wondering, that’s American Tradition “Grand Hotel Awning Yellow.” I also bought some shelves and organizational stuff for the laundry room. I plan to get those up soon.

This weekend was pretty jam packed. Saturday mom and I went to Weight Watchers. It wasn’t the end of the world or anything. I’ve been on the program for like 3 days now and I haven’t felt deprived. I ate at Cogans, even. I think this might work. It seems practical, I don’t feel like death is imminent or anything.

After WW I took Kyla to an obedience training lesson. The lady basically taught me how to let Kyla know that I’m the boss, and she’s a dog. I learned a “power sit” command, amongst other things. You should have seen the look on her face when I actually made her do something she didn’t feel like doing. She looked so surprised. I kind of felt bad, but mostly not. The dog whisperer says you have to be the alpha dog, and that it won’t hurt the dog’s feelings, blah blah so I’ll listen. I have already noticed a change in her behavior, just with the little things we’ve been working on. She is far more obedient, even when there’s no treat in sight.

Hmmm other stuff this weekend, I went to a show for the first time in forever. I made about 17 gallons of vegetable soup. Hung out at my parents’ house. That’s about it.

I’m sick. I wanted to call in so bad this morning but I can’t take any more hours off. It’s killin me.
Mmmmm Thera-Flu.

12 December, 2005
Home for the holidays.

My house is finally coming along a little. While I was snapping pictures of the bachelorette party, I decided to get some of the living room, since it was so clean for a change!

The living room. Very much a work in progress. A mix of vintage, yard sale finds, Ikea and hand-me-downs. If ANYONE has suggestions for those awful, tiny windows, please let me know. My brain thinks long curtains would just make them seem smaller, and I cannot imagine short curtains actually looking good. Soon, the TV stand will be replaced with this original Paul McCobb credenza.

===

The table was a $3 find at a yard sale that I revamped [see documentation of that project here], the chair is a vintage fiberglass Kreuger chair, and the mirrors are those $1 Ikea mirrors, which I painted to match the table. Those are my records inside the table. Sorry I suck at photography.

Closeup of that tabletop.

Christmas tree, and some other furniture. The table was $9 at Target. Note the lucite bud vase (another yard sale find) with holiday berries in it. I didn’t get a good closeup of it, but I’ve gotten several compliments on it. Also note the naked soapy man gift bag and Frederick’s of Hollywood boxes under the tree. Haha.

My first Christmas tree. Jimmy was totally the art director on this tree. I really love how it turned out. Again, I’m a horrible photographer.

The tree, closeup. Bonus of me reflected in the balls. Oh I said balls.

31 October, 2005
The $3 Table Project

So I mentioned in the previous entry that I found a $3 table at a yard sale on Saturday. The guy had a sign on it, “cute table for your LPs.” I thought, okay yeah. It literally fell apart when he put it in my car. He gave me some wood glue and I gave him $3.

I picked up some sandpaper and primer from Lowes and took it home. I wanted to think about the paint color a little bit so I planned to get that the next day. I took it completely apart and sanded and primed it, then left it to dry overnight. The next day I took the pieces to my parents’ house so I could finish painting it in their garage. I also picked up the paint: American Tradition “Summer’s End” and “Grand Hotel Awning Yellow.”

After the first coat with a brush, dad suggested I use a sponge roller instead. I’m really glad I did. The paint went on really smooth. I glued it all back together and put the feet back on. I also scrubbed the feet with steel wool to get the rust off. They aren’t shiny new, but they look TONS better.

And here it is in situ, holding all my LPs and 7-inches. I’m so happy with how it turned out.

21 October, 2005
Bodoni is taking over my kitchen.

Well the internet is fixed. And even though I’m really busy today and worked through lunch to play catch up, I’m gonna take a second to post the pictures of the kitchen backsplash. Just cause I love you guys.

I am going to paint all the walls a warm yellow color. The cabinets will stay white and the trim black. The hardware is going to change too, just haven’t decided to what.

You guys like it?

P.S. If you came here from Eye Magazine or whatever, I’m not the British DJ they wrote about in the article. Sorry to disappoint, they got the URL wrong. But feel free to cruise around anyway.

13 October, 2005
CLOSET: Redone!

Well kids, the closet is complete. And I must say, I’m pretty proud. This set me back about $150 and it’s totally worth every penny. All the hardware came from Lowes except the 4-drawer fabric thing, which is from Ikea.

I totally forgot to take a “BEFORE” shot, which makes me a little sad, but I’ll just describe. Before there was one shelf all the way across the top, with one bar which bent when you put clothes on it. There was a total waste of space (the bottom half of the closet), and a big pile of my shoes on the floor.

Now, without further ado, the money shot:

I think it looks pretty darn good. I want to get boxes for some sweaters, and a bunch of Clear Shoe Boxes from Shoelover to finish it off. I also have some handbags I want to store in there, but I need boxes before I put them in there too.

Oh, and what you can’t see is that there is still about 12” of hanging space on the right behind the door (which is where some hoodies, jackets and blazers are hanging, and on both sides inside the closet there are about 2 feet of space. I’m storing suitcases and things like that in there. Hidden storage is so great.

Also, this totally makes me realize that I am free to buy shoes because I don’t have NEARLY enough shoes to be any sort of respectable woman.

Ahhh I love getting organized!

29 September, 2005
Full of shit

So Tuesday night I had to call the city sewer to come out for the THIRD time to find out why my water was draining into my yard (it’s so cute to have toilet paper coming out of a sewer grate in your front yard). They said they had to do major repairs and would be there in the morning.

Yesterday I came home from work and found this in my yard.

There was that backhoe tractor thing and three huge trucks. The whole street and my driveway were blocked. I had to park around the corner. There was a man with a jackhammer and an 8 by 4 foot huge hole that appeared to be 4 or 5 foot deep and full of something totally ungodly.

The dude looked at me and was all, “Swimming Pool!” Gross.

Jimmy and I went inside and couldn’t even hear each other talk, it was so loud. We got out of there fast.

We went to dinner, to Target and to the gym for an hour. I got home about 9:30 and THEY WERE STILL THERE. Now added to the previous racket were huge spotlights shining everywhere.

I took that through my window screen. I was too scared to show my face to the neighborhood. This totally doesn’t capture the horror of the situation. I was sitting there at 10pm listening to a dinosaur with headlights ravage the front lawn and thinking about how much my neighbors hate me.

Finally after paving the road at about 10:30 at night, the men informed me that they had to rip out the entire water AND sewer lines from my yard to the main and replace it all.

I think the problem is that we have Deadly Atomic Poop and it totally won’t go through normal human-grade sewer lines. Thankfully they replaced them with Super Giant Atomic Poop-grade lines and now everything should be okay.

I wish I had taken a picture of the lawn and the street this morning. It looks like a warzone.

Hey neighborhood, I AM HEEEEERE!

PS, Happy Birthday Heidi!

18 July, 2005
Mine!

Well kids, I officially have a house.

I didn’t want to post a bunch of things, and get all overexcited in case I didn’t get it, but over the weekend, I signed a contract on one of the houses I’d been looking at. I agreed to take the house as-is and make minor repairs and install a stove and fridge, if the sellers would pay all the closing costs and prepaids, and provide a one-year warranty on everything in the house. They agreed and signed. So I have a house!

Now they have to get it appraised, get a termite inspection, and do some paperwork. I will probably move in the 2nd week of August.

Wanna see some photos? Click below.

The front of my house. The yard is very shaded, should help a lot with the cooling bill.

Huge oak? tree sitting right over my house. Might be scary if a hurricane hits. Trees like to fly around here.

About 1/2 of the living room. Taken from the front doorway.

My fabulous mom showing off the kitchen. This is connected to the living room, making one big, open space.

The one bathroom. There’s also a blue bathtub/shower.

One of the two back bedrooms. This will be my office. There is an identical bedroom that will be the guest room.

One of two large cedar closets.

About 1/3 of the master bedroom. It’s a very large room. It was originally the garage, and got closed in. I think it’s meant to be a den/game room, but I am using it for my bedroom because I like the space.

When you come out the door in the master bedroom, this is the view. The gate is behind you. Thinking of putting a deck out here.

Turn the corner, and here’s the rest of my backyard. I think a Boston Terrier is going to love this.