Category Archives: Around the house

January – Time for changes, even if little

Posted on January 7, 2013 by | 2 comments

A new year means a new fridge right?  Not quite.  The one we bought with the house is still chugging along and while I’d love to chuck it into the alley sometimes, I just can’t quite reconcile myself with replacing something that is working.

But I did tweak the big ugly blank side of the fridge last May with some craft paper.  (See the whole post here.) My how time flies when you’re having fun.  And as the time has passed, so has the paper worn.  Turns out paper and water droplets (from the hand drying towel hanging there) don’t really mix so well . . . .

SIDE BY SIDE

I was still reluctant to actually paint the fridge with chalkboard paint instead so I ordered a roll of contact paper that is also a chalkboard surface from Amazon.  The roll wasn’t nearly as wide as the paper was which I don’t love but until I can get on board with painting the fridge (or buying a Smeg!), this is what we get.  There were a few air bubbles that didn’t come all the way out but it was a pretty simple install process.  It was definitely a two-man job though — JT and I took turns holding the bottom away from the fridge while the other smoothed out the contact paper with a large piece of sample laminate I had on hand.

FULL NEW

I think the contact paper chalkboard could be a great option for renters who don’t like the look of a door or cabinets — just stick a chalkboard on it (the new version of put a bird on it!).

Since the chalkboard paper was sticky-backed it freed up a bunch of our heavy-duty magnets to stick some more knives and utensils to the side of the fridge.  I gave them a crime scene-esque chalk outline so we’d know which one was in use or in the dishwasher.  Now that the holidays are behind us, we’ve been cooking at home a lot and from scratch, so having these knives within easy reach is great.  We also got a juicer and started down that path so many, many fruits and vegetables are being murdered in our kitchen.

NEW CLOSE UP2

JT wrote a little note to the dogs down at the bottom reminding them to behave.  I got very different results when I tried to coax them into modeling for the blog: Sophie was terrified and Shenanigan was nonchalant and/or impatiently waiting for the treat I bribed them with.

DOGS BY FRIDGE

Little dude had to go to the vet on Saturday because we found a weird bulge on his side.  Turns out it’s a fatty but benign tumor.  Sophie’s been having problems with one of her back legs that the vet said is exacerbated by her weight so it looks like both dogs will be on the eating healthy bandwagon with us in 2013!  Good thing that the kitchen is fine-tuned and ready to go.  I’ve been doing a little work to the pantry as well and that will be an up and coming post.  Have a great week everyone!  Cheers – CT

2 Comments

Posted in Around the house, Dogs, Kitchen

2013: The Year of Wine

Posted on January 2, 2013 by | 4 comments

So I think we are fast forwarding through the holiday recap.  I mean, they’re done.  Gifts were given and received, food was made and (hopefully) enjoyed and fun was had by all.

JT AND CT

(Here we are at church on Christmas Eve.  Sit up straight girlfriend! See — trying to be in more pictures equals total fail.  But I’m posting it so maybe not a total fail.)

At the end of the day Christmas had me a little worn out.   It’s definitely first world problems — we have three houses to go to and three sets of presents to distribute and open, three meals to eat . . . there are way worse things in the world to have to contend with.  But the thought of spending the holidays poolside on a cruise ship or nestled into a ski lodge with just the husband always pops up in my mind as we hustle and bustle back and forth down the highway from one house to another.

Here's where Shenanigan crashed after Christmas.

Here’s where Shenanigan crashed after Christmas.

So in an effort to relax and unwind a little more and not let the stresses get at me so much, I declared 2013 the Year of Wine.  My family was happy to comply and we were stocked up and ready to go . . . .with no real place to keep all this great fermented grape juice. I also paid a first-time visit to St. Louis Cellars for a few more . . . just in case we ran out.

They happened to be having a bubbly tasting that day (it was December 31st) so had got a bottle of Luxe for our New Year’s Eve AND 8th Wedding Anniversary celebration.

I did navy blue nails for NYE. Blue's my color for sure.

I did navy blue nails for NYE. Blue’s my color for sure.

And yes those are our party favors from 8 years ago.  The loudest party horns known to man (and frightening to animals).  But back to the matter at hand.  Storing all this great wine.

When I started rearranging things all over the house, I had a plan for where I wanted to hang the Ikea Lack floating wall shelves.  Well I “shelved” that plan and focused on this wall instead:

BEFORE

(The wall with art that was an anniversary gift!) Along came a handy template for hanging purposes:

TEMPLATING

And now the Year of Wine can begin.

AFTER

The wine rack was a wedding gift from friends and has been hiding in the basement waiting for a good spot to live in our tiny house.

FINAL CLOSE UP

My plan is to sip a little vino and relax in the evenings.  I guess husband will be drinking the whisky because I haven’t acquired those taste buds yet.  If you have a minute, hop over to “From the Right Bank” and read Ally’s post about living La Belle Vie and enjoying everyday moments.  It’s important to slow down and appreciate what is happening around us.  That’s what I’ll be doing when I sip my wine. Savoring my surroundings and my time with family and friends.  What will you be doing in 2013?  Whatever it is, be sure to sip, savor and enjoy!  Cheers – CT

4 Comments

Posted in Around the house, Dogs, Furniture

Decorating for Christmas, Part Two

Posted on December 11, 2012 by | 2 comments

Our first Christmas card arrived the other day and I was so excited to put it up on the mirror like last year.  I’m hoping more are on their way . . .

OVERALL MANTEL

If they’re not it’s because we haven’t sent out cards at all, mainly because it’s just the husband and I, and no one wants to see our mugs year after year.  But we wanted a picture to sent to JT’s grandma this year and came to find that really we haven’t taken many of just the two of us in the last almost eight years of marriage. . . . something that will need to be remedied soon.  The photographer who did my sister’s engagement photos was really great . . . .

Also some presents are wrapped! Sticking with my “white and bright” theme, I picked up a roll of plain white wrapping paper.  I still need to add some embellishments in the form of tags and ribbon and then they will be all done!   I wish I could say we’re all done with shopping but that’s never the case.  There’s always someone a little trickier to buy for. (You know who you are.)

While putting up our decorations this year, there was one spot that felt a little bare.  While browsing through my daily Google Reader feed a few days ago, I saw a wreath that reached out of the computer screen and pulled me in.  I HAD to have it.  Immediately.  I haven’t felt the urge to acquire something that strongly in a while.  Check out this post on the Nesting Place here and see if you can spot what I spotted.

BARE SPOT

Or . . .  I’ll just go ahead and show you what I did!

THE WREATH MAKES IT COMPLETE

I figured rather than buy, why not make!  I still had some paper left over from my punched dots garland and off I went.

TO MAKE

At first I thought I needed to get a wreath form or something more round to attach my paper leaves to but I still wanted the wreath IMMEDIATELY and didn’t necessarily want to start spending money on something I had already started for free.    So I used a large bowl and a little dessert plate to trace out my circles on cardboard.

HOT GLUE WARMS THE SOUL

My sisal rope from Home Depot is still going strong so I used that to hang it in what I’d like to consider a simple-yet-casual arrangement.  There was one spot on the wreath that was a little flattened out already from my learning curve as I glued the leaves down so I looped the twine around that section.

CLOSE UP

I also had a couple of sections of white twinkle lights left over from my teenage years when Leonardo DiCaprio was Romeo and Claire Danes was Juliet and I listened to Sarah McLachlan a lot in my bedroom.  You know, the nineties.  I wrapped them up into a little white light twinkle ball and nonchalantly set that on the window ledge to complete the holiday decorating.

I still had one other task at hand — that pesky green painters tape I used to rig up the mantel.  After a quick trip to Target (kidding – when is it ever a quick trip!) I had my white duct tape and fixed up the mantel.

WHITE DUCT TAPE SAVES THE DAY

Doesn’t it look like I photoshopped that picture or something!  It’s magical!  And then . . . I saw something else  I could use the white duct tape for . . . at guess where . . . . The Nesting Place.  Check it out – this is next.  Watch out mantel!

2 Comments

Posted in Around the house, D.I.Y., Design Diversions

It’s that time again . . .

Posted on December 6, 2012 by | 4 comments

. . . time to watch “Love Actually” while putting up your Christmas tree, of course!  Bill Nighy is my favorite in this movie.

LOVE ACTUALLY

I’m a little bit on the grinch-y side of things when it comes to the holidays but really I don’t mind any excuse to decorate.  Actually I think everyone might benefit from having twinkle lights up year round.  The world would be a happier, more peaceful place.

Every year I look at what we have in our Christmas bins and try a different combination.  Some years have been red and silver, one year was chocolate brown and cream,  last year I used some wicker/wood garland and so on and so on.   I decided my decorating theme for this year was “white and bright”.  That meant stringing up my new white paper-punch garland, putting all white candles on the mantel and finishing it off with Elvis in a white jumpsuit as the tree topper.  Have a look.

XMAS TREE STRAIGHT ON

MANTEL

I need to switch out the green painter’s tape for white duct tape.  Pretty much everything is held up and/or together with some combination of painter’s tape, fishing line or green or clear metal paddle wire.

TABLETOP DETAIL

I edited down the table top to things that seemed to go with the scheme and found these cute striped napkins hiding out in our McCobb bar/secretary.  I put them out on the table with strict instructions to the husband not to actually USE them . . . That’s normal, right?

Here’s the dogs as they always are each time I take these pictures:

DOGS ON SOFA

Lazy.

Sophie made a cameo in last year’s photos and I think she was in the exact same place this year.  Funny the difference (or not) a year can make.

Christmas 2011

XMAS 2011

Christmas 2012

XMAS OVERALL 2

Basically all the furniture in this room has been changed out since last year except the sofa and that’s about to be off the island soon too.  The difference in the fireplace from last year to this year is dramatic.  Here’s another view:

Christmas 2011

XMAS 2011 #2

Christmas 2012

XMAS OVERALL 1

And just for grins (or grimaces!) I found an image from Christmas of 2010.  No Sophie the dog this time, just really bad photography:

xmas_1

Yep, we are really loving our new accent wall and fireplace.   Once again for the books – Christmas 2012 with a bullet:

XMAS TREE STRAIGHT ON

(PS – That errant power cord has been tucked back in under the sheepskins where it belongs!  It’s amazing how I notice things when I review my photographs that I never noticed in real life!)

So what’s your favorite part about decorating for the holidays (besides the twinkle lights)?  Does anyone else change their color scheme and decorations year-to-year? I know I’m not the only one!  Cheers – CT

4 Comments

Posted in Around the house, Design Diversions, Dogs

Music Room Meet Office

Posted on November 30, 2012 by | 4 comments

Maybe a good holiday gift for the Living Analog household would be those little “moving men” furniture sliders because we have been doing an awful lot of moving furniture around in this house.  It’s all a part of the “waste not, want not” philosophy and it works wonders.  If your house/room/life is needing a jolt, just rearrange!  It really is amazing how moving the furniture around can let you rediscover a room in your house – and usually for free!

So without further adieu, the music room.  It’s looked like this for a while now:

BEFORE 3

Lots of guitar and amp space, lots of seating – two chairs, the storage cabinet/bench, a stool and an ottoman.

BEFORE 1

Bookshelves that are getting out of hand and need to be cleaned/organized/staged/styled/whatever it is that amazing internet bloggers/stylers do to their bookshelves.

BEFORE 2

With a lot of the changes taking place in the bedroom and living room, the laptop was looking for a place to land.  Also, starting next year, JT will have the option to work from home one week a month and so we needed a proper office. Furniture rearranging commence.

Here’s the layout we settled on.  Everything that was in the room stayed except for the Eames rocker which moved to the bedroom.  The table desk I had bought a while back at a hotel liquidation store for $10.  It was originally a nice hotel warm oak color so I had painted it black to go in the last iteration of the office/music room and it held JT’s recorder.  Then it went downstairs and I had painted it white thinking I would use it for my dressing table.  That didn’t happen so it because our new desk!

AFTER VIEW LOOKING AT DESKAFTER WITH DOGS

Already we are using this room so much more (online holiday shopping and the like.)  And with the desk at a right angle to the wall, you can be a part of what is happening in the room while you’re on the computer.

Here’s a view from behind the desk:

AFTER FROM ABOVE

The pictures are making it look small but it feels comfortable in real life.  Don’t get me wrong, this room is about the size of a postage stamp but there is plenty of circulation room and all the cabinet doors and drawers can open just fine.  The five-foot-long storage drawer we were using as a bench also works well as a guitar display surface for guitar stands and casually leaned pictures so while we lost a little seating by not using it as a bench, all the functions of the room are still there.  Most of JT’s guitars are packed up for the winter right now and live in the little closet behind the American flag so we may have to look at our layout again when those come out in the spring.

PHOTOBOMB

And I’ll leave you with this Shenanigan photobomb.  What an idiot.

4 Comments

Posted in Around the house, Furniture, Guitars

The Furniture Shuffle

Posted on November 27, 2012 by | 2 comments

Things have started to move around the house.  As if by little ghosts.  Or me dragging and cursing them on a towel.

Here’s a wall in the living room before.

Yeah, those shelves are down too.  The holes are patched and painted. 

And a wall in the bedroom before. (Some great night time photography by yours truly.  Sorry.  Also please remember we have not done one thing to this bedroom.  Yet.)

And look at it now!  The desk from the living room became my dressing table in the bedroom.  I love that little Lucite and white vinyl stool more than life itself.

Still not a whole lot happening but it’s starting to go places.

Speaking of places, here’s another wall in the bedroom:

And then it got the shuffle too.  And paint!  See that little green piece of painter’s tape in the “before” above? We had been living with it for a while to see if it felt right.  And we decided it did. . .

When I saw Emily Henderson (of Secrets from a Stylist on HGTV)’s post about her guest bedroom and a painted picture rail, I knew the idea was a perfect fit for our bedroom.  We’ve been going back and forth about what color to paint in here, the only unpainted (by us) room in the house.  At first we thought of dark, dark walls, the better for sleeping all day and ignoring the world.  Then I got nervous that in a future resale situation light, white walls would be better.  So this is the best of both.  The colors are Sherwin Williams Urbane Bronze below (to about 5’7″ AFF) and then Shoji White above.  I still had paint on hand from the last accent wall in the living room (Urbane Bronze) and the second to last accent wall color (Shoji White).  Waste not, want not.   And it’s nice that the bedroom is cohesive with the rest of the house’s color palette.

It’s loverly.  (The big bullet planter was in the bedroom acting as an incense holder — I was trying to get rid of all the paint smells.)

And then, once that wall got looking nice, it went back to disaster.

The cabinet from JT’s dad finally made its appearance in the bedroom!  This is the Annie Sloane chalk paint extravaganza that I’ve been having.  And it’s not over yet.  I’m excited to have the little TV tucked away behind doors along with its stupid bunny ears (see the before picture above.)  We never really watch TV in here but it’s nice to have a secondary TV just in case one of us (me) wants to watch a really girly movie and the other doesn’t (husband).  It also comes in handy when the storm sirens go off at night so we can check and see if we need to go to the basement (during tornado season, joys of living in the Midwest).

So that’s what I got.  One part of one wall painted, three and a half to go.  One part of one cabinet painted and waxed, doors and drawers to go.  At some point – a headboard to be built, accessories to be added and more photographs to be taken.  Hold on tight, this bedroom is going for a ride.

Our great furniture shuffle has also left our dressers homeless.  I love them and have used them in the music room before switching them into the bedroom but they just don’t fit anywhere anymore.  A matched pair of anything is like gold in my world.  If you know anyone who would want to adopt them, they’re on the ‘list right now: http://stlouis.craigslist.org/fuo/3435893278.html

2 Comments

Posted in Around the house, Furniture, In the Bedroom

Only a few more hours of work left . . .

Posted on November 21, 2012 by | 2 comments

And then a nice four day weekend!  Filled with tofurkey! 

You don’t eat tofurkey?  You’re probably not missing out.  Even though Turkey Day is impending, I seem to have other holidays on the mind . . .

With the help of my trusty sewing machine, some thread (I’ve done both lime green and dark gray),  a 1″ hole punch and some left-over paper I  trimmed off a presentation at work, we have garland.  (There have been a lot of good documentaries on PBS lately — the garland has given me a way to get in a little TV fix while still getting something done.  Husband hasn’t complained about having to watch the TV on loud to compensate for the whir of the sewing machine.  Yet.)  I’m kind of ready to get this non-turkey eating day over with and on to hanging up my miles and miles of garland!

As we race towards the end of 2012, I’ve been trying to get going on the “big change-up” I so carelessly promised my loyal readers (all five! I love you guys!)

So the other night I spent pushing around all the larger furniture items in the house on towels.  Good times.  Right now it’s still craziness so no photos (and it is PITCH BLACK when I get home from work and pretty dark when I leave in the morning too.  Boo.  And not good for photo taking.)

Here’s where things are headed:

The dressers will eventually be making a big exit and making room for some more changes . . . .

What else.  I know you guys like my “furniture funnies”.  I got this email today.

Yeah. What they said. . . . (Don’t you want to meet the person who had to sew a turkey costume for a chair?)

Have a good one guys!

2 Comments

Posted in Around the house, D.I.Y., Design Diversions, Furniture, Hand Crafted, Miscellaneous Diversions

Hello November.

Posted on November 9, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Hello internet friends.  Where has the time gone?  It’s November and I’m not sure how we got here!

I mean I guess I realize that time has passed . . .

 

We had fireworks in October!  (To make up for the ones cancelled in July due to excessive heat/dry grass/fire risk).  It’s a lot different when it’s 40 degrees out!

Halloween of course.  Shenanigan was Evil Kneivel and wanted to eat the few trick-or-treaters we did see.

Perhaps that’s because the front porch light is dead.  Hey husband, can we put up the new one this weekend? 

(Found for $10 at St. Vincent de Paul and patiently awaiting its time to shine in the basement of doom.)

A sister visit and a trip to Casa Loma ballroom to see her swing it.

(Picture borrowed from sister’s friend’s Facebook page.  The wonders of the internet.)

There was a family friend’s wedding and subsequent reception at the Randall Gallery downtown. (This is my mom and her boyfriend.  Hi Mom!)

There’s another wedding on the horizon and that requires bridesmaid dresses. So there was bridesmaid dress shopping. 

And those elections!!!  This was the first year husband and I got to go vote together due to some laziness on my part in getting my voter card updated from our first apartment’s address . . .

And every chance I get I sneak down to the basement and slave over my armoire project.  I almost have it all painted (Annie Sloane chalk paint newbie here) and next up is waxing.  This thing has required so many coats and has so many sides that this may be my first and last chalk paint project.  We’ll see.

So that’s a few things that have passed the time.  What about you guys?

Leave a comment

Posted in Around the house, Dogs, Furniture

Call it serendipity.

Posted on October 29, 2012 by | 6 comments

For some reason I kept finding these chairs in our alley (two pairs at two very different times.  Like months apart.)

For some reason they didn’t sell at the Green Shag sale . . .

I’m going with serendipity because now that we’ve brought in our tulip table (which in another hit of serendipity is also from Ikea), the wood chairs seem to be just the thing to balance out the white classic coolness of the table.

Here’s a few of the ‘before’ shots — first we had the rectangular wood table with the MCM sofa, then the Tulip with the MCM sofa and two Karim Rashid Oh Chairs. . .

The Oh chairs were a Christmas gift from my mom and I’m holding on to them for seating on the back porch (a scary room I have yet to share on the blog).  The MCM sofa found a new home via Craigslist and I hope it will be much loved.

(The image above shows our lovely St. Louis Rams getting destroyed while playing the Patriots in London.  I’m not much into sports but I am jealous that they got a trip to London. All in a Sunday afternoon — watching football, taking blog photos, folding laundry and making kale soup – you know, the usual.)

We’re loving our new setup — while I enjoyed having the sofa act as banquette seating, it’s also nice to be able to move the table a little closer to the windows and the new layout allows the drapes to be a little more flow-y and nice.  Now I have to go update our floor plan — again!  More changes to come  . . . . and I think in November we’re going to start some projects in the bedroom as well.  Last room of the house to get any attention!  Cheers – CT

(P.S. I would also call it serendipity that I bought so many faux sheepskins on our last Ikea run — they really help soften up the wood chairs and they help me get in the mood for all the fall/winter activities soon to be upon us.)

6 Comments

Posted in Around the house, Furniture, Thrifting

Tulips are springing up all over

Posted on October 24, 2012 by | 11 comments

The tulip table is something almost all designers dream about and most end up owning at some point. . . . I’ve been dreaming about them for some time — see my “desperately seeking Saarinen” post from over a year ago . . .

I mentioned a little while ago that I’d gone off my rocker and decided to totally re-shuffle most of the whole house.  I made a detailed list and sent it to the husband with the email title “my evil plan”.  And it included a tulip!

After all the work of hefting, moving and lugging furniture for the Green Shag sale on Saturday, I had a few loose pennies in my pocket and a hankering to check out Modern Vintage Decor, a shop I had found via my friend Craig and his list.  Thanks also to Craig, I knew there was a Tulip table waiting there with my name on it. 

It frees up so much more room than the beer-pong-battered table we had been using before (now in the basement maybe for future beer-pong tournaments).

It’s not the real thing or even a Burke but I still love it and all its one-legged goodness.

The inviting circular shape plays well with the coffee table and softens the whole room.

 
I even did a bit of fall/Halloween styling, pulling a ceramic pumpkin out of my stash and switching out the white candle holders for these gorgeous turned wood ones that JT’s cousin made for us as a wedding gift.

Yep, here’s the dog shot.  Attack of the two-headed couch chameleon.  I guess they like the new table too . .  .

So that’s step one of the new Living Analog Living Room . . . . more craziness (as ever) to come!

P.S. Happy Birthday (again) Sister!  I haven’t told the interwebs yet but we are planning your wedding!  Oops, I just did.  Now maybe I’ll do a post about it!

 

11 Comments

Posted in Around the house, Dogs, Furniture