Living Analog

Basement of Shame – Step 1, Admitting You Have a Problem

Posted on March 1, 2013 by CT | 2 comments

I know I keep hinting at a basement that is crazytown full of lord knows what but here’s for real.

This is my “studio”. It is the anteroom to my walk-in closet and right now holds a lot of junk. Pair of chairs I found in an alley in Lafayette Square? Check. All my shoes? Check. Clothes that I bought at Value Village and need to go to a tailor? Check. Laundry that I haven’t hung up in the closet yet because it’s really freaking cold in our basement right now? Check. Random bits and bobs of fabric that I’m saving for any and all future projects? Check. A Gateway Desktop from 2002? Check. (Still chugging.) My teddy bear that Shenanigan chewed the face off of when he was a puppy? Double check. Party favors from our wedding in 2004? Check. Hey it’s reality. We’re lucky to live in the midwest and have a basement! It’s just time to start utilizing all this space a little better.

One good thing this room has going for it is the weird built-in storage left by the former owner (sporting my sorority paddle from Truman, yeah AGD!). That will stay, as will the weird little cabinet that hides the main water shut-off in the corner. Everything else – gone! Put away, donated, used for a project or vaporized to somewhere else. That’s not really true, a lot of the craft supplies and tools will stay along with the computer (I still use it — it has my Adobe Creative Suite I bought in college on it along with AutoCAD 2000!) but this room needs a serious dose of organization.

So first I decided I needed a plan. Like a floor plan. So I measured out my room and the furniture I wanted in there and did a quick CAD plan.

Floor plans and furniture plans are the best part about having access to CAD. If you didn’t, some graph paper could be your best friend — set each box on the graph as an increment (1″ or 6″ or whatever fits) and use that as a guideline for anything you draw. The furniture got cut out so I could rearrange to my heart’s content without lifting any heavy items.

The two brown items are an early 90s Danish desk and the beer pong table that used to be upstairs. They were purchased by my parents at the same time so their finishes match (or used to before the table got used for beer pong). The white rectangle is a folding table and the two blue rectangles are a surprise — something I picked up and am hoarding in my basement from Warehouse of Stuff . . .

Here’s two layouts I liked best. The room has a weird dog leg and the “fancy” built-ins so the options are somewhat limited unless I buy new furniture (not happening). So I’m off to a slow start on what will probably be a long and arduous project.

What are you guys up to this weekend? I finally put on some warm clothes and braved the cold of the basement to start painting our Super Bowl Shelves. (Yep, first coat went on last night. I’m slow at projects, okay!). I’m hoping to get some more done on those and maybe have them hung next week. Cheers – CT

2 Comments

Posted in Basement, Studio

Fashion, For Dogs

Posted on February 26, 2013 by CT | 3 comments

Sophie and Shenanigan’s last set of collars, from Earth Dog, were getting a little grungy and they were starting to make us crazy with the constant jingle jangle of their tags clanging together. So we took them off a while ago and they’ve been naked ever since. At one point I had found a tutorial and was going to try my hand at making them new ones myself but finally realized that was just not in the cards. We were looking like very bad pet guardians with these little wild animals in our house — what if something happened and they got out — No ID! (they are both microchipped but when you see a dog running loose without a collar you don’t usually assume it’s someone’s pet . . . )

So I called on my good friend, Etsy! I ordered and they did arrive.

We got them both collars and leashes from Learned Stitchworks. (Visit shop here). Sophie’s collar is a pattern called “Hearts Galore” and Shenanigan is sporting “Silent Cinema”.

Learned Stitchworks also makes bow ties or flowers in a matching ribbon/fabric to the collars . . . I’m not really supposed to dress the dogs in clothes (per the husband’s request) but I think I might have to get these . . .

They’ve been wearing them for a few weeks now and they are great! We use the martingale style so they are a little looser while we hang out at home but then can tighten down to fit more snugly if we needed to grab them or when you clip a leash on. This style has worked best for us because Shenanigan is kind of a “no neck” and I would feel bad if he had to wear a tight collar all day everyday.

To avoid the tag jingling, we’re going to get the name tags from Petsmart that will rivet right to the collar . . . still haven’t done that — we need to TCB on that one.

My only complaint is that the backside of the leashes are black but this is pretty standard for most of the custom leashes on Etsy.

Here’s Sophie looking regal on her sheepskin covered throne (I mean couch):

And Shenanigan — I rolled over one morning and he had taken JT’s spot on his pillow.

This is a bad iPhone picture of him saying “scratch my face”. Because that’s what dogs say.

Can I just tell you how hard it is to get two idiot dogs to sit still for these photos?

There were a lot of outtakes.

3 Comments

Posted in Dogs

Bathroom – “Phase I” and Long Overdue!

Posted on February 21, 2013 by CT | 5 comments

Thanks to the online diary that is this blog, I can see that I finished up “Phase I” (AKA Lipstick on the Pig) for the bathroom on September 1st. So that means we have been without a mirror in our only bathroom since probably sometime in mid-June of 2012 . . .

It wasn’t the end of the world — there’s a full length mirror in the little hallway just outside the bathroom and we have a little Ikea double-sided vanity mirror that filled in for our missing bathroom mirror. We adjusted. But with a light fixture waiting patiently in a box in the basement and some pennies scratched together, it was time to get that sucker finished!

First we reminisce . . .

This enormous clunky medicine cabinet and beauty of a 5-light exposed bulb bath bar came with the house. When we demoed out the medicine cabinet, it turned out there was a random square of bead board missing on that wall . . . so it had to be covered! Mirror to the rescue.

(Apologies for the picture, I took about 500 but trying to get a light fixture while it’s on and on top of a mirror in the world’s smallest room was no easy feat.) We still have some patching/painting/trim work/caulk to do in that corner but this large mirror (29″ x 48″ with a 4″ hole cut out) is such an improvement.

Here’s a better image of the light fixture since it didn’t photograph too well:

It’s the Trinity bath light by Hudson Valley Lighting and poor JT really had to wrestle it into place. We had a lot of install shenanigans for this thing including hacking an extension cord to extend the wires late on a Sunday night because the mirror was getting installed the next morning.

The bathroom now feels brighter, happier and so much larger. The combination of the large mirror and dark wall & ceiling paint really have improved this room.

We have plenty of storage with the drawers and cabinet under the sink and the new acrylic shelves on the wall that taking out the medicine cabinet wasn’t a deal breaker. Heck I’ve even been toying with the idea of a pedestal sink for Phase II but I’m pretty sure there’s no bead board behind that base cabinet either.

Doing a lot of this work ourselves has been such a learning experience. It feels like everything that can go wrong usually will. We had the glass company install the mirror because I didn’t have a good idea of how JT and I would even survive something like that. We would be found three days later bleeding under mirror shards. The nice thing is that by reading others blogs, I know we aren’t alone in the “old house renovating is a lot of work and unforseen conditions” pity party. So we move on. And enjoy the heck out of our newly refreshed bathroom and use it to wash away all that blood, sweat and tears!

So that’s the latest at Living Analog, what’s new in your world?

I think my expression says, “Um, how do I work this thing!”

Cheers – CT

5 Comments

Posted in Bathroom

Sweetheart Dinner {A Dinner Party Adventure}

Posted on February 20, 2013 by CT | 4 comments

2013 has seen me jump into the deep end on a few things and dinner parties are no exception. For some crazy reason I have been born into the present age with the entertaining habits from 1964. There’s no explaining it but I have always enjoyed the act of throwing a party — planning out the details, outlining a menu, decorating the space, setting a table. Maybe I’m a throwback, I don’t know. At any rate, I always start with an idea or theme and since Valentine’s Day was on Thursday, I settled on a Sweetheart’s Dinner.

Due to a baby’s birth and a crazy work schedule, only one of the other three of JT’s bandmates and his wife were able to join us. Looking back on things, I’m not sure that we could fit eight people into the tiny Living Analog abode.

I tried my hand at a few crafts for this party and some worked out while others were a total fail:

That one-staple heart construction paper heart garland might look all right in the picture but it wasn’t really cutting it. They weren’t really going to hold their heart shape once strung up. I used some fishing wire to hang up a few tissue paper pom-poms in the dining room for that extra pop of red. A few of the small ones I put on a grapevine wreath on the front door.

For the big meal, I scouted the interwebs for some good recipes. The salad we had made before but all the rest were new to us.

Dinner Menu:
Tuscan Bread Salad
Beef Tenderloin
Dilly Stew with Rosemary Dumplings

Dessert:
S’More Pops (see them above in the trophy planter? They were yummy. And not vegan. But I did find vegan marshmallows at Local Harvest Grocery after the fact).
Coffee & Heart Cookies

I used the two Nelson-style slat end tables and the beer-pong table top all scrounged from the wonder that is our basement to create a “glam camping” table. I cut out some more red construction paper into simple hearts for place cards. Because people still use place cards in this day and age, right? Well this old-timer does!

I gathered together all the sheepskins I have managed to amass in our house (no more unless they’re faux!) and also pulled out any and all pillows for extra comfort. Shenanigan immediately honed in on an extra floor-covering and planted himself like a very large parasite on the rug. That dog likes comfort. We banished the dogs to the bedroom during the big event so we didn’t have to worry about any interferences – dinner was so close to the floor and much closer to Shenanigan’s nose height than dinner usually is.

And there is everything all ablaze! We’re lucky we didn’t burn the house down. You can’t see it in the pictures, but the vessel in the middle of the picnic table is actually a firepot we got from my father-in-law a few years back. You put some gel in the middle and light it up. The flames were at least three inches tall during the whole meal. It added some extra excitement to what could have been simple things like passing the bread. All in all I think it went well! We only forgot one thing and nothing burned and/or was inedible (that we know of. . . ). It was really great to spend an evening with friends and enjoy some food and 1964 style hospitality. Next up is a “Mad Men” birthday party for my sister in March, so then I can break out my 1964 style dress (and candy cigarettes I bought for the occasion!). Cheers – CT

4 Comments

Posted in Miscellaneous Diversions

She’s gone off the deep end . . .

Posted on February 14, 2013 by CT | 9 comments

Hi, interwebs, how have you been? I have been hiding under my desk at work while a major deadline came and went. And then at the chiropractor having all the kinks worked out for being crunched under my desk for so long . . . .

Also, I have some news to share and didn’t exactly know what to write so I’ve been hiding under my desk from the Interwebs as well. How to start? How about a little back story . . .

I don’t know if I’ve ever mentioned this here on the blog but I am a LEED accredited professional. What that means is I paid a lot of money for the opportunity to fail a test. It was scary — scarier than gambling even though I was betting on myself and I studied my ass off.

(Image via US Green Building Council)

So, what is LEED? It stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. In short I’m a green freak. I think that is part of what drives my thrift store habit — I’m recycling! On a scale of green-freakiness, I would call myself a 7 out of 10. We don’t have solar panels on our roof (although that would be great) and we don’t have a composting toilet (although the next one we install will be a dual flush).

That’s the back story to tell you I’m part hippie, part practical radical. Now for the next part . . .

For a long time, I’ve also been a vegetarian although really it was bordering on the edge of picky-eater — I was still eating fish, eggs and dairy. The other night, while working on some little touches for our dinner party this weekend, I hit the Netflix for something to watch while my hands were busy. I like to be mindful about my television choices and pick things that might make me smarter or at least not make me dumber and so I settled on “Vegucated”.

(Image via Get Vegucated)

Well I have to say it gave me a long overdue push over the edge . . . Internet, I’m going vegan. No more dairy, eggs, salmon burgers or M&Ms . .. It’s a big jump but I’m ready to do it. I recommend this film to anyone who is interested in knowing where their food comes from and what happens to it before it reaches your plate. (And veganism is good for the environment. Double plus. Oh yeah, and possibly my health. Triple plus.)

So even though I don’t really get into Valentine’s Day, this February 14th I am proclaiming my love for animals. Man animals like my husband (contrary to public belief, it’s not required to become a lesbian to become a vegan), furry dog animals like Sophie and Shenanigan and even bird animals like the one that defiled my window ledge and terrified my kitchen.

P.S. Sorry about the bleeding heart liberal left-wing crazy head nut post there. After this things will go back to design. I visited Warehouse of Stuff and Goodwill by the Pound over the weekend, OUR BATHROOM MIRROR AND LIGHT FIXTURE GOT INSTALLED and lots more good stuff coming your way. Thanks for hanging in there.

P.P.S. I am a practical radical and realize not everyone wants to be a vegan. For the dinner party on Saturday we’re still serving meat. I don’t want to pull a bait and switch on anyone. After this public declaration though, it’s fair game.

9 Comments

Posted in VEGAN

Spastic and Sporadic

Posted on February 6, 2013 by CT | 4 comments

Things have been a bit spastic and sporadic over here at Living Analog. I have about 500 projects half started and zero finished. We’re getting ready for our “Sweetheart’s Dinner” (AKA Valentine’s Dinner Party) and I’ve been really been looking for ways to amp this up and squeeze some juicy blog content out of it. So that led to more projects . . .

So what have I done (besides whining and bellyaching)? Well Pinterest is the devil and sidetracked me with some recipes: baked cinnamon apple chips and homemade cheese-its that I just had to try:

The apple chips were eat-them-right-now-and-then-make-more good. The DIY cheese-its were a little meh. I think I left the dough in the fridge too long and need to roll them thinner. It was good enough to give it a second try — plus it’s nice to make these and know what four ingredients are in them versus the chemical smorgasbord you buy at the store. Off my soapbox now . . . are you on Pinterest? I’m mildly addicted and sometimes majorly annoyed. I’ll pin something and later go to click-through to the original source and . . . nothing. Or spam. Right now my policy is to only repin items — Pinterest is still a gray area for makers and artisans — do they want their items pinned for all to attempt a duplicate? Maybe not. So by only repinning, I’m sort of off the hook when it comes to the point of putting someone else’s item on Pinterest without their permission. The exception to that is items for sale — I totally have a pin board with a crazy expensive purse that I want. I figure if an item is available for internet retail, they only benefit by having it on Pinterest. . . .

That’s me, if you want to meet up over there. I should figure out how to put a linky-thing up for that. I probably also need to start watermarking my photos but that’s for another day . . . no time, too many projects!

Oh yeah . . .another Pinterest project . . .

(Pardon the bad iPhone picture). This is my plan to tie in the arc lamp and all its brassy goodness. Add some more gold/brass! This is a thrift store canvas I picked up for a few dollars and have spray painted metallic. Next step paint like this cool pin:

{Image via this blog}

Now that I look at my version versus their version, I think I am going to retape. I like how this canvas has one major vanishing point . . . back to the drawing board . . . and onto other projects . . .

Here’s something for the dinner party:

I found this little cookie cutter at World Market and it will make little shortbread cookies that sit on the edge of a coffee cup. And I just got new coffee cups that nest into a little serving tray from my mom for Christmas so I know that will be getting used. . . next?

Here’s my view from bed last night. A little progress on the art wall . . .

A project with less progress is the pile ‘o paperwork I dug out of the hall closet for filing, shredding and other such pain in the ass handling. I need to get this sucker finished.

So that is a random wrap-up of the random goings-on at the Living Analog abode. It’s all kinds of spastic and sporadic . . . I’ve got project A.D.D – hopping from one to the next back to another . . .

Speaking of spastic and sporadic, or maybe just neurotic . . . does anyone else sort their M&Ms by color or is that just me . . .

Yep, officially into crazy. Back to the races, I mean projects . . .I mean work. Cheers – CT

4 Comments

Posted in Around the house, Art in Analog, D.I.Y., Design Diversions, In the Bedroom, Miscellaneous Diversions

Super Bowling.

Posted on February 4, 2013 by CT | 4 comments

What did you during the “Big Game”? Watch the commercials and cheer for the Murder Birds? JT and I decided to build some shelves! (This is the normal activity during sporting events, right?) I set the plan in motion by picking out a bunch of lumber and once we dragged it home, it seemed best to just go ahead and put it together right away since otherwise it would be still junking up the music room.

We got the plans/idea from Ana White (originally found via Young House Love), carpenter extraordinaire and we used the living room as our workshop.

The dogs cowered in front of the TV while we worked.

We’re not really a sports house, so we sawed and glued, clamped and drilled during the game and paused for the commercials. I almost couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw the familiar curly grey locks of Wayne Coyne early on in the broadcast. See the commercial on YouTube here.

{Image via Google Images from here}

I immediately imagined the hipster revolt to follow. “The Flaming Lips sold out!” they will cry. Here’s my take: with the sad state of current music being marketed like lunch lady slop to the masses, if the Flaming Lips go quote unquote “mainstream”, isn’t that a good thing? Wouldn’t this signal a return to good taste – to true artistic expression and not contrived trite designed to sell records? And while, by definition, the Lips did “sell out” by allowing their song to be used in a commercial that is selling a car, this clip is pure Flaming Lips. Robots, confetti, inflatable hamster-wheel balls, galactic travelers . . . methinks the Lips had complete artistic control if not a huge say in this video.

I listen to Pandora at work occasionally and they have a really well-written bio of the Flaming Lips — my favorite part is the beginning: “Even within the eclectic world of alternative rock, few bands were so brave, so frequently brilliant, and so deliciously weird as the Flaming Lips.” {Jason Ankeny, Rovi} So even though we didn’t have a team in the “Big Game” race, I still feel like we won.

(And more pictures when we get these shelves sanded, primed, painted and hung. We originally got enough lumber to make three but one of the 1x4s was so warped that we didn’t end up fabricating the third shelf. These ledges are destined for the new music “listening station” I’m creating in the living room.

Cheers – CT

4 Comments

Posted in D.I.Y., Hand Crafted, Living Room

STL News – Designer’s house for sale!

Posted on January 31, 2013 by CT | 3 comments

We’re probably still a few years out from leaving our starter house and I alternately eagerly anticipate and shiver with dread at the thought of selling our home. It means so many projects to finish (scary) and also the start of a new house to decorate (scary good). One of my designer friends from college just went through the process of getting their first home ready for the market and now it’s here. She’s letting me show the pictures and I am so excited! You can tell that a designer lives here — the house has a cohesive feel, great finishes and feels like a comfortable place to live.

Without further adieu: 6830 Plateau

She’s nearby in Dogtown with a little brick bungalow similar to ours. But with a finished basement, they gained so much space!

Don’t you love all the detailing on the plaster walls? That shade of grey in the dining room is great (and the chevron rug!) I really love all the artwork — it ties everything together.

For the size of their brick bungalow house, to have this much space in a bathroom and kitchen is pretty unheard of. I need to find out where that hallway rug came from because I love it.

Miss Mila’s room — recognize the message board that her mom made at one of our Stitch and Bitches? Great to see it in situ.

There’s more — a great downstairs with another amazing bathroom and they also have a great backyard – perfect for entertaining. Hop over to the listing for more information: http://www.circastl.com/listing/6830-plateau-ave. That was fun. I’ll have to look around for some more houses to visit. I think that is part of why I enjoy the blogosphere so much — getting to see into people’s homes and also getting to share mine! Cheers – CT

Post Script: For those of you interested in the runner rug like I am, I found out it’s from Crate & Barrel.

3 Comments

Posted in House Guest

Up next in the bedroom, an art wall

Posted on January 28, 2013 by CT | 4 comments

Now that we’re fully up and operational in 2013, I’m working on getting some momentum in the bedroom. (I’m referring to decorating momentum for those of you mind-in-the-gutter-folks.) Over the years I’ve accumulated a lot of little odds and ends to be framed and I’ve been stashing them away. This year I want to create two gallery “art” walls – one in the bedroom and another in the living room.

So I began by unearthing all my treasures.

I’m a hoarder. I had a roll-up tube of things I didn’t even get out because I’m pretty sure it still has a “City of Angels” movie poster from my days in high school working at the local Blockbuster. Also, the bedroom is still in its redecorating funk (e.g. when it gets worse before it gets better. )

Next I sorted my finds into two groupings based on color and feel. The grouping for the living room has more of the brighter colors and the grouping for the bedroom is a little more muted. Nothing is set in stone here but I wanted to get a feel for what I could use.

Here’s what came together for the bedroom grouping:

(Also the extra-large canvas is moving back in from its temporary home in the living room.) Only one item here did I spend actual cash money on — the Bernard Buffet print. (My art terminology is not good — is it called a print or a reproduction? It seems to be printed on a thick chipboard paper.) The rest of these items were either given to me, like the collage by Susan Springer Anderson or scrounged by me (everything else).

Nothing is too sacred or too silly around our house to not end up in a frame. I view everything with the eyes of a scavenger and think about what use and/or re-use I can find for it.

Serendipitously, my sister and I had a date with Goodwill this weekend (the one on Watson) as we were out doing some wedding craft things. (I also had culled two large bags of stuff to drop off and then in we went as part of my frigid winter spring cleaning.) Low and behold, six larger picture frames for a grand total of $17.

(Pardon me but it appears this picture has a hint of dog butt as well. That happens a lot in our house.) I still haven’t decided what color to keep the frames but it’s a start. Art wall 2013.

4 Comments

Posted in Art in Analog, In the Bedroom

What to do when unexpected houseguests arrive . . .

Posted on January 25, 2013 by CT | 6 comments

(Answer: Scream?)

Normally JT gets home from work before I do but yesterday I had to travel for work and arrived home a little earlier (since I also left the house a little earlier at 5:00 am). When I got home, there was an unexpected houseguest waiting for me.

A bird! We think it must have come down the chimney somehow. (In my grainy iPhone picture it almost looks like an Eames House Bird. Don’t I wish. It was real. And really terrified.)

Picture this frantic phone call: Me: “There’s a BIRD IN THE HOUSE {SCREEEEEAM}. JT: “There’s a burglar? Calm down, what is happening?” Me: “No, there’s a BIRD IN THE HOUSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”. Cue hysterical laughing on husband’s end of phone as all his co-workers within a four cubicle radius hear my screeching through the phone.

I finally got it together, opened an umbrella over my head and got the doors open to shoo the bird out. He left his mess behind.

The irony is that while I like most animals, I do not like birds so coming home to a freaked out one in my kitchen almost put me over the edge. They’re like little feathered dinosaurs. However I do have bird decor items, like this little tealight holder from CB2 that is right now living on the new lamp/table.

Why is it that I think something is cute in the ceramic form but not the real life form?

Have a great weekend everyone! I’m going to try to make the most of the daylight this weekend by taking a lot of pictures of things we have going on around the house. . . . more to come (hopefully no more birds though!) Cheers – CT

6 Comments

Posted in Around the house, Miscellaneous Diversions

Living Analog

Basement of Shame – Step 1, Admitting You Have a Problem

Fashion, For Dogs

Bathroom – “Phase I” and Long Overdue!

Sweetheart Dinner {A Dinner Party Adventure}

She’s gone off the deep end . . .

Spastic and Sporadic

Super Bowling.

STL News – Designer’s house for sale!

Up next in the bedroom, an art wall

What to do when unexpected houseguests arrive . . .

Lately at Living Analog . . .

Subscribe to Living Analog

Search

Tweets . . .

Everywhere Else

Phoenix-ish

STL-ish