things that get me ridiculously excited

I went to Target last night on a mission.  My bedroom is a mess and has been for months, pretty much since I painted my spare room (need to do a post on that...later).  I'm uninspired and unorganized and it's incredibly frustrating.  I also haven't been sleeping well and I think it's partly from all the clutter.

My list:
* boxes for the small bookcase
I keep my camisoles and ribbed tanks here and when I'm in a mad rush in the morning (every morning), I just throw them back on the shelf.  If I had nice containers, at least I wouldn't see the piles

* hanging shelves for shoes

I have too many shoes.  I hold on to ones I've never worn or haven't worn in years just in case.  I keep them in their boxes because when everything is in a box and they're all nicely stacked, I find it very pleasing.  The problem is that it's annoying to put them back in the box in the mad morning rush or at night when I just want to go to bed.  It all ends up a jumble of boxes:

And I end up wearing the same few pairs of shoes over and over again anyway, why not keep them more accessible?  Out of season shoes can stay on the top shelf of my closet, but I'll pare down the collection so the lower shelf can be available for jeans and sweaters.

I tried having hanging shelves for jeans and sweaters, but I just have too many.  I had to stuff too many onto each shelf and it made pulling them out difficult.  I'd have to pull out the whole stack and then you can guess what would happen - a pile on the floor instead of them put neatly away.

I was moderately successful.  I got the shoe shelves and hung them up - and love them.  They aren't going to work for my city boots and my athletic sneakers each need their own cubby, but they're perfect for flats and Chucks and the moderate heels that I wear most often.  Yay!  It will take a while to see if I can actually keep this up, but it's SO nice to have my shoes easily accessible yet not on the floor (or under the bed, under the bureau...)

Online, what I bought is being sold for $25, but at the store, it was $12.  The Thomas O'Brien version was $16 and slightly prettier, but not enough for me to spring for the extra $4.  I was definitely in a frugal mood last night.

And I did get some boxes, but they're not right.  They're basically like these except magenta:

Love the color - just about the same as my nightstands, but the sides are angled so they look awkward on the bookcases. Bah.  So on with the search.  But at least now I know that Target does not have what I need.  Maybe Ikea?

I also bought some stuff that wasn't on my list.  Is it possible to go to Target and stay to your list?

Remember my plan for my bedroom?  The gray/pink/magenta/brass look?  I had abandoned it because I couldn't find anything charcoal gray.  Pale gray, sure, but that wasn't what I wanted.  Well, last night I saw a charcoal gray quilt and matching charcoal gray sheets.  And I bought them.  I didn't even bring them upstairs so will have to see how they go with my pink coverlet, but they seem to have a tinge of pink to them so should coordinate nicely.  And I'm thinking that if I add a cushy blanket, it should be all warm and cozy without having to deal with a duvet.  Because I'm over my duvet.  It shifts too much, falls off the bed too easily - overall just isn't right.  I think this idea will be much better.  Yay!

my front yard

My sister snapped this picture last weekend.  The previous owner left this saint in the front yard, probably because he was hidden amongst the bushes in one corner.  I moved him closer to the front thinking I'd put him on Freecycle.  I haven't gotten around to that and my wild, wild yard has grown around him.  I still need to find him a new home, but from the right angle he looks right at home!

too much personality

I definitely need to repaint my living room.  I was running errands with my sister this weekend and we saw some pretty ribbon that got me thinking about how I need to finish my lamp project.  Some ribbon trim on the lampshade would really perk it up and just a little more glue would help keep it upright.  But I didn't want to get ribbon until I had throw pillows that I actually like.  And that got me thinking - again - about how I have such a hard time picking colors to go with my living room and that it's because I don't like the color of my walls. 

But why?  I love turquoise.  I love this shade of turquoise.  I love that it's so bold.  In my head, this was exactly the way the color was supposed to turn out.  It goes with my paintings, it goes with my mood.  It's cozy and dark at night when I'm watching a movie.  It's lively and bright when I have a party.  But I still don't like it.  And I think I figured out why - it has too much personality.  It pulls the eye away from my art, from the antique quilt, from everything.  I keep wanting to pair it with lime green and while I think that would look great, it's not what I want.  It would make the room even more boisterous.  And then to have the high contrast of white furniture against the dark blue walls?  Just too much.

I want my walls to be background actors, not stars.  My guests, my art - those are the stars.  It's time to take the movie of my life back from its setting.