14 people for dinner!

Monday night I hosted a Passover seder at my house.  My dad's side of the family is Jewish, but I was raised Unitarian Universalist so we never had a seder at our house.  I have, however, been to plenty and it's always been one of my favorite holidays.  So when a friend mentioned that she had never been to one, I decided it was time for me to hold my own.  I invited friends and family and ended up with 14 people saying yes.  Fourteen!  In my teeny tiny house.  But I made it work.

First up was clearing out my living room by moving the brown chest and the coffee table upstairs.  I also took my TV upstairs so I could use the bookcase as a sideboard.

Then I moved in a folding table borrowed from my mom and 5 of her folding chairs to add to my 2 folding chairs, my 4 Ikea chairs, 1 random straight chair and the wicker and orange chairs.  I considered just using my couch as seating, but it's too low.  The two tables were perpendicular to each other, which was mandated by the space but also added a fun dynamic.  At least I like to think so :)

Sorry for the blurry pictures - they were the best I had. 

As people arrived with bottles of wine, I told them to just plop them on the table and head outside for cocktails.  As I continued to prep, I rearranged the stuff on the tables and the wine ended up on the bookcase-turned-sideboard.

Next was gathering dishes.  I have 5 Apilco Tradition dinner plates from Williams Sonoma that I adore.  Adore!  But they're kinda pricey.  And I really don't need a dozen of them.  So I started researching and turns out that Pottery Barn's Caterer set is the best value.  A dozen white plates for $49 + a 10% off coupon.  Can't beat that with a bat (believe me, I tried), so I bought them. 

Harder to find were decent soup bowls.  Matzoh ball soup is pretty much a requirement at Passover, but then I've often thought about serving soups or pasta for a dinner party, but don't have enough bowls.  Again, I have 2 from Apilco (the Tres Grande style this time), but again, they're too pricey to buy by the dozen.  At least for my lifestyle.  So I supplemented with 6 from Target.  They're an inch narrower and kinda shallow, but they were cheap and they were just fine.  The others were some that I've had forever - also from Williams Sonoma, but they have this raised pattern that I kinda hate because food gets trapped in the crevices.  Replacing those with Apilco is pretty high on my wishlist, but I had lots more to buy so not happening right now.

Target really did make up most of my purchases.  Oneida flatware, sold in sets of 6.  Champagne and water glasses bought online where they were having a sale.  Seder and matzoh plates.  Tablecloths.  Napkins.  Napkin rings.  A runner to go on top of the bookcase.  A new platter and serving bowl.  All are items that were perfect for this dinner, will be perfect for future dinner parties and that are useful to just have in general. 

I also hit up Salvation Army.  I went there looking for brass candlesticks and came home with 5 - plus a really pretty porcelain bowl decorated with blue, green and yellow flowers.  I adore this bowl and can't believe someone gave it away.  I also borrowed two candlesticks from my sister and brought two down from the bookcase in the spare bedroom.

Everything else I already had and I'm pretty excited that the next time I have a big dinner party, I shouldn't have to buy anything at all!

Before:

After:

existential crisis mode

My living room bothers me to no end.  If I had all the money in the world, I know exactly how I would decorate it.  Farrow & Ball, Jonathan Adler, Horchow, Madeline Weinrib, 1st Dibs, Rejuvenation.  But I'm on a Salvation Army & Ikea budget.  Which in theory, I don't mind.  I loooove that my orange chair was only $40 and I rescued it from a quiet corner of Salvation Army.  The Ikea bookcase in my spare room is so perfect I can't imagine anything else in its place.  My bed is a dream.  Has held up for over twelve years and the rails are narrow enough that I can hang hangers of clothes to dry, unlike Pottery Barn's version.  Or, you know, onesies for a baby shower banner.

Why spend gobs when I can get something better for less?  And that's more unique to boot?  I like furniture with character, even if it also comes with a few bumps and scrapes.  I grew up with antiques that were only old mostly because no one in my mom's family could ever afford to buy new.

But it takes time to find the diamonds in the rough.  One has to spend just about every weekend looking at the new inventory at thrift stores, whereas I can check what's new at 1st Dibs while on hold here at work.  Love multitasking.  Heck, I don't even like shopping for clothes in person.  Let me check out your selection online and try it on in the comfort of my own home.  Though buying furniture on line is hard.  I fell in love with several couches online from Mitchell Gold and Macy's only to hate them in person.  And it's a heck of a lot harder to return a bureau than a blouse. 

And then, of course, the thrift store finds often need a little TLC once they're home.  Paint, new hardware, new wiring, reupholstering.  Which takes time and I have precious little of that.

It's the reupholstering that has me in existential crisis mode right now.  After taking the pictures for Apartment Therapy and really examining my living room, I've come the to the realization - again - that I need to do something about it.  Rehang my gallery wall.  Get some new curtains.  Put SOMETHING above the little dresser in the entry.  And reupholster the orange chair.

I don't like blue and orange together.  One, it makes me think of Miami.  Not just the Dolphins, but the whole Florida decorating theme of the 80's. 

source

And then even with shades as strong as mine, I still think of rainbow sherbet.  So even though it's a really hot combination right now, I just can't do it.  It's not me.

But reupholstering the chair means I have to really pick a color scheme.  Really decide on a direction for my living room. 

Do I go with a print?  Get a matching pillow for the wicker chair?  Then I could keep my couch neutral.  But will a pattern be too much of a jolt since this is what one first sees upon entering my house.

Do I go with a solid?  Maybe a taupe-y burlap-y sort of thing to go with the cushion that's currently on the wicker chair.  Then I could either go with a neutral couch OR a patterned one.  I would love a patterned couch.

But then if I want to eventually have a patterned couch, what sort of pattern?  What color?  If I go too brown or too gray with the color for the chair, will that limit me? 

What if I do olive green velvet?  Like a kind of light-medium shade.  I always feel like green is neutral and multiple shades blend nicely together.  And velvet would be so nice and contrast nicely with the linen on the wicker chair.

But then would it be too dark of a shade and block the flow into the room?  I try to be all about the feng shui even if I only vaguely remember the tenets.  But would a lighter shade get dirty too quickly?  Though I don't sit in this chair on a regular basis.  It's more used when I have multiple people over and that doesn't happen often. 

But what if I get a boyfriend and the two of us decide to entertain often?  And what if said boyfriend then becomes a husband and moves in and hates the color of the chair yet we don't have enough money to reupholster again?  Or we move into a new place together and my decorating style doesn't go with the house?

You see where this is going.

And the only way I can talk myself off the ledge is to go all the way back to ground zero, back to doing nothing.  And then I'm fine for a while, until I buy some new pillows.  Or take more pictures of my house.  Or something.  And I'm back in existential crisis mode and spend days at work doing nothing but searching for a new couch, a new pattern that will be PERFECT and solve all of my problems.  But they never are.  Or if they are, they're $1,000/yd.  Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating.  But only a little.

I do think I figured out a solution.  My mom recently had a couch reupholstered and is really happy with the results.  I'm going to pay them a visit and flip through some fabric books, see things in real life.  And finally make a decision instead of having the decisions make themselves. Take control of my life.  Get some courage.

But that didn't stop me from spending half the day online window shopping.  Or planning out a trip to Salvation Army for this Saturday.  Though when I do remember it, I am able to quiet the storm inside me.  At least for a little bit...

Christmas at the Mint Green house

Snow came early in Maryland this year - just in time for my almost-annual holiday happy hour.

Here's a few shots of my house all covered in snow. It was so pretty!



I hung lights in my backyard - fat little round bulbs along the clothesline and little warm-LED rounds along the deck and around the window.

My party started at 5pm so I had to take the pictures while it was still daylight, but you can get the idea.



Back inside it was warm and cozy.

I've learned that it's good to have food in multiple locations so people don't bunch up too much. During the party I rotated food. The long aluminum dish on the coffee table held cut-up CPK thin-crust pizza and when that was kicked, I put the baked brie down for it to be devoured.

And do you like the gold ribbon in the corner? Yeah, that's to cover up the painted-over wallpaper because I haven't put the molding back up. And everyone complimented me on it!

New things to check out:
1. the large painting above the dining table.

Found this in my mom's cellar and almost didn't look at it. I'm so glad I did! The water is the same color as my walls and the size is just perfect. I hung it at the same height as my salon wall (well, it's maybe 1/4 or 1/2" off, but whatevs). It's very important to me to have things at the same height. I feel like it adds order and when you have really bright turquoise walls and tons of stuff on them, this helps keep it all in balance.

2. new foam for the couch.

I bought it the day before at JoAnn's and though I measured carefully, it still ended up too wide and too short. Luckily the amount I needed to cut off to make it narrow enough was enough to add to the edges to make it long enough. And inside my slipcover, one can never know.

3. new pillows for couch and orange chair.

Bought these at Pier 1 on sale. I had seen them at the end of the summer and loved them, but not at full price. $12 each? Done. 4. the orange chair, of course! I originally thought I'd move it upstairs after the party, but I really like it where it is and how it helps define the living room area.



Here's the other side of the room. Fake garland up around the window and my mom's lamp in the corner. She gave me permission to paint it white! Yay! But I'll save that project for the new year.



Here's the room without the flash so you can see the lights and candles sparkle. I love how the walls turn almost purple without the overhead lights. Watching TV in the evenings I usually have just these lights on and it's just so warm and friendly.

You can also see how I've transformed my crappy little Target bar. A bright red tablecloth pinned tightly, a planter filled with ice and I've got a bar!

I had pretty good attendance at my party - only a few people couldn't make it because of the weather, which meant I had about 20 people in my little house! It was loud, crowded and really fun.



My tree fits snugly in the corner next to my TV and a table runner acts as its skirt. There's still enough room to open up the closet to get out the ladder or extra folding chairs.



Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah and Joyous Yule!

Salvation Army find

I went to Salvation Army with my sister looking for SOMETHING for my house. A sideboard to put my TV on? A small chest for my landing strip? An end table?

And I saw a really nice china cabinet. Narrow enough to fit comfortably along the wall between my kitchen and living room. Two or three drawers below and glass doors above. And the style was great - similar to what I grew up with - simple, almost felt Federal. Overall it was in good condition and I think it was something pretty low like $75.

But it was tall and wouldn't have space to throw the mail or keys or to set up a bar during parties. Not what I was looking for. I left it at the store.

And all week it ate at me.

Could I figure out somewhere else for my keys? Put the bar set up somewhere else?

So I decided to go back. If it was there, it was meant to be. If it wasn't, I would try to not be sad about it. I went back with my mom and it was gone. Nothing similar at all. And I was very sad.

It was similar to this one:

 

So we wandered around and checked out everything else and I saw this orange chair again. I had seen it the weekend before and really liked it, but was on a mission for casegoods. So while the cabinet wasn't there, this chair was - and it was marked down.

I took it as a sign and bought it.



I adore the scalloped back and how trim it is. It's also comfortable and the uphostery is in good condition. I'd like to recover it eventually, but know that's not going to happen anytime soon.