end of the year projects

Every year I manage to save enough vacation days to take off between Christmas and New Year's Day. It's my little present to myself and I never really do much of anything except luxuriate in not having to go to work for a week. I feel like I was more productive this year than before. No pictures yet, but here's a round-up of what I accomplished.

Living Room
* Hung the questionable Picasso on my gallery wall
My dad had this small painting/charcoal/type thing that he said someone said was a Picasso. There's no signature and no reason to believe the story, but I like it anyway.

* Bought and hung curtains
Before my staycation I had scoured the Internet for curtains, both for ideas and for the actual product. Do I want solid or print? Silk? Velvet? Cotton? All I knew for sure was that I wanted more than just blinds and roman shades probably weren't going to cut it either.

All of a sudden, this sworn enemy of panels was determined to buy some for her house. I was definitely leaning towards a print when I saw these indigo velvet numbers at Urban Outfitters. Oooooooooh.

I was all set to buy them when my sister suggested we go to Ikea. Looking online, I saw that they too had navy velvet curtains - for a heck of a lot less. And they were way longer, which is nice because I wanted to hang the curtains as far up the wall as possible. Done. Alison bought the same curtains in green for her living room. Yeah, we do that a lot.

But Ikea's curtain rod selection was lacking. Nothing wider than 80ish inches? Seriously? My windows aren't even especially large, just two regular sized windows next to each other, but I need something in the 90's to cover them both. So I had to wait to actually hang them. In the meantime, I draped them on the brackets leftover from the previous owners to make sure I liked the color. And yes, yes I do.

Saturday afternoon Target run. Yay! They have long curtain rods! Boo! The ones with crystal finials stop at the 80's.

Why? I know things like this are designed for a bedroom, but my bedroom windows are just as wide as those in my living room. And they would have coordinated with my coat hooks. Whatevs. The world isn't really out to get me so I moved on and bought ones with large doorknoby type finials. Of course I can't find them online, but they're kinda like these except silver and the finials are round, not square.

Last night I actually hung the curtains. The actual rod hangs about 1" below my crown molding so the fabric goes all the way up. I extended the finials to 12" beyond the edge of the window molding (which means the fabric goes about 9" beyond). I still need to play with them a bit and figure out how to make the extendable rods not move when I open and close the curtains, both just for convenience and because I need to be able to firmly tug the curtains so they expose as much of the window as possible. I can't really have the rods go any wider because then I'll end up too close to my back door. Overall though, I'm very happy with the way they look.

I may need something lighter in the summer, though the velvet would help keep them heat out like it's keeping the cold out now. Hmmmmm....

*new TV
Apparently my friends have been talking about my TV behind its back. It's a 20" tube TV, a present from an ex-boyfriend but only 4 or 5 years old. It's fine. I do watch a lot of TV and movies, but I don't have cable and whatever, it works. But when a group of friends got together with the plan to buy me a large housewarming present, their first thought was a new TV. Really? But mine works! I'd much rather have a new stove or a mattress or supa cool rug or something. Seems silly to get a new TV.

Until one of these friends bought herself a new TV. She had a 26" flat-screen TV that she always thought was fine until HER friends cajoled her into getting a new one. Her husband rejoiced and with his influence, they are now the proud owners of a gorgeous 42" flat-screen. And so I inherited her old TV, which really is heads and shoulders better than my old one. The picture is more clear, the sound is better. And it looks so much cooler. Big fan. Only problem is that it looks awful on the small dresser I have been using as a TV stand.

So I brought in the white 2-shelf bookcase from the kitchen. It's the right color and height, though not substantial enough to balance the TV. I do think I found the right multi-use stand. Need to mull it over for a little longer before I actually make the purchase.

I now have the dresser in the spot where that crappy cart was (and the cart is floating in the middle of the room). I would like to get a nice, long Parsons type table for that spot. Maybe put a couple of footstools underneath? But that's probably a ways off.

Kitchen
Okay, no real projects here, but I did get some cool stuff for Christmas! I love making cupcakes, but it's such a pain to transport them. And then for display, I use my beat-up plate stand with the barely-fitting blue glass plates and it's not that pretty anymore.



So I asked for (and received! Thanks, Mommy!) a cupcake holder and carrier from Crate and Barrel. Love, love, love. Will be trying them out when I make cupcakes for my niece's 1st birthday this weekend.

I love getting kitchen stuff for Christmas. I usually buy stuff for myself throughout the year, but there's always a few items that I really want but seem unnecessary and a bit of a splurge. Like a cupcake holder. But it makes me so happy, it's a perfect Christmas present.

Bedroom
* finished painting 2nd end table
I bought two Ikea Rast mini-dressers a month or so ago. I painted one a purple-ish magenta (very similar to the color I'm using for the room headings in this blog). The other wouldn't fit with my Venus mirror, but my old nightstand is the same height so I'm reusing that.

This nightstand was originally in a hotel in NYC and my dad bought it from them when they closed/redecorated/something. It was black with a brass ring and had been his nightstand for forever. My sister and I took it back in 1999 to use as a TV stand in our first apartment together. It was perfect for the 13" TV :) When I got a new roommate with a proper TV and stand, I stripped the black off, painted it yellow and white and it became a nightstand again. I started not liking the yellow and white in my Adams Morgan apartment, but it roughly went so I never did anything about it.

During the big snow storm, though, I finally got around to painting it the same magenta and last week I finally got around to finishing it. I love the color with the brass knob and looked for similar rings to go on the Rast, but couldn't find any so I just went with cheap brass knobs that are very nice substitutes (and cheap enough so if I DO find rings, I won't cry over the expense).

* figured out color scheme
I went about this in the completely wrong manner and it's been frustrating, but ultimately satisfying.

I started with the pink bedspread. It's slightly too bubblegum, but that's part of what makes it a happy color.

Then I had this image of brass lamps and thought gray would contrast nicely with that so I went to Home Depot and picked out paint chips. Pale, pale inside-of-a-shell pink for the walls + trim + ceiling, magenta for the end tables, dark gray for sheets, duvet (which would be folded at the end of my bed) and curtains and then all of my brown wood furniture. No white at all in the room.  Elegant yet modern, reserved yet girlie.  Perfect, right?  Only problem was I couldn't find gray anywhere and then once I started finally seeing it in stores, it left me cold.

Then I saw a post on Apartment Therapy about bohemianish bedrooms and knew that's what I needed to do. Yes, I'm always drawn to crisp, cool bedrooms - blues, greens, clear yellows, but I have this pink bedspread and these magenta nightstands and the brass calling out to me and I had to go with it.

So when I was at Ikea, I bought a dark orange duvet cover. And immediately upon seeing it, I knew that I needed wood blinds for the room, but my sister wouldn't let me buy them. She doesn't understand that my impulses are almost always right and felt that I needed to make sure the orange was right first. I went along with her, but knew I was right.

And so at the same Target run where I bought rods for the living room, I picked up some bamboo blinds for my bedroom. I'm not 100% sure that they'll fit (and obviously I haven't hung them yet) so it's nice to see that there are greater size options online in case I need to exchange.

I'm very excited about all of this. I have no idea when I'll get around to painting the walls, but my bedroom is very close to being finished. And I like that it sort of decorated itself. Each purchase dictated the next instead of going along with a mood board. Very organic.

Up Next:
* outdoor furniture
* paint powder room
* paint dining table
* paint coffee table (?)
* paint living room end table (?)

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.

secretly

I still don’t like the blue walls. I feel like they’re limiting and not really what I’m drawn to in house decorations. It’s not as feminine as I'd like and it’s really hard to figure out what to paint adjacent spaces.

My color choices for the main level are all so hit-you-over-the-head bold and I think it’ll all be too jarring. I’m not going to change them anytime soon, but I figure if I can afford to get a new couch with my tax refund, then I’ll use that to help guide me to a new look. I definitely don't want to live in a sea of beige, but maybe something with a softer edge?

I've also often dreamed of a magenta couch. Maybe I could go back to that idea. Though it would be a heck of a lot more difficult to change a magenta couch than turquoise walls.