Crazy Craigs List

I just love window shopping on Craigs List. Most of my condo has been furnished in mid-century modern furniture from there. Of course I haven't paid "mid-century modern" prices. Oh no. I search for things like "old" or "walnut" and have found great deals. And even though I don't need any pieces I continue to actively shop for bargains I can flip for cash. Besides Craigs List cracks me up. People are crazy and don't know what to call things or how to spell or are delusional about what they have. Case in point: $1195 for a dresser, mirror and two night stands. Yes, they are solid wood. But it's pine! And you can buy new for much less. Maybe if it were Baker or vintage or on trend. But this stuff?! for $1195 -- Good Luck.

Updates to the house

Here are some pictures of recent updates. It will be fun to see what stays and what goes during 2012.

With the first picture this wall used to be painted brown and had rotating artwork on it. Nothing ever felt right. Now it's turquoise like the rest of the living room. I framed the Audubon prints in thin black frames and hung them in a grid pattern. The originally wood and cheap gold metal colored lamp was painted orange and then a bright blue. The blue looks jarring right now but picks up on the bright blue in the drapes to be hung soon hopefully. The lamp shade was a $7 find at Goodwill still in the wrapper. The chair has the fabric I'm going to upholster it in draped over it. Saying I'm going to upholster might be misleading. I'm going to price out having the covers done. I'm not sure my sewing machine will sew the heavy fabric. And I want them to look good!

I created a bar nook in the dining room with a chest from my bedroom. I added all the bar type items I already had. I hope to add a tray, switch out the orange ice bucket for something shiny, get some decanters for liquor and actually purchase liquor. I need a piece of artwork behind the ice bucket to fill in that space.

I updated the colored boxes from orange to white and bright blue. I knew the orange wasn't going to last long after the last china hutch redo. I also moved out all the vintage dishes and made room for them in the bar chest. Things look better. I still think I'm going to put paper up on the back of the cabinet to brighten things up. 

I'm trying out a larger canvas in place of the smaller paintings my son completed. I like the larger scale. I just have to bring the other up from the basement and actually paint some type of art on them. It is still to high above the couch but with the larger piece its better. I don't want to patch holes in the plaster and repaint so it stays where it is. I added new pillows to the couch, a table runner to the coffee table to help keep it from getting scratched until I can teak oil it and more plants. Ugh. I hate my couch. It's a cheap Ikea couch (even cheaper - I got it for $30 the night I moved in. My gorgeous Room & Board leather couch wouldn't fit up the stairs). I dyed a natural slipcover brown and now its all stretched out. It's probably not in the budget to get a new couch this year unless I can find something decent on Craig's List. And even then its not a high priority in the budget. Although I have plans for the rug to change. And the old black slipcover might reappear. I think I'd really like a white slipcover. I know I won't be able to keep that looking fresh though so it's not a good solution.

I love my $7 pillow from Marshalls. The colors are perfect.

Like I said it will be fun to see what updates I get accomplished this year. I have a long master decorating plan with all the updates I want listed. This year I'm going to focus on completing the living room, dining room, bathroom and 2nd bedroom. Everything in those rooms is about 85% complete. I want to paint the kitchen and master bedroom but won't get much else done in those rooms this year.

Happy 2012

Boy this year has zipped by! Even though I had some health challenges and I was still adjusting to having my son away at college, the year has been better than the last several. I am thankful.

I've spent some time writing down both personal and decorating goals for 2012. I only accomplished one major personal goal from last year (out of 5) and I'm looking foward to a more focused and purposeful life this year. On the decorating front I hope to finish my living room, dining room, bathroom and 2nd bedroom. Those rooms are 85% finished. I just need to focus (see a theme?) and get them completed. I'll love to have those projects off my to-do list.

One goal I have is to get back to my writing. I want to blog once a week this year. I had to decide which blog to use (I have several) and I think Pink Laundry Room is a good spot for my ramblings mixed in with some decorating and design inspiration. 

What about you? How was your 2011? What are your goals for 2012?

China Cabinet Updates

I spent a little time a couple weeks ago updating the china cabinet in the dining room. It's open to the living room and a general storage piece of furniture. Here is the before:

The books bothered me. I don't have another place to put them until I hang some Ikea Lack shelves in the 2nd bedroom. And I haven't hung the shelves because I'm not really sure how to hang things in plaster walls. Anyway here is the after:

I removed the books, changed out the brown/blue storage boxes for nice orange ones from Ikea and rearranged things. I think they look pretty good. The only problem is I'm not really thrilled with the color orange in my house. It looks good with the turquoise and lime green colors going on. I'm just not a big fan. It looks too ... something. Too contrasting maybe? I don't know. We'll see how long the orange lasts. I'm already looking for and pricing out turquoise boxes to switch things up. Oh and I use those boxes for storage of things like office supplies, small tools for use around the house and things like that. I think I actually have 1 empty. In a perfect world I wouldn't even have the boxes in the china cabinet. But I need the storage.

I'd also like to hang some pretty paper behind each shelf to lighten things up. I've been looking at paper on Chicshelfpaper.com. They have an option for having the paper custom cut for you. I've had trouble finding something 28" wide and this would take care of that. It's a little spendy at around $10 a piece of paper and I need 6 so this isn't going to be something that I do right away.

See all the gold dishes? Those are my vintage 1965 Franciscan Discovery Topaz dishes. I have more in the kitchen that I use everyday. I have them for sale on Craig's List. I've actually purchased white Crate and Barrel dishes to replace them. I've gotten tired of the gold color. It's hard to decorate around them. I also found it difficult to use napkins/placemats etc. Kind of a silly reason to replace dishes, but there it is. They are going to stay in the china cabinet protected until I sell them. Then I will rearrange again. With them gone the cabinet will look pretty sparse.

I wish, wish, wish, I didn't get rid of my vintage pottery collection a year or so ago when I was on my minimal kick. I knew in the back of my mind that it wouldn't last. I should have just boxed them up and stored them in the basement instead of donating them. Yes donating them. I didn't even sell them and get money for them. I wanted them out of my house so quickly that I just took them to Goodwill. Ugh!

What do you think of the difference? Do you like the orange or is it kind of meh for you?

Oh and just to keep things real, here is how my dining room table looks most of the time:

It is a dumping ground for all things entering the house. Or as Flylady likes to call it, a Hotspot. I pick it up a couple times a week (ok, really once a week if I'm lucky). I need to work on keeping it neater. With it like this the whole house just feels messy even though this is really the only spot that is bad. Everything is on that table.

Science Diet Age Defying Cat Food

I'm a Buzz Agent. It's fun. I get samples and coupons for products and I tell people about them and review them and provide feedback to the companies.

My latest campaign is Science Diet Age Defying Cat Food for cats 11+ years old. My cat Starbuck is 15 years old. I switched her over to the cat food. At first she wanted nothing to do with it. It looked similar to what she was used to eating. She has always eaten Science Diet cat food. It must smell or taste different. Eventually she ate it. (It was funny. I gradually switched her by adding in a little more of the Age Defying cat food every day. She would pick out the Age Defying and drop them on the floor. She really didn't like it.)

Anyway I think I notice a difference in her. She seems more alert and plays more. Before she seemed to always be sleeping. She's more active now. The food is also supposed to help maintain proper kidney function, protect muscle mass, maintain a natural immune system function and increase mental clarity.

If you have an older cat you should give it a try! I think you and your cat will like it.

Guess What?

I'm not doing the 31 days of home projects during the month of October that I reported about recently. You probably figured that out by the distinct lack of posts on the subject. I loved the idea. But couldn't find the energy to actually do it. It would have been great and knocked a bunch of things off my to-do list. Sigh. They will get done eventually I guess. Maybe one project a week? At least I would be making progress.

Birthday Wishes

Today is my 44th birthday.

The elderly lady I help out and her daughter took me out to lovely lunch. A neighbor brought over a beautiful mum and some yummy chocolate cake. My son called and wished me a happy day. Even several old friends/acquaintances on Facebook left a birthday message. The well wishes I've received have been heartfelt and much appreciated. Its amazing that this time last year I felt so alone and lost. What a difference a year can make.