decorating – Page 3

keeping it real :: basement edition

2 February 2013 by Andrea Leave a Comment

We interrupt our regularly scheduled project programming due to this…

Yes that is my basement and yes that is water.

Let’s travel back in time for a moment to Tuesday and Wednesday of this week when it was 60 degrees in central Ohio. And to Wednesday when we had torrential rains all. day. long.

Fast forward to Thursday evening at dinner, when my 12-year-old said, “Oh by the way, I heard this really loud banging noise before you got home. I wasn’t sure if it was outside or in the basement, but I looked outside and didn’t see anything.”

Rather than jump up immediately – perhaps having a sense of impending doom – I calmly finished my delicious homemade dinner of sauteed chicken and broccoli.

After dinner, I started down the basement stairs, cell phone in hand. To be honest, I was thinking more along the lines that someone has kicked in my basement window and was waiting down there to kill me slowly, which really wasn’t likely, considering we have glass block windows.

Imagine my surprise when what I found was my basement floor covered with water.

Um hello?!! We have a sump pump!!! Isn’t that supposed to prevent that kind of thing from happening?

Turns out that the sump pump conveniently stopped working.

Here’s the good news. I didn’t panic. I calmly called Brad the Plumber and he agreed to come over on Friday. And then I stood there for about 20 minutes and hatched my clean-up plan.

Brad told me not to worry about cleaning up on Thursday, because if the sump pump wasn’t working, there could be more water. Fortunately, most things, like my Christmas ornaments, are in plastic bins…

And my awesome Ikea couch in our tornado lounge is on metal legs…

Most of the cardboard boxes were empty just waiting to be thrown anyway, which I took care of yesterday. And of course the rugs needed to be tossed.

And what was that loud banging sound my son heard? It was my artificial Christmas tree, which was in a cardboard box standing upright, which fell to the floor once the cardboard was too wet. You can see it here, waiting for my next steps, which will likely be dragging it upstairs to air out (meaning that I will have to put up a Christmas tree in February when I can barely get through December).

It’s now Saturday morning, the sump pump has been replaced, much of the clean up has happened, and the water has mostly receded.

Lessons learned?

Store your crap in plastic for the love of Pete!

These pics were saved because they were in a plastic bin rather than directly on the floor or in cardboard…

This piece of Ikea furniture that I left in it’s cardboard packaging and haven’t put together may be ruined…

Don’t assume your mechanicals will always work.

Sump pumps and other mechanicals will eventually stop working. Usually when you need them most.

Get rid of crap you don’t need.

Honestly, I’ve been avoiding my basement for a while. This mini-deluge was actually just what I needed to get off my ass and clean it up down there. Next time I shouldn’t wait so long (but honestly, I probably will, because as you already know if you read this blog, I’m generally a lazy human being).

I’m going to donate any holiday decorations that I don’t use anymore, knowing that I’m just not the kind of person who goes all out on holiday decor.

The kids’ crappy art table will be going as well. No one uses it anymore. Ditto for toys that are no longer in use.

Same goes for decorator items that I’m not currently using. They need to go. No saving for decorating emergencies!

Don’t panic!

Seriously, don’t panic. There’s not a lot aside from illness and loss of life that can’t be fixed. In fact, I was really proud of how well I handled this whole ordeal. I didn’t have the extra time or money to spend on a flooded basement, but I didn’t have a choice in the matter so I handled it to the best of my ability. There’s still more clean up to be done, but I’m getting to it little by little.

I’m glad I don’t have a finished basement

I’ve always been pretty neutral about finished basements. Our house is big enough that I don’t feel that we need to finish the basement for the extra living space. We mostly use it for storage and as a place to run and hide when there’s a tornado warning. Plus the kids will occasionally venture down there to play foosball or air hockey. As of Thursday, I’m relieved it’s not a finished basement. That would have been a much bigger mess.

And last, but certainly not least…

Make sure your ex-husband gets his crap out of your basement

In the spirit of keeping the peace, I haven’t made a big deal out of my ex-husband still having some stuff in my basement. In fact quite a bit of stuff. Even though yesterday it was 3 years to the day that he moved out! And in fact, this is his stuff on the shelves…

…while much of my stuff is on the floor. Getting wet. So that crap ends this weekend. His belongings are leaving my house this weekend. Do I sound bitter? Perhaps a bit, since I’m spending my time and energy cleaning up after his crap. ‘Nuff said.

Now that I’ve been doing all of this basement clean up, I’m excited to spruce up our tornado lounge a bit, since this is where we spend our time when the tornado sirens are blaring. Project pics coming soon!

almost instant art

27 January 2013 by Andrea Leave a Comment

If you’re short on art around your place there are ways to create almost instant (and cheap) art.

I work in advertising, so we frequently get giant catalogs of different types of royalty-free images that places like ad agencies purchase. Like this one…

These catalogs frequently land in the trash or recycling so I snagged this one and found this awesomeness…

…which I decided definitely needs to be hanging on my wall, so I cut it out of the book and framed it in a $4 floating poster frame and got this…

Sorry about the glare…I have lots of windows.

Isn’t she awesome? For this kind of project an inexpensive floating poster frame is usually your best bet because a) it’s cheap, and b) the art likely won’t be standard size. This was 7 1/2″ x 9″ so a floating frame was ideal. Plus the paper very likely isn’t acid-free, so it probably won’t last forever, but then you can feel good about changing things up when you get bored, because you only spent $4!

Doesn’t she look fabulous here on the small wall between my linen closet door and my bedroom door?

Accompanied by some other whimsical pieces…this folk art snake I created on a scrap of wood, using paint, buttons, and decoupaged ransom note letters cut out from a magazine…

And this multi-media, silk-screened and quilted art piece by Janice Taylor…

But don’t worry if you don’t have access to books of royalty-free art. If you have a graphic designer friend, ask them if they ever get them and would be willing to pass them on to you. Or buy a cheap second-hand coffee table book to cut up and frame. (And don’t feel guilty about cutting up a book! I know how these things go, and we need to get over that. Think of giving it new life that you can enjoy every day!)

Another inexpensive option is to clip magazine ads. There are some beautiful ones and again, they may not last forever, but for now they’d make great little art pieces. Here are a couple that I’ve saved over the years with the intent to frame…

Or you could even frame an interesting piece of wrapping paper like this…

…or a sheet of artsy scrapbook paper…

So there’s no excuse for you to not have any gorgeous art on your walls! Now go frame something!

Showing off at Funky Junk Interiors.

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finally figured it out

26 January 2013 by Andrea Leave a Comment

The other day when my sister and I were sitting around in my bedroom like it was our job, I finally figured out what’s wrong with my bedroom. Aside from needing to be painted something other than beigiest beige.

It doesn’t match the style of my house.

It was a total EUREKA! I have found it! moment. I was completely excited as I explained my rationale to my sister. She, being the kind, yet sarcastic person that she is, handled it all well and without too much boredom or irritation.

See, the problem is that it has a vaulted ceiling with all kinds of funky off-center angles and whatnot…

…which is a very contemporary look, yet the style of the house is more traditional. It’s always bothered me and I finally put my finger on the problem after a mere 6.5 years.

Um yeah, I am taking these pictures from my bed. Don’t be a hater! It’s Saturday morning!

Needless to say, I was dancing around with joy, trying to explain all of this to my sister. She was OK with my explanation, but I didn’t think she was understanding the seriousness of this discovery. I mean this is right up there with gravity, the New World, and the human genome project.

One thing she did understand and agree with me wholeheartedly is my opinion on plant ledges. They’re stupid. Giant dust collectors. Only look good in model homes with a set of 3 giant vases (pronounced “VAH-zez”).

All of this angled, vaulted, plant-ledged goodness in a lame attempt for the builder to make the room seem bigger – soaring ceilings, decorative spaces – when the room is plenty big and most people just want to cozy bedroom anyway. A tray ceiling would have been a better option, or maybe even just a plain old flat ceiling.

So my answer is to paint not just the walls (gray), but also the ceiling. Of course this kind of thinking gives people angst. When I mentioned it to my teenage daugther, she shouted “No!” My sister was more diplomatic and suggested that perhaps I paint the walls first to see how I like the color.

Phooey. Go big or go home! (I’m already home, but you know what I mean.)

Anyway, I think that painting the ceiling will give the room a more cohesive look – tie it all together. With so many angles, crown molding would look odd, plus it would accentuate the contrast of styles (contemporary vs traditional) and not in the good, throw-in-something-funky-when-you’re-decorating way.

And the white ceiling is so vast and “soaring,” I’m concerned that it would still be the focus of the room…

Now, I must admit that I am slightly concerned that the room will be too dark and that I might lie in bed, look up, and feel like my coffin lid is closing down on me, but the room has plenty of light, so it should be OK. Plus the single color should help to play down all of the many overly dramatic angles.

Notice this…

…that’s where Estelle is going to live…

And notice this…

…no, your eyes do not deceive you. That is, indeed, a smoke detector place approximately 12 feet off the ground for easy battery upkeep. And let me assure you that said smoke detector never started chirping during daylight hours. Last time it was 11pm on a school night that had me running to the grocery store for batteries. I’m sure it’s probably placed so high based on some building code, but I also have to point out that it’s the perfect placement in the event that someone bursts into flames while attending to the plant ledge.

making it my own

20 January 2013 by Andrea Leave a Comment

After living in my current house for 6 1/2 years, I finally opened that one last box. You know, the one that lingers and may actually move from house to house without ever being opened. Well, I figured it had cured quite long enough.

It contained some family photos. In our old house we had lots of places for tchotchkes and framed pics, whereas not so much in the new house. The reason I finally opened it is because I’m working on a picture wall, a project that is currently on hold due a surprising worldwide shortage of small black frames.

Anyway, also in the box were some other pics in frames that I decided to place in what was my ex-husband’s office and is now just an unused room that I’ve been having a bit of trouble making feel like part of my space. Guess it’s the old juju and the manly wood built-in desk and all. But it seems that the addition of the pics and their whimsical frames has finally tipped the scales toward making the room feel more inviting.

The fun blue frame was a handpainted gift from a dear artist friend when my daughter was born and it filled in this space perfectly and added a more funky, personal touch…

Perfect eclectic frame to capture a photo of such a spirited child…

And I love these photo booth shots of my cousin Joan, a fabulous jewelry designer, and I from years ago!

And by sprinkling the whimsical, light-colored frames throughout the wood shelves, it adds the warmth needed to pull all of the other fun elements together…

…like the snow globes and the rubber ducky collection…

A pic of my boy when he was a baby amongst all of my favorite books…

And one of my baby girl who’s not such a baby anymore…

More whimsy…

An ostrich created by my late uncle who was an iron worker by trade, and clearly an artist by avocation…

And a print by artist Janice Taylor over at Our Lady of Weight Loss…

And finally a vintage pic of me, mostly because I like the frame, but to remind me of who I was when I was a kid, a free and easy creative spirit…

Now the room is finally beginning to feel like it’s a reflection of the new me.

Showing off at Funky Junk Interiors.

fix your bed

19 January 2013 by Andrea Leave a Comment

When I was growing up, fixing my bed was mandatory. Every. single. day.

Being a natural-born slob, I fell out of that habit once I didn’t have anyone telling me what to do. But now that I’m on a quest to beautify my home on a very slim budget, I started thinking about some of the things that I can do on the cheap, or even for free. Like…

…fixing my bed!

For those of you who are naturally tidy, I’m sure you’re sitting there reading this saying, “Duh!” but for some of us this is going to be a huge revelation.

So today I decided to get back into the habit of fixing my bed. I know someone who always says, “It only takes 2 minutes to fix your bed.” But not being the type to believe everything I hear, of course I had to time it.

Two minutes and 24 seconds. And I’m sure that the extra 24 seconds was because I spent a little extra time fixing the pillow cases and fluffing the pillows, which wouldn’t need to be done if the pillows hadn’t been stuffed and piled on the side of the bed for who knows how long.

So basically the two-minute rule is true. Look how much better everything looks! And really, who can’t spare 2 extra minutes out of your morning routine? Even though I’m tempted to say that I can’t, we all know that on most days we can spare the 2 minutes.

Most of all, it will make your room so much more beautiful and your bed so much nicer to retire to every evening.

Francois the sock monkey thinks so…

keeping it real

16 January 2013 by Andrea Leave a Comment

So where do I begin with the massive undertaking of cleaning up my office/loft/art studio?

The art table?

The front desk?

Or maybe the back desk?

I think we’ve found a winner, folks. The back desk seems to be the least offensive, so I think I’ll begin there.

Just keeping it real, people.

tea time

15 January 2013 by Andrea Leave a Comment

Would you please pour me a cup of tea?

Oh wait. Something’s off. Looks like someone put Sharpies in the teapot.

Oh yeah. That was me. Because I love to use things for purposes other than their original intent. Like Sharpies in a funky Midsummer Night’s Dream teapot.

Clever, too, since I wasn’t serving up tea very often.

It’s cute, don’t you think?

no cost project

15 January 2013 by Andrea 2 Comments

Who have I been kidding?

I’ve said that I haven’t been doing any projects because I’ve been, um, short on funds (ie, broke), but seriously that’s no excuse. Because it doesn’t cost anything to clean. And boy does my office/studio/loft need a good cleaning.

I should really be embarrassed to post a pic of it here, but since I have no shame (in addition to no money), here goes…

OK, this is an old pic, so it’s not quite this bad. But bad enough.

So I decided that until I can scrape up some cashiola for my next project, I will begin the massive undertaking of cleaning my office/studio/loft space.

I started at the entrance of the loft space with Megan’s desk.

Megan’s desk is so named because it was a desk that I trash picked from my former neighbor Megan’s house when I lived in California. Now almost 7 years later, we still call it Megan’s desk. Kind of an endearing name for a desk.

Here is Megan’s desk, in all of her cleaned up glory…

Isn’t she loverly? (The chair I picked up from Target a couple of years back.)

If I recall correctly, the desk was Ethan Allen that Megan dared to paint a creamy white. Also if I remember the story correctly, Megan may have had to revive her mother when she found out that she had painted classic furniture. Of course I adored Megan for that and many other reasons!

At some point, Megan was ready for said desk to move on, and she was living across the street from a trash picker at the time. The rest was history.

Until last weekend, Megan’s desk was loaded up with crap, basically a repository for things that needed to be moved, stored, donated, or thrown. So I cleared it out and here she is.

In fact, now that she’s all available again, I may have plans for her elsewhere in the house in the future. But first things first. I still need to finish cleaning the rest of this space, even if it takes all winter.

And at the rate I’m going it might. But I’ll share the embarrassing pictures every step of the way!

little things – bracelet edition

6 January 2013 by Andrea 2 Comments

This is a broken vintage bracelet…

This is a broken vintage bracelet used as art…

Pretty clever, huh?

As much as I would love to wear this bracelet, there was no fixing it, because the metal wasn’t strong enough to repair. But I still love the vibrant colors and beautiful design, so on the wall it went.

Works perfectly next to my print of First Kiss by Bouguereau, which I bought at Target a number of years back for $3.78. Can’t remember what I ate for breakfast today, but can remember how much I paid for something clearance 10 years ago! Go figure.

Yeah, it’s the little things, people…

Showing off this project at Funky Junk Interiors.

holiday time

24 December 2012 by Andrea Leave a Comment

When I was out Christmas shopping. I spotted this awesome clock…

It appealed to all of those things that make me go weak in the knees – my love of letters and numbers, wood and metals, and vintage meets modern.

So, in the spirit of one for you, two for me, I bought it. Let’s say it’s a little Christmas present to myself.

I probably wouldn’t have splurged if I didn’t have an empty wall just begging to be filled…

See? Barren.

I used the toothpaste method to hang it that I learned on Pinterest. Add a dab of toothpaste to the hooks on the back of the piece you’re hanging…

…then place it exactly where you want it on the wall, and it leaves a glob of toothpaste on the wall exactly where your nail should go. Frankly, it worked better than I expected…

Perfect placement and minty fresh!

Doesn’t it fill out the space perfectly?

Love all of that vintage-y goodness! Plus it works perfectly with the two sepia tone pics to the right. And with the cat hiding on the stairs above!

Merry Christmas to me. And to you too!

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