New Curtains

Made it back from the conference. Had a lot of fun. Made one short shopping trip, and bought Marimekko shower curtain to use as a bedroom curtain. Linda is worried it will be too shot but I’m not.

Tomorrow I want to buy paint and start on the bedroom again.

So tired I can hardly type.

Three views of Tuscon. The first two are of the mall, La Encantada, and the third is a view from the hotel.

Leaving for Tucson

Leaving for a conference tomorrow in Tucson. I have to spend tonight packing. How fun.

The silver wall is finally finished. I put four coats of paint on it over four nights, and finally managed to smooth out most of the roller marks. That has been the most difficult part of the job! I should have sponged the stuff, or bought a spray after all. It’s been very tedious.

When I get back from Tucson I’ll tackle the rest of the paint.

Today Becca and I bought some plywood so I can start playing with the floor. I can’t wait to see how it turns out.

Bringing the Fridge Into the Bedroom

Tinfoil. It looks like I’ve covered my wall in tinfoil. I can’t decide if I like it or not. When I started putting the paint on I felt like a Decorating Diva. I was cool. Now, in the light of day, I’m not so sure. The reflective quality of the paint brings out every imperfection in the wall, and trust me there are a ton of imperfections. I can also see the individual roller strokes, so I think I need at least one more coat before deciding if it’s a bust. I talked to a very friendly lady at Home Depot who said to load the roller (really load it) and let the roller do the work and above all avoid pressing on the roller. I’ll try again tonight, after I paint the top portion up around the ceiling. I couldn’t do that last night – I couldn’t find a paintbrush anywhere.

One good thing about this wall is that it’s pretty cheap. It only took a pint of Rustoleum for the first coat, so the paint for the entire wall will be about $7.50. Sweet.

Cleanup is a real bitch, though. It doesn’t help that I forgot to take my shoes off before painting, so the bottom of my shoes are now silver. And when I did remember I ended up getting paint on my feet, which I tracked down into the kitchen. I had to go back up the hall with a sponge loaded with mineral spirits, wiping out my tracks. Oil-based paint is messy.

I was originally going to leave the silver wall blank, except for maybe a mirror, but now I’m thinking it needs furniture to help downplay the wall’s imperfections. The white bench I bought in Austin would be good, but then I’d have to find something else for the hall. How sad. I’d have to actually shop.

Aside from painting silver, I hope to finish cleaning out the bathroom this evening. I’m going to try to move the furniture into the bedroom at least, so I can possibly paint the remaining walls on Wednesday night. I wish I had some of the paint, I’d go ahead and start that tonight as well. Maybe I’ll be lucky and no one will come to open lab. If that happens I can leave at 8:30 and buy paint. Need to calculate how much paint to buy.

Color Catastrophy

Mom called this morning when they were a whole five minutes from the house, so I didn’t get a chance to tell her not to come over. All I had time to do was roll out of bed and throw on yesterday’s clothing, today’s clothing being wet in the dryer.

I can’t believe how much we accomplished! We finished carrying everything out of the room (fourteen bags of trash by my count) then disassembled the bed and placed it in the garage, and finally pulled up the carpet and the carpet pad. After that we pulled up all the carpet nails, vacuumed the floor, pulled nails out of the walls, and did a little more cleaning.

Our last act was to place a tarp on the floor, and to place the mattress and box spring from the twin bed on the tarp so I have a place to sleep.

Exhausted! We ate at Olive Garden, my treat. Next I went to Target and bought sheets for the twin mattress. They’re in the washer now. As soon as they hit the dryer I’m hitting the shower, then taking a nap. When I wake up I’m going to Home Depot to buy PAINT.

Right now I’m shopping for a quilt of some sort to set on the bed we’re making this week. I’m realizing what I want is one of last year’s Target Swell set. It’s on eBay, but in a king. I want a queen set. Never fails. I fall in love with something and decide not to buy it, only to really need it a few months later.

Oh well. I’m second-guessing my color scheme anyway. One reason to go to Home Depot tonight is to play with paint swatches.

Washer is off. I’m off.

(later)

Have he most awful headache imaginable, but I’m also tired of sitting at home. Going to try to find a piece of bathroom floor tile, and head out to Home Depot in hopes that they’re open until 9:00 tonight.

(later)

OK, I’ve obviously been living in a color-blind fantasy land. There is NO WAY I can make a light blue work with R’s bathroom tile. I’ll have to go with light green after all. I’ve chosen a sage color for the trim, and a lighter color for the walls. I’ve chosen Behr’s Disney line again, this time Skipping Stones and Christopher Robin’s Swing.

I think I can keep my cool plywood floor. Now I’m trying to salvage the rest of my ideas. Since the lamps are on the way I want to work with what’s already in my head.

Found a nice inspirational bedroom in a paint magazine I grabbed on impulse. It has a room dominated by neutrals and strong greens, with walls painted metallic like an Airstream trailer. I’m going to try it on one wall, just for kicks.

I have to decide what to do about the floor. Not sure my original flooring idea will work. I’m thinking about possibly painting the concrete instead.

I feel very adrift. I had this room nailed, and now days of thought and planning are in the toilet because I had a blind spot about the stupid bathroom tile. Now I have to start all over.

Time to find my idea book and get busy. I want to start painting tomorrow, and I can’t do that until I have more of this nailed.

(a little later)

Decided I must paint the bathroom at the same time. I’ve been avoiding this, so it isn’t ready at all. I have to clean out all the junk, and then ask Dad to move yet another piece of furniture. How fun.

(even later)

Cleaned most of the walls and spackled everything except the bathroom and the top of the walls near the French doors. I want Dad to take a look at that before I get started.

Tomorrow ‘morning’ I’m going to buy a Wonder Bar for removing the molding, and a few cans of Rustoleum so I can paint my silver wall tomorrow night.

More Wishes

Found a nice TV table at Target that I can use as a bedside table. It’ll add some Industrial to the room, which is starting to feel a little too organic for my taste. The fan will help in that area, too.

Spent a few hours in Corel making a mock-up of the room using the furniture images off the Net. It’s pretty silly. I don’t think anyone would find the room attractive at this stage, but since I made it for me and not as art I don’t really care.

Trying to convince myself to finish cleaning the bedroom. I’ve made a lot of headway, and now I’m down to the move-crap-out-of-room stage, and I just don’t wanna do it. I wanna read, and eat pizza, and stare at the ceiling . . . I think you get the picture.

(later)

Have made more progress cleaning, but I’m stopping for now so I can think. Mom and Dad volunteered to come over tomorrow and help me clean out the bedroom, take apart R’s bed, and rip out the carpet. I’ve taken them up on the offer, but tomorrow morning I’m probably going to call and tell them to forget it.

The problem is that I don’t have a bed to sleep on if we disassemble R.’s. My plan was to sleep on the twin bed in the guest room, but the bed actually fell apart one day when I tried to sit on it. I’m not sure if it’s put together poorly or what, but it’s far from safe.

I do have one maybe ace up my sleeve. I bought a bed at Sam’s Wholesale last year for my room at the Parent’s house. I want another just like it for the guest room. If Sam’s still has one I’ll purchase it and use it until my bed has been constructed.

(later)

Sam’s doesn’t seem to have them any longer. Damn. I can’t afford to tie up money in a new queen bed right now! Mattress and all will run a minimum of $800, and I won’t have that kind of money until October. Now what? Do we disassemble R’s bed or what? Mom will call tomorrow, and if I’m calling this off I need to let her know at that time.

I had really counted on Sam’s having that twin bed, so I could match mine and put the two of them in the guest room. Oh well. It’s not like I can find the Rom Gear Spin Dot Quilt in a twin anyway. I didn’t get it when it was on sale because I didn’t have a guest room; and then I didn’t get it when people were selling the clearanced-out ones on eBay because I couldn’t talk myself into buying the house. Guess my scheme for the guest bedroom is a bust.
Nothing has really gone right all day, except for the chicken quesidillas I helped cook for dinner. They were terrific, as was the guacamole.

Also need to go buy food tomorrow. My goal next week is to eat at least half of my meal at home. I spend waaaaay to much money in restaurants.

(much too late)

Made the mistake of looking at the Levenger’s catalog before bed. I found some very interesting possibilities for night-stands, my favorite being Levenger’s Library Step. A mere $128, just a little less than I paid for my vanity. They also have a very cool library cart, but it doesn’t have any place for electricity.

OK, having too much fun too late at night. While researching step stools I ran into the most adorable Offi child’s step stool, in exactly the right shade of blue. It even has places to help conceal cables, although that isn’t the purpose! And only $49! Target also has a set of child’s Offi chairs in white, with drawers in the seat. I can just see one chair on each side of the bed.

We’re definitely getting too cute here. Must stop and sleep!

Wish List Grows

Spent most of the day thinking about how I should be cleaning while reading a book. How silly. I’ve spent more time putting off cleaning than I would actually cleaning, which is exactly what The Procrastinator’s Handbook says people like me do. Not like that’s a big revelation to me.

I actually did start cleaning at one point, and cleaned for about fifteen minutes before throwing in the towel. I’m going to actually have to set a timer, like that book says to. I found a Windows-based one I’m using, but I feel completely lame doing this. Then again, I would feel a lot worse if Mom and Dad pulled up with my furniture tomorrow and I had nowhere to put it.

I’m videotaping my home redecorating projects, planning to make a little HGTV-style documentary. I’m going to steal music from Trading Spaces. I tried to tape myself cleaning, but it’s completely boring, even when watched on fast-forward humming the “clear-the-room” music from the show.

Becca has agreed to play HGTV with me one day next week. We’ll buy the lumber for the bed early in the morning, and spend the afternoon constructing and painting it. Hopefully everything will work out.

OK, setting the damn timer NOW . . .

(later)

Cleaned for an hour, made some progress but was interrupted by phone. Now I’m about to fall asleep. Since I’ve been ill I’ll play that excuse card and take a nap, then clean more. I hate cleaning, I really do.

(even later)

Slept for a few hours, and am now officially hungry. I bought the Adesso lamps as additional research showed me that the floor lamp took two 100-watt bulbs. Now I need a chair to go into the room. I know what I want – something in an understated color, leggy, comfortable but not bulky. This whole “womb” thing Eurway is doing just won’t work. I can’t find anything locally so far, but I’m still looking.

IKEA to the rescue. I think I want the Klappsta armchair in blue/gray and the IKEA/PS FOGDÖ footstool with it. I thought for a while about the Lilliberg rocker, but I really want to prop up my feet.

Now I’m trying to decide what to do about bookcases in that corner of the room. I could go with what I already own, but I’m thinking something larger might be better. Hmmm . . . need to look at IKEA again.

Oh, gosh. They have a wonderful bathroom system on their home page. It has frosted “glass” doors on front, which would hide all the mess of my paperbacks. It would blend in perfectly with what I’m trying to do to the room. I could store all the oversized books in the living room shelves, and just use these shelves so my cheap paperbacks are hidden. It’s a little expensive, but I only want to do one wall. Surely I can afford that.

Wonder what the Container Store has? (three minutes later) Wow. Talk about downhill. They don’t have much of anything. Wait, I haven’t checked Target for bookcases.

Another dead end. Now that I’ve decided I want full-height frosted-glass-covered bookcases I’m going to have trouble. At least I know IKEA has something, even if I would have to drive to Houston to complete the purchase. That or wait till they open their store in Frisco this time next year.

New Furniture

A nice day. I spent Thursday basically busting my butt at work, so today I called Mom and we went out to play. We went to La Madeline for lunch, and over lunch she suggested shopping at the Antique Sampler and at the Salvation Army. I was OK with the Sampler, but really didn’t have much interest in the Salvation Army. I said it was a waste of time, that all the furniture was scratched up, and that it would take forever for good pieces to show up, and how long did I want to wait for that miracle?

So of course forty-five minutes later I spent $238.00 at the Salvation Army.

Our Salvation Army is magic. Somehow they always have loads of mid-century modern furniture. Most of it is in pretty bad condition, but every now and then we see a real gem. Usually, though, the items in great condition aren’t things I particularly like.

Today I walked in and found a sofa I sort of liked, then wandered around and found an interesting coffee table, and then, over to one side, I found a piece that made me start jumping up and down. I found my 1930s vanity! Dark wood, big beautiful mirror, good drawers; just a wonderful piece with only minor scratches. An amazing $139.00. It’s the same style as the one I found outside Austin that I have regretted buying every since, except this piece was about a hundred dollars cheaper. And not quite as detailed – the Austin vanity had wonderful inlay. But I can live without inlay.

While I was still high on the joy of that piece I turn around and find a chest of drawers with a matching mirror. A great mid-century piece with wonderful silvered drawer pulls. It’s only $99 so I pick it up, too. I’m planning on using it without the mirrors as a buffet table. Way cool.

So now I have an urge to decorate the bedroom, especially since we emptied out so much of it for the garage sale. I don’t need much more in furnishings – just a bed and a lamp and a chair.

I’ve spent the evening researching lamps, since I want a knockout. I originally wanted an Eames-ish wooden arc floor lamp, one of the kind with a small triangular table built into it. The originals are on eBay for $375 (no takers) and I can’t find a reproduction. I thought I was really stuck on the arc concept, with the lamp languorously reaching over the reading chair, but then I found something to change my mind, maybe. Some Adesso floor lamps featuring oversized rice-paper balls. The store has the floor lamp, the table lamp, and a ceiling lamp, all for a song. It would make the room look more cotemporary and a little more exotic at an easy price. Then again, I’ve also found a Cresswell arc lamp with a rice-paper shade for $62. Maybe it’s the best of both worlds. Have to think about this. I don’t know the manufacturer, and I’m afraid of buying something under-watted. I want a LIGHT, not a decorative object.

Much Ado About Nothing

I’ve been thinking all day about brownie fudge sundaes from Braum’s. I’m fighting the urge. Trying to stifle the desire in potato chips and leftover pizza. It just isn’t working. I don’t find my soul crying out for sugar too often. Oh, sure, I eat it if it’s available, but it’s not something I actively seek out. My overweight is caused by salty crackers and pizza and tortillas and salsa. Not ice cream. But I don’t think I can stand it any longer. Ice cream is winning.

(later)

Braum’s won. Big surprise.

I read my tarot cards a while ago to see if the house would be cleared out by September, and in the middle of the reading the cards said I’d fall in love. Silly, isn’t it? I don’t know why I even bother with these stupid things, except I’m trying my best to waste time and not do anything productive today.

So far I’ve been successfully unproductive. I slept for about eight hours today, with incredibly vivid dreams, the kind that could have been turned into novels if I had written down the plots after I woke up. I’ve read an entire novel, Alice Hoffman’s The Probable Future, which was good although not as good as Practical Magic. And I’ve surfed the Net, looking for designs for the refrigerator door. Now it’s 11:32 PM and all I have left to do is play solitaire and maybe take a shower.

G-Sale Days 2 & 3

Damn. The garage sale is over. We made an astounding $966.48.

On Friday we sold a lot of stuff. We went back into the house, and started looking for more of R’s decorative items to sell, as they were so popular.

By Sunday morning we still had a lot of furniture, so I started making drastic markdowns. I sold the fainting couch and four Queen Anne chairs without seats for $30, and then sold the monster wardrobe for another $15.00. I let three ladder-back chairs go for $2.50 each, then let an upholstered one-of chair for the same price.

We marked the clothing down to 5 cents each, and it started flying out of the driveway. We weren’t able to get it to move at a quarter, but a nickel got some interest.

My favorite pieces, two possibly-IKEA cabinets, just weren’t moving and I didn’t have the heart to sell them at half price on the last day, so they’re back in the house.

By noon we were down to two pieces of furniture we had been trying to give away, a heavy desk, a coffee table, and a bunch of junk no one really wanted. At that point we closed shop. We probably could have made another $25.00, but it wasn’t worth the additional sunburn.

I stuck the desk and the coffee table in the garage for the next garage sale. Charlotte and Mom took the clothing to a donation drop box. We loaded everything else into Dad’s truck and took it to the dump. We were going to donate it, but honestly there just wasn’t enough left to make it worth anyone’s time. If more of the furniture had been left I would have called the Goodwill, but we didn’t sell enough to make it worth the time.

My haul is reimbursement for boxes ($100) and half the remaining for a total of $533.24. Now I can buy more furniture!

After the closing we went back to Mom and Dad’s house to swim in the inflatable pool. Russell and Robin were with us, and we had a lot of fun. The kids are so cute. Robin did somersaults in two feet of water. Russell mainly toddled around the pool with a big smile on his face. The water was chilly, and after about half an hour Russell’s teeth were chattering. He sat in Charlotte’s lap to stay warm, so we stayed in another fifteen minutes then climbed out and ate sherbet while drip-drying.

Robin ended up spending the night with Mom, and the two of them are going shopping tomorrow. I know they’ll enjoy it. I told Robin how special she was to Grandmother, who had always wanted a little girl to go clothes shopping with. I don’t think Robin really believed me when I said the twins and I hated clothes shopping, but she’s happy her Grandmother will take her.

Went to Red Lobster for dinner with parents and Robin, and had very indifferent fish. Now I’m trying to find my phone, which I’ve lost somewhere in the house. I’ve emailed Mom and asked her to call me. I wish she would install Yahoo Instant Messenger so I can contact her when I need something like this.

(later)

Have made several notes on repainting refrigerators. I really want to try this! Problem is that the paint comes in the most boring colors imaginable. I’m thinking I’ll try painting a base coat in plain white appliance paint, then stencil in a design with plain ‘ole enamel paint. Then coat it w/ clear enamel. Now I just have to come up with a design.

G-Sale Day 1

Well, today was the day. The start of the garage sale. It went pretty well, considering we had lousy signage and that the city actually took down all our signs to mow the grass.

A lot of furniture is out in the driveway now, and I plan to add more early in the morning. There is a bookcase we need to move, and a few small pieces in the den, and a cabinet in the bathroom. We’ve emptied almost two entire rooms. Clothing Mountain has been partially demolished, and demolition will continue tomorrow.

We’ve made about $150. We haven’t really sold that much of the furniture, but Friday will probably be the big day. My plan is to wake up at 6:30 tomorrow and drive through McDonald’s, then start moving stuff out of the house and garage. Once I have it all moved I’ll walk up the street and put a sign on the median, which is against city code but I don’t care. People violate it all the time. I hope to be open by 7:15 at the latest, and hopefully get some going-to-work traffic.

Actually I should move some stuff out now, at midnight, while it’s cool. That’s a pretty damn good idea.

Countdown to Garage Sale

The garage sale is a GO for this week. I’m holding it Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. I need to make signs. I want something a little more visible than the average garage sale sign. Something with an easily-read address. Maybe I’ll span two legal sheets. Have to think about this. Tomorrow evening I’ll buy sign supplies and make the signs. Right now I’m thinking about TWO sheets of legal paper, going horizontally across the sign. I was going to buy stakes, but I’m thinking some of the molding in the garage might work just as well, and with less expense. All I really need is some poster board and some fixative, and some nails if I don’t find any in the next 24 hrs.

Charlotte came over last week and helped me clean, which has been a BIG help. We basically moved around furniture so we could walk around the house without killing ourselves. It’s made a big difference. Now I can get to the trouble spots and do something about them. It’s quite a relief.

Tonight I’m working half-heartedly on the room with all the furniture, and after that I’m going to unload R’s stuff out of the furniture in the bedroom. I’m going to work for another hour, then take a long break.

Charlotte is coming again tomorrow, bless her. We should be able to get a LOT accomplished.
R. will be here Wednesday. I have to go back into the back bedroom, and sort out what she’s been through from what she hasn’t, otherwise she’ll start going through everything again. It’s certainly her right to go through everything again, but that will just slow us down.

Bad news on the bed front. The JCPenny catalog and the JCPenny stores don’t have anything in common. What idiot made that decision?? So I can’t actually see the bed anywhere. I’d go ahead and order it, but I’d have to pay a non-refundable shipping fee of $113.00, which is more than a little outrageous. I might have to settle for the Qbits bed from Target. It isn’t nearly as cool, but it will work.

(Later.) Nope, that won’t work, either. Target won’t refund shipping costs, either. It’s enough to make me want to spend a small fortune with edgemodern.com. At least I wouldn’t have to worry about buying a cheap piece of crap.

I’m thinking I’ll just have to make my own bed after all, which will be a real joke as it just occurred to me that I don’t know how to hammer two pieces of wood together to make a right angle. Oh well.

I don’t like anything Eurway has, and they’re pretty much the poor man’s modern around here. Maybe the store itself has a better selection. And maybe after the garage sale I’ll be able to afford it. No, wait, after the garage sale I have to put the utilities in my name.

Must manage my money better. I’ve been very spendy lately, and looking at new furniture doesn’t help. I need to re-do my budget, now that I have utilities to pay. And my summer paycheck is smaller than I thought it would be.