Tulips and Herbs

Kinda like Peaches and Herb, but, well - not.

I don't see tulips here too often, and certainly not in grocery stores. Imagine my delight when I found these babies at Central Market last week:

Gorgeous?? 

I was also pleased to find these gorgeous herbs which are destined for the big flower pot on my front porch. 

Basil, oregano and chives. Nothing like fresh herbs!! 

Enjoy your new day. 

The Bedroom - Finish!

Our love nest is nearly completed.

I don't have a before pic - the carpet was just too hideous and disgusting to bother documenting it. Here is the before furniture, with the new floors:

Queen iron canopy bed (which I still love, but it was small for 2 of us), the Ikea cube shelf, old TV/stand in the left corner, and I refused to take a pic of the old dressers that were in there. Suffice it to say they were old, but not antique-cool old. And not nearly enough storage.

Then came the floors, and new furniture:

King size storage bed (look at those three drawers at the end!!), matching night stands, dresser and chest. And new rugs on either side of the bed too (a bargain at $50 each!!!).

Then the touches - new coverlet and lamps (courtesy of Target!).

We just need a couple of king pillows now, and that's it. I originally wanted to repaint the walls from their current Russian Blue to a gray. But now with the bedding in there, and the lamps, I actually like the blue much better. So it's going to stay blue.

Oh, what? You want a closer look at the lamps. Sure! They are one of my favorite things in the room (aside from the uber-huge bed of course).

Oh, you said you can't find that delicious trimmed lamp shade at Target? Me either. I bought plain white shades, and then added Maya Road's zipper trim with a bit of FabriTac. It was just.that.easy.

Here's a closer pic of the shade:

I love that the zipper adds a bit of silver to it.

Enjoy your new day!!

Craft Space Before & After

My craft space is - was - in one corner of my living room. All was well. I could craft and watch TV. Craft and talk to the BF. Craft and keep the pugs company.

I had some great cubes from Ikea that provided awesome storage,  a cute little craft desk (little being the key word!), smaller cubes that housed my stamps, paper containers, and little containers to hold all the miscellaneous stuff.

But eventually, this happened:

My collection quickly outgrew the allotted space and organizational tools.

Even worse, the view from my couch looked like this:

(Please excuse the awful loveseat. It belongs to the pugs. There's no saving it. The best I can do is the red slipcover.)

The clutter was making me absolutely TWITCH. Something had to change. Had.To.Change.

After the floors were put in the bedrooms, (laminate instead of carpet - YAY), my office looked like this:

The closet was empty too.


A total clean slate.

One of my friends suggested I combine my craft space with my home office. WHOA! What a crazy idea!!!

It took a lot of work. Sorting, tossing, donating. But I did it. 

And so, today, my office/craft room looks like this:

I moved a second Ikea cube into the closet, and am using every inch of space! The double doors on the closet allow me to hide it away while I'm working, and open it up when I'm crafting.

My tools, loose stamps, and card-creating materials are on the left side of the credenza

And my stamp tower is on the right (next to the pug's daytime bed)

My buttons, flower jar and ribbon jar have new homes in the cube

And my kits and paper packs

But best of all, the view from my couch now looks like this:

And the view into the corner

No more twitching!!! Sweeeeeet serenity.

(side note - the little cedar box on the table? those are my Angel's ashes. I brush the box with my fingers when I walk by, to let her know I will never forget her).

So what do you think? What would you have done differently? Any questions?

Enjoy your new day!

Shameful Update

I know. It's been forever. I have this tendency to go silent on the blog when things aren't so great in life. Rather than focus on the crap-factory, I thought I'd check in with an update on my 2011 plans. Remember when I said "I"ve got plans y'all"??

Here's what's done:
1. Back yard - I live on a hill, and my back yard is sliding down into the neighbors. There's soil erosion going on. Thus, we need a retaining wall. And fill dirt. Got the cost for that today, and freakin OUCH. I had no idea dirt was so freakin expensive. Ah well. Better dirt than foundation repairs, right?

DONE!! We planted some grass seed, and it's actually GROWING. Even after the ice-snow-apocolypse

Bello wasn't intimidated by the snow - he's standing on part of the new retaining wall (railroad ties). 

2. Flooring - I had the carpet replaced with laminate in my dining room & living room a while back. Now it's FINALLY time to get rid of the carpet in the three bedrooms.

DONE!!

My office:

The guest bedroom

And our bedroom

As you've probably noticed, the rooms are still incredibly bare. Everything is still slammed into the dining room. I have a master plan to meticulously sort through it and make "keep", "trash" and "donate" piles. I just don't want all that crap back in my rooms!

Yeah. I know what you're thinking. I'm thankful that mom is coming to visit next week, and we can work on this!!

I also have thoughts about painting our bedroom, new furniture (soon!), and bedding. I'd like to paint it a rich grey, with black & white bedding. I also need to get some runners (rugs) for the floor. It's brrrrr in the mornings on bare feet!

Enjoy your new day!

Once Upon A Time...

...my kitchen looked like this. 

white laminate countertops, white open burner cook top

and ginormous white cast iron sink. 

that's a whole lotta white!

Last year, my kitchen began to morph. 

First, new countertops

and a new black smooth surface cooktop

and a new even ginourmous-er (is that a word?)

(YES, it MUST BE)

where was I? 

RIGHT. the even ginourmous-er stainless steel sink

and new faucet too! 

Please excuse the junk that migrated its way back onto the counters. it couldn't be helped! 

And then progress screeched to a halt.

Why you ask?
Well, I'm ashamed to admit it.
In the interest of honesty, I will confess.
 I had a love affair with this glass tile.
That's right, the blue & brown mosaic glass tile on the bottom. 

And I just loved this tile. 

I pined for this tile. 

I coveted this tile. 

The problem was, my checking account did NOT like this tile. 

My savings account rejected it outright.

So I toyed with the idea of doing a band of this tile, and surrounding it with ceramic tile. 

Hence the sample above. 

I even looked at other glass tile that was less costly. 

But my heart could not be swayed. 

I knew in my heart of hearts, I wouldn't be happy until I had this tile.

And so my kitchen sat, backsplash-less for over a year. 

While I moaned and groaned.

And wished and dreamed.

And plotted and planned.

And saved (well sorta).

Finally, the day arrived.

The day I got completely sick of having a half-done kitchen. 

And I bit the bullet

Called the tile guy 

(I outsource. supporting the local economy you know.)

And what do you know. He had time this week.

I rushed out to buy the tile, hoping and praying they still carried it.

To quote Gomer Pile
"SURPRISE SURPRISE SURPRISE"
 They not only still carried it..

IT WAS ON SALE. 

if that's not fate my friends, I don't know what is.

(it's ok to pause and reflect..)

and so today, this 14th day of July, I proudly present to you

my faithful readers and friends

Cochina de Harper

I know. 

I heard the heavenly hosts proclaim "Hallelujah" myself! 

Now comes the decorating. I promise it won't take a year.

Enjoy your new day!

~Allie