The BIg Pink, Revisited

It's been a year and a half since I shared the re-do of my daughter Lily's bedroom.  In the original post, I wrote about how it all evolved, and also about the (many) things I don't love about the room.

Fast forward to this spring, and my irritation with the general look and feel of the room hadn't changed.  In fact it was worse, because now the room was thoroughly lived in and thoroughly messy and more, it was clear that Lily couldn't hang out in the room with her friends because there wasn't anyplace to sit. 

Around this time, in my despair to find a way to rearrange a room that just can't be very rearranged, I remembered the little orange futon that used to live in the playroom. After rearranging the playroom/guestroom, the futon was living out in the garage, waiting for me to put it up for sale on Craigslist.

One Saturday afternoon when I went in to dust and straighten the bedroom, I got completely fed up and started hurling piles of crap out into the hall and getting that "thousand mile decorator's stare" as I leaned in the doorframe and started cooking up a plan.

Within the hour, I had the husband hauling that heavy orange futon out of the garage and up the staircase. (I have such a nice husband. Have I mentioned that?)  Anyway.

Before:

And After:

I rearranged the room and later that weekend, hung up the shelves (that used to live in my entryway).  I'd been promising to do that forever, and Lily and I were both glad that I finally came through.  It allows her to display her Josef birthday doll collection (note that they stop at 9 -- because she didn't have any display space, they didn't get purchased these last 2 birthdays).  It also lets her display the "potion" crafts that were a big part of her summer.

So her room was completely rearranged, but still needed a good sorting and re-organization of so much clutter. But then summer hit and the kids were out of school, and so for the entire summer her room was merely different, but still not really done (or cleaned). 

Now they're back in school, and this week I've been cleaning and cleaning and throwing things out and helping to find better storage and organization options for her.

She's been a Japanese manga and chibi drawing fool lately, which is cute, but also means that her desk (and the surrounding floor) have been littered with papers in various stages of creation.  Since she's in middle school now, and since she's starting to do her homework alone in her room, we needed to clean up the chaos and make it a better space for studying along with the creativity.

The drawers are cleaned out, the crayons and markers are sorted and contained, and I bought her the pink paper organizer at Ikea this weekend. 

Her vanity area is now next to the door, and the surface was also a big cluttered mess of lip gloss, earrings, Harry Potter wands, marbles, papers, etc.  And she'd stopped wearing most of her earrings, because they were lost in her equally cluttered little jewelry box.

I bought the earring tree at Michael's, and she loves it, and loves that I found & sorted her earrings.  Let's see how well she can keep up with actually using it!

 Some cheap purple Command hooks serve to display her soccer medals and Disney pin lanyard. I want to buy some nicer, real hooks to install to the left of the mirror for necklaces and scarves. So far I haven't found anything I like, but  a trip to Anthropologie would probably solve that. 

The futon has just enough room under there to fold out into a full sized bed, once you move out the little table. We've used it for a sleepover, and it worked out great. (In the old version of the room, there was no space to sleep on the floor.)

While I'm still a long way from loving this room, I like it a lot more now that its more functional. Lily is able to invite friends into her room and have a place to actually sit and hang out.  This is a small room already, and it's packed full of furniture -- but every piece serves a function

The fact that she still prefers to crawl into my bed on lazy weekend mornings to sit and read gives me hope: it tells me that in a couple years, she'll likely get tired of exotic loft-sleeping, and want a regular bed again.  Already, she has to duck down to get into the bed, and she certainly can't sit up in it.  She's mentioned wanting a chandelier -- until I reminded her that she can't have any hanging fixtures while the loft is up. 

I'll be more than happy to oblige when that time comes. Until then, she's an eleven-year-old girl who still feels that she has a pretty awesome bedroom, no matter what mom thinks.

And mom just thinks she's a pretty awesome kid. 

You can see all the bedroom Before shots in my original post about her bedroom, here.

Linking up with Jules for the William Morris Project.

Hanging In the Kitchen

So I've been awfully busy & distracted lately (see the last few posts), but I finally wanted to share some of the stuff we've hung up in the kitchen recently. And by "we" I mean my husband, except for the calendar.

First up is our groovy old cocktail clock.  This is as close as we get to family heirlooms around here, as this clock used to hang in the home of my husband's maternal grandparents, who lived in a retirement mobile home park in Cathedral City (a desert community next-door to Palm Springs).  According to my husband, his grandparents did it up right and lived the desert lifestyle to the hilt when they were active: golfing, tennis, themed dances, and highballs full of ice and amber liquor everyday around 5. 

The husband says that when he visited as a child, his grandparents made everyone in the family go for a "constitutional" around the gated community after dinner.  I've visited that mobile home park, back when his grandparents were still alive. It had lush green lawns and a golf course and clubhouse and well-maintained, tidy mobile homes with grapefruit and lemon trees and golf carts parked under their metal awnings.

One could do worse with one's retirement years. We had the clock hanging in our garage for a few years, but I decided it was time to come indoors. The husband fixed it up with a new mechanism and new hands, which look pretty exact to the originals.

Next up is the calendar. A calendar isn't a big deal, except that I really loved this one when I saw it in the Paper Source catalog at the end of last year.  I put it on my wish list...but with shipping, it would've cost about $40.  I dunno. That seems a lot to spend on a calendar. (What would our grandparents' generation have thought of such? My own grandparents always had free calendars from the insurance company hanging inside the door of the broom closet.)

Then in February, the new catalog had all calendars at 50% off. Sold!  I missed January, and it was still a bit over $20 (really, WHY was shipping $7?), but I do love the bright, bold seasonal graphics. Form over function, that's my middle name.

Over by the window is a print from Pocono Modern of vintage Pyrex bowls.  I was all stoked with myself for buying this, even before it got splashed all over lots of design blogs.

But I am not so stoked with myself for not buying the shop's Fiesta Ware print at the same time. Now the shop doesn't offer them, and I really need another print to share this wall.

My grandma owned a set of blue Pyrex bowls in a Dutch pattern. They got boxed up and, I presume, given away when she went into a nursing home a few years ago.  I would've claimed them, but I wasn't present at the time.  So I have this print of old Pyrex to remind me, and an old kitschy clock, but really I'd rather not have these things at all, and be able to reminisce and talk with those old folks again.  (My grandma is still alive, but in her own reality these days.)

And what of my own items, I wonder, will be considered retro and groovy to the young people someday? Our plastic Ikea cups, the red Williams Sonoma mixing bowls? It gives me pause, when I'm pondering another set of cute plastic summer stuff at Home Goods.

Linking up with Jules at Pancakes & French Fries for her William Morris series.

Sleeping in the Playroom

This is our playroom, which is right by the front door of our house:

At least, that's what it looked like until a couple of months ago. That orange sofa is a full-size Ikea futon, and it has serviced our infrequent house guests for the last several years.  In the last year, its thin mattress developed quite a ridge, I guess from usually being in a folded position as a sofa.

Enter in our cheap mattress, from my post "The High Cost of Being Cheap." The saga of that discount, too-soft mattress was supposed to end with me selling it on Craigslist (we only used it for 6 months), or even just getting rid of the thing on Freecycle.

But then I started feeling bad for my family members who had to sleep on that thin, lumpy futon mattress when they came to stay.  They were polite and always claimed they slept well enough, though my sister mentioned having to "get used" to that ridge that hit around her hip bone.

Anyway. You know what comes next.  Enter the old mattress:

So now the room looks a little more crowded, a little less "done."  But I've hosted two guests on this new-to-them queen mattress, and they're quite happy with the results. (Especially my sister, who shares the bed with my restless eight-year-old nephew).

Right now, the box spring is just sitting on the floor, but my mom claims that she has an extra set of bed rails that I'll snag on our next visit. After the rails are on, I'll be able to put on some kind of bed skirt or sheet and cover up that unsightly bare mattress.

This is what my guests view on the other wall:

More Ikea, in the form of a wardrobe and my kids' computer desk.

When we moved into our house eight years ago, the room initially served as solely a guest room. Then it morphed into more of a playroom/toy storage space. Now, as my kids get older, it's cycling back into more of a guestroom.

I'd like to eventually switch out that bulky desk and rearrange the room, so that the head of the bed is on the computer wall. All plans for down the road...

Below is a view of my front door and tiny foyer. You can see how guests can see the play/guest room right off the bat.  I'm not happy that one of the first things they see is a bare box spring and that just-for-now duvet cover on the bed, but oh well. At least my guests get a better night's sleep.

By the way, the air hockey table is proof that Santa exists, because seriously, would I have allowed that unsightly thing into my house as part of the living room decor? ;)

Linking up with Jules and her William Morris Project

Native Pride Gallery Wall

My first William Morris post of the new year is a project completed just before Thanksgiving. I know that, because there's nothing like having a houseful of guests coming over to motivate me to tackle the projects that reside in my head for weeks or months. (Like say, deep cleaning the baseboards.)

I culled a few prints from around the house, plus two new ones, and put them all up in my previously near-empty stairway. Together, they form an art collection of images related to our native state.

It irks me whenever I hear the sweeping generalization that nobody is really "from here." (California, and specifically, Southern California.) I'm a native. My mother's family are natives. (My dad was born in Ohio, moved here as a teen.)  My husband is a native, and so are his parents, and at least one set of grandparents before that, if not both. Roots, memories, and deep connection to place are not reserved for people from other states, it turns out.

The staircase was very minimal and blank before, for the 8 years we've lived here.  All I had up for art were the 3 "apartment" prints, grouped near the first landing.  The prints of actual L.A.-area buildings are by artist Sean Finnochio. They're a nod to my teenage years growing up on the second floor of a small, '60s-era apartment complex in L.A. county, and are also a small nose-thumb to all the ladies I've encountered in this town of cookie-cutter tract homes who turn up their noses at the mention of "apartments." Oh, the horror. 

The Palm Springs print, by Jason Hill, used to be in the dining area, and the other Shag/Tiki print was in the family room. I've had them both for several years. (I've often mentioned our love for Palm Springs, and the husband also grew up in the area.)

I bought the "Golden" print from The Wheatfield sometime in late October, even though I wasn't sure where it would go.

And I was searching Ebay and Etsy for an old state map, and stumbled upon this one in person, at the Paper Source shop in Pasadena.  I think it cost all of $4, and I love the funky, '30s-era graphics. (Even if the locale placements aren't too accurate.)

 Detail shot: I live around the where the "cash" guy is, an hour northeast of San Diego.

I was a little scared of throwing so many prints and frame colors (white, brown, black) up on the wall, but went with it. And I'm glad, because I love it so much more than the stark area it was before. Also, the only new frame purchased was the brown one, for the big Palm Springs print. It had been in the big white one now holding the map, and looks so much better in the darker frame.

Thanks to my husband who put them all up,  and for giving advice on the general height and "steps" of the art. I didn't sweat it too much, just laid them all out on the living room floor and started playing with the arrangements.  I think there may be a little space to add to the wall here, and if not...well, there are still plenty of bare walls around the house.

Note: the black frames look a bit crooked/wonky here, but are ok in person.

Now, time to change out the white minimal sconces that we bought to replace the cheap brassy ones that came with the house. I liked my sconces at the time, but now think something more traditonal (but not builder-grade!) should be up on the wall.

Each Thursday I'm linking up with Jules as part of her ongoing William Morris project.  

Rugs & Crumbs

This one's pretty forthright: we needed a new rug for our great room, and last month we acquired one.

Like most families, this area, which includes the kitchen, is the heart of our home. We spend most of our time here -- cooking, eating, homework, video gaming, TV, movie nights, Sunday paper reading, dad-napping: this is usually where it all happens. Oh, and snacking, which is why we needed a rug: without one, every stray crumb, shard, and bit of stray food eaten on the sectional ended up at our feet. And that doesn't even count all the same stray crumbs that hitched a ride on our bare feet or socks from the kitchen and made it over to the couch area. 

Am I grossing you out? Sorry. Such is life with my family.  My husband works from home, my kids come home from school hungry: Food and snacking are almost a constant. Kids are a constant. Crumbs happen. My kids are such messy eaters, I can't even imagine what a rug under the kitchen table would look like after a few weeks. Better to put down a plastic tarp.  

ANYWAAY. There was a rug in the family room before, but it was too small and earlier this year, it traveled over to the living room. It's much happier and better-sized over there. (Plus it was dark brown with a very flat pile, both of which highlighted every single crumb.)

Old rug:

I tried my damnedest to find a pic of the old rug in the family room, but this is all I had:

From our big Halloween party last year. Those aren't even my kids in the foreground.  (And you can just imagine how the crumbs, broken chips and snacks looked on the rug after that shindig.)

So here's the new rug reveal:

YAY.

I thought the room needed an 8x10, but after some measuring, I realized that a 6x9 would be fine.  The right edge of the rug is close enough to our eating area. Here you can see the edge of our long table in the very foreground:

The patio door is also just beyond the windows, so I didn't want anything too close to that.

Details: The rug was purchased online at Rugs USA.  You are assuming this is a much bigger blog if you think they comped me in any way for this rug.  Ha. No.

I took me forEVER to pick out a rug (I wavered a lot over a brown chevron stripe, but the husband voted a firm NO on that one). In the end, I chose this Moroccan Trellis pattern. And my indecision paid off, because by the time I was ready to order, they had a Halloween sale and the rug was 60% off, with free shipping. I read the product reviews over & over, and received exactly what I expected in terms of the color and thickness.

And the shedding. Lots of folks mentioned the shedding...and it does indeed shed, lots of tiny litte beige fibers. It's 100% wool, and I guess that's what certain wool rugs will do. There is even a tag on the rug, warning me that it will shed for up to 3 months.  About a month in, the shedding is still going strong, but it doesn't bug me too much. If I had darker floors, it would be a much bigger issue.

I also moved my starburst mirror from above the fireplace and replaced it with a colorful Bird of Paradise print.  It adds a big punch of color to the area, but I'm not sure about it for the long haul.

But our new rug is definitely here to stay for a good long time.  Crumbs and wool fibers and all.

Each Thursday I'm linking up with Jules as part of her 2012 William Morris project. 

Updated Entryway

 I would say that I'm in complete denial of the fact that, this time next week, I'll be basting the bird and munching on pre-feast appetizers, except that I've been buzzing around in pre-holiday home project mode.  Pre-holiday = pre-company coming over.  "Company" being my mom, sister, nephew, and a couple aunts and uncles. We're a small family.

Anyway. I've been feeling all Pinterest-y and awesome, shakin' and sprayin' my cans of metallic gold spray paint onto a frame and an Ikea shelving unit. I've bought some new Etsy art, and a colorful print from Cozamia.  Oh, and there's a brand new rug in my family room.  I'm in "get it done now or wait until 2013" mode.

However, none of these projects are actually completed and ready for photographing and sharing yet.  So today I'm sharing my entry way, which sat pretty empty for a couple of months after I removed my shelving.  I specifically purchased a white Malm because I plan to add some fun Overlay detailing on the front drawers. I haven't been able to commit yet to one of their patterns, so that'll have to remain a project for next year.

Here's a little timeline of how my entry has evolved. I went from my pesky shelves (pesky because they required constant dusting and tweaking). You can read more about me complaining about my entryway and the other odd angles of my house in this post.

 To taking them down and living with nothing there at all:

And have now evolved to this:

I think it'll look much more finished and less "Malm-y" with the Overlays. I already owned the mirror; perhaps at some point I'll switch it out with something new and less white. (Another update that can wait until next year.)

The surface of my Malm is currently all autumned-up.  Enjoy it now; two or three weeks from now, the same space will be all glittery & decked out for Christmas.

View from the front door:  

Everything in the space I owned before, the only new items are the woodpecker candleholder from Target, and the little mercury light-up owl (also from Target, marked down on clearance after Halloween.)  I guess technically the large white owl is fairly new; purchased late summer at Kirklands, also on clearance.

Apologies for the hazy, grainy quality of the photos; I just whipped out my camera phone so I could upload these quickly and get to blogging. It's been a while since I joined up with Jules and her Thursday William Morris posts, and wanted to get in on the fun again. 

In the coming weeks (but not next Thursday!) I hope to share some of those other projects and purchases that I've been working on to spruce this place up. You know, just in time for the holidays to hit and make my place a glittery wreck until after January.  

The Homework Drawers

Nothing makes me feel that terrible combination of frustration, anger and bad-mom guilt more than when my kids can't find a  pencil at homework time.  Or when they claim that they can't find a single sheet of paper to write upon.

I mean, are you kidding me? At the start of each new school year, I buy packs of quality #2 pencils and two packs of of wide-ruled paper.  Last year, we bought a good quality electrical pencil-sharpener for the play room.  There is no good reason why my children should be so stymied by the lack of basic supplies at 4:30 each afternoon, when they sit down to do their homework. (They get out of school at 3:20, and I let them chill out for an hour before homework time.)

With a 5th grader and a 2nd grader, I'm not exactly a newbie at this school-organization thing.  And yet.  And yet by the end of each school year, their drawers are horrible, disorganized messes.  No paper, pencils, working erasers or rulers in sight. 

A few years ago, I dedicated four drawers on the front of our kitchen island to kid supplies: 2 narrow drawers are intended solely for homework, and the 2 deeper drawers just beneath are for arts & crafts supplies and a bazillion broken crayons.  The drawers were created with noble, good intentions on my part: we will be an organized and efficient family!  Too often, that isn't the case, but darn I can try. 

Anyway.  Last week I sat down and thoroughly emptied out their homework drawers.  I didn't stop to take "Before" shots.  Like a lot of kid-junk cleaning, it took longer than I intended, and I also had to work fast, before my little devils got home from school and my little hoarder devil started voicing his opinions on what to throw out. (In his view: NOTHING. EVERRRR.) 
Just look at the drawers above, and picture a jumble of random papers, notes, school forms and broken erasers, and no sharpened pencils. One of my best recent purchases have been those narrow trays (from Target) at the front of each drawer.  Before, I had large plastic pencil boxes that they always sell alongside the school supplies (seen below in the craft drawer), but they're too big for the job.

I'm hoping that this year, the drawers stay neater & more organized. At the ages of nearly 8 and 10 1/2, my kids are definitely old enough to take some ownership over their homework drawers. 

I didn't intend to organize by gender-stereotype colors, but there you have it.

The craft/coloring/art drawer. I threw away stacks of finished coloring books, abandoned art projects, and many, many broken crayons and dried-up markers.

It's a really small slice of my world in the grand scheme of things, but when my kids sit down with their homework and the pencils, erasers and rulers are all right there, it makes me feel like I have my act together in the mom department. And when they sit down in those chairs and I actually have dinner plans for what will go on the same table a while later...I feel like a rock star!

Each Thursday I'm linking up with Jules as part of her 2012 William Morris project.