Jigsaw Puzzle Decorating

When I was about twelve, my dad gave me a box filled with lined cards and dividers. The cards were smaller than typical index cards and the box was about fifteen inches long, with a fitted lid. On the first card I wrote the title "Revelations of My Soul". I had borrowed those words from a vampire story I had recently read. I thought it was fitting. For the next several years, I filled those cards with thoughts, and quotes, and many, many revelations. When I moved away, I had a little ceremony, and burned the cards, along with all my teenage journals. It felt like a very grown-up thing to do. But, it never stopped me from collecting files. Over the years, I have had a variety of boxes, indexes, and furniture files. My first four drawer file was a Christmas gift, and I was thrilled with it. And I have always loved to write info on index cards. And drawers with labels are their own particular sort of heaven, I think. I am sure it seems disconcerting to a lot of people, but I am comforted by paper. Now that I live in my tiny space, you can see that there isn't a lot of room for furniture, but I employ my own kind of jigsaw puzzle decorating. I long for "white space", and fantasize about becoming a minimalist, but obviously, I don't want it enough to leave any gaps unfilled! If I can find a way to fit something in, I will do it. My granddaughter used to call our house the house of doors and drawers, because I had so many cupboards and drawers in it. I don't have a lot of cupboards and drawers anymore. I only kept my favorites. And I have found a way to fit them in to my space. My latest treasure is shown above. I fell in love with this metal file cupboard at a store nearly a hundred miles, away. And it took four trips to get it home! The first time I had to find a place that it would fit. The second trip, I went back to see it again, measured and purchased it. The third trip was a miscalculation. We found it was just a smidge too long to fit in my daughter's vehicle. And after the fourth, and final trip, it came to live with me. And it is perfect. It has thirty six pullout drawers, and holds file folders and magazines. All of them are labeled. I do love labels.
The picture below is a cupboard I have had for many years. It is oak with sliding doors below, and seventeen drawers above. All labeled, of course. It also has two pull out "bread board shelves", so I can use it as a desk. Some people may think that is a lot of file drawers for a tiny room, but I've never made a secret of the fact that I would live in a library if I could. For the first two years that I lived here, this favorite cupboard was in storage. And finally, I decided to move some of the more traditional furniture, and find a place for it. My rooms came furnished.  Very new and nice, but never to my taste. I've lived here now for three years, and keep adding my own things back in. I think of myself like Mary Kate in the movie, "The Quiet Man". Do you remember how she just wanted to have"her things about her"? John Wayne wasn't enough. She needed her antique furnishings too.
I know it looks very crowded, and my style of decorating these days is layered, labeled, and stacked. Sometimes, I think that everything I have is on top of something else. My rooms are actually taller than they are wide, so it seems that the only way to go is up.

Not Just For Curtains Anymore

 Once upon a time I lived in a house with all the storage that I ever thought to need. My grandkids called it the house of doors and drawers, because there were so many. Now that I live in my cozy little home with very few drawers, I am learning to improvise when it comes to storage. For years I had an old dental cabinet where I kept my jewelry. I couldn't bring it with me, but the cabinet lives with my daughter Meghan now in her wonderful old Victorian house.
I had to think of new ways to store my jewelry and these are some of the things I did. The inspiration for the hanging necklaces and  milk glass vases came from WhippyCake. I love her blog and her style, which is nothing like my own. I used tension rods  between my bedroom door and closet door, and curtain hooks. It works very well. I think I will shirr a fabric tube or use washi tape on the white rod to add some color, but that hasn't happened yet.

On my dresser I have a narrow shelf with compartments which I filled with milk glass vases. These hold cuff  bracelets. A black velvet jewelry holder from the craft shop keeps the rest of my bracelets from tangling.

Having everything on display is very different for me. I enjoy looking at it. Most of my jewelry is handmade or gifts. Nothing valuable if you are counting dollars, but fun to look at.

I covered a foam florist wreath with strips of fabric and lace, and  pinned brooches onto it. Still more to add. I think I thought of it myself, but I'm sure it's been done before. Probably on Pinterest!

The bedroom walls are much darker than they look in the picture so there is a lot more contrast. (Will I ever be a photographer?  So many times I put off posting because I don't have decent photos, but I have decided to concentrate on timely writing instead of beautiful pictures. Forgive me)

 I also use tension rods as a way to put a fabric wall hanging under my fireplace mantel. And they can be put across a
bookcase shelf to hold ribbons. I'll show photos of my crafting room when I finally get it organized and I can find things again. Hope springs eternal.

The Party's Over!

Well, you haven't heard from me too much this month because I was so busy shopping for the birthday extravaganza. And now it's over, and I am back on a budget. So, of course, I needed these little Budget Banks. One even came with most of the labels. The holes are for paper money, and the slots collect change. The compartments inside make sure to keep your money separated. They are metal, and I guess they were popular in the 1930's through the 1950's. I'd never seen them before my late nite dates with online shopping. These were two of my  birthday gifts to myself, thanks to Etsy and Ebay-places I will be staying away from for awhile! I did have fun, picking out little gifts for myself. It is so easy to be extravagant. I bought an old magazine rack, a lovely little tin with a lighthouse picture on it, a kit to make a table runner, a couple of tutorials and online classes.

Soon after I decided on my "I'll get myself whatever I want" plan, I found something I have been looking for since we moved here. So I did have a big splurge. Here is my birthday gift to myself. I love it. Just the right size for my little big house. As you can see, this is where I'll be, blogging and budgeting. But no more shopping for now!

Some Junky Fun

I recently went to Junk Club. Whatever is that, you well may ask. Well, it's an absolutely lovely nite out making things from junk. This month's project was a planter made from an old tin drawer. We painted it, and then made a marker, painted half way with chalk board paint, and decorated with a piece of chalk and an antique key, and some twisty wire. My picture is bad, but you can see the real thing here, at Old Crow Farm. How cute is that? And she even fed us. They have these projects once a month, and it's getting harder to get in. Don't know if I can be at the next one or not. But I'm trying. I love the old metal junky things that they sell, but I have to be really careful about what I buy. My husband doesn't like, understand, or care about this look at all. A few years ago, he painted every junky thing that I had...... white, while I was at work one day, thinking he would surprise me. And he did.

Things are kind of rocky here, since he is still semi unemployed. He is spending a lot of time at home, and I never seem to be here at all. He's finished all sorts of projects. I never know what I'll find when I come home. He took all the old awful WWII linoleum off our kitchen floor. What a mess, but the original 1918 wood floor looks fantastic. Now he's been working on the old windows, which has turned into another major job. He's refinished the steps to the attic. Even though I liked the old paint, the wood looks nice. And the steps are a lot more solid than they used to be. A zillion projects--inside and out. I can't even think of them all. He's remodeled our son's kitchen and attic, and stripped wallpaper, and refinished more furniture than I can remember. I keep trying to get him to hire himself out as a handyman. Seems like a good idea to me, but he isn't co-operating. And I think I'll just stop here.

Time Again

Well, the holidays are over. Decorations are finally put away, and it's time for some serious creating. I've never put up any pictures of my finished craft room, so here are some when it is relatively neat. Yes, I do have a fixation for drawers. The only problem is, I like to have everything where I can see it when I am working. The best arrangement for me would probably have been lots of open shelves. But my husband-the neat freak-wants everything hidden. The other half of this large room is laundry area and sink and counters. If I had been thinking, I probably would have insisted on a small room with a door so everything could be hidden away. But then I couldn't have had all these wonderful old cupboards. Does anyone remember when we bought the big one? Originally it was in an old school, and then an auto parts shop. We had to cut it into two cupboards to fit the space that we had. Our eyes were bigger than our room at the auction! With this wonderful room, you think I'd be making something, wouldn't you? Big plans for 2009, I promise.

Back From The Moon

Wherever have I been? I thought I would take a few days away from the computer, because I was becoming obsessed with reading blogs. I was becoming more involved in other people's lives than my own. Is that a hazard of the internet? And now, it's been almost a month. Our big remodeling project has taken over my life. Picking out cabinets, and floors, and paints, and furniture, and tubs, and sinks and fixtures, and having people coming and going all hours of the day and night. And the noise!! ( I work nights, and have to sleep during the daytime. Not easy with construction). It is almost finished--about 2 more weeks; and then maybe I will finally feel that I am all moved in. Our little cottage will have a lot more space. All my craft and sewing supplies will be out of boxes and put into my gazillion-no exageration-cupboards and drawers. And I will finally have a bathtub.
I have been terribly lax at keeping in touch with my swap partners. Everything sort of fell apart at once. My emails started bouncing and then I lost my password. And I could never find time to sort it all out. Everthing dolly is finished now, and I hope my new glittersisterfriends forgive me.

Catching Up.....Again

Okay, I just don't understand how all you other bloggers do it. Time just always gets away from me. There are always about a hundred and fifty projects going on in my life it seems. We've started the big remodeling project. Soon I will have a sewing, craft, and laundry room with all the storage we have been lacking, a family room, and new bathroom with an air tub. We've been busy picking out everything, and things have been going pretty quickly, now that they have started. Since I work at night and sleep during the daytime, the last couple of weeks have been pretty hectic. You just don't realize how loud plumbers, electricians, and carpenters can be until you try to sleep through the noise.

Lately, I have been spending a lot of my time practicing for a really big show. Yes, I am a secret closet belly dancer. There, I've said it. (This is obviously the gypsy side, not the victorian). I started taking lessons a few years ago as a present to myself on a significant birthday. I've been going to practice and even joined a troupe. But, I've always been afraid to dance. I think I have really deep psychological problems dating back to my first and only recital when I was seven, and compounded by a horrible slumber party experience in my early teens. My dance sisters have always been encouraging as I retreat to the back row and say "don't look at me!!!(the very straight laced victorian side). I've gotten nervous and backed out whenever there has been an opportunity to perform. But this time I am not giving myself that option. No matter what happens, I'm going through with it. Wish me luck.

Catching Up

Okay, let's just say that I haven't quite mastered the every day (or week) posting thing yet. Lots going on at the house. Jim tore the bathroom apart, put up wainscoating, painted and bought a real vanity. So it is starting to go with the rest of the house. A little explanation here. When we bought the house last summer, it was decorated very differently than what we wanted. I liked it, but it just wasn't me. The front room was tangerine, dining room was dark teal, kitchen was lemon yellow and purple, etc. etc. And all very funky and modern with track lighting, and unusual details. (Stecilled pressed wood flooring in the kitchen; pressed wood counter top for the bathroom sink; table legs stuck in bowling balls, etc) The former owner was an artist and had large canvases everywhere that went really well with his colors. We are going for the more traditional Craftsman look, so it's just a litttttle different. Here's a picture of the bathroom walls before. I'm not exactly sure what you call the metal siding that he used for the walls. It was pretty different. Sort of an auto mechanic's garage effect.

We haven't started my craft room yet. Final estimates are supposed to come in next week, but I think we'll probably wait until spring, since it's part of a pretty big project. I finally put a table upstairs and have been bringing my supplies up little by little. I'm in a few swaps so I've been working on projects again. Creating makes me happier.

More on the Cupboard

Well, we got the cupboard home from the auction--which was an adventure, but it all worked out. I love it. All the drawers have places for labels. It is now setting in the garage waiting for the great basement remodel. We moved here a few months ago, and are getting ready to put in a tv room, full bathroom, and laundry/sewing/crafts/art room. Once it is finally done it will be wonderful. I'm so tired of having things in boxes. "My room" will be 26 feet long. We may have to do some surgery on the cupboard. We measured everything to make sure we could get it in, but we may have to do a little maneuvering at the doorway to the room. I've got everything for the room now. My garage is full. Just waiting for everything to come together.