Decisions, Decisions

I have a handyman coming over to fix a hole in my kitchen ceiling (mind you, I paid a plumber $125 already to get that hole) and, while he’s there, I've given him the task of moving my kitchen light over to be centered above my table, rather than in a random spot in the middle of the kitchen. Yes, since the previous owners took out the island, the placement of the light makes no sense ...

So, I’ve narrowed my choices down to these two. And I have to decide TODAY. On the one hand, yay, I get to go to IKEA tonight (girls’ night out with Elisabet); on the other hand, I have to actually make up my mind and bring one of them home.



I like the simplicity of the top one—easy to clean, and it matches the stainless steel in my kitchen. However, I like the sassyness of the bottom one, but will it be too much to try to keep clean (you do know that my kitchen is covered in olive oil, right).

Decisions, decisions …

Lost Little Fishies

So, as a single mom, working full-time, I don’t have anything better to do than to … do something more, right … ? Right. Because, I don’t have to cook and clean and work and do laundry and cook again, etc., etc., ad nauseam. Hence, I’ve decided to do another closet project. This time, I’m taking on the smaller of the closets in my bedroom and making it into a … wait for it … OFFICE! Yes! Well, actually, not so much an office, but more like a studio. A closet studio. Or would that be a studio closet?

Either way, this is what I’m starting from.


the left side—not too bad, except that bookcase is coming out


straight ahead—a tax preparer’s dream


supposedly there’s a floor under there somewhere

In preparation for this great undertaking, I slowly started moving some things from this closet to any other available space. Did I mention I was doing it s-l-o-w-l-y? As in, “Ooh, what’s in this box?!” This, of course, is followed by the opening of said box.

Imagine my great surprise when I found my ceramic fish!


I haven’t seen these little fishies since I moved to the apartment five years ago. I’m so excited I get to hang them this weekend … and I bet that’ll take much less time than emptying the rest of that closet …

Christmas Shopping

So, this happens to me every year when I set out to begin my Christmas shopping ... I don’t have that many people to shop for, and I try to limit how many things I give my girls (still under the illusion of Santa Claus, right), so, it should be fairly easy, right? Right. With a lose plan I head to the mall ... or Etsy ... And I end up ...

“Oooh, I’ve wanted these for so long. I’m getting them. For me.”

“Oooh, I think I need these, so I’m getting them. For me.”

“Well, the girls need to think Santa remembered me, too, so I’m just going to get this. For me. Eh, I mean, for my new collection.”

Needless to say, I still have to go shop for my girls, and a few other people. And maybe I’ll just pick up that thing for myself. You know, that thing I really have to have.

Sigh.

P.S. You can find more lovely earrings by my dear, talented friend Ginger here. Check your local stores for memory blocks by Sid Dickens.

My favorite color: Pink

So, there is not a whole lot of creativity coming out of me lately. But there is a whole lot of pink appearing around the house ... but mostly just in the eyes of my children. We have been battling pink eye for a week now. Yeah, fun, not so much.


Here’s to a pink-free week to the rest of you.

Color Me Happy

This month, the lovely artisans of Etsy’s Best Kept Secrets is discussing color. Is it important to me? Does it influence my designs? The short answer is, yes. I’ll quote myself from my Etsy profile:

“I have always been fascinated with color and form. When I was little (just a few years ago, of course ... eh-hum!), I colored just about anything and everything. Since my mother was an artist, I was blessed to always have paper and coloring books, pens, markers and crayons handy.”

I love working with colors, and I’m blessed to have a full-time job that involves color and form. I have incorporated the same principles into my jewelry designs, pairing my favorite colors and stretching my imagination trying to color outside the lines. But not only that, I have gone from being a girl who wanted every room in her condo white to incorporating just about every color on a color wheel on the walls of my house.


Looking back at what I have created, I see that I tend to gravitate toward the same color combinations over and over again—the same colors I like to surround myself with on a daily basis: blue and green (both colors are in my bedroom), pink (my youngest daughter’s bedroom) and purple (the brand new color in my foyer), gray and black (this fall’s favorite colors to wear). But I also use more yellow in the pieces I make—and the layouts I design—than I would ever wear on my person (yellow is just not my color … and yet I just painted three walls in my dining room a golden yellow).


But, is color the only thing that inspires me? No. When I design pieces, I start with the focal stone and depending on the shape and the color, it may end up taking me in a completely different direction than I had first planned.


Take the gorgeous oblong kyanites below: Normally, I would have paired them with green garnet or Prehnite, but this time they were really calling out to be paired with yellow. Yellow? I must have been homesick at the time!


Is color important to me? Does color influence my designs? Yes, it certainly does. Even when it takes me in a surprising direction.

Something about cashmere

Yes, I could definitely go for one of these cashmere scarves from Restoration Hardware (I know, it’s a little funny). The two grays seem to be the colors of the season, and ones that I personally am drawn to more and more. But then, the black is classic, right? It would go with everything. And what about that garnet one? I have a winter white coat, need I say more. Decisions, decisions!

Bedroom Issues

So, I’m on a quest for a new bed. I was so set on one from IKEA, because it’s dark (almost black, which is my preference), it’s nice and, of course, very reasonably priced (read: downright cheap!). But then I started shopping around ... I guess I shouldn’t have, because now I don’t know which one I want. Yes, the one from IKEA is still the best option financially (meaning, I could actually go get it this weekend), but should I let money decide on something that I will more than likely have for a very, very long time?

OK, so my three choices are:


The Hemnes bed in black/brown from IKEA. Very simple, very inexpensive, solid wood.


The Brighton Coffee bed in dark brown from Crate & Barrel. Nice details, solid and engineered woods, reasonably priced.


The Plateau bed in dark brown from West Elm. Minimalistic (is that a word?) design, solid wood, very simple, no need for box springs. But do I really want to give up my box springs? And, it’s only available online ... but I really like it.

You see! So, what’s a girl to do? Maybe I'll just go buy myself that zebra-print chair instead. After I paint the foyer and hallway, of course.

Psst. What did you think I was referring to with that title?