Something besides decorating for a change.

Who says tulips won't bloom a second year in Oklahoma?
Mine have even multiplied. It appears I have found the perfect micro-climate right by my front steps for tulips. Funny... This is also right where I had the same Kale growing for three years straight. Hmm? Maybe I should have the soil tested, there must be something wrong.

Attention WalMart Shoppers: Dana will be buying up all the tulip bulbs next year! LOL!

Adding Final Touches to the Bedroom

Do you guys want to see my decision about rugs? Well, here it is...

I know this one was not even one of the choices. But after much deliberation, I finally gravitated to the notion that I needed a little color in this room. This is a 3 x 5 rug called Malika from Potterybarn. It is a perfect shade of powder blue, neither too green nor too purple.
So, I got two. This was a suggestion from my friend the Flowerweaver. Because she pointed out how hard it is to get a room size rug off the floor, from under a bed, for a good deep cleaning, and that won me over to smaller rugs.
And I've been fluffing around the tabletops a little bit too. This little mosaic picture frame (which needs a picture in it) was what started this whole color thing in the bedroom. I loved the purples, blues and golds in it. So, this tiny little thing became my jump off point for all my other selections.
I'm using a lot of things I already had for the decor items. Funny how that seems to happen. And I am even shopping the house (and attic) for artwork for this room. Would you like to help me pick a few things that would work in this room?
This antique cherry tree print hangs in my bathroom now. I could move it. I think it is a little more blue-green than what is going on in my room right now though.
I had this print up in my attic. It is nothing fancy, but it has the purple in it, and one of my favorite flowers, japanese iris. The frame is nice but could use a repair.
How do you feel about matching artwork to a room? Do you think it should match or be slightly off-matching? This painted canvas is an original that I had stored in my attic. It's vibrant palette has always been hard to work with. Though I love the painting. I traded one of my art pieces for it years ago. I would love to find a place for it. Not crazy about the gold frame, but to reframe it would be pricey as the size in not standard.
Or, these two very neutral prints could go back in the bedroom. I have had them in my bedroom for something like 12 years now. Maybe it is time for a switch? But they have the serene palette that the room is painted in, and I still like the images.
Now here is an art opportunity waiting to happen! This is the wall you see when you first walk in our bedroom. I'd say the space on either side of the door to the bathroom cries out for art.
I am not sure if I want to hang art above my bed? I know most people do, but I kind of like it with just the bed as the focal point. I'm using my old lamps, and it is amazing how much fresher they look with my new wall color. Before they seemed so drab to me.
This wall needs something. I am thinking about one of those full length framed mirrors that leans up against the wall. It would be the only full length mirror in our master and I could really use one.
And I am not sure, what do you think? does this piece of furniture need artwork above it? I admit I'm rather enjoying the sparseness of the cleaned out rooms. I don't want to clutter things up too soon. I was thinking I might want to leave this as is for now. Still, I would like your opinion.

And my draperies are still not hung. I have to get my courage up. I have problems hanging them straight. I have to give myself a pep talk anytime I have to drill holes in the wall. Maybe later this week.

Well, what do you think? Ideas? Suggestions? This is the point at which I can slow down and really take my time and make the right choices. No need to rush, no one is coming anytime soon.

Uhm, Hello...

... Shall we say things are improving around here? The worst is done, (nearly, completely). And now the fun can really begin. As if this sectional is not fun enough. But now begins the job for me... putting all our belongings somewhere and decorating with the rest of the things I have.

But for tonight, we are relaxing, getting tipsy, putting our feet up, enjoying a pizza, and some Ella Fitzgerald on the "turntable".

Fluffing pics as they are available. Toodloo!

Easter? I almost forgot about Easter!

In lieu of creating my own seasonal craft items to share due to my obsessive compulsive redecorating activities, I decided instead to share this wonderful link with you.

If I get my kitchen back before Easter, I am so making these!

WE FOUND IT!!

Steve, that precious man I love, found my camera cord. You have no idea how unsettling it has been to not have it. So, here is a look at how the remodeling looked on Sunday morning.

The living room...

The office...
The boudoir... (we no longer can refer to it as "just" the bedroom).
La Pièce de Rèsistance.... ( I probably have my accents wrong for any French teachers out there reading.)... the chifforobe.
And, my very own nightstand with drawers.
More fluffing to come and details. The devil is in the details. I am still waiting for paint retouch-ups and thresholds to be installed. And then there is the delivery of the sofa. Oh sofa! Oh sofa! Wherefore art thou oh sofa?

Forgive me bloggers, for I have sinned.

I know you are waiting with great anticipation to see progress on my remodeling and decorating projects. There is just one problem...

I have lost my camera synch cord somewhere in this mess we have been living in.

I know! I know!

On the brighter side.... the flooring problem. A new crew arrived on Friday afternoon and let me just say, I have a new BFF named Jason. "Jason to the Rescue" is his full name. Jason finished my floors on Friday and Saturday... during a blizzard! Jason is coming back this morning to finish a few details like thresholds. I think I will bake him a cake before he gets here.

If I can find my oven.

My bedroom furniture arrived Friday. Can I just say, I actually shed a tear. It is so beautiful and for the first time ever in my life, I feel like I have a princess room. I even have my very own nightstand with drawers. I never had one of those before now.

I will try to get the curtains hung, and find my camera cord, and hopefully be able to post something in a day or so. It is coming together.

Amen.

Trying to Gain Some Perspective.

It's been a rough week in the world of remodeling, or at least the last 36 hours or so.

I thought I'd reflect on a few things to get some rational perspective in my mind. Maybe it will help my stomach, since the pepto is not working, and besides, I drank the last of it already.

So, bear with me, because it might get personal.

The picture above is Steve and his little sister Sheron, when they lived in Canada. Are they the cutest ever? Except it looks like Steve got scalped by an indian, never mind though, just look at how he admires her with such innocent curiosity. Siblings, friends, playmates. Steve loved Sheron. She passed away a long time ago.

I bet you know someone right now who has lost a loved one. I am thinking of my friend Jane who recently lost her son to a horrible tragedy. Or my own friend Shannon, and how she lost her life at a young age to senseless recklessness.

And then there are people all around us who are having some real hardships in life. People who watch helplessly as their little children go thru difficult health issues. People who are losing their families to divorce. People who are losing their homes to unbelievably difficult financial troubles.

One of my friends from high school works for the US Embassy in Santa Domingo. She was sent to Haiti to help evac hundreds of orphans. She saw a lot of pain and hurt and confusion. She is sleepless lately. I think she probably has a right to be.

We are going through other problems in our family, right now. Kids mostly. The off-limits topic! I once broke down in my doctors office and she asked me what was going on, and I started telling her about stresses in our life. They seemed so huge to me. She was compassionate, but she said something so true to me. She said, "everyone is going through very similar problems." It helped me to put it into perspective.

Sometimes we feel so isolated, don't we? Like no one would understand. But the truth is, we are meant to help bear one another's burdens. And the isolation we feel is just the opposite of what we should be searching. Isolation imposed on oneself or just perceived in the mind, is a detriment to vibrant mental health. It robs us of the one thing that we need in times of despair, and that is a community of support.

A few days ago, I felt calm as a lark. (guessing larks must be calm). And I was able to tap into a part of me that has weathered storms. It was a great feeling. The realization that we have gone through some difficult times, yet, are able to look back and see we have come so far. Realizing that the problems that others near us are going through are things we have compassion for them about. Yet, we also have the ability to see ourselves distinctly seperate, and not make their burdens our own, but to be able to lovingly stand in support and help to them if they ask it.

And so as I think of all these situations, and listen to my tummy rumble along, I think maybe I have blown these flooring problems out of proportion? Maybe they have been a catalyst for launching my emotions into orbit, where I don't really want to go again. It seems so foolish in comparison to other people's struggles. And I start to feel my eyelids getting heavy. Maybe it is the tylenol pm kicking in? Anyway, if you read all this you may know me as a blogger who occasionally rambles.

I'm just trying to say.. could it be that my floor problems are not the end of the world?

Now I am going to try to go back to sleep. Good night!

I don't do conflict well...

Our living room floor had to be torn up and started over today.

The owner of the flooring company was understanding with our issues and agreed to redo the floor. It is his workers who are giving me attitude. Still not much progress. And I am getting real sick of it.

Trying to keep my eye on the prize.

I am gettin' a little cranky.

Tired of the mess.

1 day behind on the wood floor.

Furniture arriving Friday.

Beginning to think they did not send their top crew out to install my floors.

Dang it!

So You Think You Can Decorate?

Have you guys seen this blog?

I'm usually the last to catch onto something new, so maybe it is old news, but if not, click the button in my sidebar. Join in on the votes each week.

Heck! Some of you might even be a contestant for all I know!

Great fun! Better than watching Idol this season!

Photos and content of blog are available to use on your own blog as long as you link back! The photo above is a snippet of this week's contestants' projects. Of course with my own photos looking like this right now...

I thought maybe I would use their pics instead.

Happy decorating! Love, Dana

A Sneak Peek.

The prep is the time consuming part, apparently. Isn't that so true of most everything?

Stay Tuned Boys and Girls

We will be experiencing technical difficulties for a few days, ie the modem is unplugged.

Please do not adjust your set.

Our technicians are on standby! ha ha!

I would love to post something beautiful, but...

I have one chair left in the living room. And a basket for the cat. There is not much beauty going on here today. But give me a couple more days and come back! Opening up the space is giving me all kinds of new ideas for where to put things back!

If you are really missing my knack for blogging, read this funny post about my uncle and his view on Daylight Saving's Time. Spring forward Ya'll!

Toodloo!

Still not certain, I went searching...

... and I found this lovely.

But it is quite a bit pricier than yesterday's rugs. Yet, it is within reach. If I stretch, just a little.

The colors are rich. The pile is deep. The knotting is tight. The wool is New Zealand. The details are silk. The palette is right.

It is a rug that would last. A long time. It would outlast the others by decades.

As a side note, let's talk about Persian rugs for a moment. Which this one is not. But I went and looked. We have this rug dealer in Tulsa. He imports. His name is something like Ahmed. He has lots and lots of rugs. He's been here a long time. And he showed me his rugs. Which are 70% off right now. Some of them, not all.

He figured out right away I knew a teensie weensie bit about weaving. (I used the warp word, tipped him off.) And so he took a little extra time and showed me a lot of rugs. Even though I think he knew right off the bat that I was not gonna buy one. I think it was the flies that got caught in my mouth while it was hanging wide open. Anyway. He showed me silk rugs. He showed me wool rugs. He showed me commercially dyed rugs. He showed me vegetable dyed rugs. He showed me traditional Persian rugs, and non-traditional Persian rugs and tribal rugs. He showed me how they are darker from one direction than the other. He showed me pictures of a woman in a far away place making rugs, with him in the picture. He told me how they knot rugs and beat rugs and shear rugs and about nomadic people's rugs and how they are different. It was quite interesting.

And then I said, "okay well, I will have to bring my husband here and let him decide about a rug." (Not like Steve would actually buy one or even care to pick one out, but it was a way to gracefully say goodbye without gasping how I could not buy one of his expensive rugs, even if they are 70% off.)

And the guy was very smooth. He said, "If he is a smart man, he will say, 'If it is what you want, yes, buy the rug.' "

And then I went in search of rugs that I could afford. The search continues.

I can't do this alone.

I have never bought room sized rugs before, They are like a commitment to me. And it's not as though I don't commit in life, but when it comes to decorating, well, I am a little bit wishy-washy. And room-sized rugs, well, they just seemed too limiting for my "A girl can change her mind can't she?" attitude to decorating.

But this is different.

Because in one week, I'll have this for floors.

It is piled high in the living room, waiting... acclimating... like fish to new water.

And so the time has come in my decorating life to learn to make a commitment and stick with it. Because I need rugs under my feet in certain areas. Plus they anchor the room. Plus they keep my home from sounding like the Alps... hello... hello.. hello- o- o

But I am gonna need your help. It's too scary to go alone.

So a refresher... My walls, remember adobe white, my furniture remember, mahogany but not too red. my floors, see above.

My drapes: (by the way, best deal around 39.99 and they are lined from Bed Bath and Beyond)

My accent colors:

My new bedspread:

My rug choices:

A

or B

One things to consider: looped rugs such as (A) do not take traffic as well as tufted rugs (B)

Although it's for the master, it had a well-worn grey path in the carpet.

Are ya'll as sick of this redecorating project as I am?

Please vote, A (looped rug with lighter background) or B (tufted rug with mossy green background) Thank you!

We Are Hitting Our Stride About Now.

I am not even sure what my title means, but it seems to apply to this redecorating phase I am in. Remember when I wrote this? I don't know? Maybe we could have predicted a storm brewing? I just thought I would show you the mid-progress pics. Why? Well, because I have run out of old pictures to post and I didn't want to lose the remaining 3.4 readers I still have.

So laugh if you will at how progress, (and I use the term lightly), is being made on my redecorating.

Out with the old... but no new yet...
yes, i still have christmas stuff on my buffet in the entry, and not much else...
To keep or not to keep? That is the question...
Yes, during a four-room makeover, I decided NOW is the time I should really go thru mags for recipes. This is how a creative mind works... stand in awe of it. Just appreciate it for what it's worth.
I've been living off this pile of clothes for three weeks now. I just keep recycling the same outfits.
Because this is where my real clothes are.
Because although it is painted, the floor is still to be tackled in this closet.
Here is what adobe white walls and bone looks like in the dreariest of winter days. Notice new crown moulding? This is all I really have to show so far for all this work. Hmm?
Even the kitty is displaced. Poor pitiful thing.

Latest Development: the wood has arrived, and will be delivered to our house at 9 am Wednesday morning. It has to acclimate to our home's humidity and temperatures before installation. Hmm? Sounds fussy doesn't it?

Daisy is in Mourning.

Her beloved couch has been taken away. It will be at least two weeks before she has a new one.
She is resigned to sleeping on the floor or ((gasp!)) in a basket for now.
Oh! The shock of it.
I don't know if she'll survive the trauma.
It was, after all, her favorite place in the house.

Reminder to Self...

Plant poppies this year!

If you plant by seed, you may have missed the opportunity already. Poppy seeds are sown in the snow. As the snow melts the seeds are taken to their exact required depth for germination. This according to my grandmother. However, Poppies also self-sow after blooming, so in my mind's eye, they can be sown anytime after the blooming phase.

Or if you are like me and use a pre-emergent application on your flower beds for weed prevention, you might rather invest in live plants. They are available early, like maybe as early as right now depending on your zone! And they go fast. So, go get yourself some and plant them. Before everyone else does.

For more poppies, here's a website with many, many varieties of Poppies.

Tablescape Thursday, The Little Cabin in the Woods.

Before I show you my table, please take a look at my inspiration!

We went to the cabin for a little R&R last weekend, and I couldn't resist making a quaint little forest tablescape to share with you.
I first covered my table with a handwoven neutral throw that my dear friend Eleanor Lux wove for me. And on top of that, I placed these quilted placemats, which were a steal after Christmas at Kohl's.
They reminded me of the quilt that hangs over the loft railing.
And I just used my red stoneware that is from Target, and plastic handled silverware is all we have at the cabin.
Just above the table hangs this sweet little vintage stitched sampler. It sets the tone for our cabin.
Here's a view of the overall setting. See how tiny it is. But we love it.
And here is one more closeup of our furry friends in the forest. We only saw these two over the weekend, but, judging by their size, I bet their momma was close by.
Happy Tablescape Thursday! For more table decorating ideas, please visit Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for a list of links. Thank you for hosting once again Susan!

Love, Dana