Registry Schmedistry

While I haven't done a formal study of this topic, I'd be willing to bet that if you were to query my friends and family, they would unanimously label me as "the one who never buys our registries." Is that bad? Is there a special sort of hatred that is saved for gift-givers like me that ignore the registry? What if I promise to never ever buy something random that you will probably have to return but instead make you something (that will probably live in the closet until come to visit)?

So...? Am I still invited to the party? It's the thought that counts, right?

I don't have anything against registries, in theory. I think they are useful for people that want to give a gift but want to ensure the receiver loves it. Personally I find it a bit weird to tell people what to buy me, but the word on the street is that regstries=good. Yet when I'm putting together a gift, all the registry says to me is...BORING! Buying sheets for my dear friend's wedding shower? Uh, skeevy. Baby wipes? Not cute (Useful, yes. But not cute). And watching said registry gifts be unwrapped at a party? Hello, I already know what you were getting because I looked at your registry! (but thanks for inviting me, the cupcakes are fab...)

So this brings me back to the dilemma I faced for a friend's bridal shower. I know she needs a lot of the things on her registry as she and her fiance have just finished school. I had resigned myself to buying a few things off the registry but I really wanted to make her something that would make her say "aww, Kimmy made this for me" whenever she saw it. Narcissistic? Maybe. But that is neither here nor there...

Fortunately for me, there was a little note tucked in the shower invitation that highlighted some of my friend's favorite things and decor selections. A few popped out at me as inspiration--cats, black and red--and this is what came of it:

Cute, no? I liked it so much I made one for myself:

You want one too, you say? Hang tight, my dears, it's coming soon!

But it's, like, so totally awesome, dude!

Dear Caboodle,

You were my pride and joy circa 1992. You housed pop bead necklaces, notes from friends folded into origami wonders, slap bracelets, a New Kids on the Block pin, and endless other wonders. You then took up residence in my dresser drawer, with nice necklaces and costume jewelry co-mingling in your divided sections. But alas, you just couldn't keep up with this modern woman. See, I'm starting a new job and I'm going to have to do things like accessorize and wear pants other than jeans. Which means I need something a little more hands on for my jewelry and can't be rummaging around in your strange sliding trays before dawn. Sorry Caboodle, you've been replaced.

Meet your replacement:




I hope you approve, old friend. But on a happy note, your departure has cleared up a large opening in my dresser! Guess you won't be that missed after all...

Love,
Kim

My man loves me, this I know

The handmade pot rack tells me so!



My pleas of "build me something" and my not-so-subtle hints about kitchen organization have been rewarded better than I probably deserve. Isn't my guy talented? He's pretty cute, too, although I may be biased!

My first free motion quilting attempt

The dilemma:



The oh so pretty food dehydrator. It lives on a table in the corner of the dining room because there is no other place that it will fit! But not to appetizing during dinner.

The idea:

Create a cover for said appliance. However, I didn't want to do something fitted in case, by miracles of miracles, we find another place for the dehydrator to rest its weary head. Sooo....

The result:



A square quilt of sorts to (sort of) hide the dehydrator but still is able to act as a table centerpiece thingy. Cool.

The method:

I made a valiant effort at free motion quilting in a "bubbles" design.



Um, yeah, it's harder than it looks. But fun. So I'll give it another go, as I'm sure it'll be easier once I get my long promised sewing cabinet! (Soon, hopefully!).

I edged it with one of the decorative stitches on my machine. Cuteness...



And one more for those who like staging:

Coralling the drop zone.

The dreaded drop zone. Ugh.

A never ending pile of papers, shoes, grocery lists, keys, cellphones... They accumulate by the door until you need them and then they have magically vanished to some yet undiscovered place in the house. Which means an additional search before you are actually out the door.

We enter through our back door the majority of the time (seeing that the driveway is out back and all..). Not so conveniently, this door opens right into the kitchen. Which means our little rolling island, originally intended as additional usable counter space ended up a catch-all for all sorts of unthinkable pocket debris. Finally, I decided to wrangle our drop zone into order and made this:



A handy dandy drop zone organizer! I specifically designed this to handle what we needed. We had already been using the bulletin board with hooks for keys, so I build from that. Small pockets for coupons, stamps, and shoppers cards. A dedicated pen pocket and a place for scratch paper (an absolute necessity for shopping lists or we will forget everything we need and come home with Cheez-its).



The big pocket on the bottom is for the boy's wallet and phone, as he is always (always) laying them somewhere else and can't find them.

And it fits nicely next to the fridge while keeping random stuff off food prep surfaces (such a pet peeve!)


Most people stage with pretty fruity like green apples, oranges or lemons. However, we are lousy with sweet potatoes right now so that's what ya' get! :)

Hey, did you notice my new red walls?!? Finally got the kitchen painted, hurrah! More pics to follow when we get everything else back in order...

Blank wall no more!

We had a lonely blank wall in the living room that was mocking me. Such a sad, unloved expanse of bare wall was just begging for something happy. But I had been asked not to put anything large or precious there as it would be in the throwing area for the dart board (I know, I know, but the boy needs his fun). So I was at a loss...until now.

Meet my new art, courtesy of ebay and my fabric stash:



Yippee! And I love that they are in embroidery hoops so I can just pull them off the wall and "embellish" as I see fit.

I started on this embellishment here, with a cute little hedgehog from Pimp Stitch.

Here he is in progress:



And the finished result:

Sometimes I just can't help myself

Hope you all have a very lovely weekend, weather notwithstanding in some locals. Me, I have a lovely little time... a little lounging, a little cleaning (okay, more than I would have liked), a little good food (okay, a lot of that too), a little sailing, and of course, a little sewing:



What can I say...I love some pillows!

This one features reverse applique, which is a fun way to use up those Garden Party scraps. Check back later this week and I'll have a tutorial for you to try.




Mmmm, pillows... Makes me want to curl up for a little nap!

Garden Party love!

To show of the lovely Garden Party fabric from Anna Maria Horner, Beth from Sew, Mama, Sew has featured my curtains on their blog. I thought it was impossible to love that fabric line any more, but after seeing that cute dress and tote, I'm smitten! Pop on over and take a look:

Speaking of my dining room, we can finally enjoy our curtains while seated at a real dining table! I feel so grown up now... :)

I got a great deal on this vintage teak table on ebay. I presume it is danish from the lovely engineering - the top flips up and slides back to make a long table for 8! Love! And it's solid wood, unlike most of the danish modern wannabe's in the catalogs these days, which is an added bonus (and a bit more "green").

Now I have to decide on what fabric/fabric combos to use for placemats on our casual eating days. I hate to cover that beautiful wood but I need some protection. Even the most well-meaning man (i.e. mine) can forget where he is setting that frosty mug when immersed in a meal.

So, what do you think? Care to vote? One of these or none of the above? I'm open to suggestions!

Leave me a comment and let me know what you think...

Gentle Persuasion

The more I deal with men, the more I realize that subtlety is not their forte. Sure, a woman likes a little romance and spontaneity from a man who anticipates here every need. But even the good men appreciate a concise statement of wishes that leaves no room for error. It motivates them, I think.

Case in point: New sofa did not mesh well with old end table. And I hated the old end table anyway (too dorm room). So I went on a hunt and found some I like, but there were a few details that wouldn 't work and they were a bit pricey for the workmanship that went into them. Hey, I thought, I've got a boy with a saw who likes to build stuff...maybe he'll build these for me?

Over the next few weeks, the hint dropping went something like this:

"Check out these end tables I found. Wouldn't they work perfectly by the sofa?"

"Hmm, those end tables I showed you the other day are a bit expensive, aren't they? Couldn't they be made cheaper than that?"

"How hard to you think it would be to make those end tables I like?"

"Hey, I drew up a sketch of the end tables. Why don't you take it with you to Lowe's?"


And finally:

"Make me this."

That did the trick. A week later and I have this:



Yipppe!!

And that's why guys rock: straightforward, to the point, and very, very handy! :)


P.S. Like my new pillows in the background? Someone else likes them too!

Color happy

We've added a little color to our lives recently.

Nothing much. Rather subtle, actually.

Fresh and clean, it's really very appetizing.

Maybe we'll whip up something really yummy.

So come on over, kick off your shoes and stay awhile--we'd love to have you!

Happy colors, happy friends, happy home... What more can you want?

Art for the non-artistic

I was feeling all artsy fartsy this weekend and staring at the big empty wall over my couch. Oh how I'd love to paint a giant masterpiece that would impress all my friends! But alas, my painting skills topped out with stick figures and some days it is hard just to stay within the lines. Yet I had to do SOMETHING.

My inspiration struck when poking through the lovely blog of Anna Maria Horner, another Nashvillian with a drool-worthy house and studio (and fabric line!). Her appearance on the Martha Stewart Show featured a project that even my so-so painting skills could master - painted fabric silhouettes.

For my lovelies, I picked up some "batik" fat quarters at JoAnn's, some canvases at Michaels (hurrah, on sale), and some Royal Coat decoupage finish. I skipped the Modge Podge because it said something about lingering tackiness on the label which didn't sound cool. My stencils were actually huge printouts of selected letters. I have this weird thing for decorating with text--it always catches my eye--and I wasted oodles of time on dafont.com searching for JUST the right font.

Easy peasey project. I followed the directions given to staple the fabric, then traced my font outline using a sheet of graphite paper. Decoupage coat over that so I don't rub it off, then paint.

Done!

And then I shopped the house for other items, put up some shelves, and we have art!

Cottage Ingenuity

Cottage dwellers are scrappy--and it's a good thing they are! With small spaces, often awkward layouts, and cranky windows, older cottages pose a myriad of trying situations that escape most suburbanites. But with the quirks comes charm that makes these homes as enduring as their owners.

My love/hate (no, not hate, just frustration) relationship with our cottage has had its moments. We overcame the couch fiasco by avoiding the big box stores and going custom. Finding a cute dining table to fit a small space is nearly impossible. And you all know my prior struggles with lighting due to this post.

Well, I'm happy to report that we finally see the light! I went with the CB2 double dip lamp mainly for the fact that it actually fit our budget. (It's out of stock now, but this one is similar). However, nothing is ever simple in a cottage.

The lamp arrived and went together swimmingly and I actually loved it! Until I tried to put the sofa back in to position that is.... See, this lamp has a huge 15" diameter base that weighs probably 40 pounds. Great for not tipping over a precariously designed lamp, not so great for small spaces.

<--- Huge base is the bane of my existance

I tried the lamp in every possible spot in the living room and only really liked it in the corner, with the light hanging over the sectional. The only problem was the giant base kept the sofa from being pushed into the corner. Our options at this point were to never fully open the closet door or to not use the cute end table the boy has almost finished making me. Not satisfied with either, we whipped out some good ol' Cottage Ingenuity.

Arched lamp minus base plus four 1.5 inch conduit bracket thingies (in the electrical department of the hardware store) plus some big screws equals:

(Please ignore the unsightly gash where the drill tried to eat the wall)

And the result:

Yippee! Now the lamp and the couch can co-inhabit the corner without sacrificing any precious space (or the sofa legs!).

Next up: Some lively pillows that aren't ridiculou$ and art with a heart!

Thank you, Design Star

I admit it. I'm hooked on this season of HGTV's Design Star.

Yes, this is in spite of the fact that the contestants are (for the most part) annoying and the designs somewhat uninspiring. So why do I watch? Because this season was taped in NASHVILLE!

Finally, I'm getting a clue into where to shop in the city. It's definitely hilarious to see the posh NYC/LA designers struggle with what the rest of us have to choose from, but the good news is that I've discovered a new place that may be a great resource!

In Episode 2, Stephanie and Jennifer used their "assets" to score this amazingly gorgeous wood slab table for $500! Really. They subsequently ruined it by painting it gloss white, which caused a brief drop in the Earth's oxygen levels as everyone watching collectively gasped:


Oooh, pretty....


What? Wait! NO!!!!

Sigh.

After recovering from that trauma I became obsessed with discovering where they had found a table like that in Nashville. I searched blogs and message boards with little success then realized that, duh, the sources for all the products were listed on the HGTV Marketplace.

And that is how I discovered Southeastern Salvage.


I popped over there this weekend and was intrigued. This was obviously one of those stores that you have to stop by often, somewhat like an overstock place for furnishings and larger household objects.

They had plenty of wood tree root tables, but none as gorgeous at the one on Design Star.


Some nifty benches, if you're into that kind of design.


I fell in love with this rustic looking table (I was on a dining room table hunt that day), but it was wobbly and the store was too busy to try to track down a manager for a discount.


This pendant lamp for $70 caught my eye as well--too bad I don't have anywhere to put it!


So thanks, Design Star, for introducing me to another cool place in my own backyard!

Cheap Chic?

I'm on a quest--for a lamp.

Not just any lamp. No, it's all complicated (of course). See, when I bought our new couch it fit perfectly in our space which is not easy to do. But I neglected to take into account the need for lamps. Thus we are currently left with three options 1) the entry lamps WAY across the room that are impossible to read by, 2) the icky overhead light that make everything all glare-y, or 3) darkness (or the glow of the TV).

Soooo, I'm on a quest for that perfect lamp that will fit in our limited space. I need a base that is small or will slide under the sofa and a head that reaches out over our sectional sofa.

It's turning out to be harder than I thought.




And then I saw this:

Drool.

What is it, you ask? It's the Tolomedo Mega floor lamp.

And it's available for the low low budget price of $520, plus shipping.

Yeah.

I'm all about spending money on high quality products that will last a lifetime, hence the sofa. But this is a LAMP and I was hoping to not spend my whole government bribe check in one place (cause I really really want a KitchenAid too!).

Now I'm out searching for substitutions for this lamp.

Option 1: Architect Sectional Lamp at Pottery Barn

Cute. Might work. But I looked at it in the store last weekend and I don't like how the pivot points are set up--I practically knocked over their display trying to get it to move (and of course no one came to help me as I wasn't dressed the part--we were on our way to Home Depot). And for $299 it better be at least decently made. And then there is my whole issue with Pottery Barn and their tireless promotion of completely redecorating your entire room every catalog cycle as they have barely tweaked their color schemes and now none of your old stuff matches...

Ahem. Pardon me, back to lamps.

Option 2: Double Dip floor lamp from CB2

It's not adjustable like the others, so I'm worried that the scale might be a little too big. And it has a foot dimmer, which would be awesome except for the fact that the base will be under the couch. BUT it is on sale for $149...

Option 3: Architect Floor Lamp

I don't know if I'm feeling this one for the living room...it might be a little too much architect! And the shade looks puny. But it's on Amazon.com for $130, and I do love me some Amazon.com....

Ugh. Maybe I should just look for something else. None of these options light my fire, and this post on Apartment Therapy pointed out the benefits of buying the original piece. Don't think I'm there yet. But is it really worth it to get a cheap lamp if it is an environmental and human right faux pais that will be replaced in a year??

It's Flea Market weekend here, so maybe I'll find something vintage...HAHAHA! That'll be a quest for sure!

Help!?! Any suggestions?

Update: See what I ended up with here!