i could stay here all day

I know, I know. Been a bit poky over here.

Poky indeed. 

But you would be poky too, if you had a whole new room to play in all day long. Between my outdoor deck and my new front living room, I could wile my days away forever. All the lounging and embroidering makes me giddy with joy.

So here is my new favorite hang-out folks. 

Almost everything I bought for this new room came from the proceeds of my garage sale, where I sold practically everything in this front room. And though I love this room, I must say, it was a difficult project. 

When your husband's topic of conversation at the dinner table is "so, let's count all the mistakes you made while decorating that room", you know the toll is high. You already heard about all my painting catastrophes...

Problem #1) wrong grey paint on walls

Problem #2) wrong orange paint/brushes for tree branch

Problem #3)big orange paint spill

Backing up a bit though, this whole living room started with the blue couch. When I saw it on Craig's list for just $150, my little heart skipped a beat. I could scarcely sleep that night...not knowing whether or not it already sold. Then I went to church the next morning, and got pounded by a sermon on materialism. So, I eased up a bit on my obsessing... Still, I called when I got home, of course.

"I need that couch", I blurted out instantly on the phone to a girl named Amanda (John in background, rolling eyes at me for not playing it cool at all). I see no point in playing silly mind games.

"Another lady is interested and I need to honor her first...", said Amanda.

Such integrity. I was bummed.

However, the next day Amanda told me that the other lady backed out and it was all mine! It was spotless and in absolute pristine condition. Yip!

I couldn't wait to start sewing pillows.

Problem #4) I made this orange throw from scraps of fabric laying around. I backed it with some grey fabric. The project was a bear. I was pulling my hair out. The orange/rust fabric was so stretchy, it stretched right off the other fabric. Fortunately, I was patient and eventually it all worked out. 

Problem#5) I ordered the green curtains from urban outfitters. I initially ordered 63" panels. When they got here, I was bummed at how short they were. The 84" panels were allegedly back-ordered til June. However, with a few phone calls to customer service, they found some more 84" curtains and shipped them off to me.

Problem #6) This orange wing-back chair was also a Craig's list purchase. Only $20. Unfortunately, a kind stranger offered to load it into my car and dropped it. And snapped one of the chair legs:( Thankfully, John was able to fix it. 

Problem #7) I made a little "branch" pillow for this chair. Methinks it's ugly. I can say that, since I made it. I think I will make another pillow that is cuter one day.

I already had this black hutch. It contains all of my fabrics.

Some new knobs were in order.

And here is my sewing box and new orange tray for my thread.


I think my FAVORITE PURCHASE OF ALL was this vintage metal desk. I'm not gonna lie, it was the most pricey thing on my list of purchases. It was well over $200 from an antique store, but WORTH EVERY PENNY.

It is in constant use. Between me and the boys, we pretty much live at this work station. We fight over it all day long. They color at it constantly. And leave their crayons and papers everywhere. We are still working out the rules. 

The minute we brought the desk into the house, Finn scampered off and brought his paper trays, trash can and chair to the desk and set up camp. He kept saying to me "I can't stop talking about this desk!"

The inside of the desk contains ALL of my scrapping papers and supplies. And my camera bag with all of my camera paraphernalia. It's pretty much awesome. I can sit at my desk and make an entire card without moving an inch. In my former days, my stuff was scattered everywhere and I was always on the floor. Ollie would grab everything. It was terrible. 

The top of my desk has my sewing machine on it. Although this makes things a bit unsightly, it MUST stay there. It is just too convenient. In my former days, John used to cart my machine back and forth to the kitchen table for me. 

Now, I sew almost every day, because my machine is so accessible. I even hemmed my favorite pj pants that were dragging on the floor and tripping me for the past year. 

And what's a desk without some fun stuff?

Problem #8) I had problems recovering my piano bench. After slaving away for over 3 hours, I realized I made the top part WAY TOO small. Arg. I wanted to cry. The green velvet fabric was so thick and unruly. 

So, the next day, John and I stapled some green velvet to the bench in 5 minutes flat. That is my kind of project. I think it shall suffice for now. 

These were the window frames I told you about a while ago. Enters problem #9). The glass from Finn's frame cracked last night while John was screwing in the metal sawtooth hanger. Lowe's saved the day. They custom-cut the piece of replacement glass for just $6.

So, in the end, all's well that ends well. Before remodeling, we rarely used this room. But now we live in it.

However, you can understand if I am a tad burnt out on decorating for now!