new decor in the family room

A lot of you know that my son, Tim is an artist.

One of the classes he's taking in college right now is a Sculpture class.

Last month they had to make a sculpture out of an old chair

and this is one of the things Tim came up with.

I love it! I think it's very artistic and modern.

Goes well in our modern orange-walled family room.

I started decorating the wall behind Tim's drum set.

(This isn't his "real" drum set, by the way. This is just his practice back-up set. You can probably tell by the condition of the set, plus check out the drum "throne" - a kitchen chair!)

Collected classic rock albums from Goodwill ~ 99 cents ~

and bought frames at Michaels and Hobby Lobby when I had 40% off coupons.

Found the musical notes wall decor at Hobby Lobby.

I have three more albums to use (you can kind of see them on the floor in the background),

so I think I'll hang them vertically on the wall to the left.

Thank you for taking the time to visit ComfyHouse...have a great week!

once upon a time

April 14, 1982 to be exact. 

I was 4 months shy of 20 years old.

Hanging out at my friend, Rob's house.

Rob asked if I wanted to meet a friend of his named Brian.

I said sure - so Brian came over and then we all went for coffee at Jack's Restaurant.

And the rest is history.

Brian and I started dating, got married in September of 1984,

and here we are, 30 years later.

(All squinty and red-faced due to the bright sun.)

Oh - see the necklace I'm wearing? That's my first Lisa Leonard piece.

One charm has my name on it, another has Brian's, and the heart charm has our wedding date.

If you're not familiar with her jewelry, check it out at www.lisaleonard.com

No, she's not paying me or anything to mention her - I'm just a fan.

Brian had the day off and I took a vacation day from work

so that we could spend the day in Evanston.

It's the town where Brian grew up and where we spent a lot of our dating time,

so we have a lot of fond memories of this town.

Not to mention, Evanston is right on Lake Michigan and boasts Northwestern University, a very

large and diverse art culture, great restaurants, coffee shops,

and wonderful shopping.

We had lunch at The Lucky Platter - a restaurant I've talked about before.

We love this place, not only because of the great food, but because

of the artsy, wacky decor.

After lunch, I just had to go across the street for dessert. ;-)

It was such a beautiful day and we simply wanted to relax and enjoy ourselves after lunch,

so we first went for a stroll down by the lake...

And did some more walking around the town.

I have "house lust"...just love looking (and gawking) at beautiful 

and interesting houses. 

Love the budding trees on this property.

This house was surrounded by gorgeous gardens...

Before heading home, we stopped at Brothers K - one of our favorite independent

coffee shops - to sip on iced herbal tea and browse through our books and magazines.

All in all, a perfect day to spend together, celebrating our 30 years

of LIFE together. We've been through a ton of ups and downs these

past 30 years (including the death of our firstborn son 2-1/2 years ago),

but we're thankful that we have each other.

I can only hope and pray that we're blessed with many more years together!

of family rooms and ottomans

 Finally found a leather ottoman for the downstairs family room!

(That's Clementine sneaking around by the black chair on the right.)

 It's nice to be able to put our feet up while watching TV or to have a place 

to put snacks and drinks.

The ottoman is also sturdy enough where it can serve as extra seating.

I like how the legs curve inwards. Different!

Now, if I only had the ambition to do something about those bookcases ~

like paint them! And yes, they are overflowing. I have a ton of books.

 

 I am now working on another little area downstairs where my son's

drum set is. Hopefully, I'll be done with that area soon so I can

post about that. Thanks for visiting!

i love library book sales!

I went to two library book sales - one yesterday and one today.

Scored big-time!

Got all these books plus the CD for only $25.

Do the libraries in your neck-of-the-woods have book sales?

 

new bookcase!

When I say that I work on a room slowly, I mean s-l-o-w-l-y.

As I mentioned before, I am turning Phil's old room into a guest room/office.

Here's what we've done so far:

• Painted the walls and had hardwood floors and new windows put in.
• Took Phil's wooden corner TV stand and got that set up (with a new TV).
• Moved all my scrapbooking stuff from the basement to this room.
• Found a distressed white nightstand at the local antique mall.
• Thought I was going to use Phil's old desk for my workspace, so last fall I sanded the desk, primed it, and spray-painted it black. Fail!

The paint job looks horrible and blotchy. I think it's because the desk is not real wood.

So, the desk is still sitting there in the room with no drawers because

 I knew I wasn't going to keep this desk - so why bother going on with the project, right?

Thus said, I have been looking in stores and online for a desk, bookcase, blinds,

curtains, and the "perfect" round rug. I won't buy just anything. 

I know what I want when I see it! And I'm willing to wait.

So, when I came across this bookcase at www.homedecorators.com, I knew

it was THE ONE.

 I love the scalloped edges and the brown top.

Even the sides are pretty with almost a wainscoting look.

 This is the room thus far. I know. Looong way to go.

I won't put up any blinds or curtains until I prime and paint

the window trim white. I hate doing home projects like that,

so I procrastinate.

See how the desk has no drawers?!

Oh well, I'm keeping the desk until I get a new one,

as I do use the workspace on top.

fur babies

It's been awhile since I've posted any pictures of my kitties.

Can't believe I managed to get a shot of the three of them together today.

They love sitting on top of the desk in the guest room/office.

Perfect kitty perch with a great view.

L to R: Clementine, Zippo, Monkey

MAJOR nap time!

Love that little brown spot under Monkey's chin.

 It's like a little goatee. ;-)

Clementine has the sweetest little face.

You sure can tell she's a girl.

Clem is Monkey's mama, by the way.

 And Zippo...well, let's just say he rules the house.

He's almost 13 years old now and he was here first.

And he lets Clementine and Monkey know it.

He's my cuddle kitty though and very much a "mama's boy".

Here he is with his favorite toy - a catnip pillow.

 All three cats are rescues ~ Zippo showed up in our yard with his two

brothers (whom my friend adopted) almost 13 years ago when he

was only four months old;

and Clementine (pregnant with Monkey) showed up on my doorstep

in August 2010.

I've taken down the Welcome sign!

 

busy weekend ~ and more treasures!

 This is me right now. 

 FINALLY.

 It's been a loong day of housecleaning, laundry, and running errands.

I thought while dinner was cooking (pork tenderloin, roasted baby potatoes, asparagus),

I'd say hello to you all.

I had my niece for the weekend ~ what a joy!

I don't get to see her too often and we have so much fun

when she visits. Like most teenage girls,

she wanted to go shopping. She loves the brand-name,
Pink so I took her to Victoria's Secret where they have

the Pink line of clothing. Got her a pair of yoga pants

and some Pink body spray. She was a happy camper.

(P.S. - She'd kill me if she saw I posted this picture ~ she doesn't like it.

Her eyes do look kinda squinty in this one. I think it's the way she's  looking down.)

I had a chance to go to one of my favorite stores this weekend as well ~

Goodwill!

Scored a Liz Claiborne sweater...

Laura Ashley cardigan-thingy (what DO you call this piece?!)...

And a brand-new (still had the tags on it) cardigan from Bon Marche.

Looks fuzzy in the picture, dunno why. It's not fuzzy or pilled in "real life".

Love the little stitching around the collar and by the buttons.

It's around the bottom of the sleeves, too.

And then there were canisters. Not just any canisters, mind you.

I was in the women's clothing section and happened to look towards

the housewares. My eyes zoomed straight in on these babies...

Here's a close-up so you can see the hand-painted details.

They are hand-painted Italian pottery (Cassa, Italy) ~ and numbered.

I can't find anything like them online. 

Technically, they don't match my kitchen but they are so pretty

that I'm using them for now.
Will probably sell them on eBay at some point.

 Also found some other little things...this beaded necklace shown below,

a couple of collector plates (which I will sell on eBay),

books, a little glass frog, and a bunch of wicker baskets to organize

some of my scrapbooking stuff.

 Which reminds me ~ I'm going to head into my office now to get a 

start on that scrapbook organizing!

I go back to work tomorrow (umm...my work outside my home)

and then all bets are off for getting any organizing done until

my next day off. Thanks for visiting!