time for some small changes in my home

In my last post (I know, it's been awhile), I was explaining how we lived in a ranch-style house and that we basically lived on the main level. That we have a family room in the basement, but we're never down there. I also explained how we're at the age where retirement is looming, and that we need to decide if we're staying or moving. We started looking at other housing options by looking at homes in a nearby over-55 community. For various reasons, we have decided this particular housing development is not the right place for us.

In the meantime, I decided why not take advantage of the basement family room while we still didn't have any problem with the stairs? Besides, our living room is small and the wall by the fireplace is the only space we have for our TV. Not that this is a bad thing, but we don't have a foyer. So when you walk into the front door of our house, you're immediately in the living room. You're staring right at the TV. This was the only current (ish) photo I could find of the living room that shows the TV - from last fall. 

Another negative thing about having the TV in this space: the glare from the windows.

We purchased a big rug from HomeGoods to anchor the living space (the floors are painted cement; long ago we had carpet but had a basement flood...the contractor said at the time that even if we put down laminate, if we ever had a basement flood again, that the water would go under the laminate and ruin it...so he suggested just having the floors painted). Then we moved the TV and media stand downstairs.

Ta-da! A usuable space once again. We're not big TV watchers, but sometimes on the evenings where Brian has the next day off, we've been enjoying our time watching TV downstairs. We're currently watching Season 3 of The Bear.

Tucked in back of the living area is a little alcove where Tim used to have his drum set. It now holds the treadmill and some other exercise equipment. To the right of this alcove is a small hallway with a door that leads into the unfinished part of the basement. Same with that bi-fold white door that you see. 

You can see in this wider angle of the room, that behind the couch are bookcases and a L-shaped bar. That bar area came in handy when our boys were little and we'd have birthday parties in the basement. It was a great area to spread out all the food. Same for when the boys were teens and they'd have their friends over: a great space for kids to hang out and use the bar top for pizzas, pop, and snacks. The bar has cabinets built in behind it, so that's where I store all my large kitchen appliances and big serving pieces and platters.

A view of the bar...not a very attractive area, but at this point in our lives, we don't have any desire to change it. It's "good enough" for our use right now. The wall with the staircase behind it used to have an assortment of metal faux-vintage signs on it, but I recently took them all down. Was tired of looking at it. 

Back upstairs, I moved the console table from Brian's office to the space where the TV and media console were. It's a weird place to put anything, with this wall being right next to the angled fireplace and needing enough room to walk into the kitchen or hallway. I don't think builders think about furniture placement or design challenges. ;-)

 

Thanks for still being here and leaving such nice comments, even though I've been posting sporadically. 
💓

a few minutes of diversion ~ decorating

Hello friends, how is everyone doing? I'm definitely going stir-crazy and have moments where I feel sad and/or anxious, but I know everyone else is feeling the same. The main thing is that we all stay well and healthy. I'm enjoying reading on blogs and social media what everyone is doing to stay sane and upbeat...there's a lot of good ideas out there. I've been puttering with decor and rearranging some things, walking every day outside every day even though the weather is still pretty crappy (it feels good to get some fresh air and exercise; grateful we can at least go outside!), practicing yoga, cleaning out drawers and closets (ho hum!), talking every day via text or phone with friends and family members, reading, and doing even more cooking. I even tried my hand at acrylic painting, though it pretty much looked like a five-year old got into the paints.

To take your mind off the pandemic for a few minutes, I thought I'd share some of my latest putterings with you...

I didn't do much decorating for Easter. If we can't get together with family or friends, I feel there's not much of a point. I do like some of my bunny decor though, so I made a vignette on the dresser in the guest room.

I lightened up the china cabinet for spring and used washi tape to line each shelf.

The washi tape was such an easy, quick way to add a little cheer, so I stuck a couple of strips on the shelves on the kitchen wall, as well.

This yellow spring chick that I've had for years adds a little whimsy under the spider plant.

That's a new philodendron plant on top of the china cabinet. I grabbed a couple of plants when we had to run to Home Depot a few days ago for specialty light bulbs.

Here's the other plant - some sort of succulent - on top of my fridge. 

 The console table in the living room got a couple of small changes. The blue bottle used to be on the ledge of the wall cut-out, and I also added a couple of little bunnies.

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Do you remember my lamp dilemma in Brian's office? I couldn't decide whether to keep this lamp, as it wasn't the right height with the "window" above the black cube unit. Well, once I put a couple of books under the lamp and added decor to the cube and the shelf, I decided I liked the lamp after all. Brian likes it, too and said the lamp gives off the perfect reading light for when he's sitting in the arm chair. We still need a rug for this room, but I haven't found "just the right one" online yet.

Back to the Coronavirus (my few minutes of decorating diversion are up), Brian and I have been playing cards and board games on the days he's home from work. He's in the emergency services field, so yes, he's still working outside the home. Clementine loves to be wherever we are, which often means right in the middle of one of our games.

Lastly, I'll leave you with this piece that I just read on Facebook.
Love to you all!

******************

We (all of us) are currently going through

a collective traumatic experience.

Trauma is often thought of as "too much, too fast“…

which is exactly what’s happening.

Of course you’re exhausted. Of course you’re afraid.

Of course you’re overwhelmed. Of course you’re

clinging to certainty in the midst of so much unknown.

Of course you aren’t as productive, feeling foggy,

or wondering how you can possibly go through

so many waves of emotions all in the same day.

This all makes so much sense in the context

of our circumstances. Be gentle with yourself.

Have compassion for your process.

Give yourself grace. You are good,

no matter how you are managing

this completely new experience.

(Lisa Olivera)

on the homefront ~ from morning 'til evening

The past couple of days here have been picture-perfect. Temps are in the 70's, the humidity is low and sunshine abounds.

 It's delightful to turn off the AC and open the windows to feel the fresh air. The kitties concur.

 My front door, which faces east, opens right into the living room so there's always always a nice sun puddle on the floor in the morning. With the cool breeze coming in through the front door, too ~ just heavenly.

When you walk in the front door into the living room, there's a little foyer-like area. I got a new console table from Target a few weeks ago. The original console table we had there was dark brown - and now that's in our bedroom with a TV on top of it. Then, I was using my grandma's antique secretary desk, but it didn't really fit the space. It was too tall and not wide enough. This new table fits the space perfectly, brightens up the area, and I like the empty space underneath (the original dark brown console table had shelving underneath). Our leather ottomans - which open for storage - fit perfectly underneath this table.

Meanwhile, in the kitchen, things are a bit more chaotic. When the husband works an overnight shift and thus is sleeping during the day, I lose the use of our bed as my spot for folding laundry. So, the kitchen table does double-duty as a folding spot. Oops, I see a kitty tail underneath one of the kitchen chairs! Somehow, a cat always makes it into most of my photos. Good thing I only have three. I met a lady in my yoga class last week who has 11. Not going there so don't even say it. ;-)

And now with Tim being home, it seems like there's three extra people in the house instead of just one. I think I got too used to be an empty nester after three years. I'm back to making big batches of food to keep in the fridge for hungry men. With the cooler weather, yesterday was a perfect time to make a pot of veggie-beef soup. I don't follow a recipe ~ I just make things up as I go along. I started out by lightly sauteeing chopped up onion, carrots, celery and garlic - just enough to bring out the flavors. Then I added a pound of organic, grass-fed ground beef. Browned that up with the veggies, drained the grease, then added four cups of organic beef broth, two cups of organic vegetable broth, and a 28 oz. can of crushed tomatoes.  Let that simmer for a few minutes, then in went the diced zucchini, green beans, and frozen corn. Spices were next - some Trader Joe's 21 Seasoning Blend, freshly ground pepper, and Italian seasoning. Brought this up to a boil and added 1/2 cup ditalini pasta. Let simmer for eight minutes - and done!

Today I made a batch of corn muffins. A perfect accompaniment to the soup.

With so much cooking going on (Tim does a lot of his own, too), the dishwasher usually goes twice a day now. I relish the times the kitchen is finally clean ~ which doesn't last long ~ and the table is clear of laundry. ;-)

I always love to have fresh flowers around the house and my gardens have been supplying most of them, but when I saw a bunch of chamomile flowers at Trader Joe's, I couldn't resist. They look like miniature daisies, don't they?

The thing is, these cut flowers don't last very long. Interestingly enough, at the beginning of summer I had a pot of chamomile flowers growing and the entire plant died off within less than two months. I'm assuming it's just a delicate plant. 

The sun is setting noticeably earlier these days - about 7:40. 

This late summer sun casts the most beautiful glow down the patio on onto the Joe Pye Weed...

which the bees love.

Savoring every moment of these last summer days and nights.

Have a beautiful week!

me and my big ideas

My living room is an awkward decorating space. 

~ There's no designated foyer or entryway: When you walk in the front door, you're smack dab in the living room. 

~ The (unfinished) fireplace is on an angled wall. 

~ The only windows in the room are next to the fireplace. 

~ The only way to get to the other rooms in the house is right through the middle of the living room. All the furniture has to be pressed up against the walls to preserve that walkway. 

Every so often I get the urge to rearrange furniture. You would think that I've had enough change with getting new glasses a few days ago and then getting my hair chopped short yesterday. But, nooo. I was so determined today to pull that dang huge sofa from against the wall. I put it on an angle facing the fireplace and then put the console table that used to be on the wall in the "entryway" behind it. I figured the new walking path to the kitchen and hallway could go behind this arrangement.

I thought I could make a nice, cozy seating arrangement by the fireplace. So far, so good. In this photo, you can see the front door and how you walk right into the room. The console table used to be right under that mirror.

 You know how one thing leads to another when you start a project? That was the understatement of the day. I then had to move the huge mahogany buffet that was on the wall next to the fireplace because that space was now too crowded. That left the wall empty, so I "shopped the house" for other furniture. I ended up moving the butler's table from my office against the wall where the buffet used to be.

Of course, when I started moving furniture, I had to take the tchotckes and lamps and plants off all the furniture so I could move it. Which meant everything went into the kitchen. My counters, table and floor were covered with stuff. Zippo seems to be looking around at everything and thinking, "What the heck is going on?"

Then the little "oh crap" moments set in. I realized the canvas flower pictures on the wall to the right (that's where the couch used to be) looked silly just hanging there on a wall with no furniture underneath it. And there wasn't any room to put furniture on that wall because that was the new pathway! Frustration was really setting in.

 Sorry for the bad lighting in this photo, but the sun was setting when I took the photo. You can see the buffet's new spot in the background. Look at the wall art above the buffet. There used to be a tall ladder bookcase there (which I moved into our bedroom) and the wooden HOME piece and the sconces fit perfectly around the top of that bookcase. Now those pieces looked terrible with the buffet there. The scones are screwed into the wall and the HOME piece is actually pretty heavy, so it's hung with some heavy-duty nails. I knew if I had to take those items off the walls, that I'd have a lot of plastering and touch-up painting to do. Ugh.

Another problem? Nowhere to put any lighting. All the electrical outlets are on walls; there are none in the floors. Any lamp beside or behind the couch would mean there'd be a cord stretching out across the floor to reach an outlet.

 The only thing I ended up happy with was moving the secretary desk from our bedroom under the "entryway" mirror. It really opened up the space since the console table that was there took up the entire wall.

After moving furniture and dusting and vacuuming for over four hours (amazing how much dust accumulates behind furniture!), I finally called it quits and went and soaked in a hot bath with lavender essential oil and epsom salts. When hubby got home from work, he helped me move all the furniture - with the exception of the secretary desk since we both like it where it is - back into its original places. I was disappointed and felt I wasted so much time today. Nothing on my to-do list got done. Brian just shrugged his shoulders and said that I would've never known unless I tried. 

Tomorrow I'm sticking to my to-do list.

starting with a clean slate

 Welcome, 2016! This was the sunset on New Year's Day when we were walking out of Barnes and Noble. We head there at the beginning of every year to get planners, calendars and Christmas cards at 50% off.

That little virus I had after Christmas - the sore throat, headache, and tiredness - was gone in a few days and never progressed into anything where I was truly sick. I hope it was due to using natural remedies as soon as I felt that sore throat coming on. Or maybe it was one of those minor bugs that would've went away quickly on its own anyway. Either way, I'm thankful it passed quickly.

Like many of you, I've been working on putting the house back together after getting all the Christmas stuff packed up and put away. While I like the pretty lights and warmth of Christmas decorations, I enjoy starting January with a fresh, clean look. I got the other two white kitchen chairs from overstock, so now there's finally a complete matching set around the kitchen table. 

Also, that's Clementine sitting by the heater vent. One of her favorite spots in the winter. ;-)

Found those cute rooster oven mitts on winter clearance at Crate and Barrel. Needed new oven mitts anyway, so win-win. And, do you see the middle shelf of the china cabinet...a peek of the red and white cake stand?

That was an impulse Target purchase. (No way...not at Target!) Normally I don't buy cheap, made-in-China stuff like this, but I couldn't resist the red and white, especially since it was only $5.

Changed out the winter snowmen plates on top of the fridge for something lighter. I know I could've kept the snowmen plates out all winter, but again, in the mood for lighter and brighter right now.

Moving into the living room, I brought out some of my milk glass pieces, but notice I did keep one snowman alive and well...

I used more milk glass pieces on the buffet. Digging in my linens storage box, I found this vintage, white, cotton piece that belonged to my grandma. We think its from when they used coverlets over pillows, but we're not completely sure. I have it folded in half on the buffet. Any thoughts as to what this might be, if not the pillow coverlet? It's about five feet long.

No milk glass on the entryway console table, but capturing the colors in the mirror and curtains with other accessories.

 Sunset casting a warm glow tonight in the living room...

And there's Miss Clementine once again by a heating vent. Yawning this time. ;-)

Diffuser going on the little table by the window.

Can you make out Zippo on the blanket on the couch? That's one of his favorite sleeping spots. 

Here's to a clean, fresh start for 2016 - hopefully, in several different ways.

Sharing with Tweak it Tuesday.