Thursday, April 16, 2009

Wish List

Mostly I just wanted to show my adorable Easter Egg tree, complete with chick. So freaking cute! I am not wanting to take it down, the little chicks (there are 3 out of a dozen eggs on the tree) cheer me up every day. Maybe one more week.

However. I have been so good recently with not taking on big housey projects. But tonight I am really fighting the urge to create huge to-do lists. So, instead, I will create a nice wish-list of things I would like to get done around here. Maybe that will do for now.

1. Finish the walk-in closet. Actually this is almost done. I bought some of those vacuum-seal (suck-all-the-air-out) bags for extra pillows and such, and that worked well until they fell down off the shelf and one of them sprung a leak. So I need to fix that. And then finish putting stuff away in there. We have a big foam tri-fold futon in there that I'm trying to decide if we should keep or sell. Will be having a houseguest next week, maybe that will help determine. It's supposed to be the guest bed, but if nobody likes it, then we'll get one of those big double-high air mattresses instead (and use it for camping as well).

2. Dress up the bathroom. People, I have an ugly bathroom. It's so ugly, it's almost charming. It's got a nice mustard-and-dark-brown theme happening. And big blank walls. And mustard-colored sink and toilet. It's lovely. I'm tempted to put up some 70s-style paintings of mushrooms or big-eyed children, but I think Terri would kill me. So we've got to come up with something else. Plants? Modern art on the walls? I have no idea. Can you combat the 70s with something wildly modern? I'm not a fan of super-modern but this room needs HELP.

3. Inexpensive rug for the living room. The living room is looking pretty good, but it needs a rug. For one thing, the couch keeps sliding around. For another thing, it's damn cold in there. I don't feel like paying for a rug, so I've got to keep my eyes out for that magical something that will pop up unexpectedly.

4. My dresser needs refinishing. I have no idea how to refinish my dresser, or if it's possible. It's not painted, but the finish is deeply scratched in some places, and there is a burn mark on the top (which I cover up with pretty fabric, but still). It needs some help. Hey! There's this thing! It's called The Internets! I bet it can tell me how to fix this.

5. Organizing drawers. We have lots of drawers. Desk drawers, cabinet drawers, dresser drawers. This is one place my Virgo comes out. I would dearly like these all to be organized, if for no other reason than so that I can put away the last few remaining boxes and bags full of tiny where-do-I-put-this type stuff.

6. Other Random Stuff: Need to touch-up paint the walls (there are some big, obvious white spots where the last person spackled and I wanted the landlady out of our house so I said I'd do it... and haven't yet). Need to get a bike rack for the hall for our bikes. Need to figure out what to do with the messy and precarious back hallway. Need to do another de-clutter sweep to get rid of all the stuff that somehow made it over to the new place even with my massive decluttering before we moved.

Maybe after my brother comes. He won't care about any of this, so I won't worry about it before he comes. But we have some other guests coming over the next few months and I would like the house to be 'put away' by then. Plus it will be warmer and lighter, longer.

So that's my list. I've written it down, I'm putting it out there, and now it can happen, whenever I'm ready. Right? Right!

8 comments:

Kate said...

2. How about a big, mono-color canvas in a complementary color for the bathroom? Or as big as one can get in what's probably a small space...You can call it "minimalism" and seem smart and still cover up some of the craziness with a calming, single canvas. That would be my solution. (I also once put up three primed canvases above my fireplace since I was in the mood for a monastic simplicity in my house - did not go over so well with Artist Partner who is a big fan of German Expressionism, sigh...)

Daphne said...

that's a good idea... what goes with mustard yellow and dark brown?

Eva said...

That Easter tree is adorable!! And my sister got a huge, gorgeous rug for $20 on Craig's List last year. I think this works best if you live in a military city/town, because whenever we military people move we get really cranky at all of our stuff and just want it to all go away! hehe

I've been using variously sized shoe boxes to keep my doors more organised, and it's worked well. If I were more motivated, I would decoupage them to make them prettier.

And my mom refinished our coffee table a few years ago: it just takes a lot of sanding (or rent a sander) and then staining and varnishing...not sure about the burn stain.

And that's the end of my semi-helpful advice to you.

Anonymous said...

that easter tree is adorable. i love the chick...so cute.

i liked reading your to-do/wish list. it made me feel less guilty about all the stuff ive been meaning to do but havent. like mop my bedroom floor. seriously, its been weeks. im literally walking around on dirt. its like a mud hut in here.

Kate said...

How about a light creamy color? I'm thinking like priming for an encaustic, since the wax has a gorgeous natural color on its own and it'll have a lovely texture to it too. So maybe a plain encaustic wax on panel instead of a canvas? I'm trying to visualize it...

Daphne said...

Eva: great ideas! Thank you!

Tammie: I am militantly anti-guilt. Of course, I still have to work on that, myself, every day... but feel free to enjoy your mud hut!

Kate: ooh, encaustic. I've never done that. sounds like fun. The walls are already an extremely boring off-white... but maybe with some rich browns and oranges and possibly green? Hmmmm

Stefanie said...

You can't fight the 70's. I say go with it and go over the top. Terri will come to love an appreciate it ;)

Jessica said...

You should post a photo of that bathroom. Might get some good tips then.

Our bathroom when I was a kid had all carnation-pink fixtures. The kitchen had appliances in brown, rust orange, AND avocado green.