AAAAAIGH OVERLOAD

This isn't really a news post, but I just wanted to say.. Fabric.com has a "design wall" feature that lets indecisive sorts like me trip merrily through pages and pages of fabric swatches and end up with something like this (click to view full-size):

My quest for fabrics to support the new master-bedroom-color-scheme has come to a standstill here. Now what? I WANT THEM ALL.  ALL!  MUAH, HA-HA HA. HA.



Okay. Seriously though. I need a curtain fabric (more on that later... I have evil plans for the closet doors), and I'm thinking of making some pillowcases in fun prints.  There's actually not a lot of opportunity to coordinate things--it's a small space--and I figure the pillows are sitting there on the bed anyway, so... might as well.  In addition, I'm thinking of doing some weirder things (matting some artwork with fun fabrics... wrapping drawer fronts... etc.), which I think would be good outlets for the more graphic/expensive prints, since I wouldn't need much.

I did order the duvet cover from my "inspiration" post, and would like to take a moment to thank the Mr.. This will be master bedroom duvet number four, I believe (don't fret: I'm an Overstock/Smart Bargains/IKEA fiend), and thus far he's demonstrated incredible patience with my bedding schizophrenia.  This one's the one, folks. I can feel it.*

*By this I mean both the man, and the duvet.

Sidebar: Spiraled! (Or, Why Didn't We Do This Months Ago?)

I don't know if I've mentioned the Cookbook Project or no--but chances are, all of you reading this already know we have this cookbook that we're trying to cook our way through 'Julie & Julia'-style. Only, you know, cooler... because we're not whiny about it. Most of the time.
Anyway, it turns out that softcover cookbooks aren't really up to that kind of daily abuse. Here it is, about  seven months and over a hundred recipes in:

After about the 30th page fell out this weekend, I finally remembered to take it with me to work (there's a Kinko's/FedEx Office/whatever nearby).  For about $5 they cut off the spine, punch holes and throw in a coil.


Giggle.  And look! It lays flat!  Win. 



That's all. Back to regularly scheduled programming...

Sidebar: Fun with Bacon

I heard some giggling from the kitchen this afternoon. I found the Mr. working on this: Coolest. Thing. Ever. The Captain didn't get why This Bacon was different than Other Bacon.

Paint Paint Paint! Paint. Paint Paint. Paint?

Wow, words look really funny when you repeat them a lot. Anyway, I've gone slightly paint crazy. It's a new dawn, really, from all the anxiety over picking the right blues (I was really trying to avoid an "I've got the blues" pun, there--I hope you appreciate that.) So what started it all? Imagine with me, if you will: the perfectly ambiguous shade. It feels cottage-y and informal, yet mature and elegant. Reads as a neutral when you want it to, and a color when you don't. Now, for the cherry on top: imagine you were able to find an entire GALLON of this color-of-all-colors, mixed with the most expensive semigloss base sold at Lowe's.... for FIVE DOLLARS. Yes, because someone else shunned it, I have a whole gallon of Valspar "Signature Colors" Semigloss in "Cliveden Gray," which is, I think, the perfect color. (Or maybe--just maybe--it's not 'Cliveden Gray,' which is, in reality, far from the perfect color; instead of following its orders the paint mixing machine WENT ROGUE, and in a fit of creativity never to be understood or fully appreciated by those around it created a masterpiece...) Okay, whatever. I really like it. I'm going to have to rein myself in a little bit, though, because in the last 48 hours I've painted an armoire and a coffee table and I already have plans for a nightstand and a side table. And I haven't even used half the can. Turns out semigloss is a nice finish for furniture, and I wasn't kidding--this is the most chameleonlike color I've ever seen. In a good way. Pictures aren't going to do it justice, but here are the first two victims of my glee:

*Some of you might recognize this as the former bearer of art supplies and serving dishes. He has found new purpose as a DVD-and-board-game peddler in the family room. And yes, I just personified an armoire.

This was a thrift store find--a $15 coffee table that had a yellowy "oak" finish on it. The sides were veneered but the top was solid, so the Mr. sanded it down (getting some mileage out of that rotary sander) and stained it with the stain he's using on the countertops (spoiler!). Then the rest got the miracle-gallon treatment. This picture stinks, but without the flash it was too blurry. So, come see them. You'll swear it's cream, then you'll look at it again, and you'll be darned if it isn't sage green. Really.