Storage Space, A Hot Commodity

The search for space in my house is a constant battle. Part of the problem is I'm way to good at collecting new things and not as good at getting rid of things. I recently got a roommate as well which means I cleared out the spare room and have to find a new place for all the furniture and items that were in there.
One idea I had was the wrapping paper storage project I wrote about in January. While the project didn't work out exactly as expected, it definitely helped to corral my wrapping paper in an out of the way area.

I've also stored some of my kitchen items on the top of cabinets in my laundry room. I'm planning to put another shelf over the utility sink in my garage.

Another area I thought of was the corner of my L-shaped hall. My hallway doesn't have a lot of space, but lately I've been thinking of places I could capitalize on for more shelf space. I began the search for a small corner bookcase or table, but most of my internet searches came up with items that were too big or way out of my price range.

The Perfect Price
When life took some unexpected turns I decided the bookcase would have to wait, especially if the purchase was going to be in the $100-$300 range. Then I got an email from Amazon. Normally I end up deleting their emails as irrelevant, but this time a small corner bookcase for $30 caught my eye and I bought it on the spot. I even got free shipping!

I got the package and put the shelf together. The finished product is in the picture to the left.

The shape is perfect, and I like that the way it's designed means I can choose to only use some of the five included shelves. I used all five though. What I don't like is how cheaply made it is. The poles are plastic and the underside of the shelves aren't "finished." I would be more upset if I had paid more than $30.

I moved the books that I wanted to display, a small desk lamp and a couple of items with the same color scheme onto the shelves. I needed something heavier for the bottom shelf to help stabilize the bookcase, I'm thinking that one of those round "garden" balls from Lowe's might be a good there. Maybe I'll find something similar next time I paint pottery with my book club. Meanwhile I've put some more books on it, those I have plenty of.

Do you have any creative storage solutions in your house?

Hot Water Dilemma

When I came home from work earlier this month I was enjoying the much warmer weather and grateful the ice had mostly melted off the roads. When my garage door opened though I found a small flood of water covering the garage floor. There was a leak from the corner where my hot water tank is that was squirting water across the garage.

My first two thoughts were that it must have been leaking for a while, and I really didn't want to spend my Christmas money on a new hot water tank.

Of course, it was already after 6:00 and since half of Tulsa was having similar problems I couldn't get a plumber that night. The best I could manage was to shut off my water completely and try to get someone out the following day. 

So much for my relaxing evening plans (which included a hot bath and early bedtime). 

Ollie and I went to my dad's since I didn't relish the idea of doing without water all evening. Luckily I was able to find someone who could take a quick look at the leak the next morning to diagnose the problem and get the ball rolling on fixing it. 

That's when I got really, really lucky. 

Mike Ridenour came out and could tell immediately the problem wasn't the tank. I was viewing that news with tentative optimism. I wouldn't need to spend $300 on a new tank, but would the real problem be even worse?

At that point I was having horrifying images of having to rip up my yard or something to find the leak.

It turns out that under the pedestal my hot water tank sits on there used to be a pump to pump water around the house. When the pump was removed the pipe connected to it was capped off. With the negative temperatures we had the capped pipe froze and cracked. Once our weather warmed up a bit the pipe started spewing the built up water across the garage due to the high pressure. 

Ignore the mess, the newly capped pipe is on the right.

All Mike had to do was remove the cracked section of pipe and recap the pipe further down. The entire visit took 10 minutes and cost me $25.

How's that for luck?

I couldn't believe that I managed to get away that easily, really that was something I might have been able to fix myself with the right tools (and knowing what the problem was, of course).

The hole isn't large, but
I'll need to watch for mold.

I'm still going to need to keep an eye on the drywall around the hot water tank.

Since the leak lasted long enough to melt a small hole in the drywall, I'm anticipating mold. I might get lucky and not have a problem. Even if I do it is in the garage so shouldn't be a huge issue, but as you can see, trying to replace that section of drywall won't be a walk in the park since I would need to create holes for the drain and dryer vent (although the dryer is inside now so this vent isn't actually used).

Has anyone else had lucky run-ins with plumbing problems? Or horror stories that still make you cringe?

A Turquoise Filing Cabinet

When I moved into my house my dad let me steal an extra filing cabinet from his house. It is just your basic two drawer ugly gray filing cabinet, but I needed a place to store important papers so I shoved it in a closet and occasionally got around to filing my papers.

Then I saw this online:

The picture sparked my memory and I remembered that I have almost a full can of turquoise paint left from when I painted my lamp.

So I had the brilliant idea of painting the ugly gray filing cabinet and using it as an end table in the office (like I do with the one I painted red when I lived in my first apartment) instead of taking up valuable closet space hiding it.

The red filing cabinet.

I put down a plastic painting tarp I had in the spare bedroom (to make sure I didn't mess up my hardwood floors) and got started.

It took four coats of paint before the paint was thick enough to not look streaky, but the finished product looks great! I moved my smaller plastic drawer cabinet into the closet and put the filing cabinet in the corner by the sofa in the office. I love the way it looks, plus since it's larger it has plenty of space for the lamp that was always kind of crowded on the plastic cabinet.

When I painted my other filing cabinet I considered spray paint, but I have a hard time finding spray paint in the bright colors I prefer. Plus I can use liquid paint inside which is nice at this time of year.

My experience with spray paint also makes me think using liquid paint gives me more control over coverage and where the paint ends up. I've had a couple of mishaps with spray paint where the finished product doesn't look as good as I'd hoped.

What do you think? Have you ever given a filing cabinet a makeover?

The Switch-A-Roo

I love how the couch was just made for my house.

Recently a friend of mine decided to buy a new couch. Even better she decided to give away her "old" couch for free--to me! The couch is red and very modern looking which fits perfectly in my house.

However, the new couch meant I now had three couches. And my house just isn't big enough for that many large pieces of furniture, so I decided to get rid of one of the two couches I already had. Of those one was a sleeper sofa and the other was a ridiculously comfortable--but very worn--sofa I bought from my aunt when I got my first apartment after college.

Spencer asked where they were taking
his "reading couch" when I sent him this picture.

I decided to keep the sleeper sofa since it comes in handy when I have a lot of company. Spencer had talked about wanting the other couch, but he isn't in a place where he can have his own furniture right now.

So after a month or so of posting the couch on Craigslist and maneuvering around the excessive number of couches in my house I called Catholic Charities and offered to donate the sofa if they could come pick it up. And bring enough people to help load and unload, an especially tricky task since the sofa was 7 1/2 feet long and had to be taken through the front window.

The couch was in my home office and was too long to get through the hallway of my house. Luckily my front windows are the kind that both panes fold down for cleaning and the screen easily pops in and out. We got the sofa (and my craft table) into the room through the windows so I knew that would be how we would need to get the couch out. Unfortunately its a three person job so I had to make sure the people from Catholic Charities knew to have a couple of people come. Even then one of the women who came was in a skirt!

Once the extra sofa was gone I roped a couple of my brothers into helping me move the sleeper sofa (which is ridiculously heavy) into the office. Luckily it is a shorter sofa so we were able to move it through the hallway and door (although not without some hassle).

But here it is:

One of the most comfortable
sleeper sofas I've ever slept on!

It actually makes more sense for the sleeper sofa to be in the office. This way if I do have enough company that we need to pull out the extra bed they'll still be in a room with a door, giving my guests a bit more privacy than the living room offers.

Meanwhile I'd like to mention how awesome my brothers and Dad are. Burns lent me his shiny new truck to pick up the new couch from my friend Sarah, then he and Dad helped me load and unload it. Garrison and Taggert helped me move the heavy sleeper sofa and Spencer has helped me move furniture multiple times in the past.

And of course, Sarah is amazing for giving me a great couch for free!

A Turquoise Lamp

I've been noticing turquoise lamps in a lot of the home magazines lately. They are generally the perfect accent piece for the room. And seeing how perfect they look made me want one--just not enough to shell out $50 (or more) to get one.

Before

So I started thinking about the lamp in my office. It's a great lamp, but the color/design doesn't necessarily mesh with the rest of the room (or my plan for the rest of the room I guess).

I decided this lamp was meant to be turquoise.

At first I thought the best way to paint this lamp would be to get a high-shine spray paint in turquoise, but I quickly discovered that there are no turquoise spray paints on the market. I checked Walmart, Lowe's and Home Depot without success. I decided to get a can of paint instead.

Share Your Thoughts: 
Don't you agree that turquoise will just make that corner pop? Have you all seen the lamps I'm referring to?

After two coats of paint the lamp was starting to look just how I pictured, but the old lampshade (which worked great with the sandstone color) was completely wrong for the updated look. So I made a trip to Target to look at lampshades. (I love Target's lampshades! And Target in general.)

I was looking for a white or linen colored shade in a "drum" shape. I think what I found is perfect. Check it out:

After (lamp on)

Here's what it looks like when it isn't on:

After (lamp off)

The camera doesn't capture the exact shade of blue that I painted the lamp, but you get the best idea in the picture where the lamp is one. That strip at the top where the lamplight is shining is pretty close. Overall, I'm thrilled with the project.

The lampshade is white and has a ripple design that gives it texture. It makes it fun to look at whether the light is on or off. I bought just a pint of paint, but this project barely made a dent in the can. Any ideas of what else I should paint turquoise?

Balmy

Over a month of 100+ degree weather might be too much even for me. I commented the other day that I'll admit it's too hot outside when walking from the building to my car results in my earrings getting so hot they burn my skin.

So imagine my excitement when after five days in Colorado (with summery weather in the 80s and 90s) I return home to our 109 degree weather. And a broken air conditioner. Oops.

What Happened
My main mistake was not having the HVAC repairman come out for regular maintenance. Then I compounded that mistake by putting off scheduling a check up when my A/C started having trouble cooling the house a few weeks ago. In the end the breaker for the A/C unit gave out. At one of the most inconvenient times, of course. I came home to a house that was a balmy 95 degrees.

When the repairman came out last week his first look at the unit automatically sent the bill racing over $100. As he investigated further the news only got worse. Not only was the A/C breaker burnt out, but it appeared that the coiling unit was shot too. A significantly more expensive fix.

I ended up getting lucky. Once the breaker was replaced my coiling unit began working again. But the experience taught me an important lesson about proactive HVAC check-ups.

HVAC Maintenance Tips:

• The easiest fix is replacing the filter in the A/C units regularly, about every 1-6 months.
• Cleaning the evaporator and condenser coils a couple times a year will help prevent dirt build up or mold/fungus growth. One website suggested a product like BBJ’s Power Coil Clean. You should always treat the coils with an antimicrobial treatment after cleaning.
• Clean your air ducts once every other year.
• Seal leaks and check for standing water around air ducts.
• And have the repairman come do a standard check up around May and October every year.

Cooling Down
A few days later my A/C is working great, we've gotten a "cold" front with several heavy rainstorms that have cooled the temperatures to the 90s and (while I could do without driving in the torrential downpours) my plants seem happier. I'm glad not to need to water, plus I sleep great when it rains.

Do any of you have some A/C tips or stories to share?

It was my birthday!

In an earlier post I showed you the perfect porch table I found for just $60. I mentioned that I finally broke down and bought some chairs despite the expense, but I still had some plans for my back porch. Among those plans were cushions for the new chairs. And since I plan to have company over to enjoy the deck I wanted to complete the look.

When I began looking, however, I discovered that seat cushions ran around $40 per cushion. And I wasn't finding many patterns I liked either. I ended up describing what I wanted to my mom and asking her to buy me cushions for my birthday. Target ended up coming through with these $10 floor cushions (so they aren't really weather-proof) that are amazing.

Check out the set-up:
I love the way the turquoise pops against the black chairs and the color of the house. Plus the cushions are super-comfy since they are so thick.

I will need to do my best to bring them in during bad weather, or buy some spray on weather coating to make them last longer. Has anyone ever used the weather coating sprays before? Any suggestions for what to buy?

In addition to the cushions I got this pot with the plants from my grandmother (it goes perfectly with the cushions!) and my dad is buying me a ceiling fan that we'll install on the deck.

I'm looking forward to enjoying my back deck with all my friends! This weekend we'll be cooking out and playing lawn games. How do you celebrate during the warmer months?

Brightening Up the Bathroom

For Christmas my grandmother gave me a gorgeous little decor set for my bathroom. It's taken me months to get it all set up (not because it's difficult, just because I haven't taken the time to do it), but I think it's perfect for the space:

The set came with the mirrored tray, glass domes, candles and some stones. I think I want to use clear stones instead of the ones included in the set, but I also like the set up without stones.

I had bought another tray last year to use in here, but it was too long so I'm using it as a centerpiece in the kitchen instead. I figure once the candles are gone I could even use the glass domes to decoratively store my makeup brushes (an idea from my friend Ashley) or to display some flowers.

Ant Update

Well, if you saw my post about Creepy Crawlies a while back you may be wondering what my status is. Is the house even habitable? Well, the short answer is yes. But continue reading for details on the battle.

Mother Nature Pest Control came out to spray for ants in March. Ever since then I have noticed fewer and fewer bugs inside. Unfortunately, the irritating little buggers that stayed moved into the kitchen. Despite attempts to keep everything out of reach (dirty dishes in the dishwasher, food properly sealed, etc.) I couldn't stem the problem. Even your average ant trap didn't seem to be doing much, so this week I had Mother Nature come spray again. I've already noticed a difference.

I'm convinced that part of my problem was that the initial spray was in the middle of the rainiest season here in Oklahoma. Now that we've moved to the hot and sunny weather that should last through August I'm hoping the spray will be more effective. I've already noticed a decline in the number of pests this week.

I'm not sure what caused the ants to move inside this year when I've never had trouble before, but I guess I should count my blessings that it isn't something that does more damage.

Now if I could only figure out how to stem the mosquito problem that comes from the neighbor's swampy pool...

Notice to the right of the ugly shed the swamp-like pool.

Eating Outside

So it's been nearly a year since I found this awesome porch table on sale at Target. Since then I have been hunting for chairs. The table isn't very usable without seating so I wanted to find a set of outdoor chairs that matched the table. I also wanted cast iron chairs because they last, my mom has a set that she's had for at least 15 years. Unfortunately most of the sets I like are $40 per chair.

Last week I was visiting Home Depot and happened to walk by there outdoor furniture section. They had a variety of chairs for $32/chair. Still not an awesome price, but it was cheaper and I liked the chairs. I gave in and bought them. Now I can actually sit outside!

Doesn't the table look inviting with the pot of strawberry plants and the chairs? I plan to buy or make cushions soon, something colorful and bright I think. Maybe once the outdoor patio items go on sale I can find some cushions at a good price.

Future plans for the porch include a ceiling fan to replace the light fixture that is currently there and screening in the area so that I can open up those french doors for events during the warmer months. Right now I would be letting every bug in Oklahoma in my house if I opened the french doors.

I'm also looking into planting mosquito repellent plants around the edges of my deck to discourage the pests. Mosquitoes are one creature that I do not believe serves a purpose, would killing off the entire population really hurt the ecosystem?

Ollie's Famous!

Well, maybe not famous, but he was featured on the blog Design to Inspire a few weeks back.

The blog has a weekly "pets on furniture" feature, check it out. Oliver is the last picture in this particular post. Of course, you can also see the picture in this post about my couch's updated look.

Creepy Crawlers

Black spot that caught my attention.

I've spent the last few days trying to decide what to post about next. Today my question was answered. I was in the kitchen when I noticed a black spot on the ceiling of my laundry room. My first thought was that a wasp had gotten in, not fun, but nothing to panic over either.

A closer look, however, revealed that the spot was actually a crowd of small, black ants coming in through the molding of my house. YUCK.

I believe I mentioned in a previous post that I absolutely loathe roaches. The few times I've come across one or two in my house I was ruthless. Ants are a close second to being the most dreaded infestation though.

I've had some trouble with ants for a couple weeks now, but only in my bathroom. I had high hopes that the problem was under control. Finding this nest was the last straw. I bypassed the corn meal that is supposed to kill ants naturally, gave up on the traps that have food for the ants to take back to the nest so the whole colony dies. I went straight for the "kill the buggers on contact" spray. And I coated them.

Of course, that sent the few that survived into a tizzy and a few seconds later this happened:

The battle truly begins.

I know the picture is a little fuzzy, but this is the corner of the laundry room ceiling, about three feet away from the first picture. My best guess is that the ants were in the molding along the entire wall and began looking for a second exit when I poisoned the first one. At this point I was wearing a towel over my face to avoid breathing in the ant spray and trying to block any new routes by spraying a perimeter.

The picture doesn't do this situation justice. Not only do I have live ants trying to escape, but I have dead ants stuck to the wall with the spray and more dead ants dropping from the ceiling. I seriously hope that they are all dead and that I don't continue to have problems. Ants give me the creepy crawlies.

Oh, and I hope that the spray doesn't damage the paint.

Options for Termination
From here I have a few options if the problem isn't solved.

1. Continue to spray live ants I find and hope the situation doesn't get worse.
2. I plan to head outside with a rake as soon as the weather gets warmer and rake all the leaves and undergrowth away from the house.
3. Spray outside of house with some sort of insecticide.
4. Make sure all food products are sealed and that rooms (especially the kitchen) stay clean.
5. Hire an exterminator.

Any suggestions are appreciated!

Making Space Make Sense

Remember a few weeks ago when I talked about my bathroom upgrades? In that post I mentioned one project I wanted to do--adding more shelves to one of the cabinets. Well, I did!

You all wanted to see what I put
in my bathroom cabinet, right?

Picture this tall cabinet without the second or fourth shelves. When I bought the house this cabinet had exactly three shelves (one of those being the bottom of the cabinet) which meant there was a lot of wasted space. Nothing I store in the cabinet needs two feet of space. 

So I bought plywood (about 2 ft. by 2 ft.) and my dad cut it down to the right measurements and helped fit it in the cabinet. Making sure the shelves were cut to the correct measurements was the hardest part. To put them in the cabinet we just made sure the shelves were level, screwed in a couple strips of wood and laid the new shelves on top.

We added two shelves which means there is now an awesome amount of usable space in that cabinet. Any stories out there of simple fixes that made a place or item more useful?

Perfect Idea

I've been trying to come up with possible ways to add bookshelf space to my house. Right now I have three boxes of books sitting in my attic because I didn't have space on the bookshelves. And I'm starting to double up rows of books on the shelf space I do have.

One space that I could put a bookshelf is in my bedroom. I would need something narrow that would go with my light wood furniture and gold accents. I was wandering through Garden Ridge a few days ago and saw this shelf.

I think this might be perfect, but I decided against buying it right away. It cost over $100 so it will be an investment. In the picture you can see that it comes in both the gold and an espresso color, I would get the gold color.

Hopefully the shelf will stay in stock long enough for me to consider whether to make the purchase. Finding something this unique again might take a while.

Good Morning Surprise!

I've been thinking all weekend about what to post about, and I had several ideas. But when I woke up this morning I was welcomed by this:

This tree was a gift from a friend from book club who was moving to New York. She didn't have room for a hibiscus tree in the car so I happily claimed it. Until recently the tree has seemed pretty happy, but has mostly just been some scraggily branches with leaves. This is the first time it's bloomed.

Close up!

But don't those gorgeous flowers just make it worth it?

I put the tree in my office because it likes lots of sun and hates cold weather. Since the bedrooms in my house stay much warmer than my living room I felt the tree would be happier in my warm, sunny office (even though I have more room for a tree in the living room). Once the weather gets consistently warmer I'll move the tree onto the back deck for a while.

I also took some pictures of the orchid I bought around Valentine's Day.

So far it seems pretty happy in my kitchen. The instruction card says it wants indirect lighting (perfect for my house) and a friend said they like very humid atmospheres and not to overwater it. Apparently they draw practically all the water they need from the atmosphere.

Here's to hoping I can keep it alive!

The Color Orange

The lighting makes it difficult to see, but the vase
is yellow with orange and green spots that pick up the
same colors in the coasters and flowers.

When I bought my new coasters I started rearranging my living room trying to find the perfect place to display them. Since the coasters had orange accents I grabbed an orange perfume bottle from my collection, but still needed something to fill out the space.

I was trying to decide what else to use to round out the grouping when it occurred to me that the vase I painted at Purple Glaze the week before would be perfect!

My book club ladies and I plan at least one non-book event a month, and we've gone to Purple Glaze a few times. We bring snacks, a couple bottles of wine and go to town on some pottery. I found my book club on MeetUp.com a couple years ago and joined because a book club sounded like a great way to meet people. I really started getting to know these ladies when I went with them on a weekend trip to Branson about a year ago and I just love spending time with all of them.

There are a few things about the vase that I wish I had done differently, but after I added some flowers from Garden Ridge (they have an awesome false flower collection) I think it really finished the look.

Love the final result!

Special Touches

So before Tulsa was shut down by the blizzard I invited friends over for Saturday evening. Being unable to make it into the office this week I've had some time for a few projects on my list.

Check out my new centerpiece:

I bought the tray for $10 at TJ Maxx. Originally I meant for it to be in the bathroom, but it didn't fit the space. The stones and candles were items I already had around the house.

I also have been working on the binding for a quilt I began piecing THREE years ago. I finished the piecing and added the backing a long time ago, but the binding and some detail work needed to be done before it is finished.

I also filed a huge stack of papers that I just hadn't had the time to organize and add to the filing cabinet. As a bonus I found the missing key card to my office. Hurray for not needing to pay for the new card!

Of course I've also been taking care of chores like sweeping, dishes and laundry. And getting some stuff done for work. I'm glad I had the foresight to bring stuff home to work on, plus I'm able to remote into my work computer to grab files or emails I might need. I was hoping to be able to drive to work by Monday, but now it's snowing buckets again. And I hear through the grapevine that we're expecting even more Sunday night or Monday and again Wednesday/Thursday.

On the plus side I now have icicles hanging from my roof, that means that the snow started to melt at some point. Right?

The Reasons I Don't Have a Cat

This last month has been a whirlwind as we slipped into the final weeks of preparation before our annual fundraiser at Dillon International (where I work). I'm afraid I haven't had the time to write! Tonight I thought I'd share a couple of lessons I learned about pets and a photo of my newest acquisition.

Our Lunar New Year fundraiser includes a silent auction. I won a couple of items, including these awesome Indian coasters!

These coasters are marble inlaid with semi-precious
stones from Agra, the same place where the stones
decorating the Taj Mahal are from!

Dillon International is an awesome international adoption agency that was founded in 1972. We've touched thousands of lives through international adoption, humanitarian aid and educational events that we offer. We currently work in 10 countries. Our Lunar New Year fundraiser benefits our humanitarian aid programs and our other programs. 

Cats
Over Christmas my dad stayed at my house to take care of my dog. He also introduced Ollie to his cat, Kringle. Dad moved to a new place and wasn't allowed to keep pets, I agreed to take his cat until we could figure out a more permanent solution.

Meet Kringle, his eyes aren't really that creepy.

The idea was for Kringle to live in Spencer's room since I'm not a huge fan of cats or animals shedding all over my house. Plus Kringle is a lot bigger than Ollie, and Ollie kept trying (unsuccessfully) to befriend him. However, we quickly discovered that Spencer is badly allergic to cats.

A Family History
Kringle actually has a long history with the Getchell clan. My dad found he and his brother around Christmas time when I was in high school. I remember the kittens climbing our Christmas tree and sleeping in the bathroom sink. It was a lot of fun having kittens, but we had so many pets at the time that my dad found other homes for both of them.

In the past year, however, the family that adopted Kringle began some home renovations and were unable to keep him. At the time my dad offered to take him until the renovations were complete, but somehow Dad found himself with a permanent pet.

A New Home
Luckily we found a new home for Kringle and Spencer is finally able to live in his room again.

What I've learned is that I need to stay away from pets who shed and I don't have enough time to offer two animals the socializing they need. I felt bad for Kringle while he lived here because most days he was by himself all day. Hopefully he's happy in his new home!

What kind of pets do you prefer? What pet problems are your pet peeves?

An Invitation to Relax

Ollie enjoying the sofa. Don't the new cushions just make
it look like you can sink into the couch and relax?

The new cushion covers are here! They arrived Thursday afternoon, just in time for me to update my couch's look before my book club gals came over.

My initial thoughts:

The section on the right is slightly
heavier than the one on the left.

1. I love, love, LOVE the pattern. Saffron Marigold hand prints all it's fabrics inch by inch, so if you look closely enough you can see subtle differences in different sections of the fabric.
2. The cushion covers are a little loose. I may try washing them to see if they shrink a bit. I'm slightly worried that the dye will run and mess up the pattern though. Maybe I'll try calling their customer service number to ask first. The cushions do have washing instructions attached, it says to machine wash with cold water, but with dyes you need to be careful.
3. The shams seem very well-made, but since the fabric is cotton I'm a little concerned about how they will hold up under regular use. Not that I'm particularly hard on my belongings, but the couch is one place that gets used every day.

You can read more about Saffron Marigold and my thoughts about the couch's old look here. I included the before picture of the sofa. The cushions were so flat and the uniform blue wasn't very inviting. I did keep a couple of the throw pillows (I made them when I moved into my first apartment), but I flipped them over since the fabric backing meshes better with the new cushions.

Before pic

 Steps to an Updated Look
I knew I hated how flat the old cushions were, so I had a couple of options.

• Restuff the cushions. My only problems with this option were that I had never done it before (not a big concern since I'm sure I could have figured it out quickly) and that I didn't particularly like the color scheme of the cushions.
• Buy new cushions. I still had a few choices once I decided to go with this option. I could get throw pillow that were large enough to serve as the sofa's back. Or I could buy regular pillows and find covers for them, I went with this option.

I bought regular Euro-size pillows at Bed, Bath & Beyond several months ago. I think I spent about $50 on four of them. I had more trouble finding a place to buy the cushion covers (or shams). Most of the ones I liked were part of a bedroom set or were just too expensive (the ones I liked at Pottery Barn were $50 each). I could have easily gone and bought fabric to make the shams myself, but the way my projects have been progressing lately I would have gotten rid of the sofa before my pillow covers were finished.

I came across Saffron Marigold by chance, but I loved their designs and what they stood for. I think it is important to support small businesses, especially those that give back to their community or work to take care of their employees.

The package that my shams came in included the receipt in a recycled paper envelope and a brochure about Saffron Marigold. And of course the shams. Here's a close up of the new cushion cover before I put it on the pillow:

Isn't it lovely. I'm so glad I went ahead and bought the shams. I think they help transform my living room into a space that I'll be happier spending time in.

'Tis the Season!

Okay, so I've been promising for a while now to show off what I've done to decorate this year. Since I'm finally done here's the post!

Story Behind the Tree
Last year a friend, Grace Grothaus (awesome local artist, check out her stuff here) finished a show that included several full-size Christmas trees. Since she didn't need 7+ trees after her show she gave me one! I collected ornaments from my mom and grandmother and bought a few on sale after Christmas last year. Now I almost have too many ornaments!

In the background of this pic you can see Ollie's stocking (mine is still with mom's decorations and gets hung on the mantel at home). You can't tell, but I use the first quilt I made as a tree skirt because the colors and size are perfect.

You also may notice my tree lacks a topper. I really want to get an angel to go on top, but not one of the cheap ones that falls apart before you even get it home. I also don't want to spend a small fortune on it though. At work we have one of those crocheted angels, I think that would be awesome. So apparently I need to learn to crochet. And find time for it. Or maybe one of you can already crochet and is just dying to make me an angel?

Handed Down
Here are a few of the ornaments that I got from my mom and grandmother:


Yes that is a Santa made out of okra! And that little wooden wagon has been around as long as I can remember (there's a matching wheelbarrow as well). My great-grandma actually gave me the little tree with button ornaments. Love these!

Then I have these ornaments from Korea that I got from work. We had dozens of these so I got to bring some home for my tree last year. They come in all sorts of colors and are just adorable!

Enough About the Tree
Growing up the nativity scene was one of the things my siblings and I had the most fun setting up. We would argue over where to put baby Jesus or the wisemen. Mom's stable even had little mangers that we sometimes put real straw in.

I found my nativity on sale at a little shop in Sand Springs a few years ago. I loved how unique the design was and that the pieces were wood (and therefore not quite as fragile). My set was designed by Jim Shore, who I had never heard of before I found this nativity set.

Since then I bought a few other pieces (such as the palm tree and camel). I simply love his stuff! Each piece of the set has a different design. For example: the shepherd has the scene of the angels coming to the fields to share the great news; one of the wisemen shows the star over Bethlehem and Joseph shows the trip to Bethlehem with a very pregnant Mary. 

This and That

This rocking horse was a gift that I received several years ago. In high school I would put it in my room with my miniature tree and electric candles for the windows. Something about candles and fire just makes it feel more like Christmas.

In the bar area I used the table runner my friend Claire made me as a housewarming gift. You can't tell in this picture, but that fabric has these adorable little snow-covered trees printed on it. Claire also made me matching place mats and some napkins.

The glasses are from Pier One. Since I had the candy leftover from Halloween I put a little red tissue paper in the glasses and divided the candy between them. So far I haven't been too tempted by the candy sitting out. I keep hoping other people will eat it!

I found the awesome pitcher (seen below on the dining room table) and margarita glasses on clearance. There were several styles of glasses, but I felt these would be the most useful. I scored both glasses and the pitcher for under $20.

My table centerpiece was inspired if I do say so myself. I found a package of those red and gold glass balls at Lowe's for a good price. Then I already had the gold beads and decorative wire. I kept the table runner that the St. Mary's youth made (also featured in this post). Very simple, but classy.






 

Oliver

Last, I will leave you with this picture of Oliver, all decked out for the winter weather. Now, let me just say that in the past I have been somewhat opposed to dressing up your pet, but Ollie gets so cold in the winter that it just seems cruel not to put a sweater on him. Besides, doesn't it look cute?