Picking some art for the kitchen

So yes, I painted the kitchen and I love it. Now I am checking out Etsy for fun prints that will be unique and really pop on this wall:



so that you can see it better, this is the pattern on the curtains:

changing and rearranging

There have been a few changes at my apartment in recent weeks, and I thought I would share.


We moved around the furniture a bit in the living room to create a workspace right under the window. The new arrangement also encourages conversation by having the seating a bit closer and more intimate. I also got a rug after pondering options here (you can also see the old arrangement at that link). Now the room looks like this:

 And here is a close up of the rug I went with:

The dresser conversion in the foyer is on hold at the moment, though it hopefully will be done next weekend. In the meantime our foyer looks like this:

The biggest change, however, is in the kitchen. It is getting a heavy dose of cheery colors and whimsy.

Though I pretty recently made some changes to the kitchen here, I ended up feeling really unhappy with the result. I tried to live with it for a bit to see if it would grow on me, but you know what? It didn't! At all. if anything, I started to like it less and less, and started imagining new ways I could fix what I had done. Hope this works, I like it a lot better already, and can't wait to find some fun, poppy art work for that empty wall to pull it all together!

I'll post a few more shots once the project is done. Right now a lot of the kitchen looks a bit unfinished...

Balsamic Glazed Brussels Sprouts

I am about to talk about something pretty controversial. I know it usually is best if you don't want to alienate your readership not to tread too often onto subjects like this one, and I really do hope my 5 (yes, 5) followers will still feel the same way about me and my blog after I say this.

So, I might as well come out with it: I think Brussels Sprouts are downright yummy. Yes, I know this is a very polarizing topic for many individuals. Some people love them, some people hate them, and yet other people don't eat them regardless of love or hate simply because they give them terrible gas (pardon my bluntness, dear readers). But I have to come right out and say, unless you fall into that third camp, you really should try these sprouts and give 'em another chance. Reduced balsamic vinegar, butter, a hint of brown sugar and the right amount of time in the oven turns these into tender, bright and sweet morsels that I eat up like candy. I even caught myself about to lick the last bits of sauce off the plate.

Dresser Make-over: mid-project progress post

Yes, that post title is a mouthful. Remember the drawer-less yellow dresser I rescued from the sidewalk near my apartment a couple of weeks ago? Well yesterday while snowed in, I began to make some progress on it. Sure it still needs proper shelves, doors etc, but at least now it is a pretty color that looks good in its new home.

Before:

Seed-y Snow Day Cookies

These cookies are the right kind of seedy. They won't approach you in a dark alley, or make you question your safety, they will only fill you up with sweet nutty toasted seed goodness. They may also cause a drug test to reflect positive for opiates, but whatever.

A few small projects in the bedroom

I did a couple quick projects in my room this past weekend, some simple things to help me feel organized. First, I made some changes to my ikea Aneboda wardrobe. You know the kind, with the corrugated plastic that is translucent, so you can see whatever mess the thing is meant to hide. I used a roll of soft blue contact paper, and some decorative drawer pulls to change its appearance a bit. I am still debating adding some decorative moulding around the crown to give it a more feminine look that matches better with the pulls. I also have a second more modern pair of pulls I may use instead. I am going to give it time.

Before: (ikea stock photo)

 

After: 

(poorly lit bedroom photo...does that red suitcase peeking out bother you as much as it does me?)

I also made the insides of the doors into functional space. I adhered cork board to the inside of the left door, and a jewlery organizer on the other side. The jewelery holder has clear compartments just the right size for storing hair clips and elastics and earrings and things, many of which had previously lived jumbled in a bowl on my bookshelf. The organizer will have to be cut down a bit and re-hemmed eventually, as it is a tad bigger than the door.