August 23, 2008

Hint to Self: Read More Carefully

I just nabbed the clock, above, on ebay for $15 plus $15 shipping. It made me happy because it's the exact clock I stared at for five years at Mt. Greylock Regional High. (Yes, I said five. It was a combo jr. high and high school and, yes, due to my somewhat nomadic tendencies, I went to a different school in the ninth grade. I assume the other school had clocks as well but can't summon them to mind quite the way I can this lovely.)

No bigs, pricewise, but UNFORTCH I read the description wrong. See, where it says this:

Q: Since most clocks in the classrooms are slave clock hardwired into a master clock in the main office. Has this clock been converted to a standalone clock with a standard plug?
A: Hi, No, it has not been converted.

I read as:

Q: Since most clocks in the classrooms are slave clock hardwired into a master clock in the main office. Has this clock been converted to a standalone clock with a standard plug?
A: Hi, YES BRIDICULOUS YOU WEIRDO it has been converted.

(Slave clock?)

And apparently this picture still didn't clue me in to the fact I was buying the shell of a clock:

My first thought, beyond the "UGH!" I mean, was that I could just set the clock to 2:25, which is when the final bell rang, and happily live with it as an objet. A tribute to freedom, if you will. But no. Even with thoughts of a $30 tribute to freedom, I was still unsatisfied. So I researched how to fix it myself and install new hardware and figure I could do that as well, though it will certainly be an onerous task fraught with annoying interludes in Hobby Lobby.

So that's my story. Similar to much of my academic career, I made an oopsie by not paying enough attention. And now I must scramble to fix it on the back-end.

Posted by Bree at 11:27 AM | Comments (0)

July 31, 2008

No Product Photographer, I

But look!
I finished my backsplash!

The measuring, painting and mosaic-ing all went off without a hitch but Matt and I found ourselves in a bit of a double-pour epoxy pickle over the weekend. Seems the d-p e didn't want to conform to the mold Matt built. Which, to be precise, involved wax paper, duct tape, 2 x 4's and kebab sticks. So the crazy shit went (somewhat) ALL OVER my back deck (if you can call a concrete slab a "deck") and resulted in a front of the backsplash that looked absolutely perfect (minus the fruit fly I've forever embalmed in hopes of creating my own Jurassic Park type situation)...and sides of the backsplash marred with the aforementioned wax paper and duct tape. Which had become one with each other and then had a menage with the epoxy.

Matt, being the Mike Rowe of my house at least, took my sad little effed-up backsplash to his shop yesterday and RUINED a saw blade trimming off the glass mosaic edges (and all the crap that was stuck to them) on the top and sides. But he got them off, so I painted it to match and stuck it back up there today.

Hopefully at some point, it will actually get attached to the wall, but I'm not making any promises.

Posted by Bree at 01:25 PM | Comments (1)

June 18, 2008

Low-Budge Bathroom Remodel

Now that my house is getting pretty close to completion (minus, of course, the additional bathroom I'm going to install next summer), I'm setting my sights on another. Matt's parents have a cabin outside of Breckenridge and within spitting distance to SOUTH PARK (in lovely Fairplay, for those of you in the Colorado-know) that I've spent quite a few weekends at over the past several months, and that might benefit from a few hours of dedicated work.

Considering the hospitality, generosity and warmth with which his family has treated me in regards to both the cabin and life on a whole, I've decided to repay the favor(s) in the best way I can think of: redoing one of the bathrooms at the cabin. Matt is extraordinarily capable at everything from installing tile to wiring light fixtures to plumbing pipes, so the operation on my end will be more a picking out and buying type of thing rather than actually INSTALLING. Or so I like to tell myself. Matt has already informed me that I'll be "an expert at mudding" (aka installing drywall) by the time this is through. It's that kind of talk that makes me weepy.

Thus far, we've decided to go with beadboard wainscoting, quarter-round and a pre-built tub/shower surround. Next steps are picking out paint colors (aka seeing what leftover paint I have in enough quantities to cover the square footage), tearing down wallpaper, refinishing the walls and ripping out the FRP (fiberglass-reinforced plastic) panels currently covering most of the vertical space. The shower fixture needs to be replaced as well. The floor, toilet and sink are A-OK so we're hoping to get the project done over a very long weekend in August. That's all for now. Pictures to come as we get further along in the process.

Posted by Bree at 01:03 PM | Comments (0)

June 16, 2008

She Was FRAMED

I found two great, low-budge framing options online today.

Bulldog clips, thumbtacks, eye hooks and salvaged wood via Apartment Therapy Chicago

Old wooden hangers (my Mom has about 150 of these if you're interested) via Poppytalk and O at Home. I think these would look frametastic with a selection of August Sander prints.

Posted by Bree at 04:57 PM | Comments (0)

June 10, 2008

Junk Metalhead

Amazing. After trying to unload my old stove on the Denver Rescue Mission, Habitat for Humanity and Freecycle with NO takers, I finally dragged it out into my alleyway, literally, four minutes ago. And I can hear someone moving it onto a truck right now.

As you might've guessed from the above, the junk metal trade is alive and well in central Colorado. In fact, Matt's Dad just bought a house with all of the metalwork and pipes and whatever-else-makes-up-a-house-that-could-possibly-be-stolen stripped out, and the furnace abandoned by weakly-biceped thieves in the kitchen. (Consider a rewrite on that last sentence. - ed.)

This all makes me think that Dukie from The Wire (excuse me, Duquan) might find some financial success in the metro Denver area. Just sayin'.

Welcome! I like your pants! Oh lighten up, Michael...

Posted by Bree at 01:11 PM | Comments (0)

May 09, 2008

Megalegga Hi, Mega Hi Dee Ho

I don't know what that title means, but it popped into my head the moment I saw this UNBELIEVABLY GORGE wallpaper on Design*Sponge.

What a fresh, cool take on damask (which even I am tired of seeing). It's going to be shown at ICFF but assume will be available here at some point. Perhaps the point at which I decide to wallpaper my bedroom. Such coincidences have been known to happen.

Posted by Bree at 12:25 PM | Comments (0)

April 25, 2008

Home Remodeling: Idjit Edition

Did I ever tell you about the time I ordered several hundred bucks of the wrong wallpaper? Yep. I did. The right wallpaper...just the wrong color. And it's still not resolved. Because apparently the company is all sortsa small and overwhelmed and so on and so forth. Luckily, I'm working with the super nice folks at Eades Wallpaper to get a resolution so hopefully I will one day be able to enjoy the correct papier.

In other news, FINALLY the Baleri chairs I bought from Unica Home in JUNE have shipped. Naturally, they messed up and shipped them this week (even though I told them I'd be out of the country) so fingers crossed Fed Ex doesn't get all sorts of ornery with my absence and return the package or leave it in limbo on some island with Tom Hanks and Wilson the volleyball.

So that's what's up with that. Oh and yes, I'm also driving around town with 500 pounds of the second type of tile picked out for my kitchen in my trunk. Welcome to my world.

Posted by Bree at 09:49 AM | Comments (2)

April 21, 2008

Torn Like Natalie Imbruglia

I just can't decide if I want this tile for my bathroom or not. So...torn... Will it be too busy? Will it clash with the tiles that are already in there? What color grout will I use? Will I have to get all new towels and bath mats and SO ON because my floor looks like somebody puked up a bowl of skittles on it? Should I get the border? Does the place I'm buying it from even sell the border? And on and on. Which is frustrating because my bathroom has about 2 square feet of floor space, so whatever I choose will be neither expensive nor irreversible (especially considering my boyfriend likes nothing more than tiling various areas in my home). So why the indecision, Briggles?

I may not know the answer to these questions, but I do know this: tile = wicked fucking boring.

Posted by Bree at 09:24 PM | Comments (1)

April 16, 2008

Wash-n-Wear

Ever use a laundry machine that coats your duds in suds even after THREE rinse cycles? Ever have to pull sopping wet clothes out of 2 inches of standing water and wring them out with your hands before throwing them in the dryer? Ever find out the reason why your laundry situation is le suckadoo is because you don't have drainage in your floor, so the water has to move UP a pipe and when the machine turns off, all the stuff still stuck in the pipe flows back DOWN towards the machine? Ever have your boyfriend tell you the way to fix this is to dig a giant hole, stick in a drainage pump of some sort and install a slop sink over it? Ever have your boyfriend's friend come over and spend the day shoveling cement out of your basement to accommodate such an installation?

Just wondering.
No reason.

Posted by Bree at 12:49 PM | Comments (0)

April 14, 2008

The Trial of Tile

It appears that the floor tile I purchased for my kitchen is...lavender. Lavender, people. Lavender. In my defense, Matt thinks it was a particularly purple batch of the stuff as he's used it before to a less LAVENDER effect. LAVENDER. LAVENDER. LAVENDER.

Suffice it, the tiling project has been put on hold until my head gets out of my ass and I start making design decisions less suited to a color-blind sixth grader. More TK.

Posted by Bree at 04:15 PM | Comments (0)

April 13, 2008

Alas Alack, My Wallet is Slack

I would very much like to buy this rug by West Elm ($549 for 8 x 10) for my study, but am feeling the pains of a recent economical yet still bruising home-based spending spree ("new to me" Jenn Air stainless gas range/convection oven, lawnmower and gas grill off Craig's List + new bathroom sink [the same as Marcus and Jenny's] with a ten-percent off plus free shipping deal at Home Depot + new tile for the kitchen) and must say "neigh." I hope that others among my readers are not quite as monetarily strapped as I at the moment and can still, you know, enjoy the finer things of life. Like steak. And exciting underpants.

Posted by Bree at 04:48 PM | Comments (0)

April 07, 2008

Doing It, Doing It, Doing It Well

Crafty McUnskilled over here spent the weekend getting shit done. Of course, not the stuff I super-need to do (er...finalize colors for my web site, finish writing it, sign and mail my taxes, buy food not of the carbohydrate family and etc.), but stuff all the same. Minus the slight mishap of trying to turn an ornate, circular frame of mine into a bulletin board (after about 1/2 hour of hacking at the board with a box cutter to make it fit, I BROKE the frame during the gorilla glue finale. All went into the trash. Le sigh.), I count the two days as being both economical and productive.

Evidence A: I managed to cut padding and fabric for all four of my outdoor chairs - and successfully cover two of them - before jamming Matt's staple gun.

Before

After

Evidence B: After giving up the hope of being able to use "green" chemical stripper on a dresser I'm refinishing, I went to Ace and requested "the most toxic goo you've got." Came home with Extra Strength stripper - stuff that ATE through my gloves repeatedly (I would know to stop and run inside to wash my hands as soon as the unbearable BURNING began) - and stripped the shit out of two sides of this dresser. It's got about 8 layers of paint on it, no joke, so each side took THREE applications. After my lungs started whistling, I packed it in for the day...but big progress out in the garage!

Drawers

Half-nude

Now if I could just truly internalize the need to wear "scrap" clothing when working in the muck, my life would be nearing completion. Till then, I'm just going to have to be the only lady at Cherry Creek Athletic Club with lime green paint and chemical burns on my yoga pants. It's a good thing.

Posted by Bree at 10:29 AM | Comments (2)

March 06, 2008

Done and Done

Gawly, it feels good to write that. And ladies and gents, I think it's true - I am (almost) done and done with this massive house renovation I've been doing since the day of my move-in, February 24, 2007. Granted, I still need to tackle the bathroom and replace the linoleum in the kitchen and back entranceway and sort out an unfortunate wallpaper experience I've been having (erm...ordered the wrong color!), but the majority is done. And as Posh would say, it's mayjuh.

So. A round-up:

Donezo:
Skim-coated nearly all vertical surfaces in the house
Fixed wood floor in living room, added wood floor in downstairs study
Added new light fixtures in every room
Painted every room including the kitchen twice (Thanks, Rick, Marie, Nate and Angela!)
Changed wood fireplace to gas; installed custom-made glass doors
Installed custom-made shelves, baseboard and mantel in study (Thanks, Matt!)
Wallpapered study
Bought new couch (arriving in April) for living room to replace the once-white, now...um...burnt sienna pre-dog selection
Bought all new furniture, bed linens and etc. for guest room
Bought new chairs for my dining room LAST FUCKING JUNE which have yet to arrive (Thanks again, Unica Home - you can bet you'll be getting my business again...uh...NEVER. Trust me, there is a venomous post just waiting to be sprung about this situation. Look forward to it.)
FINALLY got my wicked irritating wireless connection sorted out (again, THANKS MATT!)
Carpeted basement with remnants (Thanks, Rick!)
Swapped old, leaky fridge for a "new to me" one with the freezer on the bottom (Thanks, Matt's Dad!)
Bought custom window treatments for living room and guest bedroom

Future Plans
Install slop sink in the basement for...um...my slop. Also to make the washing machine drain.
Retile kitchen and add baseboard; buy new stove
Retile and repaint bathroom; replace sink and mirror
Figure out entry wallpaper situation - perhaps buy more, or just eat the $1,000 fuck-up. Shweet.
Re-roof garage
Repaint exterior

Yep, things are coming together - and all rather quickly. Matt's dad, in fact, told me the other night that the amount of renovations I've done usually take about FIVE years, so I guess that's something. Of course, I'd love to add a bathroom downstairs and totally redo the back entranceway but, yeah. Not at the moment. Instead, I'd just like to rest on my laurels for a bit, enjoy all the progress and give my bank account a break from the sound beating it's been taking for the last 11 years or so.

Posted by Bree at 09:10 AM | Comments (1)

February 25, 2008

Dreamy

Above is a photograph of artist Lisa Congdon's workspace from sfgirlbybay (bonus: The Congdon gives a shout-out to one of my favorite all-time books, In the Heart of the Sea...buy it! Read it! Love it!).

Is it wrong to feel like I'd be all creative and making money hand over feast if I had a workspace like that? If only! If only! Yeah...hmm. About once a week I catch myself sighing and moaning and wishing I could just devote a small area of my house to something all artsy or all writer-y or whatever I think would make me more productive, and then I realize I actually own the bitch and can do whatever I want. It's kind of defeating not to have the "But I rent!" excuse so handy for the last 15-odd years. So I eat another Zone bar and consider how to reorder my Netflix queue. Alas. But pictures like this - and the occasional modgepodge purchase - give me hope that one day I will decoupage the living CRAP out of my mortgage.

Posted by Bree at 09:27 AM | Comments (3)

February 04, 2008

Astonishing

I picked out a new color for my kitchen (goodbyyyyye 1972 acid trip, helllooo Benjamin Moore #553) and it only took ONE sojourn in Guirys and a mere FIVE paint samples. I daresay I'm getting better at this...

NB: If any of you in the D-town area need an excellent painter, my friend Nate is the man to call. Shoot me an e-mail or comment and I'll give you his number. $100/day - quality work.

Posted by Bree at 02:37 PM | Comments (0)

February 03, 2008

Snug As a Bug

I've been very pleased with the price, quality and quick shipping of the guest room bedding I've gotten at Overstock.computer over the last couple of weeks. This is the first time I've ordered from them, and I'll definitely be back next time I'm in the mood for new towels, pillow or cubic zirconium.

Amalfi 210 TC Egyptian Cotton Luxury Duvet Cover in Grey

Siberian 330 Thread Count Down Comforter

Westwood Park 600tc Solid Sateen Sheet Set in Ivory

Posted by Bree at 03:36 PM | Comments (0)

January 31, 2008

Buying the Stairway to Heaven

Exciting stuff, people! The last bit of unfinished drywall - and a thorn in my indecisive side - in the old casa has been covered with paint. Granted, this is exactly the part that's going to be covered with this wallpaper (in a different hue) in fairly short order (once I, er...scrape together the resources to buy the $190/double roll extravaganza!), but I'm still so excited that I like the color. I had the wallpaper sample matched at Sherwin Williams and will also paint the top half of the staircase with it to cut down on paper costs and give the eye a little rest from pattern fatigue. (Painting the bottom was necessary to see if I could dig the blue and to protect the overall look if the wallpaper ever shifts or shrinks.) I think I'll get away with only buying three rolls, so the whole thing will be about $1,000 - $1,200 including labor. Not too shabby!

Posted by Bree at 06:46 PM | Comments (0)

A.M. Dialogue: House Renovating Edition

Nate: "Have you seen Matt's caulk?
Bree: (pause)...Well...we have been dating a while.

[Cymbal]

Posted by Bree at 11:35 AM | Comments (0)

January 27, 2008

Yum

I think I've found the wallpaper for my front hall. Portobello from Rapture & Wright. I'm still a little torn on the color, as I'm worried it will take away from (or clash with) the crazy blue in my dining room. Though, as Matt pointed out, you'd never see the two colors directly at the same time unless you were - you know, a hammerhead, it's still worrisome.

Solution? I need to paint underneath where the wallpaper is going anyway (in case it shifts or comes a little bit away from the wall or something) so I'm going to hit up Sherwin Williams and have the wallpaper matched tomorrow and then have the walls painted this week. (This whole dating a contractor thing really has its benefits in terms of being linked in to a wide variety of skilled boy-persons looking for home improvement jobs.) So anyways. Those of you who've been here or talked to me about this know that this decision on the front hall has taken me almost a year so, suffice it - very stoked to be making progress.

Posted by Bree at 09:50 PM | Comments (0)

January 18, 2008

Guest Room Coming Together Etc. Etc. and Amen

Ahmagod. Wednesday night, the durlin' Angela and I busted our respective humps to get the drywall primer up and at 'em in the guest room. Only problem being we forgot to open any windows or, really, even the door, so found ourselves totally headachy and nauseated and STYMIED as to why that could possibly be..? It wasn't until we breaked for Project Runway (and dericious pasta with OMG-that-shit's-spicy-sausage prepared by the boy for his working ladeez), and breathed the (relative) fresh air of my living room that we realized our...uh...mistake. Genius comes in pairs, as they say.

Regardless, many giggles, much smoothing over of the primer - which had the annoying tendency to broadcast the nap of the roller and thus undo the several thousand dollars I had spent to get that room skim-coated and smooth...sweet! - and the occasional accidental face + roller event (sorry, Angela!) and we were done. And by done, I mean DONE. Though the plans were to paint the actual color (Benjamin Moore #1486) Thursday and tonight as well, I caved in a fit of "FINISH MY FUCKING HOUSE" yesterday morning (pre-coffee), and decided to hire Matt's roommate to knock it out today.

Fuggit, man. I just got an enuermo project at work, with a super tight deadline (design and build a DIFFERENT new web site, 2 tri-fold brochures, counter cards, a sponsorship campaign and media outreach oh by...hmm...let's see, how 'bout if it's DONE AND DONE by February 12?), which means - yippee! I actually am going to have some relatively serious cheddz to spend, but HOLY CARP. Pass the Xanax. And the Immodium. And the meth. And the comfy socks. THX.

So, right. Point of this post. The guest room is coming together and the study is NEARLY DONE!!!! Matt got the shelves up yesterday and they look so amazing. 100 feet of built-ins for my books and tchotkes! Ahhh! So, rather than going out to Gabors and getting shnookered as I'm wont to do, I corralled myself into organizing and unpacking all my books and wow...after separating out the ones I've never read, looks like this girl won't be hitting Barnes & Noble any time soon. HOWLY MOWLY. If you're feeling the budgetary crunch - but need some good entertainment - I suggest you also pull out the "unreads." It made me feel like I'd just gotten a bomb-ass present. A bomb-ass present by the name of THE DICTATORS (below):

A mere swath of the bomb-ass bounty

Posted by Bree at 08:23 AM | Comments (0)

January 16, 2008

Is Freedom Chaos?

Oh man. There are now three rooms in my relatively petite compound in total disarray. The guest bedroom is all ready for painting with Angela (not ever to be known as Mangela even though she's totes in charge of her local dry cleaner this week) tonight and tomorrow (the baseboards were handled with great aplomb by me yesterday); the study is still desperately awaiting final shelf installation; the upstairs office is full of crrrrap, including a mattress and a couple dozen pillows, and - hell - even the hallway is stacked with books. This makes me all :(-face. Though I know by this time next week, the casa will be smokin' cool - it's very difficult to live and work in all this disorder and mess. wah.

Posted by Bree at 08:46 AM | Comments (0)

January 11, 2008

Whoa, Whoa, WHOA!

Remember when I bought this little lovely all the way back in August?

Seems someone with a fully engaged cerebral cortex has thought to turn it into a wallpaper:

How cool! I feel, like, I don't know - partially responsible for this brilliance. I know, I know, how is it that a girl from the valleys of western Massachusetts could be so influential on the international design scene? I too am stymied. And sadly also feel it would be impossible to collect a commission on this, no matter how deserved. Indeed, I can't even buy the stuff (questionable orangey color notwithstanding) as, of course, I have put a moratorium on bird imagery in the old casa. It's beginning to feel like an aviary around here and the flying turds AREN'T HELPING. Chirp.

Posted by Bree at 08:26 AM | Comments (0)

January 02, 2008

Fuck Factoring: News From the Contractor

Matt just walked into the living room (where I am writing a soon-to-be-Pulitzered piece on "What to Do if Your Loved One Resists Care"...ah...) and announced, "Yep - I'd have to give this mantel a fuck factor of four." When I innocently questioned what, precisely, he was referring to he explained: "Well, when you build a bed, you have to give it a fuck factor. Like a ten would be crazy monkey sex. You know, 250-pound midgets jumping up and down on each other. Or, like, a six or a seven would be...I don't know, pillow fights and stuff. So, yeah, your mantel is a four. Just hanging on."

In other news, the wallpaper installer is coming on Wednesday! No word yet on his fuck factor but that study is about to be done and donuts. I'll keep you pasted.

Posted by Bree at 02:01 PM | Comments (0)

November 08, 2007

Upgrades in the Hizzouse

I'm totally locked out of my house right now. There are two men here applying environmentally sound cleaning solution to my once-white couch in an effort to remove the effects of one (1) dog-owning, red wine-drinking, ciggy-smoking, coffee table dining, dark denim-sporting lady who shall remain blameless.

In other news, the transition of my study from a room into which I never venture to a room into which I often venture is coming along. I've spent roughly 8,000,000 dollars turning my fireplace from wood burning into gas (including: new gas lines, ceramic log set, custom-built metal doors and a custom-built mantel), and another couple mil on wood for the new baseboards and built-in bookshelves. The good news is I'm going to have over 100 feet of shelving for all my literature, tchotkes and picture frames to collect dust upon.

I also found a dresser yesterday for my guest room (and my chief guest) over at one of my favorite local shops for reclaimed/refinished/relatively cheap wooden furniture: Five Green Boxes in Old South Pearl. Granted, it's been painted this kind of barfu shade of lime green, but I have hope I'll be able to refinish her without too much pain/trauma. Now the only thing standing between me and enhanced clothing storage is the fact I have not yet bought the dresser in question. Ah...details.

Oh and one more thing: the hugely expensive custom-made roman shades I ordered for my living room and guest room will be installed next week. It's beginning to feel like a real house over here! In fact, as soon as my kickass dining room chairs arrive (which, with their six-month lead time, could be as late as CHRISTMAS), I'll have you over for a perusal.

Posted by Bree at 11:39 AM | Comments (0)

October 01, 2007

Fab(ric)

With a scoring assist from my *most famous* friend, I finally picked out a fabric for my kitchen curtains. Behold!

Amy Butler, Nigella fabric in Grey Passion Vine from Purl Soho.

Not that I have any idea how to make curtains, but I figure it shouldn't be too hard. A little modge podge, a little elbow grease, some peanut butter (or oleo) and things should fall into place easy peasy. Erk.

Posted by Bree at 07:50 PM | Comments (0)

Rodent Update

I'm such a damned softie, I bought a "catch and release" trap for Mickey. I plan on sitting back tonight with a snifter of scotch and waiting for the fun to begin.

Posted by Bree at 06:12 PM | Comments (0)

September 30, 2007

Eeeeek!

There's a mouse in the house! I've seen him twice now, and cute as he might be, he provides even more ammo for the "I needs a kitty in my life" argument. If anyone hears of one, don't matter none whether its young or old as long as it likes The Deuce and likes to kill. I'll be good to adopt sometime following the holidays. Or before, depending on...OK. BREAKING. IT JUST RAN ACROSS THE FLOOR AGAIN.

I need the cat NOW g-damnit.
TONIGHT.

Anything to avoid the glue ew that I fear is in my near future. Ugh.

Posted by Bree at 10:07 PM | Comments (0)

September 29, 2007

Progresso

I did it! I ordered wallpaper for my study!

Katimba from the German site Wallpaper From the 70's.

I'm still undecided for the entranceway/staircase but then again, it's hard to figure out the exact pattern to complement my NEON GREEN kitchen.
Pictures of all this are coming.
Someday.

In fact, to show my dedication to you - loyal reader - herewith I offer one of part of my bedroom:

If these walls could talk, they'd say "Thank you, oh wise one, for painting me such a lovely shade."

Posted by Bree at 06:04 PM | Comments (0)

September 22, 2007

Ebay Hooray

I never get good deals on ebay. Never ever, ever never.
So imagine my shock that I just scored THIS WROUGHT IRON TABLE AND 4 CHAIR SET (for pick-up only down near Garden of the Gods in C. Springs) for $50!!!

$50?! I just spent that this afternoon on...uh...toilet paper and gin. (Staples.) That's nuthin, kid! Almost makes the fact I have to get up at 8 a.m. and drag my sleepy Ma with me on a trip down I-25 in Angela's truck seem quaint. Almost.

Posted by Bree at 06:24 PM | Comments (0)

September 21, 2007

Worker Bee(s)

Ang's shot of part of the grueling labor I subjected her (and Marie) to last week:

Priming Bree's Kitchen

Heee. ! Let's just say that my Mom is outside right now deadheading and weeding in my garden. She tried to show me some stuff but I suddenly got a crazy urge to take a shower and check my e-mail. Some things = never change.

Posted by Bree at 12:20 PM | Comments (0)

September 20, 2007

Summing Up My Modus Operandi With Functionality and Wit

Check out the gorgeoooos lil wall hook shang-a-doo I just ordered from Lekker Home. Hearts and flowers and glee!

Posted by Bree at 11:53 AM | Comments (0)

August 28, 2007

Wallpaper Samples

Here are some I ordered last night from the German company, Wallpaper From the 70's.

For the study; also ordered in brown/lime green for the entryway as the kitchen (visible from the entryway) will eventually be lime green.


For the study.

For the entryway.

Dunno, but I love it.

Here's also another vintage wallpaper vendor I found recently. Can't get samples, as it's on ebay, but definitely worth a look.

Posted by Bree at 11:31 AM | Comments (0)

August 21, 2007

Vindicated by Vogue

Gadddamn, I'm hip. This is the exact same color I just painted my dining room. I'm going to go make love to myself now. Perdon.

Posted by Bree at 02:52 PM | Comments (0)

July 18, 2007

Pictures of New Paint Job!

All snaps care of Rick and his new digi-cam. One things for certain, when this kid leaves for MIT, I think life's gonna be a whole lot MT-er.

(Ahem. Awesome.)

Coffee table with living room wall in the background

Dining room into living room; me on phone with Zane

Close up on dining room wall; picture of me and Marie, 1997

Posted by Bree at 08:42 PM | Comments (0)

July 10, 2007

The Case of the Purloined Peanut

As I was (relatively ably) assisting Rick in putting together some of my new tables last night, I was (momentarily) distracted by the discovery of two halves of a shelled peanut on the living room floor. Say wha? Not only have I not eaten peanuts here ever, but my dog is a voracious - albeit underskilled - truffle pig and I have housekeepers.

What gives, legume?

This is totally reminiscent of the time on 77th Street when I came home from work and found the toilet seat up. Turns out there wasn't, in fact, a well-mannered burglar in the vicinity - just a brother with an extra key and a bladderful of fun to empty before his drive back to Westchester. Needless to say, I was a bit disturbed 'til that one was cracked. One can only hope there is a similarly understandable explanation for the mystery goober pea.
Like sleep-eating.
Or aliens.

Posted by Bree at 12:31 PM | Comments (0)

July 07, 2007

Putting the "Stifie" in Justified

Did I ever admit to you - loyal readership - that when I was a copywriter, headlines and subheads were my Waterloo? I could jam out a 1,000-worder on some skyscraper's HVAC system and cooling towers in no time flatus, but would turn it into my bosses headlineless...just hoping they'd take the bait and slap one on for me. It rarely worked.

Glad to see this problem's been solved.
Stifie.
HHAHAHAHAHA.

Gene Genius! And WAY better than my first draft --> "Justified and Ancient," which is...oh...the title of a song from 1991 by KLF. Somehow I thought I might be the only one to remember that.

Anys - on to the point. I was cruising around in my new Google Reader sites this morning (I know I'm like the last kid to the RMS feed party, but whatever. I had better things to do. Like figure out my VCR timer.), and saw that Holly at decor8 had posted about Pantone's latest color recommendations. And here's where the stifie comes in (<-- awesome): two of the colors are ones I'm using in my house! Cue the horns.

The bigger one on the left is, more or less, the color of my bedroom. (The bigger one on the right is, more or less, the color of agony.)

The bigger one on the right is a more muted shade of the color of my dining room. I tend to think turquoise aids digestion. Then again, I don't cook.

(N-benz: I would trim those in photoshop, but my computes is acting like a wicked dick this morning, so don't have the time to cajole it into servitude. Apoplectic apologies and the like.)

So psyched to have design affirmation from the good lads and lassies at Pantone! Almost - but not quite - as psyched as I was this morning when I found a gigundus diet Red Bull in my fridge. Cut horns, cue percussion.

Posted by Bree at 11:05 AM | Comments (0)

July 05, 2007

House Schtuff

In a spectacular display of hungover multi-tasking yesterday afternoon, I managed to assuage my Netflix guilt while hitting up the crrrazy summer sales (from the comf of my own couch, naturaments). The following pieces will be arriving at some time sometime, at which point I will cajole my fella friends into installing them for me. Like clockwork, I be.

Number one - Sconce for the bedroom. Marked down from $130 to $70 at Resto.

(Mine's in silver...'cause it's second best.)

Number two - runner for upstairs hallway to make the Deuce feel more comfortable. Marked down from $500 to $350 at Po Barn.

Also picked up some bath hardware (towel bar, tp holder, etc.) while I was there to fance up the john a bit. Nothing like THIS, but one always needs aspirations. (Get it? Ass-pirations? HAHAHAHHAHA.)

In other news on the house front, the painters are coming in a little over a week to basically do the whole thing up! Very exciting, though I am nerrrrvous about the rather odd color choice I made for the bedroom. In a word: raspberry.

As for what's going to go atop these beauteous walls, I've got a number of new art pieces at the framers (hulllooo, $$$. damn.) as well as the Jason Miller mirror (so! psyched!), and Rick just hung my big ole chalkboard in the office last week, so yes, things are all coalescing. The gardens are looking beautiful, the lawn is well-fertilized with 1,001 Deuce turds and I'm ordering my snapping deck tiles this week...

Most importantly, I snaked an earlier air conditioning repair appointment so once that gets fixed, I'll actually be able to spend time here without wanting to remove my skin with a vegetable peeler. Whee! Won't that be nice. You're all invited over to celebrate. We'll sit around in our woolens and try to see just how cold we can make it.

Posted by Bree at 09:34 AM | Comments (0)

June 20, 2007

Update: Sit Your Ass Down

Guess which chairs I just bought?

That's right.
The $$$ ones.

As if there was ever any doubt. Couldn't put cheap plastic next to expensive plastic. It was a very ne'er the twain conundrum. [INSERT SIGH.] Regardless, this whole $, $$, $$$ escapade reminds me of a game I used to play when I was a kid - cover up all the prices on a catalog page and see which thing on it you'd buy first. INVARIABLY, I wanted the most expensive thing. Seriously, I bat about a 99-percent on this. Some might call it taste; I call it annoying.

Posted by Bree at 04:07 PM | Comments (0)

Torn like a Bride's Nightie

I'm torn betwixt and between when it comes to which chairs I want to get for my forthcoming Eero Saarinen white, 54-inch tulip table. Sticking cheap-o chairs with what will be the best looking thing in my house (minus le pooch, of kerrrsss) seems akin to wearing Payless shoes with a VerSAHTCH. No can do.

Add to that I want them orange (or something), vaguely (but not excessively) modern, at least slightly (or not at all) recto-linear, reasonable in price and extraordinary in quality. Therein lies the rub.

So here are the choices, rated from most expensive to least (aka what I want most to what I want least):

$$$ Clipt chair by Jeff Miller for Baleri Italia

$$ Leaf stacking chairs by Moroso


$ Oh Chair by Karim Rashid (probably get these in white and have orange cushions made)

Posted by Bree at 11:43 AM | Comments (0)

March 28, 2007

Beginning to Realize...

that I don't really like home improvement projects. Something about the nuisance, and the time, and the need for exactitude really gets my goat. And not in the way I like my goat getting got.

Case in point? I just spent a good hour and a half (a) switching the drapery rods that were in my bedroom into the guest bedroom and (b) installing new ones in my bedroom. Seemed like a pretty easy job, and one that could be accomplished with minimal effort at the start and maximal enjoyment at the finish. About a million mishaps later (including me falling onto - and very nearly offa - the footboard at the end of my bed), I stepped back to survey my work.

Conclusion? Rods are uneven. Following the preexisting screw holes without measuring? Not the smartest idea in the book. This means I have to take at least one and perhaps two of them down, remeasure, redrill the pilot holes and rescrew the stripped screws. Suhweet. Motivation: at an all time nadir. Thank God the boy knows how to do all this stuff, and has offered to help me out, or I'd really be up shit's river with a crooked-ass paddle.

Posted by Bree at 07:38 PM | Comments (0)

March 11, 2007

Confession Booth

It's hard to admit but here you go: I am totally stymied about how to decorate my walls. What to paint, what to wallpaper, what colors to use. It's overwhelming. [Insert "Gah!"]

Luckily, Elaine's here - walking around with the Benjamin Moore sample book, figuring out this madness for me. So far, her opinion of my suggestions has started with a vee and ended with a toe...but we may have just stumbled upon an awesome idea for the kitchen. Pear green #2028-40. White shelves. White cabinets. Stained linoleum scrubbed with ammonia.

Here's a picture of it I found here (colors may vary, natch but you get the jist):

Mmm pear...
mmm banana....

Posted by Bree at 09:49 PM | Comments (0)

January 27, 2007

Dine Time

What I want:

How I'm gonna get (one element of) it on the cheap:

(Odyssey table from CB2 for a mere 149 dubloons)

Jeebers, I'm such an enormous fan of white everything of late, I might as well start wearing a pillowcase on my head and acting like a psychotic asshole.

Posted by Bree at 11:13 AM | Comments (0)

January 26, 2007

Let There Be Light!

One of my many, many missions having to do with the new house is to buy new lighting fixtures for all of the ceilings. This needs to happen in a bit of a hurry as I'm not supposed to turn the circuits back on without lights attached because sparks might fly (in a most unsexy way) and the house would be a thing of the past. Natch - I can always reattach the hideosities that the sellers left, but feel that's a waste of time and effort in addition to a total affrontery to all I hold dear (namely good looks and expensive things).

Thus, imagine - if you will - my time today at the local outpost of "Lamps Plus." Overcome by the selection, the crazily reduced prices (including 20 percent designer discount!) and the realization that if I don't like frosted glass, or stainless steel or giant brown fixtures then eff what the census say - I really am in the minority on this here coil, I spent a good bit of time wandering around like a dope, eyes affixed to ceiling. Finally, I stumbled upon a black iron "chandy" I now call my own:

OK - that's not really it. But it's similar (mine's cooler) - but here, HERE is where the real deal comes in...ready? I'm going to spray paint it kelly green. And hang it in the dining room over my (not yet acquired) round white table.

Do you hear the angel choir?
'cause you should...
It's magnificent.

Posted by Bree at 05:24 PM | Comments (0)