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In this series:
Sensual Jade Office
Tangerine Kitchen
Purple Living Room
Ivy League Master Bedroom (Sneak Peek)
Ivy League Master Bedroom
Looking for somewhere quiet to sip my morning coffee or sit to actually read a bookbook which wasn't on the couch in front of the television with kid foot traffic or in the office chair I spend far too much time in anyway, I decided to retreat into my spacious, but underused bedroom.
First thing I did was pry the nails out of the sheets of cardboard I'd used to cover the corner windows. After researching thermal blackout curtains on Amazon and Overstock found some comparable grommet ones at Wal-Mart (pro-tip: they're decidedly not the $8 panels) and a color-coordinated rod with a tasteful finial.
From there I started wall hangings - two of my father's framed oil paintings, a couple of stretched canvas prints, a mirror, and a tapestry prayer-rug from Saudi.
I have ALWAYS wanted an oversized non-rocking, non-reclining stupidly expensive leather chair, but that last caveat has always been the most difficult to overcome. All the quality ones are between eight and twelve hundred dollars. So I went to check out my favorite consignment store here in town, and that's where I found this beauty! Everything I've ever wanted, and under $200. He'd just gotten it in that day. I accented with a faux-marble side table and brand new floor lamp from a downtown furniture store.
I also ordered a king sleigh I'd found listed on about five different sites, but the order was cancelled three days later and all five stores had removed their listings, so I'm still in the market for a bed. I found a nice one for $1200 which was twice what I wanted to pay but still beats the bejesus outta the three and four thousand ones which appear to be hewn from a single Viking longship - so I'm still on the fence with that one.
But for now at least, I have my nook of solace.
This + Tubby = Stress-Free living :)
In this series:
Sensual Jade Office
Tangerine Kitchen
Purple Living Room
Ivy League Master Bedroom (Sneak Peek)
Vibrancy! Those who desire it sometimes have to work at finding it. The first time I was in this house the walls were a flat gold which sucked life out of the room, and out of your soul. The second time I was in this house the walls were a flat white, which was slightly better than the flat gold from a illumination/soul-sucking perspective. When it was time for a complete transformation however, HIGH-GLOSS PURPLE. The walls practically shimmer in sunlight. I wish I could accurately depict the various and undulating hues this paint reflects dependent upon lighting conditions. The super gloss finish was chosen so the depth of the color wouldn't steal ambient light from the room, rather just borrow it and give it back in a slightly modified way. Also - kids. Dude, they can touch the walls and it won't smudge or discolor. Its the finish of the future.
So now, when my #1 response, "Seriously?" is replied to my statement that my living room is purple, again, I have somewhere to point them. A little girl came in the house the other day looking for her brothers and announced aloud, "WHY IS THE HOUSE PURPLE?" I had to cover my mouth from laughing out loud :)
In this series:
Sensual Jade Office
Tangerine Kitchen
Purple Living Room
Ivy League Master Bedroom
The children picked the color for the kitchen: Tangerine. This was, by far, the most problematic room in the house to paint - lots of cut in angles. Also, I painted behind the refrigerator. How many have I moved in the past to see as big refrigerator-sized unpainted hole behind it? I finished it up in late March during the Winter Storm Q. The refrigerator was a gift from
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suzanne1945. Well, at less than a year old and 1/2 price I consider it a gift. The interior lights just burned out, and when the replacements didn't do anything I typed the model number in Google. First hit was from a Sears's repairman who listed exactly what was wrong with it (the switch), and a link to the part number. $8 part, $8 shipping. I couldn't believe my luck.When I tell people I have tangerine kitchen, they usually reply, "Seriously?" So now I can point them here!
In this series:
Sensual Jade Office
Tangerine Kitchen
Purple Living Room
Ivy League Master Bedroom
Back in 2007 I purchased this desk from OfficeMax. Or at least, I thought I did. I couldn't find any reference to the story in the annals of this blog, but they shipped the main desk, and the corner piece. They never shipped the smaller attachable side desk. When I contacted them the first time they told me the desk had been discontinued. I communicated with them for awhile explaining how the corner section, in order to be usable, required both pieces and asked them to come pick up the corner piece and refund my money. Those emails remained unanswered.
I have been carting around this corner piece every time I have moved, unopened in the box. Its even gone unsold in three garage sales. Once, I tried to give it away.
Fast forward six years and I'm walking through OfficeMax and saw my existing chair coupled with my existing desk. I thought, "Hey! That looks familiar." I then stopped dead in my tracks and tried to make sense of what I was seeing. It was my full, L-Shaped desk, only...it wasn't. It was very similar - nearly identically so - except the legs were in a different configuration. Same color wood and trim, same glass, different desk. I found the tag and saw it was a different brand, but seeing how all this crap probably comes out of the same Chinese manufacturing plant, that's not so unusual. Mine was branded "Sharper Image" this was branded, "Brenton Studio." I borrowed a tape measure from one of the staff and measured the distance between the retaining screws, then went home and measured mine. They were identical.
I decided on the "full size" desk rather than the smaller side desk, and it was on sale $50 off. My new office - back in Newton - is the fulfillment of my realization back in 2007.
And since Ralph Laruen no longer makes paints, I settled on Valspar Signature "Sensual Jade."
Click for FULL VIEW goodness
In this series:
Sensual Jade Office
Tangerine Kitchen
Purple Living Room
Ivy League Master Bedroom
