fullygoldy (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
fullygoldy) wrote2008-04-06 07:48 am
fullygoldy) wrote2008-04-06 07:48 am
Entry tags:
Design Day
Design Day has a totally different connotation if you're a mechanical engineer. Thankfully, I am NOT.
Saturday morning, I redid my journal design. I've been meaning to do something different with it for awhile, but I've been uninspired in that area. However, and NPR piece on Friday afternoon resolved that. Did you know last week was the 100th anniversary of Bette Davis's birth? The new title and subtitle of my journal come from the closing lines of the report. And of course, if you're paying homage to a glam 40s hollywood star (I refuse to add 'let' to the end - it's derogatory and diminishes her stature), you've got to have martinis in there somewhere.
Later, Saturday morning, DH and I decided that we'd undertake rearranging the great room after all. He had planned to do some of the prep work during the week, but then wasn't feeling well at all on Wed & Thurs, so I thought we'd be putting it off. But a day of rest Fri left him feeling pretty able to do some heavy lifting. We've got a big greatroom that includes the kitchen, dining and living room, and this room has been rearranged in many ways over the years, but not since we began the kitchen remodel. I've been wanting to mount a flat screen TV over the fireplace and move the dining table from in front of the fire place into the alcove facing the front yard. This plan wouldn't work without a flat screen in hand, I foolishly thought. DH did some measuring and figured out our existing TV will fit in the fireplace! LOL.
So we cleaned and vacuumed the fireplace, rerouted the cable through the ash cleanout (!!) and started moving stuff. Of course, this kind of undertaking also means you get a lot of heavy cleaning done, because you can suddenly see all the dust bunnies that have been hiding, so the place is pretty sparkly now (except for muddy dog tracks on the P-Lam from all his trips to the back yard. The sofa, loveseat and recliner are grouped around the fireplace, and every seat has access to a convenient horizontal surface. I've claimed the sofa seat nearest the TV and hearth because it also has ready access to a plug for my laptop and because I don't need a super good view of the TV, since I mostly just listen. The buffet/sideboard is now where the loveseat used to be, and it is housing my small collection of teapots on the top of the hutch. I'm extremely pleased by this. The former TV armoire is still in the same alcove, but is now on the former sofa wall. It is serving as a temporary stand-in for another sideboard/bar. Yep, the TV opening now houses our bar. If we were going to keep this piece (we think it's too tall for the spot), we'd paint it black, line the bar opening with mirrors, possibly tile the bar shelf, and add an interior shelf for glassware. I think it would look really good that way, but we're not happy with its proportions for the long haul. The lower cabinet houses our favorite family games (which we play at the table), and table linens. I've got no idea what's going to go on the lower shelf of the buffet now, but whatever it is will have to be decorative since it's wide open. The table centers on the wall between the 2 windows. That wall space will soon be occupied by antique plates.
Also, the windows will soon have drapes! This is a major event, since I have not deigned to have curtains or drapes in my living room or bedroom since I've been married (although we've occasionally had blinds). It's the CA gal in me - I came from the land of wide-open windows. It's very hard to dress a wall of glass with drapes without it clashing with the scenery. While DH is off on his 5-day adventure to New Orleans next week, I'll be installing the rods and sewing the drapes. The rods are black with "bird cage" finials. The drapes are being made from a dragonfly pattern fabric. I had originally thought a blue toile pattern would work, but HB has a total aversion to toile (it can be very fussy), so I found the dragonfly fabric. It looks like dragonflies were stamped all over a white background with royal blue ink. So it's got somewhat of a toile feel, but is more casual/playful. The panels will have tab tops and buttons on the back so that I can add an insulating liner in the winter. I haven't decided on the tie-backs yet.
I'll continue to work on this for the next few weeks I'm sure, but today we have to find summer-weight slacks for DH, get groceries, finish laundry and go OUTSIDE to soak up some sun.
Saturday morning, I redid my journal design. I've been meaning to do something different with it for awhile, but I've been uninspired in that area. However, and NPR piece on Friday afternoon resolved that. Did you know last week was the 100th anniversary of Bette Davis's birth? The new title and subtitle of my journal come from the closing lines of the report. And of course, if you're paying homage to a glam 40s hollywood star (I refuse to add 'let' to the end - it's derogatory and diminishes her stature), you've got to have martinis in there somewhere.
Later, Saturday morning, DH and I decided that we'd undertake rearranging the great room after all. He had planned to do some of the prep work during the week, but then wasn't feeling well at all on Wed & Thurs, so I thought we'd be putting it off. But a day of rest Fri left him feeling pretty able to do some heavy lifting. We've got a big greatroom that includes the kitchen, dining and living room, and this room has been rearranged in many ways over the years, but not since we began the kitchen remodel. I've been wanting to mount a flat screen TV over the fireplace and move the dining table from in front of the fire place into the alcove facing the front yard. This plan wouldn't work without a flat screen in hand, I foolishly thought. DH did some measuring and figured out our existing TV will fit in the fireplace! LOL.
So we cleaned and vacuumed the fireplace, rerouted the cable through the ash cleanout (!!) and started moving stuff. Of course, this kind of undertaking also means you get a lot of heavy cleaning done, because you can suddenly see all the dust bunnies that have been hiding, so the place is pretty sparkly now (except for muddy dog tracks on the P-Lam from all his trips to the back yard. The sofa, loveseat and recliner are grouped around the fireplace, and every seat has access to a convenient horizontal surface. I've claimed the sofa seat nearest the TV and hearth because it also has ready access to a plug for my laptop and because I don't need a super good view of the TV, since I mostly just listen. The buffet/sideboard is now where the loveseat used to be, and it is housing my small collection of teapots on the top of the hutch. I'm extremely pleased by this. The former TV armoire is still in the same alcove, but is now on the former sofa wall. It is serving as a temporary stand-in for another sideboard/bar. Yep, the TV opening now houses our bar. If we were going to keep this piece (we think it's too tall for the spot), we'd paint it black, line the bar opening with mirrors, possibly tile the bar shelf, and add an interior shelf for glassware. I think it would look really good that way, but we're not happy with its proportions for the long haul. The lower cabinet houses our favorite family games (which we play at the table), and table linens. I've got no idea what's going to go on the lower shelf of the buffet now, but whatever it is will have to be decorative since it's wide open. The table centers on the wall between the 2 windows. That wall space will soon be occupied by antique plates.
Also, the windows will soon have drapes! This is a major event, since I have not deigned to have curtains or drapes in my living room or bedroom since I've been married (although we've occasionally had blinds). It's the CA gal in me - I came from the land of wide-open windows. It's very hard to dress a wall of glass with drapes without it clashing with the scenery. While DH is off on his 5-day adventure to New Orleans next week, I'll be installing the rods and sewing the drapes. The rods are black with "bird cage" finials. The drapes are being made from a dragonfly pattern fabric. I had originally thought a blue toile pattern would work, but HB has a total aversion to toile (it can be very fussy), so I found the dragonfly fabric. It looks like dragonflies were stamped all over a white background with royal blue ink. So it's got somewhat of a toile feel, but is more casual/playful. The panels will have tab tops and buttons on the back so that I can add an insulating liner in the winter. I haven't decided on the tie-backs yet.
I'll continue to work on this for the next few weeks I'm sure, but today we have to find summer-weight slacks for DH, get groceries, finish laundry and go OUTSIDE to soak up some sun.