Fudge.

I am eating a fudge bar.

Did you know, that I write my posts the night before and then post it the next morning?

If you didn't you may have been thinking, wow. This chick is totally eating a fudge bar for breakfast. She's badass.

Or fat.

I'm going with the first one because it's true. And nicer.

Yes, I am a sneaky snake and I write my posts in the late afternoon/evening because when I first wake up, my hair is crazy, I'm tired, and my creative juices are not flowing. The only person I know (know being a relative term) that can wake up at the ridiculous time of early and post an entertaining blog is June.  How is she so funny in the morning? Girl is crazy.

I'm taking a break from showing you projects because Blogger has decided to be fickle and I'm not even gonna try to upload photos. Instead, I'm going to tell you about an other-worldly experience I had today. Yessiree. If you are a morning reader, grab your cup of joe, or your iced coffee, or your juice, or, if it's after noon...or at least eleven in the AM, a vodka tonic because you are gonna need something to hold on to. My experience was THAT insane.

My mother-in-law is going to Ethiopia tomorrow with a group of people from her church. They will do mission work and eat terrible food and have amazing experiences. This has little-to-nothing to do with the story, except that after I arrived back home, I got on the computer. Of course, I checked the ol' blog roll to see if anyone had posted and sure enough, Centsational Girl had posted about bookcases.

Dang her. Dang her and her knowledge and inspiration. You know what that DUMB post did to me? It made me go on a tangent. There goes my perusing the Internet until I get tired and make an excuse to go to bed early and play games on my phone until I pass out and find my phone stuck to my leg in the middle of the night. What proper sentence?

Tangent? Tangent! All of a sudden, who had a ton of energy and got all excited and started pinning like a freakazoid? I did. That's who. I got all of this wonderful, great inspiration and then I ruled out a few things that I thought I had wanted to do, but measurably was not possible.

And you know what? I'm a good wife. Because I know that Bryan doesn't give two pennies about home decor since all he sees is "another thing to clean", so of course, I asked him if he wanted to see my ideas. And he was a good husband because he hesitated, thought it through and then said "yes."

I jumped on that opportunity and SQUEEEEEEZED all the life there was out of it. (Okay, we are nearing the other worldly part of the evening) I told him all about brackets and reclaimed wood, and building ourselves, and my barn door entertainment center and on and on and so forth. And (here is the other worldly part) He said, "Yeah. That would definitely work. We would just...." and proceeded to give me ideas, advice and help.

Say, whaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?

Did he just.... Was he just... What the... Did he just say something.... supportive? Informative? Helpful? Encouraging?

What the whaaaat?!

So, then I told him what I would work on first and get done and he was nodding his head, and saying things like "great idea" and "makes sense."

And I died.

And then I died again.

I have no idea what happened but my world is rocked. ROCKED.

I think I'll go lay down now. I need to process this extremely weird turn of events. And also, try to pluck some hair out of his head to do a DNA match. Cause who the heck is that man and what in the world did he do to my husband?!

Drum Shades, Pendant Lights and... Cat Fixtures?

It was a lot harder than I thought it would be to find good inspiration photos of entryways I actually liked. I thought I was being all sneaky by giving myself an easy task for my weekly goals. Apparently not.

Bryan and I, we are wee little people. Bryan is just 5'4 and I come in at 5'3. We're not ridiculously short, but we're not basketball players either. So us short people, when we extend our arms all the way up, are pretty close to touching the ceiling. My Mom's husband, Larry, can touch our ceiling. He's like 5'8 or 5'9. What I'm tryin' to say is, our ceilings are not what you would call 'vaulted'. 

Which proves to be a problem with a light fixture. We have about a foot and a half of space (thats me remembering it generously) from the ceiling in the entryway to the top of the door-jam. This spacial issue does not allow for a grand light fixture. As much as I wish I could have something like this:

I can't. I probably wouldn't have chose that for this space anyways, but whatev. Add the fact that the entryway is flanked by two walls and doesn't automatically open into a wall-less great room, I have to work with what I have got. Right now I have one of those bulbous builders basic white lights. It's downright ugly and it casts a vomit-inducing yellow light. It's very welcoming. Any-whoo, ya'll know that I want to do something like this in the entryway. 

Image: Centsational Girl

Thinking about what light fixture I might want makes me think a lot about what furniture I want to have in the entryway. If I were to go with a simple, light I would feel like a bench with a chunky pattern like the one above would help liven up and give our guests a big hug when they arrive. On the other hand, if I were to do a bolder light fixture, then I'm thinking I would put three little stools, like this:

Obviously, I had to keep how I wanted to decorate the space in mind while I looked for lighting fixtures. 

Now, on to the actual inspiration! 

Image:  Lumens

I love this light fixture because it's timeless. It's also neutral enough that it goes with the cool, open feeling I have in my house but it's also traditional and it gives a little upscale Victorian flare to the entryway.

Image: Knights

 I like the idea of this drum-shade light fixture because not only does it seem "homey" but it's a bold fixture for my space, but its also close the the ceiling. I love that the manufacturer brought the metal rim into an overstated arch - it's a simple but dramatic feature that pops out when the light is on. 

A light fixture of this type would definitely go with the simple wainscoting from the picture above and it does makes a statement. But would it provide enough light for an area of my home that sets the tone for the guests that come over?  What could I do to ensure that this area would be well lit but not blinding? 

Could I possibly put one or two hardwired unassuming sconces above the wainscoting? Something like these from Pottery Barn? 

These would certainly add to the warmth of the foyer but wouldn't necessarily make a bold statement. It wouldn't be the main event of the entryway. Hmm, something to think about. 

What about something like the light above? I love how the light wood tones keep this pendant from being a show stealer, but the beautiful filigree has a flair of understated elegance. I think that with the oaty tan that I want to paint the walls and the white wainscoting, this bad boy would look pretty darn good in our entry way. I love that it screams "cottage on the beach" but can still complement almost any color I choose in our home. I dig it. I wonder though, what kind of light this emits, and if it would look good with six small-to-medium sized recessed lighting fixtures to the left and right of it? 

All I can say is that I looked at hundreds and hundreds of pictures for inspiration for my entryway and I haven't fell madly in love with any of it. Which says to me that I just need to keep looking. This was a great tool to get my brain churning and I'm sure I'll come up with something that'll be perfect. 

And just because I really don't know when to properly end a blog entry, I thought I would leave you with this eye candy. 

Image: Sisal Net

Because who wouldn't want a cat light fixture? 

Room Within A Room Madness

My living room is a tricky little bugger. Its long, and a tad oddly shaped. And it's sort of wide. When we bought the house, there was a wall separating it and the first decision we made was to tear it down to create an open, airy feeling in the house. By tearing down this wall, we created a great room.

The living room starts out narrow because of the step-up dining area and then opens up a bit. Because of this, I knew the only thing to do was to create two separate spaces that would flow together and make sense. When you walk through the door, there is a long, semi-narrow entry-way. It's claustrophobically narrow but it's definitely not wide and comfortable. It's sort of in-between and because of this, it's a real pain in my arse to decorate. I'm going to post the floor-plan here so that you can refer to it and get an idea of what I am talking about.

I haven't had time to take pictures, but I will soon. Until then, we'll break it down like this:

Sitting Room

1. This is where I put the couch. The couch is a straight back in the Victorian style. It's not very big width wise and it seemed to "fit" here and helped keep the room open and light. 

2. This a tall bookcase. It's easy for anyone to curl up on the couch and pull a book from the bookcase to read. 

3 & 4. The rug I purchased to hide the trap door and anchor the couch is here. On top I placed a white coffee table which finishes the sitting area off nicely. Not drawn are the two floor pillows I purchased (for $8 each!) that I keep tucked away on the shelf under the coffee table top. 

Living Room

1. The comfy chair is angled just slightly towards  the TV for better viewing.

2. I just recently pulled the couch away from the wall because it left a huge void in the middle of the room. It also caused problems for me because I couldn't see the TV clearly. That is a dealbreaker, ladies! (30 Rock obsessed? Maybe a little!) I had been looking for inspiration online and I forgot where I saw it, but I read that pulling the sofa from the wall would help to float the room and make a small space feel better. So viola! I like it. My hubs is a little weirded out. He doesn't understand furniture that doesn't back up against a wall. 

3. This is a little sofa table that I put against the wall and under a window. I put some candles and decor on it, as well as a lamp. 

4. This is a small bookcase and I'm thinking I might get another one for the opposite side of that wall to anchor things a bit. Since it's small, it doesn't have that heavy-on-the-furniture feel and I keep the bookcases light with having stacks of books and a few knick-knacks. 

5. Right now, the TV is on a stand, but soon it will be hung against the wall with a custom made entertainment center that is nothing like an entertainment center at all. Excited? You should be! :)

As you can see? read? whatever, I tried very hard to decorate and have furniture without it being overbearing or stuffy. You'll get a better feel for it once I post pictures. I'm okay with this layout for now because I am working with what I have. But ever the planner, I'm already trying to think of ideas on ways to make this space really cozy and homey. Enter: The Internet. 

Here are a few photos that I saw that have a few things I am going for. 

All images in this post taken from IKEA Ideas and Inspiration.

Okay, here are the things I love about this room. I love that there is a media area that is cozy and close together but it doesn't look packed to the brim with furniture. I like that it seats 5 comfortably or 6 if there are four people snuggled on the couch. I don't like that the chairs by the TV are wood. I want something more comfortable than that. 

I like that there is a separate area with chaise lounges that you can doze, read, or even watch TV on. I like the IDEA of this set up. I, however, don't think it'll work in my space. 

The photo above is the middle in a three part series. As you can see, they have a more horizontal set up and they chose to create two rooms by placing two of the same couch back to back. They also used two different colors but made sure that there complemented each other, and then they tied the entire room together by using pops of blue. Using the patriotic red accents for one room, white accents for the other and a color that coordinates with both really gives this room a great vibe. I love it. 

When you are looking towards the white side of the room, you see that its the media center. 

 There are two cozy arm-chairs facing the couch for ease of conversation, an ottoman and a media center with a rug that anchors the room down. I like this area, but am not thrilled with having chairs that you can't see the TV at all. We are big movie-watching people and so are most of our friends. That is a must! 

To the right of the room is the following lounge/office area:

I really dig that they didn't use red in an overbearing way. I also love that the stager put games on the second shelf of the coffee table and flanked the table with two ottomans that look like they could seat one or two people to create a fun, easy going vibe. Just in that area alone you can have 6 to 8 people gathered and even more if you turned those awesome red chairs around from the desks. I've honestly never seen a space where there are two desks put together to create a craft/computer area for the adults or the kids. It is so functional! 

As much as I love this space, I'm not sure how it would work in my house and with my family. The area I have to work with does not have the luxury of width that this room does. It's narrow and difficult. Plus, the idea of talking hubby in to spending $1198 on just the two sofa's (without tax) ALONE does not sound fun. Eek! 

And, as a side note, I'm so frustrated with trying to find photo's on the internet that have a room within a room, or great rooms. I'm not having a whole lot of luck. Hopefully I can find a few more ideas to help me out!

Closets Like Books, Not Just Clothes.

When I get an idea in my head, it's really hard to let go. I want to do it right there, in that moment... Which really isn't the way to confront household projects. Bryan gets irritated with me because before we have even finished one project I want to be on to the next. So, I'm trying to rein that in and do things the right way.

The first project that Bryan and I started on were the closets. Below is a very fancy, well lit photo of Bryan painting the closets. I know, I'm a photography genius.

Well, I measured and went to Lowe's to get what we needed and whilst installing, we realized that the 1x4's holding the shelf were messing up the bar holders that attach to the wall to hold each end of the bar. They were half on the 1x4's and half floating in the air. Does that make sense? Hope so.

Anyways, so being the genius that Bryan is, he cut another 1x4 and attached that so the bar holder would have something to screw into.

But then we realized that the bar is really, really high and its hard (for us short people, which is everyone in the house) to reach. Sigh. We suck. But we wanted it high enough to be able to add another shelf and/or bar in the middle of the closet. We just went a tad too high.

We also have an issue with the particle board shelf because its kind of... curved? So it doesn't sit flat. Even though it is super heavy and thick. Annoying.

Anyway, since we haven't figured out what we want to do, we've done nothing... Which is productive! And now I want to just start a new project. But I won't. I'll just plan. :)

Speaking of plans, if you look on our floor plan, we have a hallway closet that faces the living room. Right now, it's a door with a fake nob and those slanted slates that shutters have. It's ugly. And since I want to do this to the entryway and incorporate the hat rack I purchased from Ikea:

Image: Centsational Girl

(How absolutely gorgeous is that? Sometimes, Kate just rocks my world.)

Image: Ikea USA

I will have ample space for coats when we have guests. What I don't have space for, is the hundreds of books that I own. I already have four bookcases in my house and I really don't want to add anymore. I follow this great blog, Shopping Candy and quite a while ago, she posted about finding an article on a library closet.

Here is the image that gave her the inspiration:

Image: NYTimes.com

Here is what she did:

Images: Shopping Candy

Isn't that amazing? You should really click the link and check out the before and after. Do it. It's worth it.

Anyways, I'm thinking of making my hall closet into a closet library. Instead of having a completely see-through door, I want to try to keep the existing door, but remove the slates and add glass. Who knows if I can do it, but why not try? I have a lot of paper-back books that are not very sightly and I'd like to store them in the closet library but still keep them hidden.

After I get all the closets worked out, I'm going to start on the entry-way. I'm really excited for that project!

Freedom...

Veteran's Day just passed and it got me thinking a lot about freedom. Freedom is a pretty precarious thing. Most wars are fought over freedom. People, every day, sign their lives away for an (almost) thankless job of protecting freedom. They fight for the freedoms of other people that don't even live in our country. They kill other people all for the sake of freedom.

To stop and think about it, it is a crazy, what one will do for freedom. What a nation or a society of people will do for freedom. For the freedom of others. It's amazing and terrifying.

I started this blog for freedom. I wanted, needed to have an outlet. Now, I am only marginally creative. I've never been one to paint or create or build. I've always been a reader and a writer. I started this blog for the creative expression. To write. To document. To vent. It was supposed to be a representation of me, my life, and my thoughts.

In starting a blog, there has to be a modicum of discretion. I've had to be careful in how I explain my thoughts, as to not upset anyone. I've had to ask permission to post things. I've posted in anger, in frustration, and sometimes I left it up. Other times I took them down.

At work, my boss always says, "Megan, put it in writing. Then there will be a record and there is no disputing it." She told me to be careful of what I write because its documented. It's locked in. You have a little wiggle room with tones - but the words are there forever. And how someone perceives those words is important. There are times when I have written and re-written an email because I felt it sounded snarky, or rude. Which is appropriate and right. At work you need to be professional, you need to keep emotions at bay and do your job.

While a margin of professionalism needs to bleed into this blog, since a large portion of my life takes place at work, I had every intention of being myself. I wanted to have an accurate representation of my life. Not for anyone else, but for myself. To have a place to be me, as unfiltered as possible. I wanted a space for my creativity to be unleashed.

Recently, I went back and read some posts and they don't sound like me. Most of the people that read this click on the link from facebook, or are family members or old school mates. And maybe a few of them could tell that I wasn't being me, that I wasn't writing how I would speak or interact with other people. Mainly, that was because I was so worried. I was worried about hurting feelings, of being taken out of context, of not being accepted, of not being understood.

How did my "space for my creativity to be unleashed" become about OTHER people?

I didn't want to step on toes, or let that fact that I'm a Christian and I say "shit" pretty regularly be called being hypocritical. Or if I wrote about how I'm a conservative republican being manipulated into being close-minded and hateful towards others.

Many of you reading this know me, but don't KNOW me. I don't let a whole lot of people in. Some take that as being rude or stuck up. Some think I am shy. Honestly, I AM shy. I am really, horrible insecure when it comes to making friends. I am awkward to the nth degree. But, if you are pushy enough (like most of my friends are), once I get comfortable, the Portuguese in me takes over and I am loud. And sometimes hilarious, and often quiet. But when I feel safe, I let myself be me.

So, since I am writing for myself, why am I not being ME? Why am I letting myself by caged in when this is MY outlet? How does that make any sense whatsoever?

The answer is it doesn't. It does make sense to not post in angry, or be flippant with words. Words have meaning and everyone should tread carefully. But on the flip side of that, people need to be true to themselves. I need to remember that I can state how I feel, by being respectful, but not compromising who I am.

Freedom of any kind is worth fighting for... and I intend to go down swinging.

Quote of The Week

"It is the setting of your sails that determines where you will go."

Chaplain Michael Reed, Hanford, CA
Guest Speaker at the Oasis Church