Random Ramblings on Redecorating
Bleh, started this before, was soooooooo sure it wouldn't go away while I went out to do a med run and drop someone home, come back and lo and behold: Explorer exploded.
Anyway, I'm mainly writing this entry to try and organize my thoughts, because every year I swear I am going to take advantage of Patsfan spending the majority of October up in Boston to overhaul the apartment. And every year, I don't ever quite get started with it. So this year, while he goes and turns 15 again with his friend who is up from FL, I'm going to have a plan and follow it. Or deviate from it. But at least having a plan should result in doing *something* which can only be an improvement.
It's probably not an "overhaul," really, since most of the furniture is not only staying, but staying where it is. But the main goals are to get the living room to look less like it's done in "early yard sale," and be efficiently arranged and de-cluttered, and get my office in similar shape. So far, here's the plan:
Living Room
First: get rid of the freaking newspapers in the living room and on the porch. I can't throw them out, since they are "his," but I can stick them all in totes and throw them in the basement.
Second: get rid of the unused floor lamp and the chair next to it that exists only to collect crap. Again, his, so to the basement they go.
Third: collect the media in the area now freed up by moving those two objects. Exchange the magazine rack for the DVD caddy, get a CD spinner and put it on top of the DVD caddy, bring the guitar stand upstairs and stand the guitar in it, out of its case. Get random Patriots stuff out of that corner, to be arranged in a different area later.
Fourth: clear out the corner shelving behind the front door. Weed out stuff that doesn't need to be there, and make the stuff that does, stand out. Try, somehow, to tie in the main colors of the living room, since the wood doesn't match anything. Oh, and those colors are: blue, gold, red, and black. Declutter the shoe rack and key holder. If at all possible, see if the shoe rack can move out onto the porch, to encourage outside shoes staying out. Find out where to get a piece of furniture like in the current issue of Woman's Day, that is sort of a coat-rack-cum-cabinet, perfect for a mudroom, which is what our front porch really ought to be used as. (Usually, in those articles, they tell you where to buy the stuff they show. And they did ... for everything except that piece of furniture!!)
Fifth: fix/replace the socket in the large glass table lamp we inherited from Nana, and exchange it with the smaller white one, to get it out of the way of the door and traffic and risks of being broken.
Sixth: couch, armchair, and coffee table stay as is for now, except for getting rid of the papers under the coffee table. Possibly see about getting some cushions or something for the armchair (blue, needs gold and red) and couch (gold, needs red and blue, which current cushions kinda supply, but also too much Christmas-y green). Moving over to the adjacent wall and shelving, this is probably where the most work will come in. That shelf needs to be built up taller. I think I can use some shelves I saw at Wal-Mart yesterday, though I need to check the measurements. Then, I need to totally change how things are organized there. The books are too crammed in, the photos in frames are all blocking each other and those in albums are inaccessible. There are CD's piled in a few places, and a section that has been taken over by my free weights which ... need a home. Maybe I should get a stand for them. (And put it where?)
Anyway, taking another idea from that home decorating article, thin out what is on the shelving, and intersperse sections that are little tableaus. Some of those may be framed photos, or knicknacks currently turned invisible but not needing tossed. Tying in the color theme would be good, if I can manage it. For the top of the expanded shelving: a runner of blue moleskin with a border of red and gold braid, and red fringe. (The red is a fairly dark shade, so no, this shouldn't end up looking like a flag. I hope.) The white shelving is, I think, the single thing besides the newspapers that makes the living room look most like it's all just thrown together. Key framed photos along the top, and a section of photo albums, bookended. Nana's little "shrine." Take the unfinished wood frames apart, paint them blue with gold trim or something, and reassemble them.
This is, however, going to seriously screw with the lighting of the room. I may need to consider wall sconces with lights in them or something. Candle sconces wouldn't really fit the mood of the room, though, and could create an effect of the massive freaking Elvis picture being some kind of shrine. Because the light at the end of the shelving nearest the couch is probably going to have to stay at the same height, which will then be blocked by the new shelving. I might be able to elevate it a bit, but if I put it up parallel with the rest, it is going to be too high into the wall picture space, and look deeply weird. Besides being difficult to reach from the couch where, let's face it, we've both been known to fall asleep watching tv, and when dozing off, who wants to have to stand up to turn off the light?
Seventh: the Patriots corner. It already kind of is. There's the Elvis bust on top of the stereo speakers, with a Patriots scarf studded with a collection of Hard Rock Cafe pins. And there's a framed Patriots pic on the wall over the hotspot-from-Hell Patsfan calls a desk. Move the championship memorabilia into that area as well, and out of the media corner. Get rid of what videotapes of mine have somehow collected over there.
Eighth: the top of the entertainment center. It gets a matching runner, and the knicknacks thinned out severely. The broken Ziggy music box? Buh-bye. Wile E. Coyote may have to stay, but not necessarily there. The singing groundhogs? Can go on Patsfan's "desk," where he can decide whether to finally ashcan the fucking things or not. They were a gag gift. Let 'em go already!
That should all radically transform the living room. Know what part I expect to be the hardest? Making the runners. Hemming the moleskin should be easy enough. But the braid for the side trim? Not really sure how that is supposed to attach. The fringe for the ends looks straightforward enough. Of course, this plan is being hatched by she who broke two needles on one seam today. :-/
The Office
First: declutter the Hell out of the desk and surrounding piles. Possibly box up some of the files and toss them downstairs. Oh, and ditch the flimsy cardboard "chest of drawers" that has never been and will never be usable and is just eating space.
Second: fix the shelf that is supposed to be inside the cabinet portion of the chifarobe that holds my altar, and organize the books and altar items that go in there.
Third: see what can be moved from the walk-in closet to the basement, so that things like my Reiki table can go in the closet but still be accessible when needed.
Fourth: get rid of the unstable table that currently holds my keyboard and ... a pile of crap. Not sure what to replace it with yet. Possibly with two separate items: a keyboard stand and a sewing table. Declutter the pile of crap, and put away whatever can't just be got rid of.
Fifth: sort through reference books, see what can be given away (particularly keeping an eye out for freelance writing references for beltainelady), and what needs to be kept for long-term reference but not "at my fingertips" reference. Box those with something in them to keep them dry, label the boxes clearly, and place them on accessible shelves in the basement.
Sixth: make a containable "project in progress" area for things like scrapbook work, afghan squares, etc., that take up lots of space, but are inherently non-permanent space needs. Not sure how to do this yet. But even if I just move the folding table laden with scrapbooking crap into the space vacated by the cardboard "chest of drawers," it would be an improvement. Making the space work for a small-footprint spinning wheel would be a bonus, but probably jumping the gun.
Broken down like that, the chunks seem doable. I hope that's reasonably true. He doesn't head up to Boston until late Monday or early Tuesday, so I've got a little time to figure out exactly what I need to do to get started, particularly in terms of supplies I need to obtain.
Anyway, I'm mainly writing this entry to try and organize my thoughts, because every year I swear I am going to take advantage of Patsfan spending the majority of October up in Boston to overhaul the apartment. And every year, I don't ever quite get started with it. So this year, while he goes and turns 15 again with his friend who is up from FL, I'm going to have a plan and follow it. Or deviate from it. But at least having a plan should result in doing *something* which can only be an improvement.
It's probably not an "overhaul," really, since most of the furniture is not only staying, but staying where it is. But the main goals are to get the living room to look less like it's done in "early yard sale," and be efficiently arranged and de-cluttered, and get my office in similar shape. So far, here's the plan:
Living Room
First: get rid of the freaking newspapers in the living room and on the porch. I can't throw them out, since they are "his," but I can stick them all in totes and throw them in the basement.
Second: get rid of the unused floor lamp and the chair next to it that exists only to collect crap. Again, his, so to the basement they go.
Third: collect the media in the area now freed up by moving those two objects. Exchange the magazine rack for the DVD caddy, get a CD spinner and put it on top of the DVD caddy, bring the guitar stand upstairs and stand the guitar in it, out of its case. Get random Patriots stuff out of that corner, to be arranged in a different area later.
Fourth: clear out the corner shelving behind the front door. Weed out stuff that doesn't need to be there, and make the stuff that does, stand out. Try, somehow, to tie in the main colors of the living room, since the wood doesn't match anything. Oh, and those colors are: blue, gold, red, and black. Declutter the shoe rack and key holder. If at all possible, see if the shoe rack can move out onto the porch, to encourage outside shoes staying out. Find out where to get a piece of furniture like in the current issue of Woman's Day, that is sort of a coat-rack-cum-cabinet, perfect for a mudroom, which is what our front porch really ought to be used as. (Usually, in those articles, they tell you where to buy the stuff they show. And they did ... for everything except that piece of furniture!!)
Fifth: fix/replace the socket in the large glass table lamp we inherited from Nana, and exchange it with the smaller white one, to get it out of the way of the door and traffic and risks of being broken.
Sixth: couch, armchair, and coffee table stay as is for now, except for getting rid of the papers under the coffee table. Possibly see about getting some cushions or something for the armchair (blue, needs gold and red) and couch (gold, needs red and blue, which current cushions kinda supply, but also too much Christmas-y green). Moving over to the adjacent wall and shelving, this is probably where the most work will come in. That shelf needs to be built up taller. I think I can use some shelves I saw at Wal-Mart yesterday, though I need to check the measurements. Then, I need to totally change how things are organized there. The books are too crammed in, the photos in frames are all blocking each other and those in albums are inaccessible. There are CD's piled in a few places, and a section that has been taken over by my free weights which ... need a home. Maybe I should get a stand for them. (And put it where?)
Anyway, taking another idea from that home decorating article, thin out what is on the shelving, and intersperse sections that are little tableaus. Some of those may be framed photos, or knicknacks currently turned invisible but not needing tossed. Tying in the color theme would be good, if I can manage it. For the top of the expanded shelving: a runner of blue moleskin with a border of red and gold braid, and red fringe. (The red is a fairly dark shade, so no, this shouldn't end up looking like a flag. I hope.) The white shelving is, I think, the single thing besides the newspapers that makes the living room look most like it's all just thrown together. Key framed photos along the top, and a section of photo albums, bookended. Nana's little "shrine." Take the unfinished wood frames apart, paint them blue with gold trim or something, and reassemble them.
This is, however, going to seriously screw with the lighting of the room. I may need to consider wall sconces with lights in them or something. Candle sconces wouldn't really fit the mood of the room, though, and could create an effect of the massive freaking Elvis picture being some kind of shrine. Because the light at the end of the shelving nearest the couch is probably going to have to stay at the same height, which will then be blocked by the new shelving. I might be able to elevate it a bit, but if I put it up parallel with the rest, it is going to be too high into the wall picture space, and look deeply weird. Besides being difficult to reach from the couch where, let's face it, we've both been known to fall asleep watching tv, and when dozing off, who wants to have to stand up to turn off the light?
Seventh: the Patriots corner. It already kind of is. There's the Elvis bust on top of the stereo speakers, with a Patriots scarf studded with a collection of Hard Rock Cafe pins. And there's a framed Patriots pic on the wall over the hotspot-from-Hell Patsfan calls a desk. Move the championship memorabilia into that area as well, and out of the media corner. Get rid of what videotapes of mine have somehow collected over there.
Eighth: the top of the entertainment center. It gets a matching runner, and the knicknacks thinned out severely. The broken Ziggy music box? Buh-bye. Wile E. Coyote may have to stay, but not necessarily there. The singing groundhogs? Can go on Patsfan's "desk," where he can decide whether to finally ashcan the fucking things or not. They were a gag gift. Let 'em go already!
That should all radically transform the living room. Know what part I expect to be the hardest? Making the runners. Hemming the moleskin should be easy enough. But the braid for the side trim? Not really sure how that is supposed to attach. The fringe for the ends looks straightforward enough. Of course, this plan is being hatched by she who broke two needles on one seam today. :-/
The Office
First: declutter the Hell out of the desk and surrounding piles. Possibly box up some of the files and toss them downstairs. Oh, and ditch the flimsy cardboard "chest of drawers" that has never been and will never be usable and is just eating space.
Second: fix the shelf that is supposed to be inside the cabinet portion of the chifarobe that holds my altar, and organize the books and altar items that go in there.
Third: see what can be moved from the walk-in closet to the basement, so that things like my Reiki table can go in the closet but still be accessible when needed.
Fourth: get rid of the unstable table that currently holds my keyboard and ... a pile of crap. Not sure what to replace it with yet. Possibly with two separate items: a keyboard stand and a sewing table. Declutter the pile of crap, and put away whatever can't just be got rid of.
Fifth: sort through reference books, see what can be given away (particularly keeping an eye out for freelance writing references for beltainelady), and what needs to be kept for long-term reference but not "at my fingertips" reference. Box those with something in them to keep them dry, label the boxes clearly, and place them on accessible shelves in the basement.
Sixth: make a containable "project in progress" area for things like scrapbook work, afghan squares, etc., that take up lots of space, but are inherently non-permanent space needs. Not sure how to do this yet. But even if I just move the folding table laden with scrapbooking crap into the space vacated by the cardboard "chest of drawers," it would be an improvement. Making the space work for a small-footprint spinning wheel would be a bonus, but probably jumping the gun.
Broken down like that, the chunks seem doable. I hope that's reasonably true. He doesn't head up to Boston until late Monday or early Tuesday, so I've got a little time to figure out exactly what I need to do to get started, particularly in terms of supplies I need to obtain.