Category Archives: DIY

The New, Office in a Living(Room) Landscape, Space!

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Madison Sq Park

We have a move into NYC date of June/July.

Because if you have to do one of the most hated of domestic duties – moving – why shouldn’t you do it when NYC is at it’s muggy, smells like urine & sweaty, soupy best?

And by’ ‘you” I’ of course, mean us.

Still, I am extremely excited about it!

So, as you do, we are getting the current space ready for selling. The latest jusshing involved the living room space. The old space was cozy and comfy.

The new space feels more open and sparse. It does however, now include a perfect spot for me to sit and work with everything I need right at my fingertips without looking all business in the middle of the living room.

Overview *the little white thingy in front of my iPad, holds my iPhone so I can see at a glance if I need to answer or text*

Overview

Side Table with iPod & Speakers

Side Table with iPod & Speakers

Really pleased with how it came together and just need a lumbar pillow to put behind my back for total, hours of writing/creating comfort.

*the little white thingy in front of my iPad, holds my iPhone so I can see at a glance if I need to answer or text*

*the little white thingy in front of my iPad, holds my iPhone so I can see at a glance if I need to answer or text*

The secretary desk to vanity project actually became my office in a living(room) landscape project and honestly? No regrets!

Desk/Office Closed

Desk/Office Closed

My ever-clever husband replaced the worn top with a new piece of oak and he routed the edges all pretty and added the handle I picked out.

Pretty new, oak, routed top. Thank you ever-clever husband!

Pretty new, oak, routed top. Thank you ever-clever husband!

And yes, I had to go and use a non-traditional placement of the new handle…

Desk/Office Closed

Desk/Office Closed

I am loving my new, Office in a Living(Room) Landscape!

 

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I’ve Got My Moogly On!

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Have you got your Moogly on?

If not, you are surely missing out on something special. More precise, someone special.

Tamara Kelly is the woman behind the needles, hooks and yarns and she is a genius. Seriously.

 

She can take your ideas and work them into reality like a crafty, yarn sorcerous.

I recently commissioned Tamara to make a couple quart sized mason jar cozies for me. I had bought a pair of cuppow lids and needed to insulate my warm beverages and catch the condensation from my cold beverages.

What’s a cuppow? They are brilliant! They turn a wide mouth mason jar into a hot or cold reusable travel mug. BPA free and 100 recyclable with minimum recycled packaging and made in Massachusetts.

I decided on a wooly Union Jack in vintage colors of wool and one in happy colors of cotton. After a few back and forth messages to pick my yarn colors here’s what arrived in my post box.

How gorgeous are they?!? They are complete with bottoms so that I don’t have to worry about coasters and the cotton one absorbs the condensation so no slippery slope to be had or drips down my shirts.

These pics are taken on the tray table beside the chair I do most of my work in. And yes, that is a cupcake wrapper. What?!?! Do you not eat cupcakes for breakfast? Lovely, homemade, chocolate, buttermilk cupcakes with light, frothy frosting?

You don’t? Poor you…

Milo Murphy ~ America's Next Top Model

 

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Everything Old is (re)New(ed) Again!!!

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Traveling abroad has taught me many things over the years.

  • People are the same the world over. We just live differently. We all want to be loved, live a long joyful life and see our children grow & have children of their own.
  • You can shop better with fewer choices. A grocer offering local, in season foods is a less stressful experience once you get over the shock of not being able to buy strawberries year round. (Admit it, out of season strawberries don’t taste like much anyway.)

And one of the most important, to me anyway;

  • You can live very large in a much smaller space and with less things.

I have been editing out unnecessary things and clutter after every trip. I still have a long way to go as the selling off in preparation for moving into NYC is proving and I look forward to when we begin living in our new space.

I have surfed and floated through the Apartment Therapy site to get ideas of how other people take tiny city living spaces and make them into wonderfully warm homes.

 

 

People have done amazingly creative things with bits most of us would not only overlook, but toss out without a thought.

This tea light holder for instance.

Tealight Upcycle via Taylor Made

How cute is that? And from just taking a second look at those cheap, plastic eggs we all have around at some point when you have children.

So I took a look around my house and came up with this!

My new side, tray table!

  • The lag/base is from a laundry basket that the canvas bag wore out that I have yet made time to sew a new one.
  • The box is from a local business, found on Craig’s List. ($1 each!) The legs are just using the confines of the box.
  • Topped with a pine tray I have had for nearly 20 years.

I love it! What do you think?

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