Aaaaaand...I'm back. Hi. Missed me? Of course you did. I've missed me. It's been a crazy six months since the baby arrived. It's still crazy, but I think it's getting easier to keep my head above water, so to speak. We are officially a couple or three weeks into the new school year..and other than a crappy first day, spent sleep deprived and with sick children, I think we're doing okay. The academics are going fine, but I find myself feeling frustrated and agitated by my surroundings. It is a PIT here. And this is AFTER I spent the summer de-junking and attempting to reorganize.
You are now forewarned that this is as much a wish list post as anything else.
Here's how it works right now. The kids work on schoolwork all over the house. We used to sit at the kitchen table for everything that didn't involve using the computer--but since the baby was born, I've had to have the kids come sit by me on the couch while I nurse. Or the kids will sprawl out on the floor in whatever room hasn't been taken over by laundry or siblings. There are stacks of books, papers, school supplies, scratch paper, half finished projects, and who knows what else on every available horizontal surface. And it's making me crazy.
My first attempt to control it all was to buy more bookshelves. Unfortunately, this just created more horizontal space to stack stuff on. Then I tried more shelves with fabric BINS. But now we can't see anything, so we forget we have eight pairs of scissors and sixty different kinds of glue. Sigh. I need a better system. And while we're at it--
I need pretty. Seriously. I am so tired of cheap plastic bins and plywood furniture, white walls, piles of junk, and dilapidated vertical blinds. Actually, aside from pretty, I need more space--we are pretty cramped in our little dollhouse. But, since gaining more space isn't going to happen anytime soon, I need functionality and I need PRETTY.
I don't exactly know how to accomplish these things, so I'm going to use this post to think, uh, aloud.
Curtains. The family room faces east, so we get a lot of sun during the morning. Vertical blinds suck--we've had them for years and they have become brittle and pretty useless. I need sheer curtains for daytime--something to let in light without blinding us--but I need another layer of something heavy and not see through so we don't look like a lighted aquarium from the outside at night.
Wall color. I love orange. I am dying to paint something bright, eye-popping orange. The whole room is probably overkill, so an accent wall--but which wall? I also like blue--that Martha Stewart pale aqua color is pretty awesome--but it kind of doesn't go with orange. I also like bright pink--somewhere between magenta and Pepto-Bismol....hmmm....
Mirrors--depth for the narrow rooms! (But it will reflect all the clutter--double the clutter?!!?!?! NOOOO!!!!)
Storage. Pardon me while I collapse on the floor and weep, wail, and gnash my teeth. We have zero storage in this house and I have no idea how to create any without making us feel like the house is coming down on us from all sides.
Elegance. Okay, with Pepto-Bismol pink and bright orange, I don't know if this is possible--but I like clean lines and not a lot of doodads and gew-gaws to deal with. But I hate the minimalist/modern look. I like a place to look lived in and personal.
Light fixtures. I hate my light fixtures--all of them. They either collect tons of dust or they are shaped like boobs. Ugh. But what do I replace them with? I don't have room for end tables and lamps.
I seriously want to call that Nate Berkus guy, or one of those other home makeover shows and say--"I have a challenge for you!" and then show them this place. I can imagine the designers talking to me about what my passions and goals are, asking me about our lifestyle, and then having them pick out the fact that I like bright colors, I like cushy, kid friendly furniture, but I like elegance, too. And then I picture them working their magic. But when I picture the big UNVEIL--after I get past the scene of me uncovering my eyes and hopping up and down squealing in gleeful disbelief and gratitude and hugging and possibly smooching the designer, I see---nothing.
I guess I"ll have to figure out my own design stuff...hmmm. Gonna go stare at the walls for a bit.
No comments:
Post a Comment