Decor: Hazel's Room: The Enchanted Fairy Garden

My sisters, Meredith, Charlee, and I, loved playing flower fairies. It was our favorite game. We'd pick out a dress from our Goodwill Prom dress box, designate certain sectors of the yard for each of us to rule, and then separate and, well, rule. For example, Meredith would pick the prized yellow rose bush area to rule, and be a rose fairy. I would choose the tree with the feathery pink blossoms and be called Feather Fairy. Char would get whatever was leftover, like groundcover, and be...the groundcover fairy.

Love you, ladies.

We'd also reconvene, only to discover that while isolated in our kingdoms, quite coincidentally, we all came across handsome, fairy princes to marry and have fairy babies with.

"Fairies", needless to say, was destined to be the theme for Hazel's room. And who better than the original fairy squad to help put it together.

Michael's was plentiful in $1 wooden boxes and cheapo bird houses to stain and adorn with moss, mini flower pots, paper-cut out fairies, etc. We also got some shelves and turned them into little dioramas. The result is whimsical, nostalgic, food for Hazel's imagination and my reminiscence. At just a few months old, she quickly became very interested in the butterflies, ladybugs, and moss. Her story corner is an enchanted reading-time nook. And she doesn't go to bed without saying goodnight to all her creature friends (keep this in mind as a warning...there are a lot of fairies and bugs in that room, and so, bedtime is epic).

The fairy figurines were originally doll cake toppers in the baking section at Michael's (they had no legs, only a short peg). I had a hodge podge of silk flowers, feathers, acorns from my neighbors tree, etc. A hot glue gun later and some dissected butterfly wings later, they became fairies. I was going to do 4, one for each season. The feathery fairy is the Autumn Fairy. The leafy one is a Summer fairy. I still have Spring and Winter to finish.

The Tania Project (TP): The Before

FYI: Tania and John approve of this message. :D

Amid my confessions of design and contracting obsession, my dear friend Tania has opted to have me help her revamp her living room. This gives me no little excitement and, in truth, has occupied much of my dreaming and scheming for the last couple of weeks.

We started with, "Gee, um, maybe you can help me rearrange my furniture or suggest a paint color or something, maybe?"

I came back with, "Let's do paint, linen wallpaper, chandelier, sconces, lamps, built-in bookcases, moldings galore, mid-height wainscoting, refurbished furniture, hand-made throw pillows, draperies..."

Tania and her lovely husband, John, while spectacular in countless ways, are like most people: They know what they like and don't like when they see it, but struggle to manifest it in their own home. Everyone deals with the constraints of scheduling, kids, budget, how laborsome these projects can be, etc. These concerns can keep the average Joe or Jane from making their home work for them, instead of the other way around.

Their home, a stunning tudor style red brick home, has great bones, decorated with all the most comfortable beiges and sages you could find.

Comfortably uncomfortable.

John deserves many accolades for what interest in design he has. Impressive, actually. But, like so many men I know, his highest priority is just keeping things light and tidy.

Tania, who also values the above, simultaneously craves a little more style.

Fellas? Meet me.

In following blogs, you will see step by step, phase by phase, how their dream living room comes together. For now? Here are the BEFORE pictures Tania sent me weeks ago.

I'd love to hear what YOU would do with the space!

AFTER photos to come!

On A More Personal Note

In my adventures in remodeling, I have confronted a crossroads.

Hi Oprah.

Have I mentioned, oh great wide blogging audience, that I'm also a professional swing dancer? And there may be dancers reading this blog right now, and if so, don't give me away! Not quite yet, anyhow.

For almost 10 years now, I've been doing one particular swing dance called West Coast Swing. I. love. this. dance. I can remember ditching class in high school to stay home and watch competition videos or attend competitions. No one suspected the straight A, president of the class, member of every club, Stephanie McHenry. I quickly became fixated on developing my talents and becoming what I saw on the floor:

A Champion West Coast Swing Dancer.

The Champions moved as though they were an instrument in the song, reading the score before it came and interpreting it before me. The crisp, subtle movement so attuned to the moment, to every breathing, pulsing presence. They channeled and redirected it at the precise moment to trigger a gasp and a cheer from thousands of people in sync. They were master manipulators of their bodies and the masses. With a flick, or a kick, or a twitch, followed by a double flip, they plucked a string and we all resonated. I knew I could do that, I just needed to fine-tune the language between my ear, brain, and body. I had guts, and I had "It", and I knew if I played the popularity game, this time I was smarter and I could win. I could be the artist and the homecoming queen.

They were dazzling, even intoxicating to watch: The adoration. The rhinestones. The smirky, confident smiles. The "It-ness" of it all. What kid, having borne the wounds of Junior High, wouldn't want to be accepted and counted among them?! They were spontaneous and one with the music. They were adored for their movement and their persona. They were selling their bodies with their face, their face with their bodies. They pulsed and throbbed and evoked many dimensions of want. Mine was the desire to be looked at as they were - for my movement and my persona; I wanted the validation for my talents and traits I didn't get in my life to that point (or more importantly, didn't reward myself to that point in time, or not fully).

Now, let's make a rating system for the political clout of a dancer: 1 being no one knows you or if they do, may avoid dancing with you. 10 being the many time US Open Swing Dance Championship winner, consistent Jack and Jill top 5 placer (improvised dancing), and major target for Strictly Swing partnerships. I'm about an 8 or 8.5. Probably. I'm a major Jack and Jill Champion and moderately targeted for SS. I've never paired with a routine partner and traveled the world performing, winning, and teaching internationally.

After 6-8 years of searching for the right partner, 2 great matches presented themselves in the last 3 weeks!

What does this have to do with "homemaker remodeled" you might ask? A lot.

If I do this, I will invest at least 18 months to 3 years in this partnership, traveling all over the world teaching and performing. I would have the opportunity to wear the rhinestones, get the cheers, and create the movement my artistic body hasn't had the opportunity to manifest yet.

This would also mean 3 things:

1. Delaying a second pregnancy/child.

2. Delaying Carpentry and Construction Technology school.

3. Delaying Design school.

Allow me to reiterate: I love this dance. I love being an artist with my body, having the wit and guts that many don't have. This is what I wanted from 17 on.

But being Hazel's mom easily eclipses everything else I do. Naturally. And I've always been a 3-4 kid Mom. At least in theory. And I fear having 2 "only children" instead of "siblings". How far apart is too far apart?!

Then there's this design/contracting career I'm moving towards. The reality is, while I love this dance and have more I would like to accomplish in it, dancing doesn't keep me up at night. Design and contracting keeps me up at night. It takes me about 1-3 hours to fall asleep if I'm thinking about tile, or molding, or upholstery, etc.

They are both creative and physical. In both, I would be valued for my vision and what I can accomplish physically.

In dance, I could travel, see the world (not a little tempting for a girl who was married at 19 and finished college 3 months pregnant). But in dance, I'd be leaving Hazel every weekend. Again. I've done that. Yes, it's good to have things for yourself, to show your kid you as an individual. But at age 2? What she really needs is to know you and the universe are stable and available. If I could come back to dancing later, when she's in school, I would.

But dance is not a forever profession. For one thing, one's body (particularly with the help of 3-4 pregnancies) starts to give way to a different stage of mobility. At least potentially. I know I already feel different after one pregnancy, a very easy and successful one at that. For another thing, there is a small pocket, a limited window of opportunity in a politically charged community where they allow someone to succeed, to be crowned, to be chosen as the next love affair. If one waits too long, the audience, judges, staffers, become disinterested, disenchanted, and the same effort, same performance, is little acclaimed or accredited.

So, yes, I could do this for another 18 months - 3 years, and then get back to having kids. Design and contracting is a life long career and will be there waiting for me when I'm good and ready.

But...

If I dance. If I do this. If I take this opportunity to try and reach that level 10 champion status, who is doing that? Is it the experienced, accomplished 26 year old who has one more task to complete, one more feat to attempt? Or is it that 17 year old girl who saw a vision of who she wanted to be, and fears falling short of that vision?

Am I 26 or 17? Or both? Does that 17 year old girl get to have her day, or can I forgive myself what I haven't accomplished and take her with me to enjoy this life I have now, this life with Aaron and Hazel and home.

At the risk of sounding like Cybil, I want to know how to balance and integrate all of my selves, to take them along for the ride and not abandon them. But also, how do I balance taking them with me and being in the moment of the self I've gained in total?

The world is at my fingertips. This really is a predicament of too much blessing. It's choosing between goods, not bad and good. Or rather, it may be choosing which regret will hurt the least. Who can know? Every child is different, as is every pregnancy. In the end, no one will be cheering, I'll just have a video of a movement. Will the artistic creation be enough? Is that what I'm after? This is just the chance to do one more something great with this dance, not a guarantee. Is the chance to move perfectly what this is all about? Or, if I leave now and say goodbye, is the pain just mourning over a lost love? Is my real fear that it will hurt less than I think it will, like someone telling you before they give you a shot that's for your own good and is followed by a sticker?

We will be right back to the Oprah Show after this commercial break...

Decor: Stephanie aka Knobby the House Elf: The beginning of knob obsessions

They come in every shape, size, and finish and whether you know it or not, by the end of the day, it's touched you and your children.

Knobs.






Yes, knobs can make an entire door, window, or furniture piece feel fresh, new, and expensive without necessarily being expensive.

The Problem: Functional clothing storage built-ins in the master bedroom done in a 1980's white washed wood. Slab style. With rectangular brass pulls.

(sound of woman's screaming voice, baby's crying, and cars colliding - the horror)

Fyi: Brass is the devil. It looks all shiny and gold, but it's just plain cheap, breaks easily, and reminds me of all things wrong with the world. Just about.

The Solution: Paint the cabinets white (while Aaron is out of town with Hazel), and replace said evil pulls with glass knobs.

Fyi: Glass knobs make me feel timeless, like I really could be living in the year the house was built - every time I open the door to go to the bathroom or open the cabinets to grab a pair of socks. Smack-dab in the 1920's.

They also go with the other doors in the house. Seemless transitions are dreamy.

Moral of the story? Get knobbed.

Decor: Raise the Roof with Valances

I needed sanctuary from my soffit insanity.

Main Entry: sof·fit
Pronunciation: \ˈsä-fət\
Function: noun
Etymology: French soffite, from Italian soffitto, from Vulgar Latin *suffictus, past participle of Latin suffigere to fasten underneath — more at suffix
Date: 1592
: the underside of a part or member of a building (as of an overhang or staircase); especially : the intrados of an arch

In lamans terms, a soffit is a box made out of 2x4 studs (wood beams) and are stuck in the ceiling, usually intended to hide necessary electrical and plumbing. In my case, some are necessary and others are there to complete the room. Thank you, once again, to the 1980's.

In the first picture, you can see a soffit to the right, with upper cabinets tucked in beneath them.

Design-wise, this brings the eye about 18" lower than the ceiling. The eye never wants to go all the way up. This makes the room feel smaller, or rather, shorter. This makes me feel like I'm huge, and suffocating. This must stop.

Valances:

Hung as close to the ceiling as possible, they bring the eye all the way up and don't block any natural light from the windows. Also, no fussy drapes to swish in and out of my way, or rope pulls dangling in my dishes, etc.

I went to Joann's and picked up a damask print, very modern, graphic looking in chocolate and cream colors. This ties the modern look of the kitchen to the traditional in the rest of the house. I also like that the rich brown adds some weight to the airy-fairy light green wall color.

Valance rods don't have to pretty - they are going to be covered up. I found super cheaps ones for about $3 each.

Sewing the valances:

1. Measure the distance between the ceiling and the top of the window casing, and width of window casing.

2. Add about 2" to width, 5" to height, and cut.

3. Fold over and pin a 1/2" lip.

4. Sew along lip, overlapping corners.

5. For rod pocket, fold over top 4" and make a 2" lip. Sew along bottom of lip.

Note: For my larger window, I sewed two of these cuts of fabric together to cover the width of the window. Two valances next to each other would have segmented the window and lessened the impact.

Installing valance rod hardware for hanging:

The rod kits provide screws and under normal conditions, one would drill a pilot hole (a hole you put in that is the same width as the screw, but smaller than the threads on the screw). Using a phillips head screw driver, screw your screw into the pilot hole with the hardware already on screw/over hole. The valance rod should hook on simply from that point.

My problem? That high on my ceiling, there was steel reinforcement at the corners. No screws allowed. Also, couldn't get an angle on the screws to get them in.

I ended up hanging them 1" lower on wall and, since it's only supporting <2 lb. curtains/rod, I used a couple flat-head nails to hold it.

My indoor tree...No, it's not Christmas

February was a hard winter month all over the east coast, and seasonal affective disorder ran a muck. I needed flowers. But I'm cheap. I don't think in dollars anymore - I think in diapers. One bouquet of flowers last 4 - 7 days and costs about 84 diapers.

The Solution?

I have a tree in my backyard - possibly a fruitless Everpear - and it gets pretty white blossoms in the Spring.

I cut several branches while they only had tightly closed, fuzzy little buds. It looked like a pussywillow. I brought them inside, cut the bottoms on a diagonal and then spliced it to encourage more water to reach these buds.

Within about a week or two, the buds opened. A week after that, SPRING ARRIVED! In my dining room! Beautiful white blossoms were the centerpiece and a reminder of what was to come about 6 weeks from that day.

Today, The flowers are done, but leaves continue to sprout! I just keep adding water to find out how long this can last - like Kramer driving as far as he can on a tank with an E light on.

Some people like to add some bleach to the water to kill anything that might cause rot and mold while you wait for flowers. I didn't need any.

Screw the groundhog! Enjoy an early Spring!