House projects begin...

Converting one of our now-empty bedrooms into DH's "study" is what's on the docket at the moment.  This is what it looked like yesterday after he taped it up to paint all the trim:

Before anyone gets excited, I will say upfront we're kind of boring when it comes to paint.  We're all in for beige.  I've actually picked out different shades of beige in different brands of paint, used in different houses, and I've ended up with the same basic beige color. Rather than fight it, I've decided to own it.  I've dubbed our basic wall (and trim) color, Beige-a-vu.  And while it may be boring, we rock it!  😉  

Husband is doing most of the painting (for which I am truly grateful).  I was involved in painting many rooms in this house over the first decade of living here (following the stripping of much wallpaper 😣).  Two decades in now, the thought of repainting them nearly does me in.  Physically, mentally, emotionally...   I was all for hiring it done this time around, but DH decided he would tackle it.  In this room, anyway.  

And without major involvement by me. 😗

In between various commitments that got me out of the house this past week, I kept myself busy picking out the carpet for the above room, shampooing the carpet in the family room (that's now drying and awaiting new furniture), and doing some general deep cleaning.  

BTW, this might be a good place to mention that I'm not really sure what "sharing these projects" here is supposed to look like.  Except for painting, I'm realizing our house "projects" are going to mainly consist of decluttering, organizing, and decorating.  

Except for some sorely needed furniture, I'm pretty committed to using what we have to decorate with, and finding frugal sources for items that are new.  While I can imagine the appeal of seeing how someone else does this, I'm suddenly realizing that sharing my decorating feels kind of vulnerable.  Funny that.  It never occurred to me until I started trying to imagine what to take pictures of.  And what might be interesting.  For example, I just deep cleaned and decorated (for fall) a little half-bath that makes me really happy at the moment, but a picture of it seems kind of...  I don't know...  weird?  Yes. Weird.  

And there's the issue of different tastes and styles. I wish I could honestly say I'm a minimalist (oh, how I wish), or that I had a "style",  but I'm mostly an eclectic life-time accumulator of stuff - most of which wasn't hand-picked by either of us.  So much of my "stuff" isn't even stuff that has great meaning to me.  Some does, but mostly... not. 

There are also rooms in our home that we are simply not going to spend the money redoing. Some rooms are so old and dated, they deserve a truly thoughtful approach to bringing them into the 21st century.  We're just not the ones who are going to do that right now.

So...  again...  I'm not sure what it may look like to share these projects here.  But I kind of hope I can give little glimpses into our home as we clean up, clear out, and make nicer - for however longer we may live here.

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BTW, one of the activities I did this past week was go to an author talk/book signing - less than a mile from home.  The author was Susan Wiggs, and the first 100 registrants received a copy of her newest book, The Oysterville Sewing Circle.  I didn't get a free book, but it was an enjoyable way to spend an hour last Thursday evening.  I'd honestly, never before heard of this author (which, I'm sure is only an indication of how big the rock is I live under), but now I'm intrigued to check out her books.  Our county library is really good about scheduling author visits.  I've gone to a few - most of them small with local authors.  I'm thinking I might broaden my horizons and check them out more often.

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And finally... not having worked with hook or needles all week, and suddenly feeling nearly desperate to start a small and quick doily yesterday, I set about to find my 99 Little Doilies book.  But find it, I could not.  It's not entirely my fault.  DH has temporarily dumped window valances and spare painting supplies in my "yarn room".   That's the excuse I'm using this week, anyway.  

So, what's a person to do?  If your first thought was that I picked up my Sacred Space blanket and started crocheting on it again, you would be wrong.  No... instead, I finally decided to start crocheting a scarf I've had in queue for making since April.

The stitch pattern is called Celtic Weave, and Bonnie Barker has provided a video tutorial for making this particular scarf.  This is all I've managed to do since starting it yesterday:

This is supposed to be an infinity scarf, so the wonky edge there at the bottom, I guess, gets resolved when I join the two ends.  The back side of this isn't very attractive so I don't know, for sure, how this works since wearing an infinity scarf involves twisting it around one's neck and exposing both sides.  So we'll see...

And that's pretty much it!  

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