Sometimes the Best Solutions are the Easiest

I’m a bit of a hopeful, but lost cause when it comes to decorating. Most of those close to me can attest to my passion for all things decorating – I consume design magazines all the time, I’m a dedicated reader of some of the popular design blogs (mainly Design Sponge and Apartment Therapy) and it’s hard for me to walk by a furniture store without going in.

The break down is that I have a hard time taking what I love, and bringing it into my home. There is some wiring missing. I am a right brain woman. I love math, I love analysis, and I love talking about strategy. I embrace this and it has done me well so far, but I also love design, creativity. But I am an onlooker – I know what I love and I know why I love it but creating it myself is less than intuitive.

Hart and I have lived in this apartment for the past 3 years and the spot above our couch has remained empty. It has been a source of angst for me. About 6 or 7 years ago I fell in love with a painting at a friend’s house and spent the last 3 years, off and on, trying to get one. Fortunately the artist is a friend of my friends, but unfortunately he is taking a “break” from painting. Up until about a month ago, this gaping hole was without a solution.

I’m not sure how or why it took us so long – but we finally decided to fill it ourselves. I am not a modernist, by any means, but if I look hard and what I like, a lot of it is color. So finally, we took action.

With all of the pain and suffering I went through with this empty piece of wall real estate, I can’t overstate how easy this was – once the ball was in motion. We measured, went to the art supply store and ordered a canvas. We had an idea in our head of what we wanted it to look like, which you now see on the wall, but to make sure, we bought a couple of red paints (@$2.00 a tube), a stack of mini canvases (@$5 for 5), a paint brush, and practiced. Once we were satisfied, from white canvas to mounting on the wall took about 24 hours.

getting ready to paint

And hence, sometimes the best solutions are the easiest ones.

Hobby #200 that I'd like to take up

It’s only a matter of time before I jump on the Apartment Therapy bandwagon. It’s not out of lack of desire; it’s about lack of commitment. And fear.

Every morning on the way to work, I do not knit. If I close my apartment door behind me at 8:40, I am turning on my computer at the office at 9am. I always wonder how Brooklyn-ites get so much knitting done – it’s the commute time. Instead, I read anything that doesn’t require major mental involvement because as soon as I get into something, we’re at Grand Central. I can’t even get through Talk of the Town.

I bought my Apartment Therapy book about 3 weeks ago and have been reading bits and pieces on the train to work. I won’t sit down and read it cover to cover because it will bring me too close to actually having to take action. I don’t have a style bone in my body and it’s quite frustrating. I’m the person who would buy a modern chair and stick it in a country room. So part of it is being overwhelmed, part of it is commitment and part of it, a good part of it, is cost.

In the meantime, I am getting quickly entrenched in these design blogs and just this morning discovered design sponge, which I love.

As for knitting – I’m almost done with the CPH! Here is my sleeve.

With my better half off skiing this Presidents weekend, my agenda includes finishing CPH, going to Woodbury Commons and perhaps selling off the rest of my old records on ebay to perhaps fund something gorgeous like this:

negative 18 degrees?

We’re off skiing this weekend and even though it is -18 degrees (for real) at Sugarbush, I would withstand any temperature torture to escape for a few days.

Hart and I aren’t really what you would call skiers and we’ve actually never skied together before. I used to ski when I was little but “little” was a long time ago and I have only gone a few times in the past 10 years. Hart had a ski house with some of his guy friends when we were in grad school and they’ve had reunions in the last two years, at which time he’s learned a bit. Come to think of it – he had a ski house for 2 years for whole seasons and never once skied while there. Anyway – it’ll be funny. A bunch of us rented a house in Vermont for this weekend so there will be lots of eating, playing games and hanging out.

I brought two sweaters so I’ll be knitting, reading, and well, writing my strategic plan which is due next Thursday, which I haven’t even started yet.

Here is my before picture of CPH and hopefully I’ll have a good after picture, with plenty of progress. I don’t think this yarn is very photogenic. It’s like me in that way.

As for other before and afters, we have been told that our new windows will be installed on Monday and Tuesday. We are back Monday night so my fingers are crossed that we’ll open the door to find a beautiful sight. The probability of this happening is about 7%. We have been told this about 4 times before, the first time was, I think, maybe 8 or so months ago? Just to capture the impact, I took before pictures from our living room. There are 6 more in the back.

If all works out there will be a gorgeous shot of CPH in front of new windows next week.