Tuesday, January 13, 2009

i know what you did last weekend...XVIII


yes, i like to rearrange. i like to think it saves my husband lots of $$ in the redecorating department. wait, we don't have any $$ for that. ok, at least it saves me from obsessing about WHEN i can go out and buy a new couch. or paint for my desk, dresser, bookcases (no i want new bookcases, from ikea...). 

those of you who visit my house often know that i like to rearrange. and i think i got this from my mother. if she can't rearrange, she paints something. so i find myself doing this too.

this house we live in--it's almost 100 years old. the hand cranks on the windows have a date stamp that says "1923." how cool is that? (it would be way cooler if they actually worked....but that's another story, like the bookcases i want.)

for some reason, old houses, especially the one we live in, have lots of doors. and windows. but the doors, they annoy me. take the front bedroom, for instance. it is small, but it has TWO entrances. we have the one off the living room blocked with a couch. the back bedroom, which really looks more like an enclosed porch, where rhys sleeps, also has two doors. no wait, it has THREE doors...one has (thankfully) been permanently sealed shut. it leads to the back deck. and one whole wall in his room is windows.

it's like a big maze here. everything connecting to everything else. i wonder if this has something to do with life "way back when." 

so, although i do love to rearrange and can't blame it entirely on this house, because of this house's floor plan, it is just conducive to endless rearrangements. for instance, our middle child has now slept in every bedroom in the house, plus the office, which was his previous resting place before now sharing a space with his sister (which, incidentally, he's done 3 times already i think since we moved here 2 years ago).

this past weekend, we met some friends in orlando for dinner and then made a quick pit stop at ikea. the one in our city isn't open yet (but a friend and i already have weekly play dates arranged when it finally does!), so any chance i get i go there. everything is SO CHEAP. and lots of it reminds me of anthropologie. not everything--some stuff is too modern. but check out this new duvet cover i got for gillian (for NINETEEN dollars?!):


every time i visit ikea (or if i just sit down and look at their catalog), it makes me want to rearrange...again. i think it's something about all their setups and layouts being so simple, so unmessed with, so organized. of course, this is because it's in a store, or a catalog. there are no kids and dogs running around tearing everything apart the minute i have them put together. no dog hair to contend with. no knick knacks from this trip or that. but still--ikea never ceases to inspire me.

so it started with this duvet, and it ended with the older two kids sharing a room...


 new curtains for our bedroom made out of old duvets...
 

and with my very own office space, now decked out with loads of pink. i didn't take a picture of that space because it's not "done" yet. but i hope when it is finally complete i will even have a creative space where i can sew (ok, learn to sew) and create and just escape (with those cookies i made last week...).

i am proud to say i did most of it without having rick help. you can imagine how much  he just loves to hear me say (again) "honey, i think i'm going to just do a little rearranging today." :) the best part is that everything gets a little cleaner...at least for a few minutes...before it's back to crazyville again.

6 comments:

Amy said...

i like the new set up/ i saw that duvet cover at ikea and thought it was really cute. now, what can i go rearrange...

Kristin said...

sister of my heart! I've been a "rearranger" since I was in highschool. I would rearrange me and my sister's room. It always made me happy. With marriage, it made me content with what I already had. It makes everything new again! My living room is quite a challenge. I would love to rearrange, but it's ful of doors and windows and weird open spaces. I've only found two possibilites. The kids rooms and the playroom are lots of fun to rearrange. Maybe I'll do that this weekend!

glisteneyes said...

can't wait for ikea! my partner and i were just approved for a rental house in seminole heights and we move in on the first. another old house - 1926 - but it has been somewhat remodeled. i'm going to be on a decorating rampage for a couple months. yay!

mrs boo radley said...

I LOVE that your older two share a room. And what a fabulous room it is!

What shade of green are your walls? I adore them.

Karin said...

Can you believe Ikea is actually coming to Santo Domingo? They have actually broken ground and are building it, so I know it's really happening. Oh, how I miss it! What a great idea to have playdates there..there's a babysitting area, a restaurant and lots of great living rooms to cozy down into and have an adult conversation! haha.

Anonymous said...

i love your house...it fits you, your creativity, your life, and your family!

it's like entering comfy zone with pretty colors & pretty things.

you know me...the casual traditionalist. and john freaks out when i try to do 3 patterns in one room. we are truly minimalists...