Picture This

I am tired of living in a house that is full of hand me down/cast off stuff, but of course, I can't afford to get anything new. But of course, I want my house to look like I chose all this stuff rather than "this is stuff no one else wanted/ all we could afford." Functionality is all well and good, but I'm sick of the eternal wait until we have money to make my house look nice. So I've been trying to think of ways to personalize my house and make it look "decorated" without really spending much money. I think if I put in a little thought and some time I can put a few things on the walls i cna make this place look really nice. So I have been exploring ideas and picturing how I would want things to be in here, and one thing I have come up with is the idea of printing some of our personal photos into big posters. There are literally a gazillion websites out there that you can upload a photo and they will print them into any size poster you want - some will even do canvas or wall stickers too. I haven't done enough looking around to really determine which sites are the cheapest so I'm not going to provide any links here - but I have seen 30"x40" prints for under $40. Not too bad (and of course, that is giant so a smaller size is even cheaper). And a lot of these sites have effects you can add to your photos, so you can turn them black and white or sepia or into a negative or whatever and get a neat effect that is a little fancier than just a giant snapshot on your wall. Also disguises less than stellar photgraphy! I am totally excited about this idea - now my only task is to narrow down exactly what I want to do- I have so many ideas! I definitely want to get some classic black and white shots, but it might be fun to get some done in the stranger effects like polarized and stuff. I have also thought about using one picture and getting it printed in several different effects so you have a grouping of the same picture in several different ways. That could be cool. Anyway, I feel totally excited about this idea, and I can't wait to spend so more time messing around online trying new things. I'll post a follow up if I ever actually get around to ordering anything.

Organizational A-Ha

Every holiday, when the decorations hit the stores, there will be large tupperware storage bins that echo the colors of the season. I have always wondered what kind of person needs storage boxesm and doesn't mind getting black and orange ones or red and green - having specific holiday colors for all my stuff would bug me. And then, last night I had a moment of insight - they aren't for everyday usage, they are for storing the decorations! Duh. These boxes are perfect for putting your holiday stuff in, perfectly color coordinated, so you can just see, oh the black and orange one is Halloween or the green is Christmas. I can't believe this never occured to me before. I've been taping and retaping the same cardboard boxes every year, marked ever so sloppily with Sharpie marker. Well, no more. this year I'll be picking up a nice tupperware bin to store my decor in - and at a glance I'll know what's inside because the stores have oh so thoughtfully provided color coordinated clues.

ps: this still does not explain those horrible hot pink tubs though.

In The Mood To Redecorate?

This week I got a catalog in the mail for Crow’s Nest Trading Co. Here is the cover:


All I can say is Wow. That is quite a chair. $1300 almost seems like a bargain for something that special. For those of you who don’t know me, let me assure you that there is nothing even remotely resembling this in my home, or in the home of anyone I know. So basically I’m wondering what the hell I did that got me onto this mailing list. Oh, and by the way, they also sell clothes, yay!