Saturday, January 24, 2009

Decorating Redux...Redux

Oy! I worked half a day at the office, got home at 2:30 and fed the squirrels. The U.S. Figure Skating Championships are on commercial t.v. at the moment. I saw parts of the Ladies' Short Program, the Pairs Free Skate and right now the Ice Dance Free Program is on. Let me put it this way - I have been less than impressed! There is no Michelle Kwan or Brian Boitano waiting in the wings, unfortunately. Our Olympic silver medal winners in Ice Dancing (Belbin and Agusto) had to withdraw from this year's nationals due to injury, and the couples trying to move up in the ranks were - well, boring. Tonight is the Ladies' Free Skate (Long Program) - the competition that used to engender so much excitement. Remember Tanya and Nancy? Remember the first time Michelle competed at the senior level, when she was a 13-year old jumping bean who looked about 4 feet tall? Remember Tara Lapinski (well, I don't either)... Of course, one never knows what may happen tonight at the free skate, so I will watch. I have to say, even if the ladies aren't the same calibre skaters as Michelle, Tara, et al., they are a very attractive group and for the short program were exquisitely costumed. Now - to the decorating, or I should say, back to the decorating. Arggghhh! I am glad to report that the second buffet lamp went together in a snap, unlike my experience with the Defective buffet lamp! The second lamp now rests on the dresser in the New York (guest) room, after I wrestled the triple dresser away from the wall, tightened the bolts on the mirror, and plugged the lamp in. It works! Oh, and I wrestled the triple dresser back into place, too. What a work-out! But - darlings, I know you won't believe that I could be this dense, but I was, so what can I say - it occurred to me a day or two ago that, since my new room (the former guest room) and the new guest room (the former den/library/computer room), are exactly the same depth, although not the same width (the new guest room has about 6 inches less width), I could quite possibly create a mirror image in the guest room of the set up in my room which works so well: triple dresser opposite the foot of the bed (and the print above the headboard reflected in the mirror of the triple dresser on the opposite wall, doubling its impact), the bed scooted over enough on the wall to leave room to position a wing chair and bookcase or table next to it, and still plenty of room on the closet side of the dresser to set a luggage rack and for a second person to utilize the opposite of the bed, if sharing, also freely accessing the closet (slider doors) and window. The question is: Do I really want to do that? There would be less space between the end of the bed and the start of the dresser in the guest room if I move the dresser to the wall opposite the headboard, although it would still be passable. But would it look squished? Right now, there is more than adequate space on either side of the bed and plenty of room to pass at the foot of the bed directly to the closet and to the other side of the bed and window, because the dresser in on the hallway wall parallel to the bed (this wall has the entry door and is opposite the window and closet wall). The wall that is currently opposite the headboard, most importantly, is totally bare and that is where I had planned on putting my beautiful (and large) New York posters. (Photo: inside wall, New York - guest - room. That lamp on the dresser is the second buffet lamp, I put it together earlier today. You see my favorite still life print now above this headboard, and on the wall next to the mirror is one of dondelion's photographs of the "optical illusion" floor at the Venetian in Las Vegas). However, by rearranging the guest room to mirror my room arrangement would free up space for a comfy wing chair in the corner - I love having a chair in my bedroom and I know that wing chair was used for reading and watching t.v. when it was the guest room! On the other hand, the nice bare wall perfect for hanging the posters would disappear, consumed by the triple dresser and tall mirror. I suppose I could put one poster on the closet side of the dresser, andput the other poster on the wall above the table next to the wing chair... Guess I'll just have to try it and see if it works. So, it seems more shoving, pushing and heaving of furniture is on the agenda for tonight. Ay yi yi. (Photo: outside wall, New York - guest room. The framed photographs in the space between the window and the closet will have a companion joining them and will be repositioned as needed to evenly fill out the space. One of the black and white striped curtains I had tried out in my room looks much better here. One of my water colors anchors the space next to the headboard; its frame matches the frame on the clock/photo on the table behind the lamp. It holds a picture of Michelle taken in Las Vegas during dondelion's and my November, 2003 visit. In front of the lamp, not really visible, are two couple of inch tall silver-tone plastic models of New York skyscrapers that dondelion found in a dollar store in Montreal. On the plus side, my room is approaching the perfect degree of doneness. Today I put up the new print I ordered (turns out I only ordered one, not a pair as I thought I had, but that worked out just fine because the one new print is LARGE and fills the space above the headboard quite nicely - two would have been too big for the space); the frame is lovely and the bird motif ties in quite nicely with two framed Christmas cards from years ago - bird motifs in matching cheapo plastic frames! They hold down the narrow area of wall between the closet door and the window on the wall opposite the entry. Hey - those for free bird prints work for me, I don't care if they're Christmas cards. They're pretty! One of the birds is a blue bird and is, therefore, that unexpected dash of oddness and/or color that turns the room human - it's my room, not a layout in a decorating magazine. Also, I think the freshly hung print above the headboard is just a wee bit off of center. Oh well. I'll be damned if I'm going to get back up on the mattress and bounce around trying to find perfect center, drive a new picture hanger and plug up the old nail hole with spackle! It can be an inch off center. Still lots to do: I want area rugs on the floors of both rooms, that will entail much shopping online to find the best price for the best rug. I want to switch-out the single rod curtain rods in my room for double rods and try out the red/black/white floral print valances over the toile curtains (entails yet more ironing) to see if they "work" in the room or are just too overwhelming for the small space, and move the white bedskirt from the New York (guest) room to my room, layered over my new 18 inch drop black bedskirt. I'll replace the guest room bedskirt with the cream and black stripe tailored bedskirt that came in the "bed in a bag" set with the paisley comforter and pillow shams, but I have to iron it first. It's going to be a busy weekend. On the plus side, when I'm finally finished I'll have two bedrooms that I absolutely love (about time, I've been in this house nearly 20 years) and I'll have had a great work-out! I am just a couple of pounds off my 2003 Las Vegas weight. I want to be down to my 2002 Madrid weight when we go to New York in May and I'm actually aiming for an even higher weight loss. I've resumed my nightly "dances" around the larger space in my former bedroom to my favorite Youtube videos (Sway; Smooth; old and new versions of Lady Marmalade, including the Mad T.V. take-off of same; the We Will Rock You Pepsi commercial featuring Pink who absolutely, totally ROCKS, Beyonce who sure can shake her booty, and a pre-Las Vegas marriage Britney Spears who almost actually sang; Keep Your Hands to Yourself; Wild Wild West, etc. Better than running three miles in below-zero temperatures...

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