More pretty :-)

So I'm totally in love with this Dutch artist, Jane something (her last name is not anywhere! I have come across it, but can't find it now. Starts with an 'S'. Schouten? Anyway, find her HERE). Is she even Dutch? I don't know. Maybe she just lives in the Netherlands. You see, I know nothing. But check out this colorful wonderfulness:

(Love this pillow. And there's a how-to for these vases here.)



Wonderful: modern chairs and stools reupholstered in vintage blankets that she has embroidered and appliqued. WANT.





These are pulled from inspiration pages:

the downstairs is finished!

The downstairs is done! Yay hallelujah!! Well, you know: "done." Air quotes. We didn't want to put all the same stuff on the walls, so there are some big empty spots waiting for paintings to be created to fit them -- Jim and I want to get some canvases and do a few paintings together. And we really want a new slipcover for the sofa, but that will have to wait. But basically, here's the living room with newly refinished floors and new paint:

Bright and airy. Nice. Here it is before:
For the record, I liked it then too :-)

We didn't do anything to these rooms but clean and de-clutter; here's a corner of the kitchen:
And my writing room:
The bathroom, which is the weirdest and funkiest room in this old cottage (was originally the front porch back in 1924 when there was no bathroom but only an outhouse), also got much-needed new paint:
Changing table is set up and waiting, and above it, a mobile made by my super-talented friend Maggie. Here's a detail:
She hand-felted those birds. Aren't they awesome??

So, that's the downstairs at the moment. Neat and tidy and freshly painted and de-cluttered. Loving it. The upstairs is almost there. Crib partially assembled, new curtains need to be hemmed, last and worst painting project (stair railings) nearing completion. Soon.

Soon.

Belly update + house update

Here's my belleh in the final stretch! Before you make any, ahem, comments with words like "huge" or whatever, you may want to refer back to this post. [Smiles.] Still feeling [mostly] great, though I have my first "discomfort" related to pregnancy, which I am diagnosing myself, because, you know, Google qualifies us all to be doctors! I think I have pregnancy-related carpal tunnel. Bizarre. The last week-ish, my hands have been going numb while I sleep; I wake up to numb, painful hands! It sucks. Just one at a time, depending which side I'm sleeping on, so I'd roll over and then wake a short time later with the other hand numb and painful. And even while I'm not sleeping, my right hand is feeling week and less mobile than usual. Anyway, a quick Google search of "numb hands/sleep/pregnancy" turns up a bajillion hits that suggest that pregnancy-related swelling (which I don't have too badly, though my rings have been snug) puts pressure on the median nerve running through the carpal tunnel. Suck! I slept in a wrist brace last night and had no problems.

Speaking of sleeping and last night, we camped out in the living room. The downstairs being (halleluja!) finished but still empty o' furniture, and the upstairs bedroom still needing painting, we brought in the sofa bed and made a little camp in the living room. Leroy loved it, because the sofa bed is much lower to the ground than our bed, and he could snuggle right up alongside it and practically feel like he was in bed with us (Leroy is not a bed dog; not a furniture dog in any way. He's spoiled as heck, but not in that way.)

So, a few floor pictures! Not super-exciting, since the rooms are all empty, but exciting for us:

The living room before with the red walls (which we painted 7 years ago and have loved, but just felt the need for change) and the shockingly unbeautiful fir floors, which had probably never been refinished since they were first installed in 1924:
The living room this morning, post camp-out, with Leroy showing his tolerance (and even enjoyment) of having the bed made over him. The new wall color is Eastern Amber by Behr. Love it.
This is how bad the floor was in places before:
And how lovely after:
Like honey. [Happy sigh.]

And here's the sanding man:

So, that's all to show right now. The bathroom is finished too and I love it so much I just want to stand in it and admire it, but no pics yet. Nursery = almost painted. Bedroom = almost begun. So. Still much to do. Better go get started!

Hope all's well! Cheers. And if there are any emails I haven't responded to, I apologize, but I will! I promise!