I Grew Something, And Then I Ate It
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Old Wives’ Tale Test-Run: Using Butter To Get Out Wood Rings
I do have an actual office, but despite the leopard print carpet and tiger rug, it's not a place where I spend a ton of time: I dart in and out to use the printer, but spend the bulk of my workday camped out at our dining room table. Since it's theoretically a communal space (even though we eat sitting on the floor around the coffee table like cavepeople) I try to keep things as neat as possible...but one thing you'll always find next to my computer is a coffee cup in the process of making a ring on the wood. Because I need coffee now and extra steps like locating coasters just get in the way.
This has resulted in the area on our dining room table directly surrounding my computer being covered with rings, to the point where there are so many that they've basically become a part of the tabletop decor. Honestly, I don't really care all that much: the table is supposed to look "rustic" to start with, and my feeling about furniture is that you shouldn't be too precious about it; it should fit with your life, and my life involves coffee and laziness about coasters.
As an example of when not to be (too) precious about furniture: Virgil is destroying our new couch. His favorite place to sit is smack on top of the back pillow, and the fact that he sits there for an average of ten hours every day staring longingly out the window at chipmunks is creating a very large, seemingly permanent dent. I really wish this wasn't happening, but what am I going to do? I get it: I like chipmunks, too.
That said...the rings on our dining room table are getting a little out of control.
Seashore-Style Outdoor Decor
Super excited about my new patio; I thought I'd never use it, and it turns out I've been sitting there every night with a book (just finished Life After Life) and tea and the sounds of crickets.
Have an outdoor space (or living room) that you feel like adding a few (affordable) nautical touches to?
Presenting:
Before And After: Patio
I know: it's a sorry, sorry sight.
But honestly: I had no idea what to do with this space, to the point where it sat unused (and apparently unswept) for nearly a year.
Having a yard was already much too much outdoor space for me to wrap my little New York City girl mind around; I couldn't handle the additional challenge of figuring out what to do with a patio, as well. First of all, it was attached to my office - a room that we barely use anyways - so I frequently forgot it even existed. And second, I couldn't imagine why I'd sit there as opposed to...well, anywhere else. If we wanted to eat dinner outdoors, we'd probably sit at the big table in the yard, right?. And if we wanted to lounge around outside...well, we own a fire pit.
Yet Another Sunroom Swap-Out
I really liked our brown velvet Pier One couch when we got it back in 2010. It was by far the nicest couch I'd owned up until that point - as in, the first couch I'd owned that was neither the very cheapest model sold at Ikea nor a hand-me-down.
Even though it was sorta saggy in the middle and didn't even come close to fitting all of our family members on it for a rousing viewing of Bubble Guppies, I've always really liked the curvy shape and chocolate-brown color, so once we replaced it with our beloved Sofa Boat we did a little brainstorming about where else in the house it might be able to find a home.
We thought about putting it in the attic (which doubles as a guest room and a playroom), but couldn't fit it up the stairs...and then we discovered: boom. It fit perfectly into the space under the picture window in our sunroom.
