Bedroom before and after

We are finally completely moved into the new house, and we’ve been working on it a little bit at a time ever since. We’ve still got just a few unpacked boxes and some prints to hang, but it’s cozy and comfortable and completely livable.

Here is our bedroom before we moved in. A boring white box. But, as you can see from the plastic tarp and missing outlet covers, we were getting ready to change that.

Here is our bedroom now.

We went with a warm shade of brown called “Wooden Swing,” which is just dark enough to make the room cozy without making it feel like a cave.

The flower print is a Vera Neumann tablecloth that we found at a vintage store and stretched across a canvas frame. The lamps are from Pier One. The side tables are pieces that we found for free on the side of the road and repainted. The bench in front of the bed is a vintage piece from a local Tampa store called Vivant House. The owner, Anthony, reupholstered and repainted it. Before he got his talented hands on it, it had rusty gold legs and a blue vinyl cushion, most likely from a doctor’s office.

Before…

And after…

If you look carefully, you can see some white crown molding under the bed. One of the projects on our slowly-getting-shorter House Project List is to put that up in the bedroom. We’re getting there. Every day we get something else done, and every day this place feels more and more like our home.

The pink chair

Alex and I have been on an Ikea bender lately. Our latest trip was for curtains to cover the double French doors that lead from our bedroom to the large screened-in back porch, which has quickly become our favorite place in the house.

We don’t have it set up the way we want yet, but we’re still out there whenever possible. We love that our indoor cats can enjoy the outdoors. When it’s not too hot, usually in the evenings, we just open the French doors and let them wander in and out as they please. They are truly happy kitties.

While we were at Ikea, we decided to check the “as-is” section, and I found this hot pink chair for $3.

I’d been eyeing it up as a desk chair for my new craft studio anyway, so when I found it in the as-is section with just a few minor smudgey scratches on it from being the display model, I grabbed it. Seriously, three dollars? Yes please!

My studio is still a complete mess, but I can already tell that the chair is going to look awesome sitting in front of my sewing machine. I can’t wait to get in there and organize everything and start sewing again.

Oh, and today’s lesson? Always — ALWAYS — check the as-is section at Ikea.

My bag is a drunk

I’m taking a break from my regularly scheduled program (a.k.a. “The Move”) to share some travel pictures with you.

I absolutely love love love it when people who have purchased something from Fat Orange Cat send me photos of themselves using, wearing, holding their apron, tote bag, whatever. For some reason, it makes me giddy to get actual photographic proof that my stuff is being used and loved.

My friend bought a market tote from me and took it on vacation with her as she and her boyfriend (a very good friend of mine) traveled from New York up to Maine. And the bag had many wonderful adventures, starting at a winery.

Apparently, the bag is a bit of an alcoholic. Er….wine connoisseur.

That’s him passed out in the background.

He also took in some gorgeous New England scenery.

I heard a rumor that he may have taken a couple of pint glasses too, but it’s hearsay, there’s no evidence, and I don’t like to gossip.

Thanks for the photos, E & M! You guys are the best!

Poodle and paint

This bag is another one of the totes I made for last year’s Atomic Holiday Bazaar, and then forgot about. 

I haven’t made anything with an animal on it for a while, so once my craft room — which I have decided to call my studio because it sounds so much cooler — is all set up in the new house, I’ll make a couple of new antelope and poodle bags and aprons.

In the meantime, this one is available here.

We spent this past weekend painting a couple of rooms in the new place, which included removing the hideous, 1990s country wallpaper from the guest bathroom so we could paint it as well. Our two good friends helped us and got a really good start on the bathroom on Saturday, but Alex and I were on our own Sunday, and we spent about eight hours spackling, taping, priming and painting.

To give you an idea, this is what it looked like when we got there Sunday morning. You can see the old wallpaper in the medicine cabinet nook.

We finished painting the bathroom but still have to rehang the mirror and medicine cabinet and pull the tape. I’ll post more pictures once we’ve moved in, because right now it just looks like a big aqua (“Adriatic Mist”) box.

We haven’t moved in yet, and we already feel like this home is ours. Even though we’re renting, our new landlord is very laid-back and has encouraged us to do things like paint to make the house our own. This weekend is the big move. Which means….back to packing.

Forgotten

I made a couple of bags for last year’s Atomic Holiday Bazaar (in December) that — I just realized this evening — I never took photos of or posted to The Boutique. I guess I just forgot. For seven months.

This is one of the bags, which I’ve listed here (edit: SOLD!). I love this bag! I can’t believe I forgot about it.

Lined in Alexander Henry.

Alex and I got the keys to our new house last night, and, after getting official approval from our landlord on our paint choices, immediately purchased paint, brushes, rollers, etc. We’re getting in there tomorrow to paint a couple of rooms.

We have two friends helping us, who we’ve bribed with pizza and beer (the traditional “help a friend move or paint” bribe), so it should go pretty quickly. I’m hoping to post before and after pictures once we’re settled and decorated.

I hope everyone has a lovely weekend!