#602...air plant obsession

 

I got this Xerographica air plant for my laundry bath at a local nursery. It cost me $20, so it better live. I have another of this variety and it has done well, so it feels like a safe bet. I have a bit of an air plant addiction. They are slowly getting scattered throughout my house. Overall, they are really easy to care for. I've only lost a few. The Xerographica is the most expensive variety I've bought. Most of them cost between $3 - $10.

#601...gold zippered pillow covers

I got inspired by the gold zipper closures on these pillows by Rebecca Atwood. I dug out some gold jacket zippers I had stashed away, and made some new pillow covers for my round chair. The flashy zippers look like jewelry on the pillow covers.

#600...sealing cedar fence

Outdoor wood maintenance is one of my least favorite chores, and we sure do have a lot of wood that needs care. I once posted about how often I have to restain my deck here, and refresh my wooden lounge chairs here, and since we added this new cedar fence and gate to our yard this past Christmas, I now get to add this to my list of outdoor wood to care for. Ugg!

The fence boards are cedar and started out an orangish color, that we decided we would like to retain if possible. If left untreated, they will bleach out and ultimately turn grayish. It has only been a few months, but already they have lightened, especially the boards that get direct afternoon sun.

I did some reading online, and learned I needed something with UV protection in it to help keep the color. I'm trying out this product by Flood that I got at Home Depot.

I started at the bottom right and brushed the sealer on with a chip brush. In these pictures I have sealed the lower six boards on the right (non-gate) side of the fence. It brought a pretty color back to the fence. I am curious how often I am going to have to do this to keep the cedar from graying.

#599...chinese comfort food

Last night I made this recipe for Stir-Fried Tomato and Egg. I added spinach and shrimp to my dish. I mixed in some Udon noodles and garnished it with Sriracha. It was yummy.

#598...diy bang trim

I've tried lots of different methods for trimming my bangs over the years. I ran across this tutorial on NYmag.com and it offered a cutting approach I'd never tried before. You flip your bangs up and cut at them straight down. I also thought it pretty hilarious because step one of the tutorial is "START SOBER". I have been guilty of many a late night, post booze bang trim, and nothing good comes of it. Here are my pre- and post- trim shots from today. 

(also, you may notice the nice circular burn on my neck. I got this new curling iron and it is pretty fancy with a swiveling handle. There is a learning curve to using it....)

#597...striped parson bench

Before

My client Holly had this old purple Parsons style love seat bench that needed a face-lift to fit in her new living room. The piece came apart in two pieces and had simple lines, so I took a stab at recovering it.

The first thing I did was cut the old welting off. I decided that the piece would look more modern without the welting, so I did not replicate it....(plus making welting is a pain).

Because the piece sits against the wall, I made the project easier by using the back as a place to staple and attach the new fabric. I had to sew one seam on each the top and bottom piece, but beyond that I merely wrapped the pieces like a gift, and stapled and glued to the back of it.

I covered the back just to make the piece look nicer, but there are visible staples on the back of the piece, so it will need to stay against a wall.

I finished it off with a long bolster made from a scrap of this fabric.

#596...G is for gemma

My cousin Lindsay welcomed baby Gemma earlier this year. I made a giant G quilt for Gemma. I like making capital letter quilts. Thus far I've made "H" for Hannah, and G for Gemma. I used several scraps of Liberty of London cottons and a soft gray with pink flowers for the backing.

#585...low beds

JoAnna of A Cup of Jo wrote this post the other day on low beds, and it got me thinking about my low bed, and why I like it, and why it works in our room. We've had the Ikea Malm now for a decade, and I think it works because our room is on the smaller side, the  lower bed covers less of the window, and it feels a little less formal. Our room is also a hallway to the bathroom, and I think the low to floor bed is less intimidating for guests walking through our room to use the bath. Also, it is super accessible to my nieces who like to play on the bed, and sweetly terrorize the cat.

We modified the Ikea Malm by adding a behind the bed console, which I posted about here. I used to spend a lot of time tucking bedding into the Malm frame, as you can see below, from my design*sponge sneek peak a few years ago.

Nowadays, I just throw my bedspread over the entire bed and let it drag on the floor. It is a more disheveled look, but a lot easier to make the bed.

I have a few vintage white chenille bedspreads that I rotate. (My cat spends 20 hours a day on my bed, and I am allergic to him, so I end up washing them a lot). I just added this one from Plow & Hearth to my collection. It is much lighter weight than I expected it to be, but is a functional weight for Houston.

#584...open uppers

I like the idea of open shelving in lieu of upper cabinets in a kitchen. It seems it would keep one from having more than they really need.

#583...$30 light bulb purchase

I went to Home Depot the other day to buy a replacement Halogen flood light bulb for our bedroom track light. I left Home Depot with this $30 LED flood light. I thought a $30 light bulb purchase warranted some press, as I know it seems insane to spend so much on a light bulb.

The halogen bulb that I set out to purchase cost $12 and used 30w of power to produce the light of a 50 watt bulb. The halogen bulb box said it would last one year.

The LED bulb cost $30 and uses 8w of power to produce the light of a 50 watt bulb. The LED bulb claims it is going to last 22.8 YEARS! That random number made me laugh out loud, and probably sold me on the ridiculousness of spending $30 on the bulb. I'm pretty sure that my new light bulb could outlast the track light itself.

Here is the former Halogen Bulb

...and here is the new LED bulb

The LED bulb is on the left, and is brighter than the Halogen to the right of it, despite using less wattage. The coloring of the light emitted by the bulb is very similar to the Halogen. I don't fully understand the differences between the bulbs (besides those I listed above), nor do I have any idea which is better. I'm not sure I'll replace all future halogen burnouts with the pricey LED option, but it makes me wonder if we are moving toward a day where light bulbs really cost this much. Maybe we'll all go back to using oil burning lamps.