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You are here: Home / Archives for decorating

On the Road: Decorating a Temporary Living Space

December 21, 2016 at 10:18 am by Claudia

I’m running a bit late today as I didn’t get to sleep until very late (noise next door). Ah, the joys of apartment living. The good news? I slept in. And I don’t have to be at rehearsal until noon. Otherwise, my friends, you might not be getting a blog post today!

We finished table work yesterday and today I’m coaching the actors one-on-one. These initial sessions are a great way to get to know each other, to go through all of their lines in the text, to talk about the rhythm, the poetry and the iambic pentameter of each line. We discuss the meaning, the challenges and, hopefully, I help the actor gain in understanding.

Back at the apartment:

The big black coffee table that replaced the white one that I liked so much. Sob. I do like the shelf underneath, though. Luckily, I always grab some fabric scraps when I’m packing and this piece of bark cloth works rather nicely. That’s my new wall calendar from Rifle Paper Co. under the table, just waiting for January 1st.

This gives you an idea of how high the ceilings are in these apartments. At one time, this was an office building. I like the high ceilings – such a contrast with the cottage, where our ceilings are much lower. That’s my humidifier on the counter.

This shelf unit is a new addition since I was last here. Very handy, I must say. The hooks on the wall are new, as well.

The desk. This has changed since I took this photo. Because the sofa is so hard on my back, the company manager brought in two chairs for me to use until they can change out the sofa. That can’t happen until A Christmas Carol  closes and those cast members and crew members move out and that won’t be until December 31st. Since I’m going to be back in a couple of months to work on Saint Joan, the company manager thought it might be worthwhile to actually move this sofa out and a firmer one in.

I’m grateful for the chairs because I really had nowhere to sit to watch television except at the desk or the dining room table. New television, by the way. Much better picture quality – that’s a very nice change!

Anyway, here they are. It makes things tight right now, but I’m sure she brought two chairs because she knows Don is coming for New Year’s Eve.

I had covered the sofa with the quilted cover from the bed (I always change that blue quilt out with my quilt from home because it’s prettier and more lightweight). But when the chairs were added, it made sense for me to take the cover off.

I am not a fan of a big expanse of brown faux leather. Just my opinion, of course. I have a feeling it all goes back to my mom decorating with beige and brown and lots of dark wood in a small living room. She did eventually go to avocado green. I know you all remember that  color craze. Anyway, my immediate reaction is to cover the brown with some color, as that combined with black tables and a brown floor is a lot of ‘dark.’ I still plan to do that, but I’ll have to wait a bit until I go home and see what I have there. And there will be some sort of quilt on that wall.

In order to fit these chairs in the living space, the desk moved over to the right.

The nest is taking shape.

Flowers, of course. I stop at Trader Joe’s on the way here and buy flowers. That is a must.

The other end of the room. Mirrored squares successfully covered. I mentioned in the comments that the squares are attached firmly to the wall. They’re not hanging on something, so trying to move them and rearrange them would damage the wall. So, I’m covering them up! I always move that yellow lamp to the counter because it picks up the yellow in the quilt.

I’ll do the same on the other end by the sofa when I bring another quilt from home.

These are my essentials for life on the road: quilts to hang and to cover the bed; fresh flowers, fabric to cover surfaces that are worn or too dark, extra lamps (the lamp on the desk and the blue lamp next to the sofa are from home) pottery to use as containers, books, my favorite mug, framed photos, my Bose sound link mini speaker, and this year, little Christmas trees.

Have to run!

Happy Wednesday.

Filed Under: decorating, On The Road 32 Comments

The Missing Earring & Bottlebrush Wreaths

December 12, 2016 at 8:37 am by Claudia

If you were following along on Instagram, you already know this story – so I’ll be brief. This earring is part of a pair of silver earrings that I have owned for many years. They’re long and dangly. The silver looks good with my hair. They’re my favorites.

The night before last, I was in the kitchen near the counter when I realized that one of them was falling out of my ear. I heard the sound of the earring scooting across the wood floor. I assumed it had ended up in the living room. So Don and I looked everywhere for it. Under tables, under furniture, under the baseboard heating, under rugs. We pulled out the piano, the stove and the refrigerator.

Nothing. It was as if the earring had flown away.

It was getting late, so we agreed to try again in the morning.

But yesterday morning, Don was busy working on the snowblower with a mechanically-inclined friend of his, so yours truly started looking on her own. Now, the night before, while down on my knees (let’s not talk about how that sort of thing hurts nowadays) I noticed lots of dust bunnies and cobwebs between china cabinets and the wall and general stuff I don’t see in the course of a day. So, I thought to myself, I’ll take a section of each room at a time, and along the way, I’ll clean, scrub, dust, eliminate cobwebs, and vacuum. And I did. Every stinking inch of the kitchen. Every stinking inch of the living room. Furniture moved, refrigerator once more moved away from the wall. Ditto for the stove. My knees and back were screaming. The thought occurred to me that even if I didn’t find the earring, at least the house would be really clean before I left for Hartford.

Nothing.

Later in the day, I posted on IG and got lots of suggestions from everyone. Did I try this? Did I try that? And honestly, I’d tried everything. I kept going back to that sound in my head of the earring sliding across the floor. It was so clear to me, such a strong sense memory.

One suggestion was from Cathy. Had any drawers been open at the time? I was sure the answer was no. Time passed. It was now early evening. I finally got up from my chair and thought: What the heck? I went to the kitchen and opened the drawer, which happened to be the silverware and random junk drawer, a drawer that I had opened and closed countless times during the day. I searched the junk. Nothing. At the last minute, I looked through the silverware. And there – under the forks – was the earring!

I shouted to Don. It had been there all the time and, clearly, the sound I heard was not that of the earring scooting across the floor but, instead, it was the earring scooting across the tile counter. Success! I’m thrilled to have the earring back and am grateful for all the suggestions.

But danged if my back doesn’t hurt today and I can’t help thinking, “Claudia, why the heck didn’t you look in the drawer in the first place??”

Did I get to Act 5? No. Too busy searching and cleaning. And then I went outside and moved everything from the porch that needed to be stored into the shed.

Yours truly is sore today.

While in the shed, I grabbed 3 out of 4 of my bottlebrush wreaths.

I hung one on the chimney. The remaining two are going with me to Hartford. They’ll look lovely hanging in the apartment windows.

I got these 6 or 7 years ago at Big Lots. Another blogger had posted about them and I, a lover of anything bottlebrush, went to the nearest Big Lots and scoured through boxes until I came up with the last four wreaths in the store. I love them. I haven’t had them up for the last couple of years, so it’s nice to see them again.

Yes, that’s snow you see out there. Don’s out there right now, using the snowblower. He has to get out of here because he has an audition in the city today. I will be finishing my initial work on the play and making lists of things to buy and things to pack. That’s the order for the day.

That painting was the very first oil my dad painted. I remember that vase. He also made the frame.

Happy Monday.

Filed Under: Christmas, decorating, life 30 Comments

Treats

December 9, 2016 at 9:11 am by Claudia

I seem to be treating myself to little presents. And it’s not even Christmas yet! In the mail yesterday:

This edition is very old, but it’s in great condition.

Take a moment to look at that dress and the hat – Ms. Drew is very, very stylish here. And stop with that tiny waist! Love, love this cover by Russell H. Tandy. The gentleman crouching behind the door looks like he’s up to no good.

I now have an even 10 of these vintage Nancy Drews. I have my eye on another, even as I write this. I can’t help it. I’m addicted.

Also in the mail, something I had on my want list on Etsy for over a year and a half. I don’t know why I didn’t buy it long ago, it was less than twenty dollars. Actually, I’m lucky it was still there when I decided to click ‘buy.’ Though I rarely buy egg cups anymore, you’ll immediately see why I wanted this one.

Yes. Those little critters are groundhogs! This souvenir egg cup is from the Chambéry region of France, which is in the Alps. The little guys are gazing upon the beautiful view, including a chalet.

How could I not buy an egg cup decorated with groundhogs? Don said, “It’s Henry!” or, more accurately, “Henri” which is the way Don likes it spelled and which, I’ll admit, goes better with this particular egg cup.

And finally, I picked up this little $3 tree from Target:

I’ve been thinking that I needed some sort of Christmas tree for the apartment in Hartford, simply because I’m going to be away the week before Christmas and the week before New Year’s. I’m not altogether happy about that, but I have no control over the rehearsal schedule. So, adding a little tree will help to make everything a bit more festive.

Actually, I was looking for something bigger, closer to the one we have up in the living room. But they’re hard to find right now and some of the trees I saw were horrid looking. I think if you’re going to go artificial the tree has to have style – either very realistic looking, or flocked as the downstairs tree is, or downright tinsel-y, like this little tree. If it just looks cheap…well, no.

I’ll still keep looking. I bought a few more little Shiny Brites the other day at a local antique shop. I’d love the excuse to buy a few more, just to decorate the perfect little tree.

I’m getting my hair trimmed today. It’s way too long, but I held off getting it cut for longer than usual. You might remember that Dawn, the woman who cuts my hair, had kidney surgery. She was unable to work for a while and Don and I ran a campaign to raise money for her living expenses while she was recuperating. She’s much, much better now and back to work.

Happy Friday.

Filed Under: Christmas, collecting, decorating, egg cups 34 Comments

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Welcome!

Welcome!

I live in a little cottage in the country with my husband. It's a sweet place, sheltered by old trees and surrounded by gardens. The inside is full of the things we love. I love to write, I love my camera, I love creating, I love gardening. My decorating style is eclectic; full of vintage and a bit of whimsy.

I've worked in the theater for more years than I can count. I'm currently a voice, speech, dialect and text coach freelancing on Broadway, off Broadway, and in regional theater.

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