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You are here: Home / Archives for decorating

Small Space Storage: Toilet Paper

November 1, 2012 at 9:45 am by Claudia

There. I said it. Where to put your supply of toilet paper? Those of you who have read this blog over the years know that I have never lived in a big apartment or house. Never. Indeed, many of my domiciles were one or two rooms. This little cottage seems positively palatial compared to those spaces.

So, storage is always an issue. In the years I lived in the city, I would just stop by the neighborhood corner shop and buy 2 rolls of paper as needed. That’s all I had room for. Now I have one and half baths, but neither space has room for a cupboard or any other behind-closed-doors kind of storage.

I see a lot of bathrooms where the toilet paper is piled high in a basket. But, let’s be real here. Bathrooms are damp. There’s a lot of hair floating around. Items can get covered in that sort of damp/dusty stuff. Do you know what I mean? (I don’t have a better way to describe it.) So I came up with an idea for storage. Several years ago, I haunted eBay until I found what I was looking for:

(Bathroom photos are so difficult, aren’t they?)

This is a tole hamper. You can find these on eBay fairly often. Here’s what it has going for it:

  1. It doesn’t take up much space. It’s vertical, rather than horizontal.
  2. It’s pretty. The hand-painted flowers suit my style and my bathroom.
  3. It holds about 8 or 9 rolls of toilet paper and keeps them under cover.
  4. I don’t have to keep running out for a roll or two.
  5. It’s pretty (had to say it again) and shabbily vintage.

If you live in a small space and love the vintage look, this might be a solution for you. It keeps the toilet paper hidden but easily accessible.

It’s become one of my favorite touches here at the cottage.

Happy Thursday.

Filed Under: decorating, defending the small house, favorite things 45 Comments

An Aversion to Chevrons & a Love for Baseball

October 24, 2012 at 10:01 am by Claudia

This just about sums up life around here lately. We love baseball. The two teams I cheered for, the Tigers and the Giants, are going to be in the World Series. Huzzah! But now…who to root for? I was born in Detroit. So, that means the Tigers, right? But I love, love the Giants. They are fun and scrappy and slightly eccentric and have a lot of heart. But I was born in Detroit. A quandary. Don is wholeheartedly for the Giants. I’m not sure how it’s going to play out.

Last night, when there wasn’t a game to watch and the usual junk was on television, Don and I spent the evening playing Scrabble on my iPhone. It was neck-and-neck for a while there, but I ended up beating him by 3 points.

The crochet speaks for itself. I’m crocheting for the shop and that little exercise is ongoing. The photo is slightly grainy because we have more rain and gray skies and I am getting so sick of it I could scream.

As I tool around the many wonderful blogs in Blogland, I have to say this: If the design powers-that-be decided that chevrons in any shape or form were to be outlawed, I would be very happy. My eyes are glazing over. I’m over them. Not that I was ever a fan, really. I’ve never like that particular kind of geometric design, which may be why, when I was much younger and doing needlepoint, I never went for bargello, which is another form of a chevron. Or why I have never been a fan of Missoni prints. I’m sure someone will be offended by this, but don’t be. It’s just my personal taste, or lack thereof. I don’t like chevron anything and since it is definitely the hot look out there, I run the risk of encountering it countless times in the course of a day while cruising the internet.

Now someone who loves chevrons would probably look at my mix of checks and flower prints and cozy Christmas in Connecticut style and run screaming from the room. They would have every right to. I get it. Personal taste is a funny thing. Why do I have such a strong reaction to chevron anything? I don’t know, really, I just know I do.

I will be a happy camper when this trend runs out of gas.

And to assure you that I did do something about yesterday’s mess:

(Again: rainy, gray, lamp is on, sorry.)

See? I actually sorted through piles, threw things out and found other places to put some of this stuff that made a sort of sense.

And, to close:

By the way, I’m guest posting over at Cozy Inspiration today,

Happy Wednesday.

Filed Under: baseball, crochet, decorating 55 Comments

What a Mess: Where I Blog

October 23, 2012 at 10:04 am by Claudia

Reality Check on Tuesday.

I ask you: how the heck can I work this way?

Look at the table. It’s a smallish side table I got at auction a few years back. I fell for the tealish color. It has two drawers that hold a lot of stuff. This table is next to my Blogging Chair (as I have officially christened it) and it is always overwhelmed with pens, scissors, yarn, iphone cords, notebooks, various scraps of notes to myself, and in the midst of it all is the lamp, which is too large for the table.  Add to this the fact that I have to torque my body back and to the left to retrieve anything from the tabletop and you see my dilemma.

In the lower right hand corner of the photo you see the edge of the vintage wicker ottoman I have in front of the table.

It is, I’m sorry to say, just as full of stuff:

The copy of Design Sponge at Home has been there for over a year. It has basically functioned as a place to put my laptop when not in use. When I’m on the laptop, I use that groovy Woodstock coaster for my drink of choice – usually my morning coffee. Again: little notebooks full of (to me) vital information, yarn info, scrawled notes for my blog, legal pads, magazines and catalogues.

What a frigging mess.

This, my friends, is where the magic happens. This is where I write my blog. And crochet. And watch television.

I have to find a better way.

Some of the things I need to have at hand are over on the desk, but frankly, I think more of this….mess….can be moved over there. I might have an idea: perhaps a table switch?  The one by the sofa just might work here.

Oh, crap. I don’t know. It also just might not.

I still haven’t shredded, by the way. We are now at the 8 day mark.

Drumroll.

The answer to yesterday’s quiz? My blue jeans.

I was sitting in the car and holding the iPhone with the camera on and I saw this image and quickly took the picture.

My jeans have never looked so lovely.

Happy Tuesday.

Filed Under: blogging, cleaning, decorating, life 30 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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