I love freebies

Todd's aunt is moving to Hawaii, and is consequently clearing out her home in Portland. This means that there's McD family stuff headed our way. I am most excited about this amazing gen-yoo-ine antique steamer trunk. Given the age, it's in very good shape (and still has nifty little organizer inserts that I'm sure I will make use of soon). I decided to use it as my night stand, as I go about duplicating the room that the June or July BHG blatantly ripped off from my brain. If this picture looks familiar, that's because I have a white duvet and antique botanical seashell prints and blue walls and random oceanic paraphernalia littering my bedroom! I couldn't believe it when I saw that page.

They did, however, give me an idea for a black headboard, which I am still designing. If you're confused about the trunk connection, you have a good reason. While there's no trunk in that picture, there is antique stuff, and so I'm working with what I've got.

I also fixed something that's been bothering me for two years and nine months. I, having never purchased my own dust ruffle before, didn't know they came in different lengths. So I picked the wrong length, and have since had to engage in a war with getting the dust ruffle to look decent every time I rotate the mattress. It's always an ugly thing, and it's never ended well. I recently discovered that there's such a thing as iron-on hemming, so I bought some, and voila! The right length!
I also decided to take the plunge and hang a few pictures in my office. They look a little funny where they are, because the big one really should have gone over my couch, but then I wouldn't have been able to look at it. So the big one's over the computer, and the little one is over the couch. It's a little weird, but it works.

Lastly, this is kind of random, but I found this awesome piece of scrapbooking paper and I'm going to frame it. It's this sweet map of Europe. (You can just call me the queen of cheap art.) And I have some little cut dahlias in a bud vase. They're cute, and deserve a picture.

The kitchen. Ugh.

I'll probably write more on this later (well, maybe) but since I'm in the mood to write now, I'm going to capitalize on it. These shots are the kind of granite, called Virginia Mist, we are hoping to use for kitchen counters. I wanted soapstone really bad, since it's really a lot more appropriate to the period of our house, but the way Trevor reacted to the idea, you would have though I was suggesting that we paint the walls with a paste made of crushed bugs. So I went looking for something similar, but granite. It's more durable. We're going to hone it to get more of a soapstone look. I'd like a piece that's slightly less busy than these two slabs.

Another trend freebie: granite countertops, especially polished, are on their way out. That's why I was trying to avoid it. In addition to being totally innappropriate to most homes, they scream "conspicuous consumption" and "I re-fi'ed three times to afford this kitchen" (even though we all know your Viking range is about to be repossessed by the appliance store; you should have known better than to spend 6k on a stove!) none of which is very recession-chic.

We are thinking along the lines of white cabinets and painting the walls....drum rolllll, please....APRICOT!!! I know it's not technically citrus, but it borders on orange, so whatever. There's not all that much paintable wall space in the kitchen, and with the white cabinets, gray counters and a slate floor that will have some hints of orange and purple in it, I think it could work.

If it turns out that white cabinets are too expensive (we are meeting with Mack this weekend to get damage estimate and he totally hates painting so Trevor thinks it'll be pricy) then I'm back to square one. Or we're waiting till August or later to do our kitchen. Bleh. Any opinions on the kitchen are welcomed. If you can't leave comments, facebook me. I hear a lot of people are having trouble commenting. But seriously, I need the input.

You heard it here first

I'm going to make a prediction: citrus, and especially orange, is due for a comeback. I have no basis for this, other than the fact that I like it, but I've been right about these things before. I love how the bright pop contrasts with the icy blue and quiet white of the bathroom. And who doesn't love a little citrus? The middle of a nasty recession is just the time to decorate with some cheerful color. You can't look at an orange without feeling just the slightest glimmer of happiness or hope. It's not possible.

So when whoever calls decorating trends starts yammering about citrus, you can smile at the bowl of oranges on your coffee table and think to yourself, "I knew this was coming." Juuuuuust wait.