Happy Holidays!

 

Here's hoping everyone finds a little joy and peace this holiday season! Let's look ahead to a new and better year....

Going to the Dark Side

 

Ah, the winter of our discontent continues, stuck inside by Covid protocol, even if not by winter weather.

Any time that happens, I seem to move to thoughts of rearranging furniture or changing things up. I’ve often heard it said if one chooses to go bold with décor do it in a small room where the impact either won’t be huge or is easily changed. To that end, I decided to paint my small half bath off our master bedroom. Yes, I know; who in this day and age only has a half bath rather than a sumptuous spa master loaded with deep soaking tub, clear frameless tiled walk-in shower, two sinks, furniture-like linen closet and window which looks out to some garden oasis? I spend very little time in the bathroom so a fancy one has very little priority in my life. This house was built on a strict budget with the idea we don’t need that much space, but as we age, we will need low utility bills, lower taxes, low maintenance and low upkeep. The last thing I want to do in my 70’s and 80’s is clean a huge house!

So, my tiny half bath went from a mild pastel aqua and seashore décor to a deep charcoal grey/brown with white ceiling and cabinetry. And man, does it now pop! I love the change! See for yourself.

Decor is yet to be determined and I need to replace the aqua paisley rug to something more suitable. It's strange that the dark color actually accentuated the tall ceiling even more (we have nine foot ceilings). Starting with the color choice:

No turning back now:

It's not all been about me remodeling either! Marc's been hard at work on several projects at once. He finally decided to move forward with building our pantry off our hallway, which sits over the basement stairwell. And while he was at it, he got busy enclosing the stairs with a backplate and completed the sheetrock, taping and mudding of the stairwell. He still needs to build a faceplate and doors for the pantry but we are already using it and it is so much handier than running down into the basement all the time. 

The Humane Society that I volunteer for has had a tough time this year with its fundraising activities, since all major events have been cancelled, so we brainstorm every month via Zoom as to what we can do instead. Coming up in January will be a large online auction of craft items, to which I will be donating many of my handmade items: jewelry, fabric baskets, and art quilts. I suggested Marc join in with his handmade bird houses, which he makes out of all his scrap lumber. 

Still needing to add more to our yard, he literally started a production line of bird houses and has had fun embellishing them. We will be donating three to the shelter cause, two of which will be his cork creations. I made a joke to him one day: "Oh, how the mighty have fallen. You've gone from building 100,000 square foot assisted living facilities to bird houses!" Ain't life a bitch sometimes.