My personal decorating is no joy. I love decorating for other people, but the process is not much fun when it's for my own home. After a year-and-a half of living here though, I am making progress.

I finally retiled the bathroom floor. They were black and white 12" x 12" set on the diagonal. My black, curly hair needs to be swept everyday to keep the white tiles looking clean. I hated it since the day one, but my designer pal, Jeff, suggested to wait and see if I got used to it. I replaced it with a sand-colored porcelain that should hide everything and blend with the oak floors in the rest of the house. By the way, whoever said setting black and white tile on the diagonal makes a space looked bigger took that comment out of context. It's all about the specific application. You cannot imagine how much bigger this space looks now.

Since the plumber had to come to reinsall the toilet anyway, I figured why not replace the goose neck faucet which splashes everywhere (I hate that.) and the terrible shower head. Oh, and the toilet that clogged all the time? Say hello to Toto. Those small changes should make a BIG difference.

I had my my grandma's chairs re-upholstered. Such special chairs: I grew up with them and am honored to have them in my home. I have childhood memories sitting on my grandpa's lap in these chairs. There's probably a picture somewhere of that. He always made us read aloud to him.  When we misprounounced something, he'd scold, "Diction!" We still joke about that. 

More fresh in my mind is the image of my grandma who retired at 85 and lived until 97, sitting in this chair everyday with her New York Times tucked in between the seat cushion and the arm. Towards the end, she wasn't so mobile, so she spent a good part of the day in the chair reading and napping. Gram's chairs were originally a gold stripe so I kept them a stripe and changed the color. The new fabric is from Carleton V.

 
 
Here's my sofa bed from Avery Boardman. It's beyond comfortable for sleeping and sitting. It is simply not true that sofa bed cannot be comfortable. It was expensive but worth the splurge. That came just in time for my sister's summer visit. PS check out the pattern flow match. Be still my (decorator) heart.

On the docket for the fall and winter:

• The kitchen/dining room and living room are getting painted in about a week. A gray like the color of an elephant. It's open space so one color here.
• Order and install the mantle in the living room.
• Make a cafe curtain for the bathroom. That fabric is selected so I just have to get that measured and ordered.
• Select a dining room rug and drapes, night stands in my bedroom. I could use some new dining room chairs and a bench for the living room. I should start thinking about the sunroom. It's currently extra office storage.

The goal is to finish the decorating by spring so I can relax FULLY in my home.  Just in time for spring gardening!