My Elfa-ed closet

I was working on a post about installing closet systems and wasn't getting a good photo with my "real" camera last night. The whole lack of natural light thing put a damper on it, and I realized I should just use my new(ish) phone and add a filter. Shazam, here's my closet for you, looking ready for the internet. This photo has made me realize I own a lot of striped tops.

Fixing a Hole

In a post last month I mentioned that there was a mysterious hole in our front door. Just some one-by-two-inch hole, you know, there to keep things breezy. After some brainstorming with my mom, I decided I could plug it up with wine corks and wood putty.

When it came down to it, yesterday, I only had one cork so I also squeezed some wooden molding and pieces of wooden paint stirrers in there (getting resourceful). In the photo you see how wonky it looked mid-process. I puttied over the filler, and I still need to sand and paint. Combined with the privacy curtain I sewed, these improvements have cost me less than $3 (price of the cafe curtain rod).

Photos of the completed door, with actual wind protection and privacy, to come.

Progress/Getting Past the Camping Phase

Oh man. It has been many moons since I wrote on here, which I blame mostly on how much time I spend on the MARC train. My commute is good for naps and The New Yorker, but it means I'm behind on most other things I'd like to be doing. Someone buy me a netbook/iPad for Christmas?

Feeling short on time hasn't meant I've stopped working on projects (because I love projects), it just means I haven't documented them beyond a few sad "before" photos. I probably won't be ready for "afters" for months anyway, but I've fallen way behind in my house blog updating goals. Like did you know that I finished sewing a cool shower curtain yesterday (in this fabric)? And that I had to learn how to make buttonholes in order to do it? I need to tell you about that and our fireplace and all kinds of stuff.

The other reason for delays in any sort of documentation is that for a long time it felt like we were squatters, not owners. We sold a fair amount of furniture before we moved and then needed to fill up our new dining and TV rooms, etc. Just to give you an idea, it took until November (that's three months) for us to get our sectional. (There might have been a miscalculation on my part that resulted in the original sectional we ordered not fitting, but now we have a giant one from Crate & Barrel, and it's awesome.) Pre-sectional we had stacked my generous collection of pillows against the wall and watched TV and ate pizza from the floor - and no one needs to see a picture of that.

Anyway, it's almost a new year, and I resolve to take more photos and actually update. There's a lot to share.



Images: Charm City Home (1. The love seat in our front sitting room is from a Baltimore shop called Pad. 2. KR: The dining room was just a pass-through in October, before we bought a table and chairs. As of December, we still only have two dining chairs (but they're cool, so it's alright). KM has nixed the lamp, and the glass desk is stored in the basement.)