You might have noticed that I’ve been a bit quieter than usual lately and that is because I have SO MANY PROJECTS all going on at once.  I really don’t recommend this approach because despite the fact that I’m working on so much, I’m accomplishing nothing.  Today is just a quick check-in to let you know what’s been going on around the house.

First, the biggest thing and the one that has impacted our family the most was the recent loss of our beloved cat, Kitty la Belle.  She was a stray kitten that adopted us almost 14 years ago and was my son’s lovey and companion.

Kitty-la-Belle-Cat

 

It’s been almost a month since she passed away and the house felt so quiet without her, so last week, we adopted a new kitten we’ve named Isabella {Izzie for short}.  I would share a picture of her with you but she doesn’t hold still long enough to photograph!  There’s a reason we’ve nicknamed her Busy Izzie….  My goal for the last week has been trying to train her to leave the finches alone but it’s a work-in-progress, so mostly, I have to follow her around and keep and eye on her.  Plus, we’ve discovered that she loves to claw fabric.  She has good taste, though, as she really only has an affinity for Restoration Hardware linen, so as you can imagine, my living room looks like a playroom to her!  {BTW, I’ve managed to kill that amazing tree I had in the corner.  So sad!}

TIDBITS-&-TWINE-Living-Room-Sofa-Fall-2015

 

As for decorating projects, we’re preparing our home for flooring and baseboards.  You can see what I’ve chosen for flooring {HERE}.  I’ve also narrowed my baseboard choices down to these two options – a 6″ on the left and a 7.25″ on the right.  {Please excuse the dark iPhone picture.}

Baseboard Choices February

 

In preparation for the floors, we’ve had to clean and clear the entire garage to make space to store our furniture!  We’ve spent every hour of the last three weekends cleaning, donating, and selling things we no longer need or use.  We’re not done yet but I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.  In an effort to be more organized, we purchased some garage shelving off of Craigslist from a local business that is closing.  One of the sets of shelves will be for me to store my off-season decor and I am thrilled to have a space for it!  Who knew a garage rack could make me so happy?!

In addition to the shelves, we have a handyman coming this week to build us additional storage in our rafters, which Hubby is really excited about.  He’s also going to be putting in a cat door for us, working on a project in the laundry room and doing some shelving in my son’s room.  I think I can keep him busy for a very long time!

I’m also working on a project that involves this sad little dresser.


Old-White-Dresser

My parents bought this dresser over 40 years ago to use in my older brother’s nursery.  It was then in my room as a baby and painted a soft shade of yellow.  My mom gave it to me when I first got married and I quickly ruined it with a bad paint job and “updated” the hardware with raffia {that was back when I used raffia for anything and everything….in fact, I could probably do an entire post dedicated to 101 Uses for Raffia!}.

Well, this little dresser is getting quite the makeover that I’m excited to share with you in a couple of weeks.

 

And last but not least, I’m working on a project about making things work in decorating when they really don’t.  I’m sure we all have an item that we’re hanging onto and want to use in our decor but it just doesn’t “work” with our decor, or layout, or style.  This is an issue that I’ve been having for years and I’m finally tackling it!  Once it’s ready, I’ll share it with you and address other ideas for decorating with what you already own and making it “work” in the space you’ve got!

I’ll give you a hint, though…it involves this room.

TIDBITS-&-TWINE-Casual-Family-Room-3

 

 

And one more project that I know I need to tackle but haven’t yet started, is painting my dining room hutch.  I’ve never loved the color but it coordinated well with my ’80s floors so I left it as-is.  Now that my floors are being updated, though, the hutch will look very out of place!

TIDBITS&TWINE French Christmas Dining Room in Blue and White

 

What color do you think I should paint it?  Let me know in the Comments below!

 

 

So that’s it for now!  If you don’t hear from me for a little while, just know that I’m working on lots of makeovers and I can’t wait to share them with you!

 

Tidbits&Twine - Signature

 

 

 

 

 

 

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9 Comments

  1. Kim,
    I’m so sorry for your loss. Family pets are as much family as the are furry friends.
    I hope the new kitten brings some joy.
    I vote for black for your dining room piece.
    Karen

  2. I’d do the hutch in a distressed grey-sage green. With the natural chairs and the dark wood table it would be smashing. Hardware to complement chandelier

  3. Goodness, Kim, DO NOT get on the grey bandwagon! A nice deep blue is my suggestion. It will go with your carpeting and blue is considered a neutral because it goes with everything.

  4. >…I love your hutch, its one of my FAVORITE styles for a hutch…; I was thinking that a soft ( but WARM ) grey, that ties in with the chairs, but doesn’t have to be ” matchy- matchy” per se. ..I would also leave the yellow, so as to LIGHTLY distress and have a little of the ywllow show. ..I dont know if you are planning on replacing the hardware, but I have to say…I have re-done this type of hardware, and it looked fabulous…I put a base coat of cream ( as the color tied in with the finish) and then lightly brushed a ‘ shimmer’ on it., of silver-grey mixed with ” champagne ‘ color ..with a VERY light hand. I get a lot of comments on that hardware. Your dining room and other rooms are lovely…and I like the 6″ moulding….:) I hope the new family member ( furrbaby) brings you as much joy as your beloved Kitty leBelle. I am sorry for your loss, but I applaud you for getting a new furrie…I think its important to not ever have the sttiude of ” no more pets’…they enhance our lives in so many ways. God bless.

  5. Lighter gray on the top, darker gray on the bottom. Remove the wire in the doors and use some shirred lighweight slubby silk in a cream. Change out the hardware… maybe some of the new champagne metals.
    Looking forward to what you are going to do with the dresser!

  6. Sue Welsh says:

    What a post!!! Good luck getting everything done…I think the color of the hutch should be a light gray – to match the dining room chairs with a sanding to show some of the yellow color to balance back into the kitchen counter tops. Good luck with the new kitten and all the projects. Cannot wait to see all when done.

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