Monday, October 29, 2007

real life


i wish i had some before and after pics but i am the world's most impatient project starter. i am an exceptionally quick draw with the sawz-all. that sawz-all and i are thick as thieves and as soon as my hubs turns his back, we are on it. more than a few times hubs has returned from a trip to find a kitchen or a wall or two missing without a trace. nothing that spectacular happened in this room...

this is our condo, the result of my failure to commit to life here. everything is recycled from the last house and the house before that except for this obscenely uncomfortable sofa. i wanted something narrow with no arms. total disaster (are you listening lee industries?) this is the first time we have not made our own sofa and it will also be the last. i have added extra cushions on the back but it really doesn't help much. and they really don't match.

uncomfortable sofa, grade school art

my room is too narrow to get a pic of the whole fireplace wall. all the mess on the table and in front of the fireplace are lamp making parts. we sit here on the floor for days and make them. i drew the charcoal on the left of the mantel in a fundamental drawing class. it was my copy of a master, pavonia, by lord frederick leighton. i was so happy with myself that i had it framed. then a friend walked in one day and said "why do you have a portrait of madonna?", and when she says madonna, she does not mean the virgin. back to the drawing board...

one day the perfect over mantel piece will present itself. until then, drum playing chicken riding elephant. so chic, so fancy.

a lovely cabinet by talented hubs.

jesus, mary, bear and donkey. i have a thing for these old wind up toys. i also have a thing for portraits with wonky eyes. this mary has a wonky eye. my friend nancy gave me the elf baby. she makes the tiniest little babies out of clay and crochets them tiny outfits. she keeps plates of tiny heads in her refrigerator... i will put my elf in a terrarium. design note: if you back your bookcase in mirror on an exterior wall, find a mastic that does not fully harden. sadly, three pieces of our glass cracked last (their first) winter as seen here. we used plain mirror mastic.

collection of fine sculpture.

piglet, model for fine sculpture.

10 comments:

Unknown said...

Too bad about the sofa because the room looks so comfortable. It's very pretty.

andifree said...

I can't believe any FRIEND would think you would DRAW a picture of Madonna, much less HAVE a picture. Is this a Nashville friend?! ;)

cotedetexas said...

This looks so pretty, great job! I'm especially interested in hearing about the Lee Industries sofa. I've wanted to order from them forever for cliets, but I always end up doing custom. Why is it uncomfortable? Would you mind telling me via email:
mrballbox329@aol.com
Thanks for your sweet comments to my blog: Cote de Texas. I can't tell you how much I appreciate comments!!!!
Joni

SGM said...

I love the chicken riding elephant! Who else has something like that in their living room. And those cabinets...I think my life would be perfect if I had those cabinets.

/// said...

Ok, I'm sensing you're so not happy with your room, but I think it's LOVELY. In particular, the chicken riding elephant piece. BRILLIANTLY creative, and you can be sure you're one of the only people with that piece on your mantle!

CONGRATS!

Di Overton said...

I love the fireplace and cupboards what a clever husband you have. I also love the elephant on the mantle piece. Another thing - I love looking around peoples homes and yours is now in my top 10

jakubowski said...

sofa looks too shallow, is that the issue?

Mike

design dna said...

thanks everyone for your kind words! it was the best i could do with what i already had. fortunately, the chicken saves the day!

and jakubowski, the sofa is narrow and i knew it had to be that way for the narrow space so i can't gripe about that. i CAN gripe that the back angle is uncomfortable and would really require a back cushion that goes almost all the way to the top. also, i paid for down and foam cushions but only the seat is down and foam and even so not cushy. i almost bottom it out at 121 lbs. then when you lean back on the all foam pillows you kind of roll your body to one side or the other.

for the money, i would say you could do much better!

thanks everyone for stopping by!

paris parfait said...

I think you have a lovely home, full of interesting elements. Sorry you're unhappy with the sofa, but maybe you can find a comfortable one in need of upholstery and redo it with a fabulous fabric?

MAds said...

Sorry it took me so long to come over and have a look...I really like your living room. It reminds me of home (The US) and what I was trying to bring to my house in Italy. Mice all around!

MAds