Refresher course

I love to change things around a bit. Of course after 10 years of living in our house I feel I have tried almost any possible configuration, but somehow I squeeze in small changes. This time in our family room. The space is not large, a bit of an awkward shape. I have a desk there from where all my work is done and we have a library and our TV too. And a comfortable sofa with a leftover chair from our living room.

Before.

There has never been a great space for a coffee table, since my family is a utterly comfortable one and needs legs up while watching...a red ottoman belongs to that big red chair. What to do?
For a while I had a hand -me - down from a friend, but it is heavy and I am not in love with it... On the other hand I have a collection of smallish tables all over the place, rather homeless.
So I pushed and shuffled pieces around and came up with a solution. The table potpourri!


And since then all seem to be happy, having snack tables at the ready, easy to move out of the way when in need for floor space and cute enough to make a lovely display! The small white tray table is from CB2.


Looking at it from all angles I think I like it... for a while.




The heavy side table found a home under the window, now that the dinosaur of a wall air conditioner is finally removed.
A lamp, moved from the living room, casts a lovely light at night.



I found extra space to have my magazines sorted, without having them clutter the floor....


I sorted out the books...




And btw. this map of the United States has helped my middle schoolers greatly to improve their geography knowledge. No need to always run to the computer, we have little competitions right there!!! We've had it here for three years now. A world map hangs in our dining room...


Feels good now!

Do you move things around? It always satisfies my urge for a fresh look and I realize I can do this without spending extra bucks!!!
Because I will need them for Santa!!!

Happy weekend!
XX
Victoria


Pictures all by V.Zlotkowski

Kitchen improvement

My kitchen has not made it to the top of our many renovation projects. But I felt it could be a little better then it has been for quite some time. Over the last year things have gotten worse and eventually I could not see the gaping hole under the sink and the always messy open shelves.

This is before:
Counter top mess, open shelves mess....


The 'desk', files with school papers and important phone numbers...now orderly stored in my IPhone! And in a file called 'home' in the first drawer to the left!!!


Eventually I will get a new kitchen, but for now I have a good feeling and it does not bother me that much that I have a vintage stove and perhaps the smallest fully functioning kitchen in the neighborhood....No, now I am rather proud of it!(OK, somewhat)

And this is after!


It needed strict editing, sorting and cleaning to come up with a pleasing solution. The things I use the most needed to be within reach, others made it out of the kitchen altogether.


I made these curtains out of painter's drop cloth. I washed the material before sewing, to have no shrinking later, measured and mounted them under the counters. A little tricky, but it works...


I eliminated the 'desk', which never satisfied my craving for some control and I am now much happier with my small display of coffee and tea pots, all whats left is the phone and my IPhone charger....


I even set up a small counter top light, which in the evening casts a friendly shine through my kitchen and into the family room.


Looking much better now from where I see my kitchen when I sit on my desk and write my posts....



Have you managed a small home improvement with a huge impact on your well being???
I certainly did!