Things That Make Me Want to Couch-Jump

I had pretty much been on a purchasing hiatus for the past few months for my new place. With getting used to all the new bills/rent/unexpected costs (I had to hire a landscaper - what?) my wallet had been feeling pretty sad. And very skinny. Sometimes I’d like to be my wallet (the skinny part, not sad).

But recently I made a decision to purchase the art piece of my dreams. Partly because it was on sale, and mostly because it was just really pretty. It’s 36x36 and its going to fill the giant blank wall in my bedroom quite nicely.

I love abstract art. And I know most people are all, “my five-year-old could have painted that!”, but that’s just simply not true. And if it is, point me in the direction of your five-year-old and I’ll gladly make him/her five dollars richer. But abstract art is really hard to get right.

There has to be the right combination - of light vs. dark, of negative vs. positive space, of some another smart-sounding artsy term vs. some other smart-sounding artsy term. It needs to be like a Tom Cruise/Katie Holmes relationship - one part wants to make you jump up and down on Oprah’s couch because its just so cool, and have another (calmer and more simplistic) part to balance it out and make it bearable to live with everyday. At least, that’s how I decide if I want to buy it or not. 

But this piece was just so awesome. And its made by an artist in Ireland (one of my favorite places), which in and of itself makes me want to just jump up and down on Oprah’s couch thinking that it was created on the most beautiful place on earth.

So now I’m on this kick. After getting through the hump that is after-Christmas bills and forgetting altogether any New Years resolutions I made about taking a break from buying things for my house, I was back in the saddle. Although my wallet is not quite there yet. Kind of like how I was when I actually tried to get  into a saddle when I was in middle school. I was having none of that. (Horses terrify me). I’m guessing my wallet and bank account have similar feelings of terror when I browse Pinterest and Lonny mag on the regular. I just can’t help it. 

So with this art piece coming in the next few weeks, I’m on to the next project: bookshelves.

In the house I first grew up in, my parents installed floor to ceiling bookcases in our dining room. It was awesome: so well done, and I totally didn’t appreciate it enough when we lived there. And before you think it’s weird that a twelve-year-old would ever appreciate built in bookcases, just remember that this is a girl who (at age nine) wanted to propose a re-design to our neighborhood pool/tennis court complex because I though it was ugly and could be reconfigured better. Yeah. I’m clearly the Cruise-couch-jumping crazy one of a relationship.

But I digress. Since built in bookshelves are out of the question (read: out of my budget), I’m going to have to compromise (read: IKEA). I debated getting these bookshelves a few months back to match my nesting coffee table. But ultimately decided against it, as the thought of spray painting another piece of furniture made me want to scream and cry and throw rocks at things. So I declined for the time being. 

But now I’m back to being stupid and naive and I think, “oh it won’t be that bad”. Later, I’ll come back to the screaming-crying-rock throwing phase, my index finger will be sore from holding the spray nozzle for so long and my garage floor will be coated in a thin layer of pixie dust gold paint residue. Remind me of this post later, when I want to quit. 

But then I saw this post on Emily Henderson’s blog about a little girl’s room makeover and lo and behold… my bookshelf makes an appearance, in gold, no less.

It’s just awesome, guys. And a good compromise if you can’t afford something like this:

Or this:

Or, if we really want to go there, which I do, THIS:

So I’m going to bite the bullet in a few weeks and inhale an ungodly amount of gross paint fumes for the sake of beauty (yes, I’m painting in a ventilated area, Mom). 

I plan on moving it into my kitchen or dining room area. (I first have to get rid of the giant armoire that the seller left with the house. Any takers?)

I don’t use a lot of china (when I’m home alone, I usually eat dinner on paper towels), but I want to pretend like I do. Mimi gifted me her collection of Blue Danube china a few months before I moved into my townhome. Its currently sitting unused in my parent’s basement, because the thought of using more than two plates at a time at my old apartment was laughable. 

But now I have the space! And I cook things! And the Blue Danube pattern is my absolute favorite! And, really, I just want to pretend that I’m sophisticated and use a certain serving plate specifically for lasagna. I also have a serving spoon reserved just for lasagna too. Take a guess as to who gave me that.

Mimi told me that she and her friend in Tyler bought/traded/borrowed all the Blue Danube china they could possibly find so they could have, like, sixty matching place settings for parties and events. How chic is that? When I grow up, I want to be my grandmother. And also do some more couch jumping when I have sixty matching place settings. These are my true goals in life, I guess. 

I also have goals of displaying the place settings that I currently have (side note: its less than sixty), on the new bookshelf. Heck, maybe I’ll actually put some books on there too, just to be meta about it. But I’m thinking something like this:

Either way, I hope that by March I’m through with spray painting for good, my trips to IKEA are few and far between, I will serve my boyfriend lasagna on my lasagna-specific plate, using my lasagna-specific server, and I’m skinny like my wallet.