Forced hiatus

I don't think I'll be doing any heavy-duty redecorating for the time being. My back's been killing me. It started earlier this week. I thought it was just my bra that was uncomfortable, but I'm convinced now it was all the heavy lifting, painting, cleaning, headboard making that did it.
So, I will not spend my vacation painting the walls.
I guess worse things could happen. I will see a chiro if my back doesn't get better.

The CDs are now all organized! Well, they're in the cabinet. I did try to sort them by genre, but gave up halfway through.
I got this cabinet from avthing.com. I love it! It's not black - more of a very dark brown, but close enough, and the shipping was free.

Now, I need to find something compact for all my DVDs. I thought I had only a few DVDs - but that was only relative to the incredible number of CDs I have. I wanted to count them, but gave up on that as well. (Notice a pattern here? I also start paintings and then get bored and ...well...).

In other Craigslist news, I was interested in a mattress from someone on the south side. The lady, who while not a tramp turned out to be more of a b****/pain in the arse, asked me to call before I headed over because someone else also wanted the mattress. OK. I did. No one answered. I drove down anyway. Called when I got within a block of her place. She said that the other person had been waiting for her and took the mattress. OK. Fair enough. I took a risk.

BUT WAIT! There's more! I got home and she called, but because I couldn't get to my cell phone in time, she left a message. Something along the lines of "Are you the woman from St. Luke's who asked for directions? I still have the mattress." WTF? I called her and said, "Hi. I'm the woman who was WITHIN A BLOCK OF YOUR PLACE."
Turns out, she didn't sell the mattress to the "Woman from St. Luke's" because WFSL never actually showed up. She called (they always do), but didn't show up. So I drove down there AGAIN and got the mattress. It's an OK mattress for the price, and I will probably get a pad to add to it. But dayum, I wish I had told her on the phone to just shove it.

New project

I bought an end table. Because I really need one (note the sarcasm). I need more shelves for my DVDs, I maybe need a small dresser, a proper nightstand...but not really an end table. Although I am thinking of using this as a nightstand.
Anyway, here it is:It's been stripped of its stain. I think I want to go really dark, maybe ebony or mahogany. But this project will have to be put on the back burner. I have so much to do. Namely:

Finish painting the day bed (one leg is iffy)
Get a mattress for it
Tidy it

Get storage for my CDs and DVDs.
Get rid of my couch, rug, dining table and chairs, entertainment center, desk and chair.
Paint the living room.
Get new parson chairs for my new dining table (currently propped on the wall).
Get a new couch, new smaller desk.
Possibly reupholster my CL chairs.
Tori's favorite is the one on the left. Which I now moved to the right.

Put some old clothes in those vacuum bags.
Tidy my closet.
Tidy my whole room.
At some point, refinish that table.

In the words of the "Absolutely Fabulous" Edina Monsoon, "OH GOD OH GOD OH GOD!"

Why, Craig, why?

Three posts in one day? Don't get used to it.

So, today, a lady who seemed very interested in the couch I put up for sale on craiglist (it's EXACTLY what she was looking for) was supposed to come and see it and possibly buy it.

We agreed on a time - 11am. Which is when she called to say she'd be running late. Fine. I gave her my windows, she said she'd call back if she could reschedule other stuff she had to do. Again, fine by me.
She called at 11:45 saying she'd come over in 20 minutes. Great.
20 minutes gone. Nothing. 30 - still nothing. I heated leftover pasta. I ate. 45 minutes (yes, I'm a quick eater, so?!), still nothing. I called her. It rang many times and went to her voicemail. I thought she might be lost or was running late again.
I went about my business, and around 2, called her again and said I was off to work.

This is the third time I've been stood up by someone on Craigslist. What the hell? When did it become OK to take other people's time for granted? You're late? Fine. Let me know. You can't make it after all? That's OK too. JUST DON'T LEAVE ME HANGING.

The first thing I think of, after cursing people for being late is..."what if they got into an accident?!"

You know what? If they're not in the hospital, unconscious, they can still give me a call. And that's that. I know I would.

Look, Ma! I made a...

Headboard!



I bought some particle wood from the Home Depot, stuffed it with pillow stuffing, glued the lovely fabric I bought from a friend to the board - and stapled it for safe measure, and voilà. I might attach it to the wall or get brackets for the bed. We'll see.
I made it all by myself, too.

Staying in my bedroom, I moved a bookcase that was in the spare bedroom to mine. I was first going to sell it and then decided to keep it and paint black, and then finally decided to do nothing but move it. I still don't like the oak color, but I have to just take things slowly.
I moved the books that were in the living room to the one in my bedroom, moved THAT bookcase out of the way in the hallway, and changed locations of the smaller bookshelf.
Confused yet? I had three bookcases. One's going to be sold (hopefully); one is now in my bedroom; the other is still in the living room.

Oh, but I also bought a low bookshelf from Target for the spare bedroom.
It's now a lot fuller and has some baskets and other crap.
Also in the spare room is a daybed that I bought for $30 and painted black. I sold the futon. I still need to get a proper mattress, but I'm liking the look so far.


Pardon the mess. You'll hear that often.

Welcome, bienvenue, willkommen...

Hello friends (and others)!
I thought I'd share my experience trying to redecorate with the world because there just aren't enough ways to humiliate myself.

A bit of background info: I moved into my new place two years ago. Before I moved my stuff in, I - with the help of trusted colleagues - painted the bedroom walls. It was so tiring I threw out all my other grand decorating plans out the window. I have mismatched furniture, hand-me-downs that really don't reflect my taste or work with the space I have.

I recently saw picture of a friend's place, and that was that. I was inspired again. Except I'm running around like a chicken with its head cut off. I don't know where to start, so I'm starting everywhere, doing everything at the same time.

I'll be posting about my frustrations with craigslist, the people buying or selling stuff on craigslist, looking for furniture, some DIY projects (and my frustrations with those), and best of all, pics of my progress.

So, join me as I lose my mind! Encouragement, tips, advice are all welcome.

PS: "Chocolate on my trousers" obviously has nothing to do with decorating. It refers to my knack for staining my trousers whenever I eat chocolate.