Ambitiously yours,

I have ambitious plans for the next few weeks, now that the bath reno is complete. Tim is very supportive, because he doesn't have to be involved in any of it! It's all me! I hope to accomplish the following tasks before much of September has passed me by:

1. Paint my kitchen cupboards
   
2. Make curtains for my main level sitting area (I would say "living room" but its really not that big!)
   
3. Set up my china cabinet (it currently is a china cabinet, and soon will be a cabinet / sideboard... more on that later)
   
4. Reupholster a chair. (This one is the most ambitious of all because I have a very narrow and clouded idea of what I am doing, so I'm not going to hold my breath.... although I hope to have some help from someone a lot more experienced than me!)

This does sound like a lot, but luckily I have vacation time coming up in two weeks, for two weeks. I think I can get it done, but I also thought that I could have bathroom pictures up for viewing weeks ago too. So we will see what happens! The good news is that I have started in on each project in some form or another. I have researched exactly how to paint the cupboards, and I have not only a game plan but a discount on paint coming my way. Figuring out how the heck to do it properly is half the battle, I think.

I have picked out and bought the fabric for the curtains, as well as the liner fabric. I have also scouted out a few tutorial websites on curtain making, and once I review them again, I should be okay to proceed. As the kind lady said in the fabric store, "If you can make those complicated flower girl dresses for your wedding, you should have no problem with the curtains." Easy to say, but I feel a little naked without a pattern to use! As for the cabinet, I bought that back in the spring (I believe that was my second blog) and we have found it a home in our house and just need to put it there! It will need a bit of work, and I may or may not paint it out. Still deciding.

I have until September 22 to complete these projects, because that is when my next dressmaking class begins. Good luck to me.

Antique Show Success

Yesterday my friend Frankie and I went to the Christie Antique Show. Before now, this show had not really been on my radar, but apparently I was the only one. Frankie and I were only there for a few hours, but the scores of people there when we arrived at 9 am and the traffic jams we witnessed as scads more were arriving as we left leave me to believe that this was the place to be.

While I wanted to bear witness to this great gathering of antique dealers and buyers, I was also hoping to find a small china or curio cabinet for my house. I felt a bit of sensory overload as we began walking up and down the aisles of the marketplace, and even more frustration as I soon realized that no one was planning on giving anything away (translation: the prices we saw were far beyond my budget). But suddenly, there it was: the diamond in the rough we were looking for. It even had the glass front and bottom drawer I had envisioned. When we looked at the price tag, Frankie asked me “do you think it is missing a zero?” I bought it for a song: literally, if it had been any cheaper, I would have asked to sing some sort of tune instead of exchanging monetary funds.

My plan is to paint it out the same colour as our trim and moldings, which incidentally are the same colour that I plan to paint our kitchen cupboards. I am also hoping to be able to wallpaper the back wall of the cabinet. I will post the pictures of the finished product when I get it done.

As a side note, Frankie and I saw Sarah Richardson and Tommy at the Antique Show, filming for some upcoming show. I had a funny feeling we would spot them or some other HGTV personality there. I desperately wished in that moment that I had some connection with them other than “hey, remember that episode when…?” Just to chat with them about design or some random current event even. They seemed like fun people.

Here is the cabinet I bought... Looks like this guy was interested in it as well. Sorry!