Tuesday found me in the car with my mother-in-law, driving to a nearby town to pick up a rattan ottoman I had bought online for $15. We were talking about this and that, projects and remodeling and re-dos, and I was talking about how my husband and I have a rather bad habit of picking up projects to do, and how I wanted to really curb that, and be more practical about what is and is not feasible before we buy things. The problem is that I really don't have the willpower to turn down projects, because I can usually easily envision how cool something would be once it's refinished. But I am trying hard, I said, to learn to say no.

Then I pulled into this lady's driveway and saw the ottoman she had left out for me.

It was...not in as good as shape as the pictures seemed to show. The rattan on top was missing in places so that the foam underneath showed through. It's not even something that painting would fix.

I must have stood there for a while, looking at it with a funny expression on my face, because my mother-in-law leaned out of the window as I was rolling it towards the van. "Don't get it if you don't want it!"

But I did want it. Sort of. And then, I didn't. One thing was clear--this was a project. We looked at it together and decided that it could easily be recovered. I felt bad enough about driving all the way out there that I didn't want to go home empty handed. And I could see what it would look like when I was done with it. If I ever got done with it.

See? Willpower. I don't have it.

So I stuck it in the back of the van, drove home, and then left it there for a couple of days while we contemplated fabrics. I wanted something light and simple, since the living room is pretty busy with its bookcases and brocade and whatnot. We found just what I was looking for at Joann's, on clearance for $9/yd, which turned into $4.50/yd with the help of a 50% off coupon.

I added some batting on top so that it wouldn't feel like you're resting your feet on fabric-covered-rattan. I used hot glue to fasten it down. This was going to be a fast project.



Since the ottoman had a wood frame underneath, it was really easy to just tack the fabric down.

All done and Scotch-Guarded. A project completed in one Remy Nap. Now I don't feel so guilty about not having the willpower to leave it on the previous owner's porch. :)

We have a breakfast nook right next to the kitchen. The poor thing is constantly having a bit of an identity crisis.

Back in the day, it was just a plain old breakfast nook. It had a table and chairs. Sometimes it had a rug (when the rug wasn't traveling around other rooms.) Then, one day, everything changed.

We had a baby.

I spend a lot of time in the kitchen. I guess most women do. When Remy got a little older, I realized I needed someplace where he could play while I was working in the kitchen. So, I moved the breakfast table and chairs into the living room, and made the nook into a playroom of sorts.

Then we sold our baby grand piano, and I moved his play area into the huge void it left in the living room. So then the nook-turned-playroom became the place where I put my old digital piano, and there it stayed for a while.

In February, I moved the digital into the dining room (where all the music pictures are, anyway.) and turned the nook-turned-playroom-turned-music-room into a sitting room of sorts, where we usually had breakfast. I loved this incarnation. I still do--but I must use the past tense, because as of today, the nook-turned-playroom-turned-music-room-turned-sitting-room is getting a turn as a playroom again. I have mixed feelings about it; I've been contemplating it for at least a month. I really, really didn't want to give up my sitting room, but I feel like it needs to be done. Here's why:

1) The only "playroom" Remy has downstairs is a sort of pen we set up with some grey child gates that we have. It suits its use perfectly. The problem? It's ugly. And it's in the living room. And it's big. And in the living room. And he really only spends maybe 1.5 hours in there each day. It was incredibly useful, particularly when I needed a place to put him where he couldn't get into things. But I hated looking at it. I mean, really, really hated.

2) When we added the bar to our kitchen, we put drawers facing on the nook side for some extra storage. Remy loves those drawers. He's allowed to get into most of them. So--perfect place for some toy storage.

3) The bookcase-door to the basement is full of kid books and toys, anyway. So we're halfway to a playroom in there as it is.

4) The nook is easy to block off, so it still gives Remy a place to explore without me worrying what he's into. A place that's not a big, ugly eyesore.

With Remy down with a virus, I've had ample time today to clear out the nook-turned-playroom-turned-music-room-turned-sitting-room-turned-playroom-once-more.

(Saarinen chair stays. I like it in there.)

Which means the rest of the house looks like this:




Which is all just part of the process of the Perpetual Switch.

Remember how, last week, we remembered we had a paint sprayer? And how really, really easy it was to use said paint sprayer? And how I said we were combing the house for things that could be paint sprayer-ed?

Oh, I didn't say that? Well, I'm saying it now.

There's not really anything from the nursery list that needed more paint. I considered painting the baskets we got from IKEA, but decided that I liked them better natural. (Or, really, Jeremy convinced me they would be better natural. If it were up to me, the whole nursery might be painted now. Paint sprayer-ed, I mean. Good thing he is here.)

One thing we knew could really, really use a coat of paint was our wicker set. We got it last year at a yard sale, and it's spent most of the past year in our screened porch. Until the front porch got painted in February; then I moved some pieces to the front porch. As is usually the case with wicker sets, the pieces that were more exposed to the elements have started to weather a bit. We've been talking about painting them for a little while, but now that we've remembered that we have the tool to do it, we decided to go ahead with it. Even though it's not on "the list".

So, once we got home from church and got the boy down for a nap, we got cracking on hauling the set out to the front lawn. (Does anyone else throw themselves into DIY projects while their children are sleeping? Just us?) 



(notice the big blue spot from painting the crib and rocking chair last week)



We love the paint sprayer so much that we had to take turns using it. And then all the bending over made my back hurt too much, so I had to relinquish the task to Jeremy, which pleased him enormously.



(the big blue spot is now a big white spot.)

The whole process took around 1.5-2 hours. It would have been quicker, but we did have technical difficulties when the sprayer got clogged. Thankfully, it wasn't permanent damage, otherwise I may be writing today from the depths of half-painted wicker depression.



This morning, the newly white wicker is back on the front porch. The rest is in the living room until the screened porch can be cleaned out and re-set up. That's not on the list, either, but I imagine it'll be happening pretty soon. Who needs lists, anyway?*


*I do.