Archive for February, 2010

our own little legacy

Thursday, February 25th, 2010

I will admit, mad has strange taste in television programs. Mike enjoys televised sporting events, while I am a sucker for certain procedural dramas. However, we share an appreciation for PBS and documentaries of all shapes and sizes. So it’s not surprising that I’ve been watching the PBS series that sparked the 2009 White House “Beer Summit,” Faces of America. I find myself watching the show with a mix of pride and longing. Mike and I come from salt-of-the earth folks. There are no founding fathers, original settlers, or 600 year-old ancient Asian family histories for either of us. As best as we can tell, there weren’t any mad ancestors inhabiting the new world before 1880. Our grandparents and great-grandparents were farmers, mechanics, salesmen, blacksmiths, bus drivers, and gardeners. No statesmen, no artists, and certainly, no bloggers. But they worked hard to create their own family traditions. As I watch a show that’s all about people seeing generations of family legacy placed before them, thereby renewing their commitment to that legacy, my own commitment is renewed. Because while the legacy we’re a part of in this house is only 67 years old–that seems pretty significant to me. Knowing that we’re not just making a home, but making it in the same place that my pops played ball, learned to read, and learned to drive. It may not be a colonial piece of history, but it works for us.

a mad kind of gothic

a little vanity project

Sunday, February 21st, 2010

I’ve never understood folks who like to style their hair and put on their makeup in the bathroom (the most humid room in the house). Because I share our one full bathroom with Mike (and I like a steamless room to complete my morning ritual) I wanted to create a little area in our new bedroom where I could put on makeup and style my hair. I took a little inspiration from a recent blog post from Anna at door sixteen and painted an Ikea BEKVÄM step stool in colors that match the bedroom. The step stool also functions as a nice little seat. We then installed a simple shelf and a mirror. I rounded out the project with some inexpensive painted boxes to store glasses and makeup that was inspired by a $100 storage shelf from CB2. I’m very pleased with the results, and I think it will be a very functional area for me to use every day.

Inspiration thanks to doorsixteen, ikea, and cb2

The completed vanity project. Simple and functional.

a different kind of distraction

Monday, February 1st, 2010

I know that a lot of people use the internet to distract from the frustrations of everyday life. For some it’s reading every news article on their subject of choice. For others it’s checking out every video on You Tube on their subject of choice. For yet other people it’s all about wikipedia. And of course, there’s always Facebook. For me, while I try to have a nice balance to my internet interests, I’ve been finding myself spending an inordinate amount of time looking at light. Honestly, adding more lamps and lighting is item 1,011 on a 1,200 item list here at mad maison, but I can’t help myself. And, I’ve found my muse. There’s  a beautiful lamp at Room and Board that has become the grail of my quest. My goal is to find a slightly shorter, much less expensive version of the Olinda lamp. I love that the glass base reduces the “visual clutter” as my teachers at HGTV would say. My distraction has begun. I only hope I don’t have to distract myself from my distraction.

My current distraction. Photo from Room and Board