Shop unique and handmade items directly from creative people around the world Popular items for ikea Katrina 93" Down Blend Sofa Hermosa 59" Tufted Settee Isadora Serta Upholstery Sofa Get it by Mon, Feb 13 Kellan 91.25" Chesterfield SofaAfter a year of language training in DC, I am now enjoying the fruits of that labor in the delightful city of Brussels. I arrived at the end of the summer, just in time to enjoy some sun and a quiet transition. I was also able to catch the flower carpet at the Grand Place- approximately 750,000 begonias that this year formed a carpet celebrating the history of Turkish immigration in Belgium. It was a fantastic sight though sadly my photos are less than fantastic. The carpet is only created every other year, so in 2016 I will do better- apparently you can wait in line to go up into the surrounding buildings to get a better view of the floral magnificence. I go a little shorter!  My regular stylist moved to San Diego just as I got comfortable with my shorter do, so now I'm essentially starting over.  

The first time with my new stylist, I was conservative and it grew too long too fast.  Today I told her to go shorter and she did, so of course now I'm freaking out a little.  Still, it is just hair and it will grow.  The real challenge will be trying to make it look this smooth and good all by myself... The Rub' al-Khali (الربع الخالي‎) or Empty Quarter is the largest sand desert in the world. It covers most of the southern third of the Arabian Peninsula, including much of Saudi Arabia and areas of Oman, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen- some 250,000 sq miles in all. I was there to visit Shaybah, a major crude oil producing site in Saudi Arabia located approximately 40 km from the northern edge of the Rub' al-Khali.  Shaybah is home to about 1000 permanent workers, with tens of thousands of contractors at any give time also working the site- all men of course. The desert was just unbelievable though sadly since the day was hazy, the sands don't appear as red in many of the photos as they did in real life.

 I've heard that on a clear day, when the sun starts to set, the dunes seem to catch fire with color- a magnificent sight I am sorry we missed (though moonrise was pretty cool).  Nevertheless, I am thrilled I was able to make it to the Rub' al-Khali before I leave Saudi Arabia. I decided to being the year as I hope to continue- engaged in DIY and other projects to make my home the restful enjoyable space I want it to be.  I'll likely be moving in July, but I want to enjoy my space for the next seven months regardless! I decided to spend the afternoon working on a long delayed project- staining the wicker furniture I got for free on the curb in last summer.  I bought the supplies for this project back in July and then shelved them when I thought about the unpleasant reality of restaining outdoor furniture in temperatures over 120 degrees with over 90% humidity to boot.  Yeah, not such a good plan! Today was a balmy 80 degrees with very little breeze of blowing sand, and so once I sunscreened up, I made my move to the patio.

There is the new conversation area with the unstained furniture.  It might look OK here, but in reality the poor wicker looks dry, grey and desperate.  The great pine box I had built to hold the cushions also needs a darker color and some protection from the elements. Because the wicker is so very dry and sunbleached, and the box is just naked wood, I started out by giving everything a coat of pre-stain wood conditioner. pinch pleat curtain hooks john lewis Well, not everything as the can ran out before I got to the wicker couch or the back of the wicker armchairs. ikea curtains janette Truth in blogging, y'all. measures curtains lymington You can see how the wood conditioner slightly changes the color of the wood. jcpenney--arched curtain rod

 My box just sucked it up- it was dry to the touch before I finished all the sides. Here you can see the box (two coats) and the chairs (one coat front and back) contrasted to the couch and table (no coats of anything). Here is where I stand at the end of the day.  I ran out of stain so the back of the couch has barely any coverage and the backside of that piece is completely untouched.  The table is also in its original state because I have no more stain.  Lesson learned- give everything one coat before you give anything a second coat!  Still, I think the box really needed the second coat and I can always pick up a little can of Dark Walnut to do the back of the couch and the table. I am much happier with the darker color, and can't wait to see it with the cushions.  The can says the stain dries in 8 hours, but I think I'll keep the cushions off for at least 24 because I don't want any transfer onto the aqua pillows.  I have to say I think the coverage of the stain on the wicker was better where I used the wood conditioner- the backsides of the chairs are definitely more splotchy than the fronts.

 Still, they could be drying at a different rate and so that could be part of the issue. I plan to spray poly the box at least- unsure it that is a good idea for the wicker or not.  I did get some stain onto the concrete but I'm hoping I can scrub it off tomorrow to make it less obvious.  I am delighted that I finally found the motivation to do this project, and hope it bodes well for the rest of the year. I have updates and holiday decorations to share, but that will likely happen after my visitors depart. Happy Christmas to all! I love the new conversation nook on this side of the patio.  We are still working on the other side- stay tuned for more updates... remember how I was looking for ways to turn my cabinet (on left) into the inspiration cabinet (on right)? Well, here is my new DVD cabinet: I have to say that I love it.  My husband, who might not notice if I covered myself in Rub 'n Buff, not only picked up on the change, but expressed his unsolicited enthusiasm for the makeover- TWICE if you can believe that!

 The fabric is Geisha (Black) by Robert Kaufman- thank you eBay.  I chose the Antique Gold Rub 'n Buff for the trim and it was super-easy to use; wipe on with a cloth, wait a few minutes, buff to a sheen.  The fabric is held in place with painter's tape (yes I was that eager to see if I liked it and then decided to roll that way and see how long it lasts), and in person has some gold accents that play off the newly colored trim. Minus shipping time to Saudi, makeover took about an hour.  Costs were low too: the fabric was about $20 as was the Rub 'n Buff sampler which has twenty tubes of different colors and will likely last a lifetime given how little I used here.  All in all, I am delighted with this project and now on the lookout for other things to Rub 'n Buff!  I know I do... a project is in the offing... so, as I posted over on AT on Friday (Advice on Creating a Cozy Outdoor Entertaining Area for the Holidays?), I am hoping to make my large outdoor space more cozy for the winter (which is rather amusing since we are still hitting over 80 degrees Fahrenheit during the day).

 I want to install some curtains outside to enclose the patio, and I purchased the Janette curtains from IKEA that are pictured below when home in September.  I fell in love with them when I saw them featured over at Trapped in North Jersey a few months ago.  I seriously love the way those curtains look in that dining room. I just got around to purchasing curtain rods to hang the darn things and now I am starting to second-guess the idea.  I picked these for the riot of color and pattern (too much of Saudi is just desert beige) but now I am not certain.  Are they too patterned?  Should outdoor curtains be white and billowy instead?  Also, I want to create an inexpensive outdoor carpet using a  dropcloth or tablecloth, but I am not sure how to make that work with these curtains.  Can I mix in another pattern or is that crazy talk? Or do I have to stick with a plain color for the "rug"? oh the agony of design indecision! Tonight we celebrated the 237th Birthday of the United States Marine Corps.