Scattered Sundays and meal plan for October 10th-16th
Can we just quit it already with the damn fruit flies? My house is coated in them right now. I think a cupboard in my kitchen is black, and then remember, nope, I have (ugly) brown cabinets. It’s just the gross swarm of fruit flies. We have amazing traps for them (shallow dish with water, a few drops of dish soap, and pear vinegar – fruit fly crack), and have the traps all over the house, but still they remain. My mother in law jokes that fruit companies spray fruit fly larva on fruit so that they hatch, it goes bad, and you go buy more fruit. I think she is on to something.
I hate decorating my house. Please do it for me. Troy and I have polar opposite opinions on decor, and yes, he wants a say in everything. Currently, I want to get rid of this here lamp.
We had it in our super tiny (600 sq feet) Los Angeles apartment, and it was one of our only sources of light, and gave us a bit of storage by our front door. In our apartment when we first moved home, it gave us light, and displayed Troy’s antique movie camera collection. Jack oddly never cared much about it, but Bennett is on it like white on rice. And that cord just looks like a pile of crap.
So, here is where you come in. How do I retain light in this space, without having a floor lamp? Do we (Troy) install a hanging lamp? Will the cord look terrible dangling from the ceiling? I think yes. Do I (you) find a gorgeous and super powerful table lamp to go where those flowers are (they’re not always there. In fact, they’re very dead. See all the petals on the DVD player and under the TV stand?) and just hope it gives off enough light? Do I find some sort of bendy table lamp so the light points away from the TV so as to not distract during the 30 minutes a week we are actually sitting and watching TV? Please advise. And by advise, I mean pick out a lamp for me, and put the link in the comments, because I need some serious hand holding with this one. More photos of the room added at your request:
Speaking of hand holding and redecorating, Troy and I have been saving for a wood stove for years now. It’s still definitely not in the budget, but we went and explored our options at a local fire place store. We wanted to know what we could agree on (remember, we have very different versions of taste), and how much it would cost. We had a giant fireplace when we moved in, but it sucked out so much heat, that having a fire actually made the house colder. We want back up heat if the power goes out, and very few things are as lovely as a cozy fire on a gross weather day. But…having the huge space-sucking fireplace out of our living room has been lovely. When we took it down, we found a giant beam behind the fireplace, which screws us up in terms of clearance for the stove. It means we have to have any stove jut out even further in to the room.
So, we laid out a blanket and put the baby jumper on it to mimic the footprint of the potential stove and hearth. We’ve been living with it, walking around it, and trying to decide if we will eventually pull the trigger. Your thoughts?
Jack’s Halloween decorations towards the top of the beam
Do you ever feel like life is really complicated, and some times you just want things to be simple? I keep catching Troy watching a really stupid sitcom from time to time. It is unlike anything he would ever watch, so I always do a double take. He throws up his hands, and says “I feel jealous of people who think this is funny, so I keep watching parts of it to try to understand”. I get that desire for simplicity, but have to think the root of a path to joy is not paved with cheesy Tim Allen comedies.
Meal plan time!
Monday:: Grilled cheese and tomato soup. So perfectly cozy fall fare.
Tuesday:: Pizza and salad. I’ll be gone all day with my mom, so something homemade from freezer makes the most sense.
Wednesday:: Chicken pot pie and salad. This was on the menu last week, but my in-laws took me to dinner for my birthday. Thanks guys!
Thursday:: A new recipe I’m working on for you peeps!
Friday:: Popcorn and movie night
Saturday:: Soup. Of some kind. I made a chicken gnocchi soup last week, and it was so good (everyone’s opinion. I thought it needed something) that it may be on the menu again. And if I can remember how I made it, I’ll share!
Sunday:: Family dinner
What are you having this week? Will you pick out a lamp for me? Please?
Just saw this and thought of you….
http://www.archiproducts.com/newsletter/dossier/335824?uid=4F65C08DEF5447DBB52418E309E50FBB&utm_source=apx&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=apx_brands
I would buy 2 of this style lamp and put them on either side of the TV, we got them with a more contemporary shade and put them over a dresser in our bedroom. Perfect to brighten up dark walls and the cord all but disappears.
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/60291379/
I like those! We can’t move the TV any more to the left because otherwise it will be past where the couch is on the opposite wall.
What about putting a couple of sconces on that wall??
Too bad we live so far away … we have an extra wood burning stove sitting in our garage that we pulled out of a rental property and plan to sell for a steal. 🙁 Don’t think the shipping from Northern Alberta is going to be what you’re looking for though …
I actually think that space would work fine for a stove – especially with a blower to circulate heat. You’ll also want to get a full stove fence too though I would assume – so you’ll want to take those measurements into consideration as well.
EdiMoM Brand; Simple Style Wooden Base Glass Cap Uplight Desk Lamp, Max 60W https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01DEY37S0/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_CrX-xb1BFCSAH
What about something like this? Clean lines but with an old school nod for the hubby who enjoys antiques. They let off a very pretty light as well.
That is gorgeous! We need something really bright though. Might be worth a shot.
Have you thought about sconces? (Hate to throw another option out there.) But, if you move the tv a little to the left, and you get matching sconces for each side, it could look cool. Or horrible…depending on your style. If this sounds icky, at least you have something ruled out!
Emily Henderson generally has a good roundup of lamps with different price points and types. Good luck!
Sconces would be great, but we can’t move the TV any more to the left. If we move it any further, it won’t be in front of the couch on the other wall, and Troy is VERY is particular about his TV viewing.
You are right. The lamp has gotta go!
Can’t help with suggestions right now as I’m preparing my Canadian Thanksgiving dinner. Good luck with all the design input. By the way, it may be time for confessions. Just sayin. (My favourite time of the month!)
Have you thought about a corn or pellet stove? I loved ours. I don’t know about their footprint.
As for a lamp do you need a lamp? Maybe a dimmer switch on the ceiling light would work? We just did this in our family room and I am in love with it!
We had a pellet stove growing up. I know they’re different than they were back then, but ours caught our house on fire when I was in 7th grade. I just can’t get past that right now.
We need a lamp because we don’t have overhead lighting in the living room.