a little home work....

Dan wasn't home this weekend - he went to the Gorge in eastern Washington and spent the weekend with some buddies drinking, camping and listening to Dave Matthews concerts for several days.  Me, not interested.  Instead I got inspired to clean, rearrange and tackle some home DIY projects.  What started as a little cleaning, turned into a major project!

First I rearranged the furniture for football season (more seating facing the TV), then I tackled the bookcases.  I dust at them every once in a while but only empty them and totally clean/rearrange once a year or so.  This was the weekend.

I owned a home accessory store when we lived in Vegas and when we closed it, I walked away with quite a haul of goodies in addition to what I already owned.  More than any one person needs - but I love my accessories!  I raided the closet and switched and moved and dusted and ended up with a whole new look.  I'm here to tell you, when you rearrange your art or accessories (move stuff from its usual place in the bedroom or entry into the family room, etc), it's like getting a whole room of new stuff.  Everything looks new and different in its new context.

BEFORE

AFTER

I've always had my books arranged by author but decided to try arranging by color - I like it!

My DIY project was to give a facelift to this boring IKEA chest.  It's moved from room to room over the years - from a nightstand to a place for CDs.

BEFORE

AFTER

Using veneer pieces from work I cut out these shapes and attached to the chest.  I was going to glue everything down but that would mean emptying the drawers of hundreds of CDs and I didn't have the energy so......double stick tape to the rescue!  Plus, when I want to change it again, it'll be easy.....no sanding, etc. YAY.

I did manage to find some time for art as well (I had to rest my back from all the furniture moving!).....made some postcards, made some 365 collages, worked on my next ALAW project (the digital component - now comes the letter making), and worked on a painting that went from bad to worse so ended up getting totally covered in gesso again to start with a clean slate.  I did manage to finish this series of 6x6 canvases.  They're true mixed media, collaged with lace, yarn, and cheesecloth for texture and beads added for extra definition and a bit of sparkle.

Above is the first step.....

I'll share the 365 collages in another post...... Hope you all had a terrific weekend - I'm looking forward to browsing through all your blogs and seeing what you've been up to.