An Italian Inspired Meal: How to Make Spaghetti Bolognese

Though I realize that I omitted this from my resolutions post (perhaps I should have listed being more thorough as a goal), one thing that I want to focus on this year, as part of my large goal to enjoy everyday living, is to try to do a little more "gracious living."  Nothing too fancy, since being comfortable is a large part of what I already enjoy about day to day life, but making sure to fully set the table every know and then and to take a little more time and effort to cook special things.

In that vein, I did a very simple, everyday, rustic table setting recently inspired by the time I spent in Italy.

I started with a very simple centerpiece, a mound of the last of my basil, which is flowering, in a low bowl on a wooden platter surrounded by a ring of apples for color.  I've found herbs can be a great low cost floral, lasting a long time.  True, basil can have a strong aroma, not something you usually want around food, but the aroma does fade, and as it's just getting cold here in New Orleans, my thoughts have been turning to comfort food, which in my case is almost always pasta, and usually contains basil.  So in this case, the smell of the basil has enhanced the dining experience.



For the place settings, I used inexpensive bamboo mats from the dollar store, plain white dishes, stemless wine glasses for the red wine, and black tumblers for water.  I wanted to keep everything simple, but I did add individual tiny milk glass bowls to hold grated cheese and parsley.

Better than my usual, but not really note worthy....in this case, it was all about the food.  I made one of my favorites, Spaghetti Bolognese, or spaghetti with meat sauce.

It's hours to dinner, but Cleo is not taking any chances and is already in place for any scraps that fall.

I've talked a lot about food before, but rarely give recipes.  One reason is that I generally don't cook with one.  I've cooked long enough that I now have a good since of what the food needs and what elements are essential and what can be left out.  Note, this nonchalant approach only works with cooking and not baking, which is a precise art.  Hence, why I rarely bake, and when I do, the results turn out like this.

However, I thought that if I started of with my ingredient list  and talked you through step by step, letting you know what I think you can change to meet your own taste, it would work.  So here goes.

Spaghetti Bolognese

Ingredients:

1. 1-2 tablespoons olive oil.  (and you're sauteing, so it doesn't have to be the greatest.  you can use just plain vegetable oil, but it will give the extra flavor olive oil does.)

    2. 2 slices of bacon (bolognese is often a mix of meat ingredients.  I find that a little bacon in the beginning adds a delicious smoky flavor.  Just make sure the bacon is not flavored--no applewood or maple smoked.  if you're anti-pork, you could omit this and use just a couple of drops of liquid smoke and and an extra tablespoon of oil.  turkey bacon, though, does not have enough fat to use as a satisfactory substitute.)

3.  1/4-1/2 cup minced tasso.  (tasso is a cajun cured ham.  I actually used turkey tasso.  again, it's about layering flavor, but it's not an essential ingredient.  you could substitute finely minced smoked sausage, keilbasa, or even hard salami instead).

4.   1 large onion. (I used red, but you could use yellow or white, or even the finely chopped white portion of two bunches of green onions.  and if you hate onion, just leave it out.

5.  Green bell pepper, finely chopped.  to taste.  I used one large and two tiny, tiny ones (the last of my crop).  You could use anywhere from 0-2 depending on what you like.  The important thing about the green bell pepper is that it gives a piquant bite to the sauce, so you can always subtitute similar things, like chopped green chilis or even chopped portocino peppers if that's what you have on hand.


6.  two roasted sweet red peppers.  mine were from a jar, but you can easily roast red peppers on your own.  but they should be roasted for the best flavor.

7.  Minced garlic.  I used 4 large cloves, but i love garlic.  adjust to your taste.

8.  About 1 cup of red wine.  I used a cabernet.  just make sure that its a wine you would drink and that it's not sweet.

 9. 4 smallish tomatoes, chopped.  I had them on hand, but you could use a big can of chopped or diced tomatoes.

10.  1 large can of diced tomatoes.

11.  1 small can of tomato paste.  Not actually crucial, but does give sauce that dark, rich, uber-tomato flavor.  If you don't actually like that dark, rich, uber-tomato flavor, omit.

12,  Seasoning.  I used a mix of fresh, about a total cup of a mix of flat leaf and curly parsely, and a handful of chopped basil, along with Paul Prudhome's Italian Blend with an extra dash of dried oregano.  you can use all fresh, all dried, or both.  remember, though that dried herbs have a stronger flavor, and that fresh one can be delicate and should be added in later in the cooking process.

13. approximately one pound of ground chuck.


Cooking directions:

Step 1.  Heat large skillet over medium heat.  After headting for about five minutes, add olive oil and heat until oil is hot, but not smoking (about 3 min.)  Add chopped raw bacon and cook until fat begins to render (about 3-5 minutes).  Add chopped tasso.

Step 2.

While tasso is cooking, add about 1 tablespoon of the italian seasoning, so flavor can infuse the oil.  This only works with dried herbs---fresh one will burn and turn bitter at this point.

 Step 3.  while tasso is cooking, chop the onion and add to pan, stirring regularly to prevent bacon from sticking.

 Step 4.  While onion is cooking (about 5 minutes), chop green bell pepper and add to pan.

 Cook about 5 more minutes.

Step 5, chop roasted red pepper and add to pan, continuing to stir occasionally

 Step 6.  Chop and add garlic.  You have to be careful with garlic...it can easily burn and turn bitter.  I usually add it at the last of the chopped veggies and right before adding liquids.  Cook for about another 3 minutes or so, until garlic is very aromatic, but not brown.

Step 7.  At this point, I put the sauteed veggies into a slow cooker, added the tomatoes, canned tomatoes, and tomato paste, browned the ground chuck and added to the slow cooker, cooking it for 4 hours on high, and switching to 4 hours hours on low for remainder.  I also added about another tablespoon of seasoning (1. I'm from New Orleans where we like things well seasoned, and 2.  It makes a huge batch).  If you can't be home to turn slow cooker, cook all day on low, and crank it up when you get home for last minute cooking if necessary.  Or you can dump it all into a large stock pot, bring to a light boil, and simmer for at least an hour (longer is better), stirring frequently.  Add the chopped fresh herbs in the last hour or so of cooking.

At the end of cooking, it should be a dark, rich red and quite thick.  If it's too thick, you can always add a little liquid, either more wine, a splash of water, or even chicken stock, but always add only a little at a time---it should be a very thick sauce, closer to the consistency of tomato paste than tomato sauce.

 Step 8.  Boil some pasta, and enjoy.  It's traditionally served with spaghetti, but any long strudy pasta like fettucine or linguine will work.  It's too thick a sauce, however for wide flat pastas like bow tie.

This is before the parmesan so you can see the dark, red glossy, sauce, but a little cheese and extra parsley is the way to finish it.


Hope you enjoyed the recipe.

Submitted to Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday.

Gratitude: My Number One Focus for 2012

A few things I'm grateful for:  Cleopatra Schwartz (cutest, sweetest dog in the world), my door turned headboard, my new king-sized pillows I got for Christmas, and my beautiful new accent pillow.

I love New Years, and new beginnings, and resolutions, and list making.  I love all those things, even though most of my resolutions over the years have been abandoned before Valentine's Day, but my innate optimism keeps me convinced that one year, they will all stick.

One reason I am convinced that they will is that my resolutions have changed over the years:  I no longer crave the material things I once did, and I now know that while I do always enjoy losing weight, life 20 pounds lighter isn't really all that different, so my list no longer includes things like dieting, giving up chocolate, or saving for an i-pad.  However, I do firmly believe that we are given what we truly want and truly ask for, so I am conscious of spending some time and thinking about what I'd like the universe to share with me.  And this year, what I want more than any thing is to enjoy my life fully, especially the little things that are so often overlooked. 

I'm also thankful for sunny days, and thoughtful friends like Valorie who gave me the fabric for my  cafe curtains.  I'm also grateful that after reading that Katherine Ireland doesn't care if towels match or not in her French vacation home, I've decided that matching towels are so bougsie, and that I'm too BoHo for that anyway.

Somehow lately, even with the good things that have happened to me in the past year, I seem to be in such a pissy mood---irritated with not receiving more blessings, exhausted with the daily grind, always wanting more...things, usually.  In short, I realized that while 2011 was a much better year for me in every conceivable way than the past few (2008 and 2009  especially rank among my worst years ever), I enjoyed so little of it.  And face it, now is all we really have.  My grandmother loved the song "One Day at a Time," and I've always found these lines so meaningful:

Yesterday's gone, Sweet Jesus,
And Tomorrow may never be mind.

So my overreaching goal for this year, and the next is to learn to enjoy as much as possible of every moment---to learn, if possible, to enjoy the daily chores of life because they are in fact a blessing.  Let's face it, if coming home to a dirty house, a pile of laundry, and a hungry spouse who wants you to feed them is your big problems----you've got it pretty good.  Anyway, I've decided that my first step to enjoying life more is to learn to appreciate my blessings more, starting with the little things.

I'm grateful for a cozy reading nook, time to read, and parents who taught me the value and joy of a good book.

So, here goes my resolutions for 2012:
1. Express gratitude daily, through a gratitude journal, prayer, meditation, thank you notes, or a combination.
2.  Focus my thoughts and action on plenty and abundance in all areas, including spiritual, not just material     ones.
3.  Blog more.
4.  Make peace with my weight.  I either want to end this year with losing the extra 20 or not caring---I'm just tired of caring about them, but not being able to do anything with them---I'm just asking for the strength to either eat my cake and wear it proudly or for the strength to not eat my cake and wear smaller pants.  I am, however, tired of eating my cake and then feeling awful about not wearing smaller pants---that way lies madness.
5.  Daily keep in mind these suggestions for increased happiness:

      1.        Express gratitude. – When you appreciate what you have, what you have appreciates in        value.        Kinda cool right?  So basically, being grateful for the goodness that is already evident in your life will bring you a deeper sense of happiness.  And that’s without having to go out and buy anything.  It makes sense.  We’re gonna have a hard time ever being happy if we aren’t thankful for what we already have.

2.        Cultivate optimism. – Winners have the ability to manufacture their own optimism.  No matter what the situation, the successful diva is the chick who will always find a way to put an optimistic spin on it.  She knows failure only as an opportunity to grow and learn a new lesson from life.  People who think optimistically see the world as a place packed with endless opportunities, especially in trying times.

3.       Avoid over-thinking and social comparison. – Comparing yourself to someone else can be poisonous.  If we’re somehow ‘better’ than the person that we’re comparing ourselves to, it gives us an unhealthy sense of superiority.  Our ego inflates – KABOOM – our inner Kanye West comes out!  If we’re ‘worse’ than the person that we’re comparing ourselves to, we usually discredit the hard work that we’ve done and dismiss all the progress that we’ve made.  What I’ve found is that the majority of the time this type of social comparison doesn’t stem from a healthy place.  If you feel called to compare yourself to something, compare yourself to an earlier version of yourself.

4.       Practice acts of kindness. – Performing an act of kindness releases serotonin in your brain.  (Serotonin is a substance that has TREMENDOUS health benefits, including making us feel more blissful.)  Selflessly helping someone is a super powerful way to feel good inside.  What’s even cooler about this kindness kick is that not only will you feel better, but so will people watching the act of kindness.  How extraordinary is that?  Bystanders will be blessed with a release of serotonin just by watching what’s going on.  A side note is that the job of most anti-depressants is to release more serotonin.  Move over Pfizer, kindness is kicking ass and taking names.

5.       Nurture social relationships. – The happiest people on the planet are the ones who have deep, meaningful relationships.  Did you know studies show that people’s mortality rates are DOUBLED when they’re lonely?  WHOA!  There’s a warm fuzzy feeling that comes from having an active circle of good friends who you can share your experiences with.  We feel connected and a part of something more meaningful than our lonesome existence.

6.       Develop strategies for coping. – How you respond to the ‘craptastic’ moments is what shapes your character.  Sometimes crap happens – it’s inevitable.  Forrest Gump knows the deal.  It can be hard to come up with creative solutions in the moment when manure is making its way up toward the fan.  It helps to have healthy strategies for coping pre-rehearsed, on-call, and in your arsenal at your disposal.

7.       Learn to forgive. – Harboring feelings of hatred is horrible for your well-being.  You see, your mind doesn’t know the difference between past and present emotion.  When you ‘hate’ someone, and you’re continuously thinking about it, those negative emotions are eating away at your immune system.  You put yourself in a state of suckerism (technical term) and it stays with you throughout your day.

8.       Increase flow experiences. – Flow is a state in which it feels like time stands still.  It’s when you’re so focused on what you’re doing that you become one with the task.  Action and awareness are merged.  You’re not hungry, sleepy, or emotional.  You’re just completely engaged in the activity that you’re doing.  Nothing is distracting you or competing for your focus.

9.       Savor life’s joys. – Deep happiness cannot exist without slowing down to enjoy the joy.  It’s easy in a world of wild stimuli and omnipresent movement to forget to embrace life’s enjoyable experiences.  When we neglect to appreciate, we rob the moment of its magic.  It’s the simple things in life that can be the most rewarding if we remember to fully experience them.

10.    Commit to your goals. – Being wholeheartedly dedicated to doing something comes fully-equipped with an ineffable force.  Magical things start happening when we commit ourselves to doing whatever it takes to get somewhere.  When you’re fully committed to doing something, you have no choice but to do that thing.  Counter-intuitively, having no option – where you can’t change your mind – subconsciously makes humans happier because they know part of their purpose.

11.     Practice spirituality. – When we practice spirituality or religion, we recognize that life is bigger than us.  We surrender the silly idea that we are the mightiest thing ever.  It enables us to connect to the source of all creation and embrace a connectedness with everything that exists.  Some of the most accomplished people I know feel that they’re here doing work they’re “called to do.”

12.    Take care of your body. – Taking care of your body is crucial to being the happiest person you can be.  If you don’t have your physical energy in good shape, then your mental energy (your focus), your emotional energy (your feelings), and your spiritual energy (your purpose) will all be negatively affected.  Did you know that studies conducted on people who were clinically depressed showed that consistent exercise raises happiness levels just as much as Zoloft?  Not only that, but here’s the double whammy… Six months later, the people who participated in exercise were less likely to relapse because they had a higher sense of self-accomplishment and self-worth.

list by Sonja Lyubomirsky at Marc and Angel originally seen at habitually chic and pve
s

I'm also grateful that I can afford (at least occasionally) fresh flowers.

Well, that's my resolution list as it stands now.  It's early yet, so I'm sure there will be tweeking, which I plan on sharing.  To all of you who made resolutions, good luck.

How to Jazz Up an Old Piano Bench

Recently I've made an addition to the house---I've brought in my childhood piano (my sister claims it's in fact hers, but possession is nine tenths of the law, and so it's mine now).  That in and of itself was an adventure, and after my mover that I had carefully lined up in advance neglected to turn up or return my calls and texts, it was only with the brute strength of Thomas's cousin that we were able to hoist it out of the van and up the stoop.  However, it is in place, and I'm seriously considering painting it (the wood veneer and finish are not of fine quailty), probably off-white, but I'm not quite ready to commit to that yet.  However, I did want to make it look better, and decided that covering the bench with fabric to look like an upholstered ottoman would be a quick, easy, inexpensive way to jazz up the piano itself, and the fabric helps tone down the look of that much wood.

I used a trendy chevron pattern for the bench, a gift from Valorie, Visual Vamp.  I liked the way the pattern blended with the cream slipcovers in the room, but gave a hint of movement.  Chevron patterns are all over the place, and I do think that projects like this are the best way to inject trends into your decor--high impact, but low cost and effort.  In a couple of years (who am i kidding---based on my decor ADD, I'll be recovering it by this summer), I can switch out this trendy pattern for the next hot look.  Luckily, it only takes two yards of fabric and no sewing---thank you, Stitch Witch.

First, select the right fabric.  It needs to be sturdy enough to not need lining---adding lining is possible of course, but makes the whole process much more difficult, and would necessitate sewing, but not so thick that stapling multiple layers is a problem.  I find that cotton and cotton blend upholstery weight fabrics work the best.  Here, I did a similar project using cotton canvas in a solid color:

Solid colors are easiest, because you don't have to worry about matching stripes and prints, but a busy print does have the advantage of hiding flaws.  This pattern meant I had to be careful about matching, but it has enough movement that it wasn't too hard to make sure the different sides matched.  I didn't have quite enough fabric to make sure the top matched exactly, but looks good enough for me (luckily, I do not have the perfection gene).


First

Measure your bench for the sides and corners, making sure to add enough inches to fold over for hems.  You do not need side hems for the corners (the part that make it look like inverted pleats);  in fact, they would cause unwanted bulk and the sides are invisible after assembly

Second

Iron the fabric carefully.  Do not launder before hand unless you need to to match washed slipcovers.  The sizing that the fabric comes with helps it remain crisp and wrinkle free.  Then iron under the hems.  After they are ironed in place, use the hem tape to glue them down.  You could use fabric glue, but I never have so I can't say how well it works.  If you don't mind sewing, you could use a hem stitch to tack the hem in place.

Third

Remove top.  My bench has a lift off top, so it can off easily.  Some tops, however may be screwed on.  Staple the fabric pieces in place, starting with the corners.  I like to do corners, then sides, then front and back.  Most importantly (and what I need to fix after viewing the afters), make sure the bottom of all pieces are flush and that patterns line up.

Fourth

Cover top, just as you would a chair seat.  Now if you want to, for a more finished look you could add premade cording to the edge of the top.  I didn't because I wanted to still be able to remove the top and I was afraid that cording would make it too thick and bulky to set flush inside the hole.  If that is not an issue for you, I would recommend the cording...it makes it look more finished.

Here is a simliar project I did in a solid neutral with cording.  Post is HERE.

There it is.  A quick, easy way to jazz up an old bench and add some pattern to your decor.

Why yes, that IS a Christmas decoration on top of the piano.  Why yes, I realize that Christmas is over.  Why did you ask?

Cleopatra Schwartz approves this project.

Submitted to Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch and Mod Monday Mix and Mod Vintage life.

Frugal Friday: How to Make a Foliage Arrangement from Your Yard

Last post, I mentioned I was working on my resolutions.  While I haven't nailed them down exactly, one resolution that is high on my list is to live more graciously.  The older I get, the more I realize that the good (and bad) parts of life that really matter are so often the little things---it's the small joys---freshly ground coffee in your favorite mug, serving dinner on your mother's plates, sipping mimosas with your friends that make life so wonderful.  Conversely, I find it's also the little things that annoy me, like dressing for a party at the last minute only to discover a loose button and not being able to find the sewing kit or reaching for the pepper only to realize it's empty and I forgot (for the 100th time) to pick up a new jar at the grocery.  Thus to enhance my days, I want to spend a little more time on the little things---using real napkins, setting the table for dinner, keeping the house organized as a way to make life more enjoyable.

One aspect of this idea of gracious living is keeping fresh arrangements in all the rooms.  In fact, one of the key details of the beautiful rooms in the shelter magazines are the incredible floral arrangements.  Unfortunately, they can be expensive.  Fortunately, as I mentioned in this post, there are affordable options.  One of those options is to use common foilage from your yard to make free and long lasting arrangements.  The key to a successful  foliage arrangement is the idea of "filler, thriller, and spiller."  I got this term from my cousin Barbara, who in her 70s has embraced gardening.  She heard the term at a lecture about building planters, but it has application to floral arrangements as well.

Step one:  Select container:

I used this low bowl I found at Goodwill.  While modern, it has the vintage look I love and the orange will pop against my aqua walls.  Goodwill and other thrift stores are a great place to lay in a variety of containers and vases;  I prefer opaque ones such as this to clear glass---this way I don't have to worry what the stems and water looks like.

Step two:  Select and prepare filler.:

I'll be honest; I don't know what this foliage is....it comes from a pre-exiting bush.  However, as a rule, you want to look for foliage that has waxy, sturdy leaves...think camelia, gardenia, holly, etc.  If you have small children or pets that might mess with the foliage, do a quick web search to make sure it's not toxic.


Remove any leaves that would be below the water line---this helps keep the water from spoiling and it also makes it easier for the plant to stay hydrated---it's not tring to wick moisture for leaves you won't see above the container.  And, most important, please cut the foliage to fit container---nothing looks more amateur than long stems straggling out of a low vase.


I like to smash the ends of woody stems to help with absorption.

A good trick is to mimic the shape of the container with the filler---see how it forms a low round shape?

Step 3:  Add the filler:

I used the spiky flowers of my basil plant.  See how the spikes break the low mass of the arrangement?

Step 4:  Add the spiller:

I used Purple hearts (be careful---the sap can irritate some skins) for a touch of color and to spill from the bottom of the container.

Arrangement in place.

A Fresh Start:: The power of optimism and a can of white paint

A new reading nook to start off a new year.

I always loved the New Year holiday.  Not so much the partying on New Year's Eve ( I always, except for one very memorable year, found New Year's Eve to be something of a let down...a time of trying too much to have fun....I guess I like my fun more organic), but the chance to start again, to start fresh.  It's the same thrill I get opening a new journal or notebook and thinking about how I'm going to fill it.

But before I start talking about resolutions and goals and planning my 40th year on this planet, let's talk about a more concrete fresh start---giving new life to an old chair in my office's reading area.

Reading nook and brown chair before move upstairs.

Earlier this year, I posted about some changes in my house--the largest at that time being the switch around of my office/library and dining room (here and here).  After rearranging, I ended up with a reading nook under the stairs.  At the time, I set it up mainly for aesthetic reasons---after all, the area under the stairs is one of the first things you see when you walk in.  After putting the chair there, though, i discovered I liked sitting and reading in that cozy nook, especially in the evenings while listening to WWOZ, savoring  a couple of fingers of Maker's Mark nearby, smelling dinner cooking in the adjoining kitchen, and keeping Thomas company while he reads the news on-line at the desk.  When further changes in the house (I'll share later) necessitated moving the brown chair to another room, I immediately began the search for a replacement.  The main difficulties with finding a replacement were two fold:  first, the ugly topic of no budget for furniture and the second issue of very little space.  In other words, the replacement chair had to be cheap and small enough to tuck in a tight corner, yet big enough to fit my large behind comfortably enough for me to read for a couple of hours.

The kind of sad looking replacement chair on it's first day in its new home.

I was lucky enough to find the right chair at a local thrift store, Pelican Thrift on Carrollton Ave.  (I find this a strange thrift store---it's all over the place in terms of quality of merchandise and pricing--some of the furniture is in excellent shape and competitively priced while some items, especially clothing, is damaged and priced way too high)  The upholstery was a good color (I love orange, plus it's in the room's draperies, and it's an accent color in the adjoining living/dining room), a good pattern (a small scale check), and in acceptable condition ( a little worn, but no major stains---and quite frankly, in a house with two red wine swilling slobs, a 100 lb dog, and a cat who occasionally bypasses his scratching post for something more interesting, I would hate to subject perfectly preserved fabric to such  a certain shot at being ruined anyway).  And at $50, it fit my budget.

Painting the blah brown legs white immediately perked things up.

New leg color and a jazzy new pillow cover from vintage fabric, and the old girl has perked right up.

It was a little drab, but I thought a shot of white paint on the blah brown legs would perk it up....which it did.  Now, when it came to picking the white paint, I deliberately picked an off-white, and one with quite a bit of yellow undertones.    This was for two reasons:  1.  A crisp, bright truer white would have been too crisp.  In stead of making the muddy orange look brighter, that much contrast would have just made the orange look even muddier and more drab.  Second, the reason the drab orange worked in my house in the first place is because I have almost no crisp colors anywhere.  My wall colors are all "dirty" colors with a lot of ochre and even my "white" trim is actually a pale, pale yellowish green (the paint name "calla" gives that away).  So, if I used a true white, those legs would have been blinding in my muddy toned space.  The paint I ended up using was Sherwin William's Casa Blanca (left over from another project).  

Amazingly, after a vacuum job and that touch of white, the drab orange fabric seemed immediately brighter.  Then I added a bright pillow cover made with a vintage fabric sample, and the chair came back to life.

Reminder of the before.

And after.

Anyway, off to start working on my resolutions and goals for 2012.  One of them I've already decided on is to blog more and share more projects with you.  Hope you liked this first one!

Happy New Year, and may your days in 2012 be merry and bright!

Finally...A Finished Guest room

detail of finished guest room.

Well, it's taken me about 4 months to finish one small (12'x14') room that required nothing more than painting and re-arranging existing elements, but it's finished.  In fact, it was finished (except for adding linings to the matchstick shades) just in time for my first guest, my sister who was staying with us for Christmas.

 Here's how it began:

it's actually pretty and calming and on trend with its pale grey/blue walls and cream bedding, but i was in the mood for a change.

I gathered my inspiration:

Jamie Drake's guest room

architectural digest

And, then in the  middle of painting, I started having doubts:

But I pressed on, and came across other inspiration:

I don't have a good place in another room for an inspiration board, but it seemed natural to have one in the guest room, which also serves as my sewing room, over the sewing table.

Anyway, the paint job was finished, and I loved the color, but it was missing something, something the room had missed in its first incarnation as well....pizzazz.  Then, Valorie of Visual Vamp who has enough pizzazz for two, turned me on to just the design element I needed for that visual excitement at the blog La Maison Boheme:

Pic of Jamie Meare's store Furbish by Honey & Fritz

I am a long time fan of Jamie Meare's and her blog I Suwannee, and have followed the creation of her brick and mortar store Furbish, and its subsequent move to a much larger space.  Luckily, blogger Dina of Honey & Fritz was there for the opening and took a ton of photos.  Of them, I  especially liked and noticed this bold black and white graphic backdrop, filing it away for later use.  But I thought it was way too bold for a bedroom.  Then Valorie suggested I look at the application used by Sarah of La Maison Boheme, where she translated the pattern into a more tone on tone look in her entry:



Shazaam!  I now had my pizzazz.  Then work, two trips to North Louisiana, a 40th birthday, and a trip to NYC popped up, and it took months to complete the circles and put it all back together, but now it's finally finished.  These are unpropped, unstaged photos, but i know myself well enough if I wait to take "real" pics until everything is perfect, that might never happen:

 All the bedding is pre-existing, expect the striped sham in the front--I made that with fabric left over from a project.  I still need to find a lamp for the right nightstand, but for now fresh foliage stands in.

 Here you can see a hint of circle and a vintage lamp from my partner's mother.  The circles are not overwhelming because there is actually little wall space:  most of the room is windows, a built in bureau, and a large closet draped in the same sheer linen-colored curtains.

Finally, an inspiration board, though magnetic primer is less than awesome.

Anyway, getting that room finished and ready for use has taken a load off.  Hopefully, I'll prop it and get better photos later.  At any rate, one unfinished project down and 1,222,348 to go!