What Ana Does

My one fear about returning to the States was we'd move back into our house, place all the furniture back where it was before and it would feel like we never left . Like the last 14 months never really happened. Nightmare. My Paris friends assured me that I was different -- we were all different now -- so no matter what, we'd feel different. But now that I'm back, I'm still anxious. So I have a plan. First, I'm going to move furniture around from different rooms. I'm also going to update the art in the frames and rearrange as much as I can. Almost like we're moving in again. Pull everything down and start over. Here's a good example: We've been talking about hanging the TV above the fireplace, but I'm not sold on the height. Will we crane our necks watching TV? And what happens with the blue wall and cabinets it was on? We're going to test it out. Also, I'll tackle a lot of my home improvement project lists. Small things like re...

It's been a while since I've posted which is unusual for me so here's the catch-up on a few things. San Diego Convention Center I just spent last weekend in San Diego for the cabi convention. I recently became a stylist selling cabi at home shows and I'm not going to talk about it much on this blog but ... just know I'm testing the theory of stepping far out of your comfort zone to make a real big change in your life. We'll just see how it goes. The basement is complete as I've posted before except for a rather longish task list that includes painting the second coat in the bathroom, trim painting and touch up, and tackling the finish on the pine cabinets. But, as I'm told is common, I'm burnt out on these home projects. Especially over winter break when the girls were home. So burnt out. But I may be feeling the itch to get my paintbrush out soon and get this list done. The stay at home experiment has been rather eye-opening and inter...

Phase 1 in my multi-phase plan to board-and-battan the foyer is complete! The walls are a lovely shade of white. The color I have dreamed of. Non-beige, people! Once I get the tarp put away, David gets all excited. Let's just do it all now! I layout some grids and start taking some measurements -- because someone's gotta go out the next day and buy all the wood and supplies. Then, I realize .... It's only 30 degrees out. And do I really want to jog outside to cut pieces of wood in such inhospitable weather? No. No and No. So, we'll wait. Sure, there's snow in the forecast for the week but spring is gotta come to Illinois at some point, right? Right!? Grids to Test Some Spacing Options We Bought a Circular Saw; Be Afraid!