If you know me at all, you know I’m a little challenged when it comes to aesthetics — so much so that I called my friend Frank from the futon store and made him choose the color of wood for the frame. My husband and I purchased said futon because we couldn’t commit to a couch. We figured with a futon we could just change the cover when I inadvertently picked one that would drive us crazy four weeks out.
When we had our house painted before we moved in, the painter refused to use the colors I’d picked for the dining room.
“I have a nice yellow,” he said.
“But what about this? Don’t you think this one would be nice?” I flapped the gray color swatch like a wing.
“I have a nice blue,” he said.
I finally just let him pick whichever colors he wanted, and now I am saved from eating dinner every night in a room that looks like it’s awaiting a thunderstorm. (Note: This is just one reason that I’m not illustrating my own picture books. The other reason is that I can’t draw.)
So this gives me all the more reason to celebrate the two decorating breakthroughs I had in November.
Breakthrough No. 1: This kitchen island thingie we got at IKEA to keep my husband and I from warring over our nonexistent counter space. Cost: $100. It’s called the FORHOJA, and when I was putting it together I thought IKEA should name it (and possibly the rest of its products) FUBAR instead. I’m happy with the final result, though.
And No. 2: I finally found curtains for my kitchen. Technically, these are dish towels from Crate and Barrel. I cut and sewed and resewed. I’m not sure they’re 100 percent the way I want them, but naturally when I went back to Crate and Barrel to get more, they’d sold out. Final cost: $20, because I did have enough sense to buy four. If I’d been a better seamstress, I could have made these curtains for 10 bucks.
I suppose this doesn’t have a whole lot to do with writing, unless you count the fact that those of us who write are often pretty thrifty, not by choice.
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