Inspire Chi

Oooookkkkaaay. So you have a blank wall. And you have some nice trivets. Why not put them on the wall? That’s what I did!

I bought these 3 trivets years ago. Actually, they came in a set. I had hung them up at my last house but when we moved here they went in a drawer. Recently I’ve been thinking that the corner of the kitchen needed something to balance the other side, which has 2 paintings.

Now with the trivets in place.

Me likey. Although the last time I had some black nails that were a little betta. I think I may try to get more of those. For the now the silver will do.

Wanna see them up close??

Yes, the 2 round ones are the same design. I just hung them differently so they’d be more interesting.

How about you? Hung anything interesting on your wall lately?

The dishwasher wasn’t the only addition I’ve done lately in the kitchen. I also added some “stuff” to the walls.

First up: wall decals. We have a large wall in the kitchen that is also a walkway. I wasn’t sure what I was going to put there because shelving is out (would be in the way while passing by). Sometimes I get into “decision paralysis” and then things sit foreva half done or not done at all. But when I was in Herberger’s last month, I came across some wall decals on clearance. I thought they would definitely add some visual interest and into my basket they went.

Before: plain wall.

After: decals up.

How it went down: I began by taping the sheets up using masking tape. I moved them around until I had them in just the right place.

Then I started putting them on the wall. I used a level (yes, I like to be precise) to get the first one situated. Then I used masking tape to put the others up. The width of the tape was just right.

Finally, all decals were up and ready for visual consumption.

They look good. For now. I like them well enough but will probably change them out at some point. I do really like having something there though versus a big blank wall.

Next up: hanging trivets as artwork.

You might not believe this, but…we’ve been living without a dishwasher for the entire time we’ve lived in Margo.

That’s right, this 1948 house was full fledged hand washing. With the addition of my little Mr. Guy and me at home more, doing dishes multiple times a day got to be a little much. And having people over for dinner, well let’s just say who really wants to volunteer to help clean when they know they might break a sweat?!

Anyway, what might be even more interesting (or not?) is that I haven’t really used a dishwasher since I left my Mom’s house after high school. I feel old saying that! Although my first few apartments did have them – I didn’t use them much (with one person it was so easy to clean as you go). But I haven’t had one in about 10 years – since grad school and moving to Minnesota. I had an older apartment in grad school and then moved into a duplex with lots of character when I first moved here to Minneapolis. When I bought my first house – it was built in the 1950′s and had the original kitchen (no dishwasher). Then we moved in to this wonderful place…with the original kitchen.

Luckily our cabinets were very easy to retrofit. All we had to do was relocate some dishes – the cabinet size was just about perfect.

Cue angels singing; the new dishwasher installed!

It’s a fabulous dishwasher. Very quiet and all sorts of other advantages, which I don’t really remember. My hubby was the one who did all the research. I just wanted it to clean dishes, so it worked for me! We got the stainless steel to go with the other appliances. Now someday when we do more of a reno in there, the appliances will be one thing we don’t have to worry about.

I don’t know if this is going to seem overly dramatic – but it has changed my life! True story. I can’t tell you how nice it is to only have to hand wash a couple things after meals. AND now we are down to one dish drainer so another benefit was opening up more counter space.

I would say that now I AM more inspired to do dishes.

Okay, so I’m a little delayed. But I’ve been out of town. Do I get some leeway? I’ll work on it!

Here are some shots of our Easter table. We had my husband’s parents and sister over for brunch. The base was a plain white tablecloth and then added touches to it. First, two vases of yellow flowers.

If you are wondering how I got them “bunched” – I just cut them so they would be at the tops of the vases and then used floral wire to tie them together. Because the wire is green, you can hardly see it. I also added a little flourish with some random ribbon I had around.

Then between those I added a bowl with some fake grass and put a sign in it. I couldn’t find the graphic I wanted – which was something that had both the Easter bunny and a nod to the religious occasion that it was. So I printed out a graphic I liked then added some text.

I printed it on card stock (2 up) and I used glue to put back and to back with toothpicks at the bottom so they would stick in the grass (I used tape for the toothpicks). I thought it needed a little more color, so set it on a square teal placement I had.

I also printed out a graphic that was meant to be a large card. I made it smaller and turned them into place cards. I hand wrote the names.

I also picked up a little gift to them from Evan and put those near their spots. Again finding a graphic online and then adding text to it.

The whole table came together nicely I thought.

And what’s Easter without candy of course? I put jelly beans in a fruit/dessert cup and put that in a large glass bowl with chocolate candy surrounding it.

Right before brunch we had an Easter egg hunt for the little guy.

The Easter bunny had arrived during the night and brought him a few other things – like a pinwheel, book and bucket/toys for digging in sand or dirt.

Of course it had a tag noting who it was for and who it was from!

He then enjoyed his eggs and other gifts for most of the afternoon.

It was a wonderful day spent with family!