Every now and then I forget that I don’t do projects. I narrowly escaped total disaster on two recent endeavors!

But I have to back up and tell you one of my favorites! A few years ago my husband went to Scotland on a golfing trip. I remember when he asked “what do you think?” Are you kidding?

Give me just a sec to check my schedule and see if I can squeeze in twelve days alone, popcorn for dinner, re-doing something in my house, not fixing meals, laundry piling up, climbing in and out of the unmade bed…..I can be a real slob when no one’s looking…..yeah, I think I can do it…..please…..GO!

My head was spinning with ideas…..projects! Hmmm. What would it be? I had a few months to figure it out and finally decided I would repaint the dining room! We originally painted it a deep patriotic red and I loved it, but it was time to move on to chocolate brown!

I could hardly wait. The car was still in motion when I pushed him out at the airport and blew a kiss in his general direction…..loveyabye! I raced home to tape everything off and move the furniture to the middle of the room so that bright and early the next day I could get started!

The next morning I raced downstairs, shook the can of paint and popped the lid…..and had completely forgotten to put buy a pan to pour it in! Ugh. That became the first of many trips to Home Depot! I was not discouraged. I climbed up the ladder and painted until I could no longer reach, climbed down the ladder and stepped in the pan of paint. My entire foot submerged in chocolate brown paint! I had not a single paper towel, kleenex, rag, cotton swab or q-tip…..I had nothing!

Things went downhill from there…..painting above one of the windows, I lost the paint brush and watched it bounce down the cream colored plantation shutter. Then there’s the mark (or two or three or five) on the ceiling and it just continued! I no longer turn on the chandelier in that room, it is restricted to lamp and candle light only! I love the color, but never shall I paint again!

The lamps are a pale aqua and are really the only color in the room. I’m a huge fan of the meat covers which I hung over the buffet. And, as you’ve come to learn, nothing in my house would be complete without a vintage aquarium! The ironstone against the chocolate, I’m confident, is exactly what heaven looks like!

Which brings me to my, once again, faded memory! I’ve been using the coffee table I bought in Houston in the early 80’s, it was perfect then and tired now! It’s pine and square, but not suited for the size of the room or the current decor. I’ve looked and looked and looked. Last summer I was on a buying trip and stumbled across a great shabby table. A little over 5′ long, chippy white paint and perfect for the space! It was a bit on the tall side, but since I like the “unexpected” I didn’t think I’d mind.

I drug that table home and too tall it was…..even for me! One day over the holidays I decided that if I could cut down my own Christmas tree then, surely, I could cut the legs off that coffee table. I mean, there’s some logic in there some place….right?

With my no-project rule and my short attention span in mind, I turned the coffee table on its side…..yes, thank you, in the middle of the room, I mean what’s a vacuum for?…..and sawed off the first leg. I know, it probably would have been smart to measure ALL FOUR LEGS before I started, but I didn’t! I bet you can guess the rest! It has a hint of a wobble and if you just glance at it you won’t notice that one leg doesn’t touch the floor…..it’s nothing a pack of Sweet ‘n Low can’t handle!

Those cross bars caused me a little grief cuz they weren’t all in the same position…..thus the saying: measure twice, cut once! I got the “cut once” part down real good!

Now that it’s all decorated no one will be the wiser! My little kid chairs fit perfectly!

The ledger belonged to my grandfather. My mom gave it to me recently and I love seeing his handwriting everyday!

The bird’s eye view! The baseballs have replaced the Christmas ornaments in the aquarium and shells I collected on a trip to Santa Barbara fill the baby-battery jar and urn!

I couldn’t bring myself to pack away the tiny bird nest! I will enjoy it all year long, with an oversized hour glass and an ironstone pitcher on top of the school lunch tray!

The leftover legs ended up in a battery jar…..as a REMINDER!

Not two days later…..I am blonde after all…..I decided to hang a new bullentin board. Have I lost my cotton-picking mind? (Don’t answer that!) I spent all of thirty seconds trying to figure out how to use the hooks that came with it and gave up! Grabbed a couple of nails and the bulletin board is now hung….and on a wing and a prayer it seems to be staying put! If I weren’t scared, I’d take it down and count how many holes are behind it! Two nails presents the problem of then getting it even! I’d say it’s in the neighborhood of semi-even!

I’m a big fan of bulletin boards! I love reminders of things that inspire me and memories! I hung this one over my SweetTalk work table. I have a new idea to fill it, but I’ll wait til next post to share that!

Needless to say I’m recommitting myself to my no-project rule….at least, until the day I forget, get over-confident and think I can actually do just this one thing…..