The $100 room makeover

Last night I ate good food, drank good wine and too much coffee. The coffee had me staring at the ceiling coming up with all kinds of decorating ideas for my kitchen, bathroom, bedrooms, and so on. I'm twitching to paint my kitchen. Clean new white on the cupboards, maybe some kind of wall paper above the wainscoting, new curtains.

I've decided that I want to stay in my rental place as long as possible: the rent is super cheap and it's got loads of character. The only downside is the lack of space and my clutter problem. To be fair, even with a perfect decluttering job, we are a family of five people and two cats, living in less than 900 square feet. I found an interesting discussion on space needs here: 100K House, a blog I think I'll follow.

So back to decorating. I don't think I've ever taken a space that I live in and made it mine. So I'd like to take the time to really make spaces that are bright and happy. I've got a small, small budget to work with so I'll be thrift shopping and using all my creative energy to make space I love. I'm wondering if I can do each room for $100?

While snooping around some frugal blogs I adore, I came across Small = Happy, .Delight's photostream on Flikr. Lots of great ideas there! I am absolutely loving what she's done with less than 400 square feet- genius!

Of course I'll do it honey....later

I am waiting for the baby to say something recognizable, like Dada or Mama. We might have some time to go, but she's making some incredibly fun noises.

Raising kids can help you to see how incredibly screwed up your own childhood was, regardless of how happy you may have turned out. I say this because my first word, according to my mother, was "procrastinate". Yep. Seriously. I had the story clear in my head by the time I was six, and I'd tell it with great pride. She told me she'd taught it to me because my dad was so good at putting things off. My mother is a great nagger, and I can remember epic times in my young life when she'd be at my father to complete a task. Still it seems a little sick, doesn't it, to get your toddler in on the nagging act?

My parents split when I was 13. I tend to procrastinate- is this a learned trait? in defiance of my mother? in my genes? My dad still puts things off- I have yet to receive the Christmas pictures he promised me two months ago.

Mystery Dip

Lately I've been trying to clear out stuff that's been in my cupboards for too long. When my girlfriend showed up with her baby yesterday, we debated going out for lunch. We nixed that in favour of staying in and saving a few bucks, but we still needed yummy food. I took a quick look around: falafel mix (YES!), veggies....hmmm. In the end we had falafels, veggie sticks, warm naan bread, and "Mystery Dip" cobbled together from odds and ends in the kitchen:

1 can(540 ml) cooked lentils, liquid drained off
1 container cream cheese
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp chili powder
3 cloves garlic, peeled
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 tbsp lime juice

I threw all the ingredients in the food processor and whirled it together for a few minutes. This made 3 bowls of dip. We had one for lunch, but it was even better last night after it had been in the fridge for several hours. Yummy!

Good Morning

I like to start projects and never finish them. This blog is a perfect example: I've started about six blogs so far. In the beginning, I'm full of ideas, writing with abandon. This lasts approximately a week, a week in which I check my email 20 times a day to see if there are any comments on my blog. I wait with anticipation to find a few people out in the world who agree with me. Of course there aren't that many that find my blog before I've abandoned it for some other project.

As I write this the coffee is perking and some crazy kids' show called "In the Night Garden" plays on the TV. My littlest one is making funny faces at it and I am debating my mothering skills; isn't it no TV for the under 2 set? At any rate, this is so incredibly strange to me that I am sure it is blowing her mind. She is alternating between making silly sounds at the screen and chewing on a stuffed duckie with a bell in it. From the look on her face I'll have a diaper to change soon.

And so goes my day. I am going to grab a cup of coffee and change a diaper, and see if there is anything else I can think to write about.