Category Archives: at ReadyMade

Time freaking flies. Almost a year ago, I wrote about my “landing strip,” the area just inside our doorway that must contain all of our daily necessities: keys, dog leash, mail, sunglasses, iPhone earbuds (perfect for walking the dog and calling my Auntie Gail), doggie waste bags, ya get the picture. It’s a lot of stuff to keep organized. With winter coming and adding scarves and hats and mittens to the mix, my former set-up would have been disastrous. Plus… it looks horrible to me! Isn’t it funny how quickly your tastes change?

I got rid of the hanging file, moved my alley find desk into the bedroom for a much-needed high side table and took the coat rack off of the wall, spray painted it light blue and moved it to the back of the door. The mirror was also moved to the bedroom and the bulletin boards completely dismantled, their contents safe inside a box of keepsakes.

Here is the summertime “after”, complete with my favorite blue fan and $5 lamp atop the credenza I got from my first estate sale. Note the hole made from trying to use a butterfly screw in plaster and lathe walls. Bad idea. My little bull head came from The Economy Shop in Oak Park and the white bowl was another thrift find, probably around $3. We screwed some hooks into the wall to hold the dog leash and our keys.

And here is the fall “after”: the fan has been put away and a stack of books–my favorite easy color addition, more on books overtaking my life later this week– with a jade plant from the back porch in its place. The wide drawers of the credenza hold all of our fall and winter stuff, which I’m sure I’ll need later this week even though it’s 70 degrees as I type. Chicago weather, I swear. The little string of photos covering the hole are newly printed iPhone pictures.

You can read all about my experience with printing app-modified photos and see some of my favorite apps to do your own here on a post just up today at ReadyMade.

I just showed the mister the before photo and cringed. He laughed and said that in a year I’d be showing him a picture of some other room of our apartment and saying the same thing, no matter how much I love it now. He’s probably right.  Either way:  that before photo is horrid and I’m much happier with the new look.

My total price on the ugly landing strip according to the post I wrote in November of 2009 was $38.79.  Let’s see how that compares now.

Credenza: $60
Bull head: $8
White bowl: $3
Silver tray: belonged to my grandmother-in-law
Plant in thrifted vessel: $5
Books: priceless
iPhone art: $5
Total: $81

A little more than twice the price. Oh well. It looks about a trillion times better and still comes in at a very decent price point.

Go ahead. Make fun of the before pic. I’ll join you!