Some before & afters (without the befores)

I got a little spray paint happy this weekend. It had been awhile, so my hot little hands got a hold of some gold spray paint, and away we went! Naturally, I never thought to take before pictures. When I've got a project on the brain, I've got all I can do to pick up a camera. High tailing it to the finish line is far more important!

Awhile ago I had the genius idea that this formerly oil rubbed bronze bowl would look way better gold (I thought about it a solid 3 months before pulling the proverbial spray paint trigger). I had just purchased the sculpture-like sea creature above, with full-on plans to make it gold. So, as they say...have gold spray paint, will spray everything gold (or something like that). I'm loving my new gold sculpture-like sea creature. But the bowl? Not so much. These pictures don't do it justice, but it's so gold, it looks like one of Liberace's Goodwill outcasts.



Maybe my expectations for a spectacular after were too high? Or perhaps I sat on this one for way too long, overthinking the whole thing. Yep, that's it. So I'm planning to live with the results for now. Mostly because I'm too lazy or cheap to go out and purchase some oil rubbed bronze spray paint. It's the age old question....what would you do?



HomeBads

Our HomeGoods is pretty HomeBads right now. It's undergoing a renovation and there's a lot of controlled chaos going on in there. Not to mention the merchandise is pretty blah. I suppose when everything is crammed into narrow aisles & spaces, there's not much room for anything new or exciting. Yet that doesn't stop me from going on a regular basis...that gift card from my birthday has been burning a hole in my pocket since March!

I've been itching for some organization lately. Our house is in a constant state of chaos, and I just can't keep up. I figured it's best to start small, and after seeing this idea for a dish soap dispenser, I was on board!

I found this olive oil dispenser for $3.99 & figured if it didn't work...meh, I was only out some spare change. Plus, it would save the husband from having to bend down and get the soap out from under the sink. See, now we're organized and the husband can't make up excuses as to why he can't do the dishes. No bending required! 

It remains to be seen if this is the most efficient way to dispense our dish soap, but again....spare change people, spare change. We could always go back to the under-the-sink method of storing things. But then the dishes just wouldn't get done. Knowing when to exert your efforts is sometimes a difficult decision.

On a totally unrelated note, I started using Picmonkey to edit these photos! Mild panic ensued when Picnik closed it's doors, but so far Picmonkey seems to be the best replacement (I suppose it should...I heard some old Picnik folks started it!). Free and no registration, thank you very much. More effects are coming soon, but so far I must say, I like.

Hmm....how's that for a really exciting post (about soap, no less)? Betcha wish you could get back those 5 minutes of your day!



TTLIF

...otherwise known as thank the lord it's Friday! It's been one heck of a week, and I can't begin to describe how thrilled I am that it's the weekend! Which, as far as weekends are concerned, it's a shame they're not longer than 2 days, no? Sigh.

Just some randomness that's on my mind today....

I simply can not get enough of this stuff. We went a solid 2 weeks without hand soap at our kitchen sink (mostly because I was too lazy to go out and buy any). I think the husband enjoys it just as much as I do, as he came to bed last night with fresh, basil smelling hands. When I remarked at just how awesome this soap was, he asked what took me so long to buy some because (in his words), what was he supposed to do in the meantime, use dish soap? "I mean, I'd have to bend down and get it from under the sink!"  I'm not sure what's more sad....how excited I am about this hand soap, or how lazy the husband is. I wasn't joking when I said we lead some exciting lives here!

Domino's Quick Fixes recently hit newstands, and I must say....eh, I'm not impressed. I was that crazy fool that tossed all my old issues before it went defunct (sad, so sad), so I was initially excited to get my little mits on this. I heard mixed reviews that this issue was more hype than anything (and apparently contained a ton of old images from past issues...clearly not something I had a problem with, since I no longer had anything to reference!). But after flipping through it during a recent visit to B&N, I decided it just wasn't worth the $10.99 price tag. I know, feel free to release the hounds on me for shooting it down. But I'm curious what other folks are saying....

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I'm digging this stencil from Cutting Edge Stencils. Michelle over at 4 Men, 1 Lady shares her step by step process for those of us (me) who are a bit intimidated by the time consuming thought of stenciling. It seems easy enough! And Cutting Edge's website boasts that stenciling is Easy....Fast....Fun! And surely they can't be wrong, right? Maybe there is hope for people like me!  

 

This is what my office looked like earlier this week...a new computer that's totally out of place, paperwork strewn about (in short, one big hot mess). I'm happy to report that I've since regrouped, reorganized, and tossed a whole lotta crap that I just didn't need. It's the best feeling, isn't it?  Ever since, I've had this urge to do the same at home. On the surface our home appears to be organized, but I can vouch for every junk drawer, cabinet and closet to say that it ain't so pretty inside! The girl who used to have a system and home for everything has suddenly failed. Big time. So I'm going to try. We'll see how far my ambition takes me this weekend....

So over and out...that concludes today's randomness. Happy weekending!

Can I be honest for a minute?

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Would you look at that? This my friends, this is the blog that's been largely ignored for the better half of a month or so. And no one's more aware of that fact than your's truly. It's just that lately, I haven't had much to talk about. And I'm tired. And zero projects are getting accomplished around our house. And frankly, not one single one of you comes here to hear me talk about nothing. I know you...you're nosey and you like interesting people (or maybe that's just me?). And that's just not me these days.

So I've been thinking for awhile now about a little shift at City Dwellin'. While I don't always have the energy to tackle a project, take photos of it, and then post about it...that doesn't mean I want to give up on this little blog. Let's face it, there's always something to be done around our abode. But one day that's not always going to be the case (unless I change my mind about something design related...in which case, I might just have more to talk about than I realize).

So things might just get a little more personal up in here. You might see more pictures, I might speak my mind a time or two, and I might talk about things that aren't so house related. Because even this design lovin' gal needs a decor break from time to time. And you might just like it...because remember, you're nosey. Just like me. I can't promise anything life altering here (because we're just about as normal as they come), but I'm guessing that sometimes you're okay with me talking about what I ate last night. And if you're not, then that's okay too.

So hang with me a bit longer. From here on forward, I vow to have a bit more spring in my step, the energy to talk about what's real sometimes....and if your lucky, some pictures of the husband's man muscles (or something like that). Anything to keep you entertained!

The end.