I haven’t posted a Before and After in awhile, but rest assured, I still have projects up my sleeve. Our dining room hadn’t been touched since we moved in 11 years ago. It was fine, but wasn’t especially pretty. We had a huge table that took up most of the room. Once I replaced that […]
Decorating
Just for Fun-Kid’s Bedroom DIY
Listen, there are all sorts of ways to procrastinate when you’re supposed to be writing. Yesterday, for example, I took an extra long trip to Aldi, cruising slowly down the aisles to pick up the things the kids need in their lunches that my husband forgot to buy when he helpfully did the shopping on […]
On Organizing and Editing
I like organizing stuff. Words, sentences, paragraphs…closets. So when the Marie Kondo craze came about, I watched a few episodes of her show, nodding along the whole time, and I, too, felt that sense of relief with the homeowners at the end, at having just what they need, right where they need it. Over the […]
Tiny, Lovely Office
Years ago, I did a couple posts about a new writing space in my new house, one post on my initial discovery of that space, and then a follow up on how I was making it work. My kids were young when we moved here, and my writing hours were few and far between. With […]
Awesome Basement Re-do Starts with Something I Said I’d Never Do
Oh hey, what are you doing this summer? I’m outlining a new novel for middle graders while renovating our basement.As I’ve mentioned here before, I find that this whole thinking and planning stage of the writing process goes more smoothly if I regularly take time to let my mind just wander while I’m doing something […]
Sparking Joy, in The Closet
There’s been a lot of organizing talk on the old Internet lately, both fawning and less-so, regarding the bestselling book, “Spark Joy: An Illustrated Master Class on the Art of Organizing and Tidying Up” by Marie Kondo. I have not read it. I’ve never picked up a book on organizing because I feel like I […]
Word Girl
Marking the entrance to my closet office: Now, if only I had a monkey sidekick…
My Favorite Things—Fern Paintings
While in a check-out line this past weekend, I noticed the cover of Oprah’s magazine, which included a headline about her favorite things and how some lucky readers could win them. Now I’m old enough to remember watching her annual “Favorite Things” show in which audience members “went coco-nuts” (as my six-year-old would say) as […]