Renovate Brooklyn! It's Official.

Yes. It is official. I have written the word RESTROOM more times in the last week than I had previously in my whole life before I began this project. Thankfully, I've got my swanky new   "R-ROOM" sign hanging up above the "R-ROOM" door now, so we can take a look and put the whole ordeal behind us. (This will also give everyone a chance to peer into our kitchen!)

I'm pretty happy with the outcome, and as I suspected, now that it is hanging so high up, it is a little less easy to see its imperfections, shall we say? I'm almost tempted to make one of these signs for each door in the kitchen: Laundry Room, Exit, Pantry. I actually think it could look pretty cool, but it does sound a little OCD when I write it out. Maybe one night when I can't sleep? We'll see... 

In Other News...

The other little project I've been working on was inspired by this glass trifle dish I bought ages ago... I don't know why I bought it, but if I was going to have a guess, it was probably to make this recipe. (Mmmm.... Raspberries and heavy cream, oh my!) 

Thankfully (or tragically), I don't eat trifle that regularly, so for most of the year, I had this big, empty, glass bowl on a stand, with nothing doin'. I was determined to fill it with something and make it the center piece of my coffee table in Brooklyn, but wanted it to be something low and colorful, so it added a splash of visual interest to the room without blocking the view of the television. (Yes. The TV must be accommodated. I grimace.)

Obviously I initially thought Victorian Carpet Balls! "What?", you say. Yes, victorian carpet balls. I wouldn't know these existed if it wasn't for The Mother Figure, so don't feel bad if you've never heard of them. They are lovely pottery balls that were painted with all sorts of beautiful patterns and colors, presumably used for some sort of raaaather stuffy indoor game of boule in victorian times (or something like that... I'll ask Mummy for the exact details...) 

Swooon! 

These days, they're usually just epically expensive objet d'art that have been reproduced in gaudy and overly-sweet duplications that don't hold a candle the real thing. And the real things are even more expensive, so that idea went the way of the dodo bird, and I revised my trifle-bowl-plan. 

I have a rickity old croquet set that has been stylishly gathering dust up in the country. In the set, were five old chipping wooden croquet balls that I thought could surely replace my Carpet Balls! plan. Maybe a little dash of paint to brighten them up, and we'd be in business. 

Take a look-see:

BALLS! BEFORE! 

BALLS! AFTER! 

A definite victory for the D-I-Y home team! Now my trifle bowl is full-a-balls and I've got a center piece on my coffee table. This is also officially the free-est project I have ever undertaken. I had the bowl, I had the balls, and I had the paint I used to brighten up the stripes. Whoa. 

Free-High-5! 

If you like the look of this project, but don't have a cache of dusty croquet balls awaiting a new purpose, I think you could also use anything else round: billiard balls, old baseballs, or the fancy re-pro carpet balls if you've got the funds...

Onward and Upward!