Flooring 101

When we moved here the entire first floor of our house was covered in a nice off-white carpet. It was glorious. It looked so peaceful and spacious... like a soft blanket of snow had just landed in my house and made all the clutter go away. It was absolutely magical.

That was until I learned the only way to keep it that way was to regularly vacuum foot traffic, steam clean cat puke, and remind our guests to remove shoes on a daily basis. Let's just say when we had guests over all I could think about was when that first glass of red wine that was going to christen the floor. (I would like to thank my friend DeeDee for taking care of that so promptly.)  

Admittedly, I was a bit neurotic. But you would be too if everytime you came home your eyes scanned the rooms for the next spot before you took off your jacket and settled in. I was obsessed with keeping the carpet impossibly spottless. I was turning into Mommy Dearest - scrubbing and steaming until the floors bared no trace of human inhabitation. If the vacuum lines weren't on the carpet it was time to vacuum again. Get the point? So here we are now.

My Nesting Affliction

If nesting is when you physically cannot stop changing your house around because you can't go into your studio to paint, well then I'm in full blown nesting mode. Others may call this "withdrawal". Either way, here is one result of this affliction I am suffering from.

Another piece of furniture was attacked by me and a paintbrush. This one took some time though. I had to remove the glass, sand the inside AND outside, remove the shelves and repeat the same process for those. It was worth the wait. I also changed the paint color (3 times) after painting the entire piece of furniture before selecting this blue color, which happens to be the same color in our kitchen and where the hutch currently resides. I just used leftover paint. Too bad we bought 2 other new colors I need to repurpose... which you will see soon.

New Gym - No excuses

Well, we did it! We bought a treadmill and then a bunch of other stuff to pull some gym space together in our basement. Our "plan" (and I use this term loosely) is to use this space to cut back on gym commute time and monthly costs from the traditional gym. Hopefully when the winter hits we'll be down here more often. Right now it's gorgeous outside so we don't spend a lot of time in the basement. That said, the best part about this gym was designing it!

We painted first since the floor would be covered anyway. I went with a really intense orange color to keep energy levels up when we're working out.

Please note: this color was most likely selected due to subliminal messaging coming from pandora radio earlier in the week. They have Home Depot commercials after every other song and guess what color this almost matches.. (sigh).

Then we picked a floor. I wanted something that would be durable, replaceable, and not overly expensive since it's going in the basement and anything can happen down there - anything. Fortunately I found a rubber flooring site. These tiles were on sale and amazing! Not to mention the shipping costs were really low because rubber flooring is super lightweight. These were SO easy to install. All you need is a box-knife and a husband. BOOM.

Then we got to shop for the fun stuff. This was Jeff's job. He selected some fancy schmancy treadmill that shows where you're running while you watch on the TV. Which meant - yes - we had to buy a TV. Then we had to buy special brackets to hang the TV from the wall. Then we needed a DVD player for my workout videos (Yoga and that Jillian lady who is really the devil in spandex). Anyway, we're all set up now and completely broke so it worked out in the end.

Utilizing some tall space

Our bedroom was a little scarce with the tall walls and needed some love. So I took a bunch of frames and arranged them above the bed to create a focal point in the room. The photos can be swapped out and the frames can be repainted if I get bored. Chances are, that will be in the next few months! Now I need to find a paint color that works...

Another Show Coming Soon!

Admittedly, I've been pretty behind  the DIM (do it myself) design projects around the house. Most of this time has been spent locked up in my studio painting like mad with every spare second I can find. For the past 6 months, weeknights and every weekend, I have remained completely dedicated to painting and removed myself from my social life and regular activities. 

I usually take a painting hiatus every couple of years. These breaks have grown from weeks to sometimes months at a time. But every time I return to my studio after these breaks it's clear that my style and methods have changed significantly. After a lifetime of doing this I've come to realize this is my own method of taking time to collect new ideas and filing them in the back of my head until I'm ready to paint again.

This time I've returned with a style that I'm working hard to master and call my own. After 30 (something) years I think I've found the one! The work is unplanned and organic. If you know me personally, you'll know this is a complete departure from my actual life. I'm a bit of a planner. Maybe I wish my life could be more like this! Maybe it can be?

My newly designed website has some of my latest work posted. And I'm happy to announce that I plan to have another show so you can see it in person! No date just yet, but it's in the works right now.

Chili Cornmail-crusted Tofu with Southwestern Corn Pudding

We've been cutting back on meat and replacing our dinners with vegan based foods every now and again. We'll see how long this lasts. Cooking vegan style food is extremely time consuming and messy. Right now though, it's still fun and I'm learning a lot about the secrets of vegan cooking. 

Per the requests of a few friends, I'm happy to share those recipes that seemed to be the most tasteful to us. This recipe is from the cookbook "Veganomigon."

Chili cornmeal-crusted tofu

Corn/vegetable oil for frying*
1 pound extra firm tofu – drained and pressed
1 cup soy milk
2 Tablespoons cornstarch
1 cup cornmeal
2 Tablespoons chili powder
1 Teaspoon cumin
¼ teaspoon cayenne
1 Tablespoon grated lime zest
1 ½ teaspoons of salt

Slice the tofu width-wise into eight slices, then cut each of those sliced in half diagonally – from the upper left corner to the lower right corner so you have 16 long triangles. Set aside.

 

Combine soy milk and cornstarch in a wide shallow bowl. Mix vigorously with a fork until the cornstarch is mostly dissolved.

In another shallow bowl, toss together the cornmeal spices, lime zest and salt.

Frying directions:
Heat about 1/4” oil in a large skillet, over medium heat. Dip each tofu slice in the soy milk mixture. Drop it into the cornmeal with your dry hand and use your other hand to dredge it in the mixture, so that it’s coated on all sides. Transfer the tofu to the skillet into two batches so as to not crowd the pan. Fry the tofu for 3 minutes on one side, use tongs to flip and fry to 2 more minutes. Drain on paper towel.

Southwestern corn pudding
2 Tablespoons Corn oil
4 cups fresh corn (about 6 ears)
1 red bell pepper, chopped
2 Jalapenos, chopped finely
1 cup coconut milk
¼ cup cornstarch
½ cup corn meal
2 Tablespoons pure maple syrup
1 cup finely chopped scallions
¼ cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon cayenne 

Preheat oven to 350 and lightly grease an 8” baking or casserole dish.

Saute the corn, bell pepper, and jalapenos in a large skillet for 10-12 minutes, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, stir  together the cornstarch and coconut milk until the cornstarch has mostly dissolved.

When the corn and peppers are ready, transfer 2 cups of them to a food processor (or blender). Add the coconut milk and cornstarch mixture, and pulse about 20 times until the mixture is mostly pureed but not completely smooth.

Transfer to a large mixing bowl and mix with the remaining corn, cornmeal, maple syrup, scallions, cilantro, salt and cayenne. Put the batter into a baking dish and bake for 40 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Holiday Cheer Within Reach...

If you ask me, Thanksgiving doesn't have enough time in the spotlight. We leave decorations up for a month after Christmas (my neighbors go even longer) but the day after Thanksgiving? That turkey centerpiece is stuffed in a box and UP go the Christmas decorations in the blink of an eye. Not 24 hours after you finish eating that Thanksgiving meal we officially enter the countdown to Christmas. Say it with me folks ..... "ugh."

Exciting for the kids - yes, but if you work for a living you'll have to take out a second loan to keep up with "the holiday spirit." You need to arm yourself with gifts for everyone; friends, coworkers, and even that neighbor who sometimes stops by with an unexpected gift - um, awkward.

So if you were still digesting the massive overload of calories from Thanksgiving the night before and missed out on the disgusting Black Friday shopping debacle, I have the solution for you - homemade garland!

I first saw these online at Land of Nod for $29.00.... and yes, I did purchase them. But shortly after I made my way to actual stores to take in "the holiday spirit" I realized these would be pretty easy to make myself. I could customize the length and colors and pass along a meaningful gift without feeling the pinch in my wallet.

I started out by purchasing decorations from Target for $1.00 each. Some of them were 3 for $1.00 - even better! After I collected my palette of colors I set out for some twill from Jo-Ann fabrics. 9 yards for $4.00. What a deal! I grabbed some sewing needles and thread and started my experiment. Total costs - $14.00

Not long after I settled in for the night I began my project. Stretching out the twill, paper clipping each ornament in place and sewing them onto the twill at the length of my choice. This project took about 1 hour to complete (once I had my supplies) and looks pretty close to the real thing. Now I get to decide who gets them for Christmas!