Scale it down a bit

One of my favorite things to do is rearrange furniture. The hard part is trying to figure out the least amount of moves to get the look I'm going for. And sometimes I just don't know until I see it. I've been struggling with how to arrange our back room.

It's a good size room, plenty of space but it has some jobs that aren't so pretty. Currently, it's a mud room and covered in salt from the snow the last couple of days and we've moved the dog's night quarters into the space so that she doesn't have to fight the stairs every night. It's often covered in shoes oh and my desk in there because I can't figure out any other place I can put it and use it. So yeah, stuff, lots of stuff. And that doesn't even include the things waiting to be donated and the go back out to the garage.

Today I remembered this handy little tool that's in the picture above. It's a scale ruler and it's used to... scale things. Each side is an exact scale amount to the others 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60. So depending on how big my drawing space is, I can make a replica of my room's measurements and small rectangles and squares to represent the things I want to move around in there. I really like the fact that once I have the scale, I can use it to put any piece of furniture in the room to see if I like the idea of it in the space.

This tool is especially helpful if you're moving or wanting to buy a new piece of furniture or area rug because you can get a real idea of the scale compared to everything you have in there already. And it's so much easier to move pieces of paper around a gazillion times than actual furniture.

I think I have the space worked out, but I'm going to rest on it for a while to see. What tools do you use for rearranging your house?

Comments

Hospitality for the Rest of Us: Long Distance

People are moving more and more. When I was a youngster, it was a rare instance for a friend to move away. Now it's me that moves away. We've moved a lot, especially when we first got married. It was something like five addresses and three states in the first four years of our marriage. We've slowed down a bit. In the midst of all that moving, we've made some friends along the way. I try to keep an open line in case of times of grief and celebration. One of the best tools I've found for keeping in touch with loved ones far away is Facebook. As much time as I could spend doing other things instead of checking it, it's the best thing I've found. It allows me to communicate with others, without having to call. I know calling is amazing, hearing people's voices, but for introverts, there are no body language clues for us to pick up on that help make our conversations easier. It's also why we prefer to video chat :-) Back to Facebook, some etiquette.

Stories from the Kitchen: Taste and See

I celebrated my birthday last weekend. It was wonderful and the leftovers left me with a question or two. Find out what they are and how I'm currently answering them in this week's podcast. Stories from the Kitchen Season 2, Episode 2: Taste and See Notes from the episode: Taste and See by Margaret Feinberg Dad’s New York Cheesecake (from the back of a Philidelphia Cream Cheese package) 1 ⅞ cups graham cracker crumbs ¼ to ½ cup butter, melted 1 cup sugar, divided 2 lbs cream cheese (4 packs) 2 large eggs (lightly beaten) 1 tsp vanilla 2 tbsp cornstarch 1 cup sour cream Preheat oven to 450F Mix well graham crackers, 2 tbsp sugar, and enough butter that the mixture holds together. Reserve 2 tbsp for garnish. Press mixture onto bottom and sides of a greased 9-inch springform pan. Chill in the freezer while preparing the filling. Mix cream cheese and sugar until smooth and light. Beat in eggs, vanilla, and cornstarch until just blended. S

Threadbare Knees

I feel sure that you've heard the saying "If life gives you lemons, make lemonade." Well, recently I picked up a pair of wool cashmere blend slacks from Salvation Army and upon further inspection at home, the knees were threadbare, practically holes. Easy enough to miss, when your knees don't fall in the same spot as the previous owner. They were inexpensive, so it wasn't a big monetary loss, but I felt like it would be a shame to toss such nice fabric and so I searched the internet to see what I could do. I found this cute little purse pattern, for free! You can go check it out by clicking here . It is a great little pattern and I was able to make the entire purse in one rainy day! Here are some pictures of my threadbare knees purse. Don't you just love those little pleats? And there's even a little pocket inside. I'm so impressed with myself! Time to fill it up with my keys and such non-sense! And remember, when life gives you th

Tina The Storyteller

Search This Blog