2021 Was the Beginning

Of my experiment with a capsule wardrobe. The results are nothing short of amazing. Here is my list of basics for my capsule. Everyone’s will be different based upon their lifestyle. My color choices for the basics were black, gray and white. The following year I added orange and olive green.

This fall I’m adding red to my basics. I started with a red turtleneck. I may add a red sweater later, but for now I’m focusing on other things.

I have few red accessories, other than my boots. I’m sure I have beads I can make into a variety of jewelry options. I also plan to find a red purse to complete my accessory list.

While I was reluctant to begin this journey into a “plain” wardrobe, it has turned out to be one of the best investments I’ve ever made. Because the plain basics work well with my more bohemian items. Turtlenecks work well beneath tunics, dresses and with patterned skirts. Teeshirts and sleeveless tanks work beneath jackets and sweaters. V-necks work well over patterned turtlenecks and tops. Combining these with solid colored pants, jeans, and skirts stretches things even further.

While the outlay of money for these basics was substantial in my mind, I am so glad I did it. Even though my preference would be to spend money on art supplies, my basic clothes are used every day. I truly cannot recommend a capsule wardrobe highly enough.

Small Steps

First, a Jaxson update: He’s now 7 months old. He’s also the busiest dog we’ve ever had, which is saying something. Jaxson is a very sweet dog, that’s not the issue. It’s he’s easily distracted and incredibly strong. Two weeks ago, Jaxson pulled me down again. This is the seventh time he’s seen a butterfly, bird or whatever and taken off after it dragging me along behind him. This time I landed on my right wrist and messed up a tendon. It’s not broken, but having a lot of experience with muscles and tendons-I know what I’m dealing with. I don’t think the tendon ripped off the bone, but it is possible. Again, something that’s happened to me several times. If it doesn’t improve by the first of October, I’ll have to see my doctor again.

Earlier, a week or two, Jaxson saw a bird fly past our living room window. He took off from the kitchen, vaulted into the chair causing it to tip into the window, knocked over the table and broke the lamp. The worst part is he didn’t stop. He smashed into the window. I was terrified he was going to break the window and be shredded by busted glass. After I made sure he wasn’t injured (the window did not break, but he hit it really hard with his head) I phoned our vet and set up his neutering appointment. He was scheduled the day after he messed up my wrist.

Jaxson is healing well. He’s left his incision alone and handled the procedure very well. We shall see if this helps him calm down a bit. Otherwise we’re going to have to explore other options, all of which are expensive…

After living without flooring since we began remodeling during Covid, I am painting the floor to look like the flooring I picked out. This way I can live with it for awhile to make sure I really like what I picked. This is being done at night while Jaxson is sleeping. It’s dry enough by morning.

Yesterday (and today) I painted the stair fronts. These are the stairs leading down to the family room, bedroom and my old workroom. The stairway is open, which means you can see into the former family room. Hopefully, soon to be my workroom.

What I had originally planned didn’t work out to my satisfaction. So my second option was silhouettes of Princess Diana and Audrey Hepburn. Similar to cameos. They are drying. I’m thinking of including their signature jewelry pieces, since I have more room left than I was anticipating.

The silhouettes would be finished except I haven’t located my rose gold paint. The images are done in white and Payne’s Grey. I’m going to highlight the white with rose gold, as that’s my choice of accent color in my future workroom and office.

So We Begin

Yesterday Jaxson, once again, caused me to fall. This time I landed on my right wrist. I’m sure it’s not broken, but it is stiff and sore.

In spite of that, I filled nail holes in my office walls. Scott filled a huge caved in area on the back wall, which had been hidden from view and forgotten about. The patching is drying.

Since my plans for both rooms is no more, I am thinking about how to make the office and the workroom look cohesive using only what I have.

The obvious answer is paint.

The walls will be Revere Pewter, the trim and doors will be refreshed with white. I have three bookcases in my office currently. Two are white, one (smaller) is brown. Since it’s that cheap press board with paper covering, I’ll spray paint it white. If I use primer and paint the paper (faux wood look) will bubble and peel. With some additional storage, like stacked wood crates as end tables, I should be able to hold most of my books in the office.

We have a cushy chair and very large ottoman which I planned to use in my office. The ottoman can double as a coffee table or extra seating if needed. I have a few floor lamps and a couple table lamps to give the office plenty of light to read by.

The additional bookshelves and the fireplace are out. Which means I have an entire wall to do something else with. I’ve decided to paint a huge mural on this wall. It will certainly be the focal point of both rooms, as it will be visible through the door from the workroom.

My colors are white (work tables, doors, trim and ceiling), Revere Pewter (walls), gray (stairs and lower cabinets if they are eventually put in) pink and rose gold (accents and metal door pulls). So I’ll be painting a floral wall mural using a variety of pinks to peaches, soft green/grays with accents of rose gold in my office. I’m also planning to paint the risers on the stairs. This will be a vertical mural, very bohemian with lots of color.

We removed our plain bifold doors from the bedroom closets. While these are hollow core doors, they can be painted and used as shelves or countertops as long as the weight they hold isn’t excessive. Each is 6 ft. long or so, which gives me a minimum of 60 sq. feet of shelving. I have 8 9-cubby things which filled the back wall of my old workroom. I used canvas totes in these. They were filled with a tremendous amount of supplies and clearly labeled. I can re-use the cubby’s as lower “cabinets” behind my work desk, with the bi-fold doors used as countertops, painted a neutral gray.

Or use these cubby’s to make a rolling work station…

Using several three tier rolling carts to hold materials for specific projects is also a good plan. They are currently filled with a variety of supplies, but can easily be changed to be project specific. These can be stored near the tables I plan to place around the workroom as dedicated work spaces. The office will be used for research, printing and writing books.

So this will take a while to accomplish, but at least I’m starting.