Happy Fri-Yay: Outdoor Decorating, Rug Rotations, and Photography Fails
It’s finally Friday in a week that has felt somehow both too fast and also so long. Monday feels like FOREVER ago, doesn’t it?
Here’s a bit on what I’ve been thinking about and doing over here this week.
Outdoor Decorating: Every spring, home goods stores stock a certain amount of outdoor furniture and decor, and if you miss that window, you’re out of luck because that’s all those stores usually get. If you wait until it’s lovely outside to consider decorating your outdoor space, you may find yourself shopping from the dregs. And yet it feels like every year I plan to shop early, but then I start doubting my purchases and wait wayyyy too long. Now it’s mid-June, and I finally ordered some new chairs for the backyard but am obsessively checking my phone, hoping I’ll be fast enough on a “Back in Stock” alert from Target that I’ll be able to purchase an oversized chair for our balcony (Because the pieces are seasonal, the back in stock alerts only appear when someone returns one, so I’m racing everyone else who didn’t order their furniture early enough). Note to self: Seasonal purchases demand decisiveness! Hopefully, I’ll remember this lesson in October when holiday decor comes into stores.
Rotating Rugs in the Living Room: At the beginning of May, I ordered a new rug that I’d had my eye on for over six months. But when it came, it just didn’t work. I wanted the green and blue to pick up and reflect the colors of the hills and sky outside, but the muted tones meant the rug ended up blending in with the furniture and floor too much.
So after returning that one, I’ve landed on a new rug and am waiting for it to be shipped. Until then, we’ve got our old rug, aka “the rug,” which has definitely seen better days.
To be fair, it’s a two and a half year old cream rug and we spent over one of those years basically living on it during this pandemic, so it’s grossness was well-earned.
I rented a carpet cleaner at the beginning of the week and spent hours deep cleaning it to try get this little 8x10 back in fighting shape.
It’s such a relief to have the rug clean and not have to worry about having guests over until the new rug gets here (whenever that may be). And if that one’s a keeper, we may move this one to our bedroom.
ABOVE: Halfway through the first round of carpet cleaning.
It’s a relief to have it clean and not have to worry about having guests over until the new rug gets here. And if that one’s a keeper, we may move this one to our bedroom.
ABOVE: Our refreshed rug after two to three rounds of carpet cleaning and a rug position rotation.
Photography Fails: I photographed the office for a blog post and learned why professional photographers always have the photos come up immediately on a computer. I put my iPhone in some pretty tight spots and found myself laying down on desks, etc., to try to get a look at the shot on the screen. Fun Fact: When your whole body is at an angle, it’s hard to tell if your shot is straight!