In search of a work of art

Via ebay

I am in search of an oil painting featuring a lady looking demure and bold and just absolutely awesome. Do you have one to spare?

Allow me to explain...

Recently, while zoning out on Instagram, I stumbled upon a brilliant collaboration between the incomparable Jen Gotch (founder & creator of ban.do) and the good people at Chairish. They were hosting a live auction of some phenomenal vintage finds, including a strawberry cookie jar, a giant lighter, and the most delightful goat-shaped bottle opener I've ever seen. 

Now, I don't know if you know this about me, but I'm a sucker for vintage paraphernalia. If I were to describe my perfect day, a huge part of it would include rummaging through old bottles, postcards, and stale-smelling clothing at a well-curated antique shop. It's something I do a lot. A lot, a lot. 

So naturally, a virtual vintage experience on Instagram was intriguing to me. The way it worked was that they would post a picture of an item, and the first person to comment with #sold got dibs. Obviously, everything was moving wildly fast, so I had the hashtag copied and ready to paste just in case I fell in love with something. And, friends, I did.

Via Instagram @chairishco

That's Jen Gotch (with RYAN GOSLING LEGGINGS OHMYGODWHAT CAN I HAVE THEM) holding the artwork of my dreams. When this picture went up, my brain exploded. I fell in love with the woman in this painting. Her white hair, her confident smirk, her ambiguous nakedness -- she just seemed perfect to me. I hesitated for a second, though, because the price seemed a little steep ($158), and in that wretched moment, someone with better decision-making skills commented and stole her from me. Not to be dramatic, but my world basically crumbled. 

Ever since this exquisite sighting, I've been on the hunt for something similar. I can't really explain it. Something about seeing this picture just flipped a switch in me. I am now fixated on finding an oil portrait of a woman who exudes her same level of strength, confidence, and unabashed femininity. I guess I want her to be my spirit animal. I want to hang her in my office and look up at her for inspiration while I'm working. And I want to name her. Maybe something like Delores. Then when a friend comes to visit me, I want to say something like, "Have you met Delores?" and then I'll laugh and laugh with a strange twinkle in my eyes. And as my friend starts to slowly back away from this scene, I want to continue laughing, more maniacally than ever, until they finally exit. And then it's just me and Dolores again, and I give her a bit of a wink, and I keep on working.

I don't know, I haven't thought everything through. But here's what I've come up with so far by googling woman + oil + portrait (by the way, if you plan on searching those same terms, you are going to see a TON of boobs. Of all shapes a sizes. You have been warned.):

Via ebay

Via etsy

Via etsy

Via etsy

Via etsy

Via etsy

To be clear, I'd be happy to hang any of these portraits up in my office and call them Delores. Maybe I'll curate a collection over time. Again, I haven't thought it through.

Anyway...

Have you ever been on an obsessive hunt for a particular item?

Tell me about it so I won't feel crazy!

Also, P.S. If you buy any of these portraits out from under me, I guess that's your prerogative. But if it's on ebay, just know that I'm willing to engage in a pretty intense bidding war. So...yeah.

A Tour of Our Not-So New Home: Living Room & Kitchen

Our entryway. This is where we take off shoes. Note the litter box, makeshift cat bed, and cat toys.

A while back, I made a big announcement all about our new home in Brooklyn. It's been four months since we signed all of the papers, and I still can't get over the fact that Daniel and I actually OWN a piece of New York City. Like, who does that?! Apparently we do.

I'll just never forget walking out of that conference room after hours and hours of signing contracts and mortgage agreements. I had the biggest cheek pimple of my life, rivaling any blemish I ever sported in my adolescence, and yet when they handed us those keys, I was an adult.

And guys, let me tell you: I am so in love with this place. I mean, I should be humble, but I am just way too excited to care. Our new apartment is sexy. It's bright and spacious with a gorgeous view and SECOND BEDROOM. We live downstairs from a family with toddlers who sound like elephants in an aerobics class, and we don't even mind. It's that good.

Yet, for as much as I love it, I've done a pretty crappy job of keeping YOU (as in The Avoiding Atrophy readership) apprised of the happenings of our new digs. I think I've been waiting to get everything just so, and it's still not, but whatever. We've made some progress, and I'm psyched to show you where we are in our renovations. Today I'll be showing you around our living room and kitchen, but be on the lookout for future posts featuring the rest of our pad. For now, though, come on in!

The Living Room

If you were to have walked into our living room at Christmastime, this is what you would have seen. We purchased the couch and the rug from IKEA in what was perhaps the most stressful IKEA visit of my life. Our plan was only to buy the couch that day, but we left with the couch, a rug, a dresser, a duvet, and a new frickin bed. My heart could barely take the spontaneity of it all. I have such anxiety about spending money, it's ridiculous. Like, I should be studied. But whatever. Now that some time has passed, I'm able to look at all of my new furniture without a sense of crushing guilt.

I would also like for you to note this zig-zaggy blob sitting in front of the couch. Some time in the beginning of November, I got pouf fever. By "pouf fever", I mean that all of my waking moments were spent googling inexpensive poufs/ottomans. I just became fixated. I mean, you've seen poufs all over Pinterest, I'm sure, but did you know that they cost about as much as a full college tuition to a private university? Not really, but they are more expensive than you'd think. I got lucky and snagged this little guy up for $35 at Kohl's on Cyber Monday.

The newest addition to our living room is our coffee table. We've been needing one, but the space is kind of narrow, so we have been a bit puzzled as to what kind of table might work. One day, however, while walking through a museum called West Elm, we happened upon the perfect one. I realize, by the way, that you may think of West Elm as a furniture store, but I maintain that it is a museum since, for the most part, nothing in there is actually available for me to own, but rather for me to admire. As we were wandering around this museum, we stumbled upon a lovely coffee table with a modest price tag to boot. Here she is:

I know, I know. She's kind of weird. She looks like three flying saucers coming in for a landing, but we don't care. To us, she is perfect. We just set her up last night, and we can't stop talking about her. We are so very proud.

Oh also, please note that we are the kind of people who color coordinate our books now.

Also located in our living room is our dining area. I scored this set of chairs on Craiglist for $10. They need some work (you can see the loose strings and stains all over them), but I'm just jazzed to have chairs that don't fold. Not to mention, we finally have a place to legitimately put a kitchen table. By New York twenty-something standards, that basically makes us Rockefellers. 

Things I still want to do in the living room:

-Hang pictures

-Get a chair that actually faces the TV

-Install some kind of jaw-droppingly gorgeous light fixture

-Buy some new throw pillows

-Curtains

-Take down the paper chain that I made for Christmas...though I weirdly like it because I'm five-years-old

The Kitchen

Daniel and I have decided to turn the next few months into our big renovation season. I mean, we don't really want to be outside anyway, so why not get shit done indoors where there are heaters and a warm kitty to cuddle with? This weekend, we completed our first major renovation: painting our kitchen cabinets. Here's what they looked like before:

Don't tell me you love those cherry cabinets. I don't want to hear it. With all of that dark tile (which we plan on removing) and the white appliances (why?), the cabinets were just not working in that space. Here's what they look like now:

LOOK AT ALL DAT LIGHT! That's what I've been exclaiming all day today while walking around my apartment. As Daniel has mansplained to me many times, all of the light is now being reflected as opposed to absorbed, making our kitchen appear much brighter. It's like heaven.

And by the way, if you'll allow me to complain for a moment, this whole thing took FOREVER. I had never painted cabinets before, but naturally, I assumed that we could probably do it in the span of a single episode of Friends. I assumed wrong. It took us all weekend as well as this morning. I've lived the entire past three days with paint in my hair, but whatever, so worth it. I'll just develop some renovator's amnesia, and keep on trucking on.

Things I still want to do in the kitchen:

-Add a back splash. I'm thinking hex tile or subway tile. Not sure yet.

-Remove and replace that nasty black tile. What were the previous owners thinking there? I'm not a fan.

-Maybe try some open shelving by just removing a couple of the doors from the cabinets. We'll see though.

-Replace the countertop with a butcher block

-Install a prettier light fixture over the island

-Actually get a real kitchen island, or at least a larger cart

Anyway, so that's our living room and kitchen. Please affirm me in all of my home decor abilities. I still lack the confidence to actually believe that I can make this place look like grownups live here. 

Do you have any home projects you are working on?

I Painted a Dresser and Now I Regret It, Maybe?

Guys, remember how stoked I was yesterday about the fact that I was finally doing a DIY project? I felt so energized by the fact that I wasn't just sitting on my laurels, waiting for things from Pinterest to appear in my apartment. I was making change happen!

If you don't know much about me, you should know that I rarely DIY anything and I feel like people who do are easily the most put-together human beings on the planet.

So in attempt to look and feel more like them, I decided to paint a dresser which was recently donated to us by a friend who will soon be moving across the country. 

I told you guys I'd post pictures, but honestly, I'm not sure I love it.

We were trying to go for an ombre gradient kind of thing like this:

Via

We ended up with this:

Merp...

I don't know...I just feel like it looks a little sad. I'm a huge fan of color, but Daniel convinced me that using neutral colors would make it easier to blend with our room and take into a new space if we ever move.

He's probably right...I guess, but I don't know. 

It just feels like it needs some razzle. 

Maybe a dash of dazzle. 

Maybe a careful combination of the two, I don't know.

I put some stuff on it to help make it a little bit cheerier.

And in a way, I sort of like it.

Here's the before and after:

But I just can't decide. 

Part of me wants to fix it somehow. 

I feel like the concept is there, but it just needs a little something.

Anyone have any ideas? 

I'm thinking of somehow adding just a pop of color somewhere or a stencil or something.
I don't know, what do you think?

Also, feel free to tell me if I'm just being crazy, and it's actually the most exquisite piece of furniture you've ever seen in your life. By all means, tell me if you had a strong emotional reaction wherein you began weeping with joy the moment you laid eyes on it. 

Via

Though I strongly doubt you did.

Home Decor as Procrastination

Today is one of those days where, in an impressive attempt to avoid several far more pressing responsibilities, I've decided to do some home decorating!

It mostly involves actually getting art up on the walls. We've been nearly-hoarding a pile of artwork in our living room for the past few weeks. I'm not sure why it always feels like such an arduous decision when it comes time to hang a picture, but it does, and that's why we usually just watch Orange is the New Black instead.

Some art we finally decided to toss on our wall

So we put some art on our walls. Fine. No big deal, right?

Right.

Well, that's not all folks. Today, I am doing something that I would rarely ever think to do. Actually, Daniel and I are doing it together, but I suspect he will do most of it. 

Whatever. 

We are painting a dresser!

This dresser, in particular:

A neighborhood friend of ours is moving (sad!), so she needed to get rid of this little guy. We've been looking for a new dresser, so she gave us this one for free! Daniel and I tried to fit it in our car and couldn't, so we ended up walking it home, causing a fantastic scene in our neighborhood. A kind stranger saw us struggling and leant us a dolly. It was a Christmas miracle. 

I usually prefer having love-worn, vintage pieces in my home to having new things. It's sappy, but I just love imagining where my furniture lived before it came into my life. This dresser, in particular, came with a little hint to the life it had before my friend owned it:

"Sara Silver, May 8, 1992"

Seriously, how cute is this? I found this in the bottom drawer, and while it definitely makes me feel like Sara Silver is haunting our new dresser, I hope we make her proud with the new paint job.

Daniel is deglossing it now, so I'll post pictures when it's done, and I will be honest about what percentage of the work I actually did.

Have a happy weekend! What are you up to? 
Are you doing anything as productive as painting a dresser?