Donkee House

Staple Art

Lovely art on the wall, isn’t it?  I love the grey with all the shades in between, especially against that stark room.  I love it more because it’s all made with staples, all 35,000 of them.  Check it out at Freshome.

Upcycled Burlap Shoe Bag

In my continuing quest to fulfill the Donkee Do List of 2010, I spent this beautiful Sunday afternoon making prototypes of an Upcycled Burlap Shoe Bag.  You’re looking at prototype #2, #1 was an utterly laughable failure and I am too embarrassed to even look at it and touch it myself without blushing with a deep sense of craft bankruptcy and doom.

Ahem…in any case, I’ve had three of my burlap coffee bags washed and ready for a few weeks now.  Needless to say, I’ve been just a tad too busy as of late between the regular job and my Etsy shop.  But the craft fairy was kind to me this afternoon and sprinkled me with some of her crafty fairy dust – giving me enough time and energy to put down some much needed time at the sewing machine.

An hour or so later, along with a broken needle and one failed bag, I came up with this shoe bag.  For those of you who have a regular and somewhat long commute on the subway, you should already know all about Subway Shoes.  If you do indeed need to wear non-subway shoes in the office, then you need something to carry your pretty office shoes in.  I’ve seen women who just dump and squeeze their shoes inside their purse or bag without even so much as a grocery bag for the shoes and I must admit, it disgusts me.  All that shit on the street you walk on (literal shit, gum, dirt, grime, glass, you name it) and you’re putting it your bag unprotected along with your wallet, lip balm, keys, etc.!  Yuck!

I’ve always used the shoe bags that come along with some of the shoes, but when they get dirty and grimy, you have to chuck them because they usually can’t be washed.  When you’re out, you’re out.

So I thought to make myself a burlap shoe bag.  Burlap breathes and is resistant to moisture.  Also washable, so can be used over and over again.  I paired the rustic and rough burlap with a bright yellow velvet trim as the drawstring to create a bit of contrast in texture and feel.  Maybe I’ll use some nubby linen as the drawstring next time for an all out natural and rustic shoe bag.

I think it turned out pretty good and I can’t wait to make the next one.  It now hangs easily on the shoe closet doorknob waiting to be used!

Dark and Cozy or Bright and Energetic

Our dining room currently is in limbo.  We’ve “carved out” a space in between the living room and the kitchen and we call it our “dining room”.  Such is apartment living in NY, folks.

In any case, we have a beautiful cast iron dining table base with a round beveled plywood tabletop.  This tabletop is waiting to be stained blue and/or covered with some coffee burlap sacks.  WAITING is the key word.  WAITING as in waiting for some warmer weather so we can stain and polyurethane with all windows wide open.  WAITING as in waiting for a weekend with absolutely no plans or continuously demanding chores.  WAITING as waiting for that driving motivation to get things started.  I could go on and on and on and on like the energizer bunny.  Where is he now anyway…..

So, while we WAIT, ponder and contemplate just how lovely our future dining table will be, I am having wonderful daydreams about my ideal dining room.  I love the instant warmth and coziness of a darker space played up with lighter furniture pieces.  At the same time, I also love a bright, happy and energetic light space….

Which to choose, which to choose……

Images via Living Etc.

Closet Libary

This is one of Donald Albrect’s closets in his pre-war apartment in the city, featured in the NY Times.  The glass in the door is really a genius move.  It’s like looking through into another room, not merely a closet.

I would love to have a “library” like this with the light and all – we have a ton of books!  We have six closets in total in our pre-war two bedroom, but still cannot afford to use a closet just for books.  For those of you who can afford to use a closet this way and can keep it neat inside, this is a great way to open up your space.

Kramer Article in The NY Times

I came across this article in The NY Times this morning.  It’s been sitting quietly in the back of my mind for the whole day since.  I don’t have much to SAY about it, but it is staying with me because I FEEL it – it MOVED me.

It’s ok for me to not try to SAY anything about it or have some smart point-of-view and intellectualize it.  This is a moving portrait of a once young, but now aged man living life with autism.  Although the writer does not say explicitly, I suspect that George Kramer has Asperger’s Syndrome.

We don’t know if he is happy or sad.  He is…he lives…he’s highly functional.  Should I have pity and sorrow or admiration and hope?  I feel more of the latter because he doesn’t need the former.

I don’t know anyone who has autism or Asperger’s Syndrome.  I’ve read a few fiction novels with the main character either having austism or Asperger’s Syndrome (i.e. “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time” by Mark Haddon).  Reading a book is, of course, nothing compared to knowing someone or being that somone.  It is curious and quite splendid, though, that this little article has moved me much more so than any of the books I have read.

In any case, I don’t want to go into it too deeply, if at all.  I would rather you read the article and see how you feel…

Donkee Do List – 2010

photo credit: schillergarcia

I know I’m a little late to the party, but still…I’ve never really been one for New Year’s resolutions.  To me, they are or will become unnecessary pockets of burden and guilt sooner or later.  Well…giving our fragile humanity the benefit of the doubt, I will say…usually, not always.

Resolutions are like promises and promises are made to be broken.  Maybe I’m being a bit negative and faithless here with a bit of humbug, but I hate setting myself up for failure.  It could all be a matter of meaningless semantics in the end, but I’d rather continue to not make any resolutions this new year and definitely no promises.

Instead, I’ll just have a list of things that I really, really, really NEED to do this year.  Or better yet, to psych myself up, there are a list of things that I really, really, really WANT to do this year.  WANT is much better and easier psychologically and kind of tricks the brain into thinking that if you WANT to do something, then it must be FUN.  FUN like putting a tiny dab of clear glue on each of the keys on the keyboard of an unsuspecting co-worker.  FUN like smearing a thin layer of vaseline on the toilet seat.  FUN like covering (and I mean COVERING) your VP’s floor to ceiling windows with multi-colored post-its.  FUN like gooey mac and cheese.  FUN like talking smack to someone who can smack talk back.

So…what FUN things do I WANT to do this year?

1. Make things – nothing fancy here.  I just want to make things.  I’ve made a bunch of zipper bags and a few pins for Christmas presents and they were a hit.  I love to make and create and want to continue doing so this year.

2. Spend less – aside from medical and other necessary expenses, I want to spend less on things that don’t give me a good enough ROI (return on investment).  A new dress for $300 that I will most likely wear two times in a year, then forget about will not yield a great return.  On the other hand, the $4500-$5000 sofa we will be getting this year that I will most likely live on for the next 10 years will yield an awesome return.

3. Max out both of our IRAs – because we will need to retire…someday.

4. Max out my 401k – see above.

5. Visit the folks more in Long Island – really, the folks aren’t that far away.  It takes the same amount of time to go to LI as it does for me to get to work.  I just have this misconception that since Long Island is not a borough, then it’s “too far”.  Shame on me!

6. Work more for myself – I have an entrepreneurial spirit and it needs to DO something.  Feed the beast!

7. Volunteer - no matter how small a job, I want to help a bit.  Library?  Swap meet?

This list is achievable, I think.  I certainly WANT to do all of the above and none seems like a drag that make New Year’s resolutions so historically hard to keep.  I’m thinking of keeping track of each of these seven to-dos and see which of these will actually be achieved and in some cases, how often.  Worthwhile, you think?

What is on your to-do list this brand spanking new year (decade) and how are you psyching yourself up for it all?

2010 Already?

photo credit: Sukanto Debnath

I don’t know about anyone else, but 2009 pretty much flew by for me.  It seems like just last minute that I got used to typing/writing “09″.  I consider myself very lucky for having a wonderful year.  Now, there were some downs as well as ups, but the ups, I feel, outweighed the downs in 2009, for sure.  Maybe this calls for some sort of list?

Downs

• BPV (vertigo) – ugh…that sucked ass BIG time.  Still reeling a bit now (2.5 months later) – so still sucking ass little time.
• Besides vertigo, I got sick more often in 2009.  I washed my hands like crazy (they are so dry now…), but that didn’t seem to help.  Scratch that…I KNOW washing hands help, but perhaps I bathed in some germy, bacterial and viral concoction while sleepwalking and boy, I had or still have to fight the good fight every once in a while.
• Reality TV – I got sucked in and I tried to suck the husband in too because I’m quietly evil that way.  American Idol, So You Think You Can Dance and Hell’s Kitchen.  Adam Lambert gave us chills (in a good way), some dances made the husband cry and who doesn’t love a raving and cursing lunatic?
• We didn’t travel in 2009.  We did go to Florida and North Carolina to visit family, but we so wanted to go back to Aruba or somewhere AWAY.  It WILL happen in 2010.

Ups

• We closed and re-financed our first investment property.  We have a decent amount of equity (25-30%) and making a slight positive cash flow each month.  The re-financing was a harrowing and frustrating procedure, but we finally made it through.  If banks had necks, I would sneak up to one (just one to get my anger out) from behind and choke it with dental floss.
• We re-financed our primary residence – our lovely, but constantly chaotic 2 bedroom co-op.  Chaotic is a mild term, you should see what the heck is going on right now.  You should…but I can’t show you.  If I did, I would then have to sneak up behind you with dental floss.  I’m working on something big (big for me) and have been hard at it for a bit now.  When it’s time to make it public, I will make an announcement right here!  Stay tuned for that, my donkee friends!  That was called a TANGENT…
• We paid off our HUGE tax bill from 2007.  AMT (Alternative Minimum Tax) can kiss our flabby asses!
• I visited my folks in Long Island more often.  I seem a bit less like the ungrateful daughter/sister/aunt that I am.
• I’ve become more tolerant of babies and children in general.  This is a direct result of my nieces, nephew and friends’ lovely children.  They’re just so awesome…
• I’ve finally let go of my bitchy, grouchy and miserable persona courtesy of my previous job.  I hit my one year anniversary in my current job in late 2009 and yes, it did take about one year for me to get over the trauma of the previous torture box.  I’m not all sugar and spice…I can be a bitch, a grouch and wallow in general misery, but only on special qualified occasions and every second week of the month, not 24/7 like before.
• I wake up earlier.  Voluntarily, not dragged out of bed cursing the world, scratching its face and kicking its balls.  Weekdays now is anywhere from 6 – 6:15am.  Weekends anywhere from 7:30 – 10am.  All times are approximate and so totally different from years before.  Weekdays used to be the last possible minute to LATE, like 7-7:30am.  Weekends used to be 2-4pm.  I kid you guys not.  I’m just not as tired as I was before.  I’m much less stressed and much more happy (see above).  There is just SO much more fun stuff to do now!
• I can’t bring myself to buy $500 boots, $300 shoes and $600 coats anymore.  What’s the point?  I’d much rather see that cash in the bank.  It’s a shift in thinking and mindset.  Whereas those $500 boots used to make me feel great, the high was always short-lived and really never provided much substance.  I was never really SATISFIED in all cylinders.  Fashion show-off me would feel great, but financially savvy me would feel really guilty and all around practical me knew that it was all so unnecessary.  Now that I’m shunning those expensive add-ons and parking that cash where it belongs (in the bank or actually, 2009 was paying all those medical bills), everything feels RIGHT.  I don’t miss those damn boots and I really have more than enough of…everything.  Oh, and thrift stores ROCK!
• I’m reading books out of my decades long comfort zone.  I’ve always been a literary snob and have always gravitated toward heavier stuff from back in the days.  I limited myself to (although they still remain favorites because they taught me so much and provoked me into thinking rather than just being entertained) Dostoyevsky, Kundera, Hesse, Steinbeck, Hamsun, etc.  The husband finally broke through my veil of literary snobbiness and convinced me to read other genres and started me on high fantasy and sci-fi.  With a roll of my mocking eyes and a righteous snort, I embarked on my first high fantasy series and I’m telling you…it’s MAGIC!  No, seriously…MAGIC!  Thank you to the husband for opening my eyes (my eyesight was and probably is so limited and narrow, but being the husband, that’s part of your job…to keep introducing me to things), thank you to Ursula Le Guin, to George R.R. Martin, to Scott Lynch, to Robert Jordan (RIP) and to Patrick Rothfuss for sharing your worlds.
• Donkee House was born.  A fledgling blog…still trying to find its identity.  Even though it’s still so very young, it’s already evolving into a more personal log rather than fitting into a certain niche or two.  I hope you guys will continue to ride with me as this space continues to change, evolve and move forward!
• I quit smoking on 2.26.09.

So yeah, 2009 was a pretty good year, right?  2010 started out with a bang…even though I was off work this week, I still was working mighty hard on my new venture that will soon come to fruition.  As for what I was doing on the stroke of midnight on the dawn of this new decade…I was playing Guitar Hero…I was rocking it out, folks!

So…was 2009 a good one or a bad one for you?  With all my might, I sure as hell wish it was a good one or that the good moments really shined for you!

Smart Storage at Home

I think extra or additional storage is one of those things every family needs.  Whether you live in a house or a tiny apartment (umm…she’s a storage genius), smart storage could be a saving grace.  Check out some of these ideas…

An above-the-door shelf in the bathroom creates unobtrusive and needed storage for cleaning supplies, TP, and other bathing and grooming necessities.

I have to say, when the husband and I lived in Astoria in a miniscule two bedroom, we didn’t have any room for bookcases.  Sounds absurd, but we wanted to be able to move freely around the apartment, having bookcase(s) taking up valuable real estate was not an option.  So we ended up putting Lack shelving above all the windows and most of the doors (windows were HUGE, at least) to hold most of our books.  We have a LOT of books.

If you’re lucky enough to have an attic, putting shelving in the roof gaps (is that what they’re called?) makes maximum use out of minimal space.  I would also toy around with the idea of putting mirrors on the back of the shelving to reflect as much light as possible.

Any unused awkward space is another opportunity for smart storage.  Building shelfs into existing nooks and crannies is a practical no-brainer.

Do you have smart storage solutions in your home?  Please share!  We all need a bit of help with bright ideas, right?

I must admit, I have a particular spot in the apartment that’s been driving me a bit bonkers because it’s unused and just waiting for the perfect solution.  As a matter of fact, I’m going to take a pic and post it up and see what y’all think – help is much needed!  Stay tuned!

Image 1 from Martha Stewart

Image 2 from Country Living

Image 3 from HGTV

Plant Table

Although he doesn’t quite have the green thumb just yet, the husband loves himself some plants.  We currently have a few plants (including one tree) scattered around the apartment.  Alone and all by their lonesome, the plants don’t really have much of an impact visually.

When I saw this vintage clam shucking table re-born as a plant table, I had an “AHA!” moment.  THIS is how to make an impactful plant presentation…bring all the green goodness together in one sunny spot and voila!  Have a go at fun planters!  Just think, you can water all your plants standing in one spot too – for you lazy folks.

Image from Country Living

Underground House

Located in the Swiss mountains, this magnificent home could easily be every adult’s childhood dream come true – an underground kinda secret hideaway – but with all the modern amenities, of course!

The stone stairs below are incredible – a nod to the fantastic landscape just a few feet away.  Natural elements like these stone stairs against a modern grey concrete interior with warm woods and unexpected shots of color in textiles and accessories…this home is MY dream!

Via Freshome