I love the smell of laundry that has dried in the fresh air and sun.

Sheets are so crisp and fresh...

But then again...when isn't it around here?

I make it that way.
I am a change junkie.

My husband comes home from work and finds a new coffee table in front of the sofa about once a month. A few weeks ago we went to bed...he turned his lamp off...and about 30 seconds later says "I see I have a new nightstand." It doesn't even phase him anymore. Although he does think I should donate some of my extra time to being a case-study for a college Psychology class somewhere. He thinks I have some yet-unknown metal disorder that make a person constantly change their surroundings.

Thank goodness he so easy-going...because I need that constant change. That is one of the pit-falls of painting furniture for a living. Few things stay in the same place in my house for more than a couple weeks. But it feeds my craziness that I can do something different each and every day. Lets just say I am not a girl that can sit behind a desk in an office 8 hours a day. I have tried. Trust me on this one. Oh how I yearn to...I want to wear the cute clothes and killer shoes. It would be much better than the hoodies with paint all over them you would normally catch me in. I miss seeing people at work, the gossip, the day-to-day chat. It is just me, a radio and a paintbrush most days.

This year alone I have painted and sold over 500 pieces of furniture. Maybe doing this is what has made me a change-junkie. I am always needing to do something different...and better than the time before. Is this how extreme-sports get started? Mountain biking becomes boring after a while until you are doing it at high speeds next to a cliff? Will I soon be seen on a reality show for Extreme-Dining-Room-Set-Painting?

By now I am sure you are asking where the heck I am going with this long winded chat about change...so let me just say there are new things going on in my life right now. Professionally, that is. Exciting things...things that are keeping me up at night. And once I do fall asleep I wake up thinking about them as soon as I open my eyes. I'm plotting and planning. I can't tell just yet, but I want to soooo badly. I am busting to let it all out. I work so hard, it is such a wonderful thing with life rewards you with opportunity you didn't even see coming.

I am definitely a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants girl, but ironically, new things make me nervous.

 So, to escape all this stress of these big changes...I am making a pact to finish all the reno projects I have started during these winter months. To tie up loose ends, to vow to keep a piece of furniture in one spot for a long time. (Don't tell my husband just in case I relapse on this one.) I am going to finish my home rather than always work on other people's spaces. And I promise to take photos and post my projects as I go.

Whew, I was soooo good to let that all out. Sorry it was such a long one. That happens when I don't get much sleep.

Off to finish project #1. The hallway. How hard could that be?? Wish me luck. I am painting it the fourth color since I have lived here. Yikes!

(photo found here...)

Just thought I would show you a little of what is going on in my house this week...its just another week full of building and painting...but I am super excited about this project!

You see, I fell in love with this desk from Pottery Barn...it is a simple, uncomplicated style and it was my favorite color...white. It was love at first sight....

...but I did not love the price tag. So, what's a girl to do???...build one herself, of course! (Or cook a week full of fabulous meals for her husband and ask in her most persuasive voice for him to build one for her. I went with that plan.)

So this week, after my sweet hubby gets home from his super-stressful, manly-man job...he gets to unwind and relax by spending a little quiet time with his tape measure and table saw. I am forever grateful he loves to do these things for me, and even more grateful one of us took math class seriously in high-school. I think there would be a few frustrated freak-outs if I was really the one that had to build it. Hopefully, by the weekend I will be painting my gorgeous Pottery Barn inspired...but waaaaay less expesive desk for my newly renovated home office.

Oh, and just in case he gets my desk done a day early...I have drawn out the plans for one of these, too!

 I have a wall in my kitchen just waiting for this. Each night, about 5:30, my husband hears me complaining about my train-wreck of a spice cabinet and how I can't find a freakin' thing in it! So I am sure he will be happy to accomodate.