Coffee bar

I'm obsessed with this house. I'm vaguely aware that I've invested a lot of self-image into it, which is probably why I am so deeply disturbed by questions like, "what color curtains should I get?" I've even been watching "Design Stars" (which has been shockingly less helpful than even "Project Runway", which has nothing to do with decorating), and I'm baffled by the contestants just going into a shop and buying a bunch of crap, then putting it out and being done--just like that. The nerve! Who could possible hire people like this to do their homes? How do you find things you really really love among a shopping cart of crap some designer picked out?

Anyway, I am finding that my laptop serves multiple roles over my day: t.v./entertainment, communication, procrastination/net shopping/dreaming, and work. And I am finding that once certain areas become associated with one of those categories, they get stuck. My office has a totally separate computer that is supposed to be for art, but is inhibited by the fact I have not been able to conquer the clutter in that room. So the laptop has traveled over the house (confounded by the fact that there are now two laptops--mine and my work's-- which travel together and separately, depending on my moods), performing a number of functions, the most vexing of which is procrastination.

I did find that a corner in my window-filled (though sometimes chilly) sunroom did seem to mesh my work into place. Ahh. I worked on the dining table for a while... that was confounded by mail or meals. But a table in the sunroom... complete with uncomfortable wicker chairs, seemed to do it (too uncomfy to watch t.v.). The slash-sale at the local antique shop lead me to my new pine table, replacing the squeaky and odd-shaped one I was using. This one also has two leaves, so I can use it if I ever throw a big meal.

Unfortunately, it took almost a week to deliver. In my excitement, I broke down my work space to make room, and have been vexed with my other spaces which tempt me into procrastination. Until today.

At top, the day view. Above, the night view. I have been eying this lamp for MONTHS, and now, it's perfect. Lamp $25; Pine table $50. Two porcelain horses add contrast and interest: $1 (in a box of stuff at an auction). I bought the plant (below) today ($13) to go in my antique canister/jug ($27 if i remember correctly). I'll be looking for a larger plastic pot to put inside it so the roots can stretch out without oozing through the bottom of the jar. In the mean time, it's lopsided. Wicker chairs: clearance from Home Depot a couple years ago ($50 each); green and turquoise pillows from Cost Plus World Market on clearance, $5 each.

A cute bamboo table is behind one chair ($10) with a blue McCoy pot ($7), a bud vase ($5), and an old hula figurine ($.25). The blues are just right to match the living room, in view through the pass-through.

Now, I have the perfect spot to have morning coffee, answer emails, and do some grading (I teach at night, so morning is likely when I'll grade). The rest of the sunroom.... still a work in progress. Meantime, I am using it to lay out my piece for the upcoming faculty show!