Shopping: I planned tonight to go fabric shopping, because I'm looking for something to create a huge bulletin board just inside my front door. I want something that's basically red, because I think I need more color in the living room, but I'm having trouble finding something contemporary enough. This is perfect (I think), but I'm nervous about ordering it without seeing it in person, and the idea of trying to find it in a store seems a bit daunting.


So, I went to Hancock Fabrics, to see what I could find - no luck. But I did find this for bulletin board projects for the office. It's tough to see in the photos, but the green will work with both the curtains and the throw I used to find the wall color, and the pink-red matches the daybed's bedskirt perfectly.


I tried going to Calico Corners as well, because a friend suggested it would be a good place to find the kind of thing I was looking to use in the living room, but after driving out to Virginia Beach Boulevard, it was closed (guess I should have checked that). So, I figured I shouldn't just waste the trip, and after grabbing coffee at Starbucks and browsing through a Hallmark store for a few minutes, I stopped by Bed Bath and Beyond, intending to just look. This is what I came home with:

• A body pillow and pillow case for the daybed, in an attempt to make it look less like a bed when its not in use


• A container to store rice in my pantry cabinets, because a box of rice doesn't fit upright


• A magnet as a gift for one of my sisters (I actually bought that at Hallmark): If beauty is a state of mind, then I'm a freakin' genius.


• Two smaller pieces of art for a bathroom - it just needed something more


• Small plate stands for the dining room shelves


• A strainer to replace the ugly, bulky plastic one I've had since college


• A larger piece of art just because I really liked it, though I don't know yet where its going to go, probably somewhere in the living room

Dining Room: I bought and hung these ledges a few months ago, but although I used wall anchors, they still didn't feel sturdy. So, my dad installed these wall brackets when he was last here for a visit. I love the idea of storing glassware on them, because I love glassware and like it on display (and like having more room in my cabinets), but I still felt like the room lacked color. I tried the cookbooks because I liked the look when I saw it in a Pottery Barn catalog, but I'm still not happy with it. I saw these great blue plates with fun quotes on them at the Hallmark store, though I still need to go back and grab them. They're a perfect match for the little vases (actually Sake carafes from Target) on the other shelves.