real art.

Eric isn't particularly artsy,

but there is one piece that he really appreciates:

The Knight, Death, and the Devil

by Albrecht Durer (1513).

The first year we were dating,

I bought him the print.

This year for his birthday,

I framed that print.

Now our guests get to enjoy it when they stay over.

Eric connects with the determination and focus of the

knight, his horse, and his dog

amid distractions of death and the devil.

Also, the knight's profile looks just like his dad.

platform frame.

Our guest bed needed a frame.

The windows in this room are pretty low,

and there aren't many 3 1/2ft tall headboards out there.

Because of that, I opted for a platform frame.

Maybe I'll try making custom headboard;

that would be in interesting project.

red jacket.

I do not shop online for clothing.

The few times I tried,
I got something like this:

no shape, little interest,

doesn't fit right, with blah buttons.

I got this jacket I don't know how long ago,

and it sat in my closet ever since.

With a few very simple changes
the jacket now looks like this:

Love those pewter buttons.

say cheese.

I'm sure my mom intended these cheese blocks

to be used for serving cheese & crackers

when she gave them to me.

I had different plans ...

The right one is us on the top of our first 

14,000 footer - White Mountain.

The left one is us on the top of Kilimanjaro - 

Africa's highest peak.

They fill the empty space well.

one dollar.

A neighbor was selling this 

cool little table at a yard sale.

It cost $1.

It's so awesome that I didn't even need to 

do any work on it.

Now our porch isn't naked anymore.

drift wood modification.

This was last year's porch Christmas decoration.

I loved it, but I changed it.

This great piece of drift wood was found on a private beach in Big Sur.  

I was there for a friend's bachelorette party.

In addition to providing more stability since it's pretty heavy,

I think it also balances out the large ornaments and offers substance.

I don't really like one better than the other,

but it's nice to have a switch-a-roo.

more plum.

The bed was pretty boring before starting on this room.

Let's be honest, the entire space was pretty boring 

before starting on this room.

I shopped for a new bed spread for a few weeks

but didn't come up with much I liked.

Then I found this duvet cover that went with everything really well.

The plum pattern matches the richness

 of the night table and compliments the green.

Oh, and since I didn't have a luxurious duvet to put in the duvet cover,

I just put a blanket inside instead ... maybe later.