At long last...

I have my home and life under control!  Well, my home at least.  Tax season was rather eventful this year - both in a good way and a not so good way, but I survived.  I discovered that happiness is indeed a choice and that prayer works wonders in the face of adversity.  God helps us help ourselves and that is a lesson that I am very grateful to have learned earlier this year.

Peter has been assisting Aggie in supervising the spring cleaning and the little home projects that have been completed over the past couple of weeks.

I've been wanting to do something with the foyer wall that is part of my client area since just after the first tax season I worked at home.  The wall has a serious fingerprint problem - cheap, flat paint being the culprit.  I bartered with one of my clients this year and he installed this beautiful beadboard paneling for me and a chair rail.  When I have the paneling painted, I am also going to repaint the walls with washable, semi-gloss latex to make maintenance a little easier.  Isn't it cute?

The green table was an L.L. Bean bargain.

Unfortunately, this photo shows the dirty carpet - another client area problem - but that will soon be solved when my bartering client enlarges the laminate floor from the door up to my desk.  No more mess!

The paneling also surrounds the outside of the kitchen bar area.

That's the spot where Aggie likes to rub her face for some unknown reason.

Another mess taken care of!

My "dining room" is actually part of the living room, but it's not like I ever use the space.  I just love my oak table and oddball red chairs.  The paneling really brightened up that corner.  I am contemplating painting the narrow wall closest to the kitchen with the same green paint as the living room wall.

I just haven't decided yet...

I know that I suffer from too much stuff in a small space, but it feels homey to me and that's all that really matters, isn't it?

A few weeks ago, Richard put up my wall words for me - I love it!

That Jane Austen was one smart cookie.

Spring cleaning was long overdue this year - I tidied up my craft area and tried to get my stash of books to read under control.  The antique desk chair was a craigslist find; Tom & Al graciously picked it up for me on one of their forays into the wilds of Sarasota.  As you can see, I haven't quite decided what to do with it yet.  I counted the other day; I have eleven chairs in the house.

This is why my dining room is a corner of the living room - my home office takes up the space intended for dining.  It's just the right size and a convenient spot to see clients and block off access to the rest of the place with Aggie's doggie gate.

My craft area is also part of my home office, and I am always looking for ways to consolidate stuff and minimize the amount of desk space it occupies.  I found this great stamp pad storage system on eBay and finished that project up the other day.  See - more space for vintage McCoy flower pots!

They are pretty and functional.  Who could ask for anything more?

Long post, I know, but I love the feeling of having accomplished something that I wanted to share.  More regular updates this summer!