How Do You Feel?

That's about the size of it.

Add to that babysitting a mostly-blind dog that likes to bark any time of the day or night because he's lonely and can't find you. Just one bark, and you never know when. I'm really dragging today. This is where I wish I liked coffee.

But we got a simple, yet needed, DIY project done this weekend that I can't wait to show you. I'll try to have it up by tomorrow.

Until then, I hope your Monday is moving along better than mine. I swear I can hear my bed calling from here.

Nice Rack!

Caught your attention didn't I? But I'm not talking about anyone's frontal regions (least of all my own) - I'm talking about the new baking racks I bought.

I know I've mentioned before how much I want some, so on a recent trip to the grocery store I priced them out. And they weren't that bad! Seven dollars each maybe?

The racks fit perfectly over a cookie sheet so there is something to catch the drippings. I like to coat my wings in coconut oil first to help the seasoning stick, and while coconut oil is a healthy oil, reducing some doesn't hurt.

Look at how much oil was removed.

Just like that, my chicken went from this:

To this: 

Besides being less greasy, the wings are so much easier to remove to a plate. Most of the time they would stick a bit and you'd end up losing some of the crispy skin. And let's face it - that's the best part.

Don't be ashamed, you can yell out, "Hey, I like your rack!" and I won't be offended. :-)

Master Bedroom Before and After

I told a little fib last week. Remember when I said I didn't want to show the master bedroom off because it wasn't decorated yet? Well that was only partially true. The other reason was because I didn't like the paint colour at all. It was too dark, and with the cherry dresser and bed frame, it looked like a man cave.

So I repainted it of course. With my trusty assistant Tom, I got that room repainted and decorated - and I didn't even need a long weekend to do it this time.

Let's get right to it, shall we? This is the new master bedroom:

Do you remember what it looked like before? I'm embarrassed to even repost these pictures. The room was yellow, with a faux plaster finish on the top half of the wall (and a dirty, brown glaze on that).

Not a fun place to hang out in. Just go in and close your eyes, you don't want to see.

We painted it Benjamin Moore Arctic Seal the first time. Truly a gorgeous colour, but not right for this room.  Our new colour is Stormy Monday, also by Benjamin Moore. Have I professed my love for Benjamin Moore paints yet? I was always hesitant to buy their paint because they are more expensive than Home Depot or Canadian Tire, but you can't argue with the quality. After using BM in the living room and kitchen I switched back to Behr for other rooms. And that's when I really noticed the difference. We always do two coats just to be safe, but I've heard of people only needing one. Just look how thick this paint is:

Here is the colour difference:

And on the wall:

Much better. We got it all painted, put everything back in place, and then accessorized in white, grey, and orange. Tom is the one who decided on orange. It's a nice change from the usual yellow or green that you see so often with grey. We were in Homesense, about to walk down the pillow aisle, and I told Tom I didn't know what colours to use with the grey. He suggested orange, and then I found these no more than two minutes later.

Orange, white, and grey. Meant.To.Be. The covers are removable and the pillows are filled with feathers, so they're nice and squishy.

We bought some photos of dandelion "fluff" at Ikea specifically for the room. The frames are a bit off white so I'm going to spray paint them later, but they work for now.

When we were in Pennsylvania last summer I bought an elephant carving so it made it's way into the room too. I added my elephant poop ornament - yep, it's made from real elephant droppings - and he looks so happy to be hanging out with the big kids. Plus he adds a nice bit of colour on the other side of the room.

The other fun accessory was a wooden carving we bought in the Dominican Republic. We rode horses up a huge hill, then hiked down the other side (in rubber boots) to get to El Limon waterfall. There was a woman selling wooden carvings beside the waterfall, and I couldn't turn down a carving of a dog. He's guarding Tom's side of the bed though.

We also raised the curtain rod up higher to give the room more visual height, and swapped out the navy blue curtains for grey silk ones that we already had. I have no idea why that mirror looks so short - it's taller than I am. Maybe we do have higher ceilings.  :-)

I love how warm and cozy the room feels now. It's kind of like a hotel room I think, but in the best possible way. Those globe lights are from Ikea, and the orange candles are my favourite cinnamon pecan swirl.

I have new bedding - sheets, pillows, and duvet - that I've been saving until it was finished. I can't wait to sleep in there. It's true, we've been sleeping in the spare room until I could get some daylight pictures of this room. The dogs are pretty confused. I have the doorway blocked off and Chloe keeps walking up to the gate and staring longingly at the bed. Poor thing. Crazy blogger rules!

All that's left is to paint the doors - they're a terrible off-white - and buy a new light fixture. And find something to hang on the wall facing the bed.

I'm thinking a hand painted sign. 

"You are my sunshine"? 

"Don't worry, be happy"? 

"Be quiet and go to sleep, Barb"?

~~~~~

I'm linking up here this week!