Free Time On My Hands

I'm in one of those "while the cat's away, the mice will play" moods. My sweetie is the cat who's away and I get to be a mischievous mousie. It's what happens when he's in the field and I get bored. He's used to coming home to rearranged furniture, new pets, new wall colors, new landscaping...staying busy helps me cope with his absences.  Hey, who'm I trying to fool, it keeps me out of the fridge, the kitchen cupboards and trouble.

So I'm mulling over my choices--

Shall I remove the popcorn ceiling in our closet? Pretty easy to dump all the clothes on his unused half of the bed while I make a mess in the closet. That ceiling is so low that I inevitably knock popcorn off when I grab sweaters off the shelf, grrr. And there would be no one but me to suffer the smell of fresh paint. On the other hand, I'd have to borrow a compressor and texture sprayer.  It's not a small job.

Or I could finish painting the very large vintage desk (one of four (!) that's been taking up room in our garage for years). I can just picture it espresso black sporting brushed nickel pulls and a stained wood top. Yummy! Indian summer--not too hot, not too cold--is ideal weather for painting and refinishing. I bought the paint last year and have the drawers done, but haven't tackled the desk itself yet. Of course, stripping the finish of the top isn't going to be easy and I hate the smell and mess of stripper. And I can't find the drawer pulls of my dreams in the right size. Or at least, I haven't found them yet.

Or I could spray paint my grandma's iron bedstead ivory. I painted it sunflower gold in college--now it's chippy (and not in the good vintage way). It's an odd size, but would still fit in our guest room and has lots more storage space underneath than the beautiful maple bed in there now. I just need a creative way to replace the creaky metal springs with something to support the boxspring.

Our bedroom drapes need replacing and I've found some nice fabric possibilities. I bought new rods already although I haven't acquired any rings yet. Even at a thrifty five bucks a yard, drapes take so much fabric that it adds up quickly. And I'm reluctant to deprive my sweetie of a vote on the material choice.

If I sewed new curtains for our family room though, I'd be re-creating the current color scheme of natural linen with red trim, a combination that suits us. I really want the new curtains to have simpler lines--that is if I can bring myself to part with the old-fashioned cottage-y ruffles. Uh-oh, I can feel indecision creeping up behind me, ready to pounce, even as I'm typing about ruffles versus clean lines.

I could just complete a few projects lying around or clean the house from top to bottom, but there's just not enough scope for mischief in that.

Decisions, decisions.  Feel free to comment and let me know what you'd do first (because I think I might have time to accomplish more than one thing on my list of possibilities if I get properly motivated.)

I need to get started so my "fun" has the proper degree of impact when he returns.  I love to surprise him!

Not at all lonely,