Home Decorating

This is a photo from the HGTV.com website. I love the painting on the brick wall and the black cubby-like shelves on that same wall. To decorate our house with such simplistic comfort is a dream of mine. I pour over design and home decorating magazines. The only channel I care to watch anymore is HGTV so I can see what other people are doing to make their home not only appealing to the eye, but functional.

If I could go back to college, it just might be in home design. Although, there surely must be some natural ability, it would make sense that a talent for decorating could be learned and cultivated. I believe, however, that I do have a creative bent toward the arts. It just needs some cultivating and self-motivation to bring it out. I have a love of music, color and theater; all of which are attributes of creative home design. A learned knowledge of how to create a cohesive palette of color and design in our home would be helpful in accomplishing my decorating goals.

Sometimes I think that it takes a lot of money to fund a designing itch. After watching a lot of HGTV and reading the design magazines, a lot is done with things the homeowner already has. Being able to change the way furniture, pictures, fabrics and colors were used in the past and initiate new uses or places for them in the house is all it takes.

That being said, sometimes I also see the designers chunk an old worn out sofa in exchange for a new one. The sofa in our den is a 5-piece sectional that I really never liked from the beginning and have experienced buyer's remorse ever since it was purchased from dear "Mattress Mac". When we bought it, the idea was that we had three growing boys that had been pretty rough on furniture. We were down to a piano stool and one heavy sofa in the living room and we were aching for more places to sit. The purchase was made while living in our previous, smaller house that really couldn't handle the giant-sized sectional either. However, my husband liked the large comfy recliners, sofa bed and pull-down table that made up the large one-piece living room set. I thought I liked it too until we got it home and I could see what a mammoth it really was. It has served us well over the years and given us an extra bed when the boys brought friends over, but there are no more little boys and it is time this mammoth became extinct.

We have never really had a lot of money to invest in furniture. There are some pieces in our house that we've had for most of our marriage and are still in modest condition. However, my taste and need for it has changed. The wood color, size and shape are not as functional anymore. At one time the trend for bedroom furniture was maple colored and heavy. Our heavy dresser with the big mirror standing on top and heavy chest of drawers just isn't practical in our bedroom. Our master bedroom is really too small for such large pieces. So, the furniture overpowers the room size. I'd love to get something more to scale with the proportions of the room to aid in the flow and feel of the space.

However, I realize I need to start inexpensive. The first step will be to paint walls. When we bought this house, every room was painted a different color. Designers say its good to add color and pop to a room. However, the colors were not of my choosing and not ones that I would have chosen. So, we had all of the walls throughout painted a neutral, new-house beige with white trim. It felt fresh, new and I liked it. Now, having lived here for five years, I am ready for that bland color to disappear. All the designers say that paint is the least expensive way to change and update a room. So, that is where I'll start. I'm thinking the trendy mossy green color on the walls of my formal living and dining rooms might look nice with dark wood furniture.

The house will be an ongoing project for my retirement years. Creative projects will be a lot of fun as I see and enjoy the end results. As I progress from one project to the next, I'll get better at redecorating. I will look forward to and enjoy the challenge of turning this house into a decorative, functional home. That is, with a little help from my friends at HGTV and most likely, also Lowe's. I'll let you know how it goes.

Closings and New Beginnings

The BLT-I (Baytown Little Theater the first) took a hit and sank last July, but the real heart of the theater, still beats strong through each person volunteering their time and talents to producing her plays. Our new space, the BLT-II, as it has been dubbed, will carry on the long tradition of dramatic theater in Baytown for as long as it is needed. The future is looking like a bright star for the Baytown Little Theater.

The Good Doctor closed to a receptive audience Saturday night. As our cast and crew were moving out, the church group meeting in that same space on Sunday mornings, was moving in. The 230 or so patrons that graced the sanctuary of the Presbyterian church building gave favorable critiques to the BLT production for which I assisted Kim's direction. In spite of all the hassles associated with sharing a facility, I really enjoyed the challenge of putting on the play. We had a great cast and crew to work with. I’m not exaggerating when I say that I’ll miss seeing them as much.

Today I’m left with costumes to dry clean then return to the University of Houston theater costume shop next week. There is also a small assortment of props to be returned to their rightful owners, not to mention some leftovers from the cast party on Friday night with which something must be done. The fact is, the play has ended and oddly enough, I’m ready for another one. Well, perhaps not right away, but definitely in the future.

Furthermore, the future of the Baytown Little Theater is definitely all the buzz right now. Excitement is building along with the theater's new digs in the middle of Baytown. Many of us working the late night set strike of The Good Doctor were locking up some of BLT’s properties in our new permanent/temporary theater, presently undergoing renovations. I have made several quick visits to the space over the past month to follow the progress of transforming 5000 square feet of space from a physical therapy clinic into a playhouse of theatrical renderings. Walls have been knocked out, risers constructed for seats and theatrical lighting of all kinds are being installed to illuminate the acting space. Yes, it is very exciting times for the Little Theater.

It is my perception that many of my thespian friends are getting as itchy as I am to start producing plays in our renovated space. The upcoming much anticipated move of costumes, properties, sets, tickets, make up and mirrors to Hugh Echols Drive, will truly be an opening we won’t want to miss. Though it's location has changed, the BLT will continue to bring award-winning theater to our community.

Secrets

Secrets are those things we keep hidden from other people because we are afraid of what those people might think about us if they knew..........

I found a blog that apparently has been around for a year or more and is the most read blog with Blogspot. It is called PostSecret. From what I can tell, the person that began the blog started this project by asking people to anonymously mail a homemade postcard to him with their secret written on it. He has received so many (which he posted to the blog) that now he has published his 4th book with their postcards and secrets. The secrets are a poignant commentary on people's everyday lives.

I watched a YouTube about the project and it was very intriguing to me. All people have secrets, or at least I believe most people do. I do. There are usually a safe few with whom we trust our secrets, but still something inside of us wishes everyone, not just our confidant, knew the real truth about who we are.

Here is a little secret about me. There was a time in my not so distant past that I wished I was Catholic so I could go to confession. It seemed like a good way to finally tell an unbiased person, who didn't know me, about all the sins I'd committed. The priest would absolve them, making them nonexistent and the burden of my past would be lifted.

In the church where I attend, anyone can confess sins by walking down front after the message of the preacher, while a song is sung. Then, one of the preachers or elders sits down with that person to hear their confession. Next, they announce to all who have assembled for that service, what was shared and a prayer is led on their behalf. The glitch for me comes with confessing to everyone in the sanctuary and not just one person who is sworn by God to secrecy. So, the Catholic confession seemed to me less open to ridicule by all who were present at that service.

Frank Warren is the author of the book "A Lifetime of Secrets", recently released on October 9, 2007. My plan is to buy the book and read it cover to cover. In some weird way, it makes me feel better about myself to know there are other people that have secrets like mine. Who knows, maybe one day I'll send Frank an anonymous postcard too, or perhaps visit a Catholic confessional.

"Now make confession to the Lord, the God of your fathers, and do his will." Ezra 10.11