This is my favorite of five blue-glass pieces that I inherited from my late Granny Hamilton. You can find pieces exactly like this in almost any antique store, and although at first I didn’t think it fit my style, I find that the unique color adds just the right amount of eclecticism that I like to my home. Plus it reminds me of her, of the many summers we’d visit her house and she’d still have the Christmas tree up in July. Do all Grannies do that?

I found this at my favorite local antique shop, The Green Ant, and the moment I saw it I thought, yeah, we’ll be taking that home, thank you very much. It plugs into the wall and keeps the correct time, except my correct time is much different than the world’s correct time, meaning that the clock in the kitchen must be two minutes slow, while the clock in the bathroom must be five minutes fast. This one I’ve to set ten minutes fast, don’t ask me why because I don’t think I could explain it. It’s just the way it has to be for me to live my life, and now you can understand why Jon is rapidly losing his hairline.

Last year for Christmas I asked Jon for these plates, told him exactly which shelf they were on at Anthropologie, and explained that if he decided to get me socks instead he could just go ahead and cut my heart right out of my chest because IT WOULD BE THE SAME THING. I take my Koi decor very seriously.

One of my favorite artists online is Eleanor Grosch in Philadelphia, PA. She has a huge selection of screenprints available and I own six of them, including this Elephant print which is sadly sold out. Her designs are simple yet boldly graphic, and remind me a lot of Charley Harper’s work. Any one of these prints would make an excellent gift, but since I love elephants I will be keeping this one and hanging it in Leta’s room, although it will probably be years before she appreciates it.

So this is where I go off about how much I am in love with Flor tiles. It’s a nasty, dirty love, probably not safe for work or appropriate for young children. Some of you have noticed these carpet squares in some of my daily photos and have asked if I like them, do I recommend them, how well do they clean up, do they taste good with peanut butter? Oh, but they are that and so much more, can clear up oily skin and enlarge your penis.

The tiles come in 20-inch squares in an endless variety of colors and textures. We bought 49 squares in Morning Coffee – Decaf to make a 12-ft square rug in the living room (pictured above). When Leta spills her beer or Chuck throws up that diaper he ate this morning, we just break out a baby wipe, and poof, the mess is gone. I am not even making this up. Have you ever tried doing that with regular carpet? You end up with a giant off-color spot right there in the middle of the floor, and you just know people are coming over and looking at it and wrongly assuming that you are the type of person who smells her underwear to see if she can wear it an extra day.

In our old house we used six of the Shirt Stripe – French Cuff tiles in the kitchen, and then when we moved into this house we decided they’d be put to better use in the office:

You would not know this, but there were once red wine stains on those tiles, stains we took care of with a single baby wipe. Does this say more about the awesomeness of the tiles or the power of a baby wipe, I don’t know, but whatcan’t a baby wipe do? Have you ever stopped to think about that for a second? Raise your hand if the first thing you do the second anything goes wrong is reach for a baby wipe, before calling 911. That’s what I thought.

Perhaps the best thing about Flor tiles is the fact that they are recyclable, and the company is very serious about being friendly to the environment. We used these tiles in Leta’s bedroom and are now using them in the basement utility room (I don’t believe they make this particular pattern any longer):

But since they’re pink and hard to match with anything I’m thinking I may send them back to Flor for them to recycle (they will pay shipping) and ordering a different color. Not sure yet, depends on how fancy I want to get with the utility room. I should probably make a decision soon, because I got an email from someone who saw a picture of these tiles in Leta’s bedroom and said that they were so ugly that if I didn’t get rid of them Leta would develop a neurological problem, and I would have no one but myself to blame. I am so glad that the Internet is here to take care of me.

from the dooce archives

This is the KNAPPA KLÖVER floor lamp from Ikea, and I bought it while I was out shopping without Jon. I am sure that if he had been with me he would have tried to talk me out of this purchase, so I knew that I’d have to just show up at the house and say surprise! A new lamp! THAT YOU HAVE TO HELP ME ASSEMBLE. Fun! Fun!

It came in a rather flat, square-shaped package, and then it took us a good half hour to put it all together. And Jon has since admitted that he thinks it a rather charming addition to our living room, and not just because I was holding a gun to his head.

from the dooce archives

I ordered these from the cakehouse etsy shop last week, and when they came in the mail and I opened the package I squealed. There was actual squealing. And when Jon saw them he agreed that I was not overreacting.

I bought this print from an illustrator named Kate Wilson, and although her etsy shop is empty right now it’s definitely one to keep an eye on. Also, her portfolio is filled with an amazing set of work. This along with a couple other bird prints will be going up in the guest bedroom once we stop using that room as a storage space. Time to remove all the dead bodies.

from the dooce archives