One Year In

I have been living in Winnemucca for over a year now, which sets the record for the longest contiguous stay in one place since I was sixteen. Overall, it has been a good year. I have thoroughly enjoyed nesting and exploring my creative horizons. Professionally, Winnemucca has brought numerous opportunities and challenges which have led to some stress but ultimately, great fulfillment.  Living in a small town is wonderful when you want to commute to work in under three minutes, walk to every conceivable location, and enjoy a quieter lifestyle. But with this comes the limitations of breaking into a community that is either highly transient (I have now been in Winnemucca longer than half of the employees at my office) or completely entrenched (half of those who have temporal seniority on me have been here for 15+ years, if not their whole lives). It is an awkward place to be as a twenty something in a long distance relationship. While I have not given up on a rewarding social life, most of my rejuvenation and outside of work activity revolves around the art projects that I produce. I am so grateful to have the tools and time at my disposal to learn new skills. I am also deeply thankful for those of you who read my blog and provide a community, albeit a virtual one.  I am not writing this to whine, but to be honest and dispel any illusion of perfection in my life.
And while we’re on the theme of imperfection, I thought I would give you a little house tour. I did not clean up in advance, and the photography is far from ideal. I love this house. As with my personal life this place has come a long way, but is still a work in progress.
Here is the dining room in 2011:

And in 2012:

The camping table, and first roommate are gone. The deceptively comfortable white chair is now in the room of Roomie #2.  Yes, that is a tequila bottle covered fake plant in the corner. It does not belong to me, if there were any questions. Let’s play ‘I Spy that Project’:

1. Suitcase stool
2. Half finished dining table set. The table used to be the yellow oak color of two of those chairs. Eventually they will have the walnut/white combo.
3. Vintage mirror from my Christmas candle display.

Ok, not much going on in the dining room. On to the living room.
2011:

2012:

In the living room, let’s spy:

1. Brand new fake fire place/gas heater.
2. The other half of the Christmas candle project.
3. The desk turned cabinet. While the construction of the desk is solid, I still am not crazy about the color combination. Furthermore, one of the re-purposed handles fell off today, so I may be back to the drawing board on this one. At the very least, I won’t be sad to part with it if I move away from Winnemucca.
4. Dr. Suess lamp. Half way through its transformation from your yawn inducing college kid lamp to a more interesting and austere light fixture.
5. Part of a crocheted rug. Here’s a hint: it won’t end up as a table cloth.
6. A blank wall, desperate for some Sarah-Do: February art action.

And into the kitchen! This might be my favorite room in the house.
2011:

2012:

I have probably put the most effort into this room, and it is the closest to “finished” as I have right now.  There are now cabinet doors (and drawers!) installed. We also ditched the avocado refrigerator in favor of a more sightly, and most importantly, functional appliance. You will also see:

1. The hand built kitchen table and chairs that started my DIY frenzy.
2. Microwave stand that I painted red. I also painted/decoupaged some old oatmeal and spagetti sauce jars to create cheap yet decorative storage containers for my beans, nuts, and other bulk items.
3. Wine bottle art! I am not sure if I ever blogged this particular installment in which I glued buttons and handmade flowers onto the wine bottles.
4. A Quagmire Halloween costume. Unfortunately, not mine.

Here is another view of the kitchen. For your viewing pleasure:

1. Barnyard bench, designed to contain our recycling.
2. One moderately contained craft supply corner.
3. A pumpkin shell turned bowl.
4. Safety gear. Don’t forget to wear your earplugs and safety glasses!

I don’t have a before picture of my bedroom, but here is how it looks now:

I Spy:

1. 2 lamps, halfway completed.
2. Hand made wall art, never blogged.
3. My first curtain sewing attempt, crafted from thrifted sheets. All in all, a success. At the time, I did not know the golden rule of curtain hanging: high and wide. Learn from my mistakes, gang.
4. A mirror, in need of a home on a wall and possibly a home made frame.
5. 1 slightly tacky throw pillow, that might get a make-over one day.

My bedroom used to be part of the wrap around porch.

And last, but not least, is me! 90% of my weekends are spent looking like this:

All this to say, I am not perfect nor am I the perfect crafter. It may look like a half-baked disaster around here most of the time, but I enjoy it, and I hope you do to.Before my projects make it onto the blog they usually sit around incomplete while I wait for the final flourish of inspiration to hit me. Art is messy, but in the mess I find a peace and quiet joy in my life here. And at the end of the day, that is all that matters.