Small town life sounds good to me. As does living in the country. We had a few acres when I had horses and other animals back in the 60s and 70's. Phoenix is soooo big, too much traffic, and I hate driving even if it didn't cause my leg to go on the warpath. I was born in a small town, in Ala. I don't really going places alone either, and won't go out at night except to family gatherings at one of my kids. I'm waiting the arrival of my toile plates I just bought. Tho heaven knows what I can find to do with them, but will try just because of all the support I've gotten here. Any table settings I do will be just for ONE, maybe two if you're lucky. LOL. I'm going to be a one-trick pony, sorry about that. I just can't do full tables for many reasons. I've been 'planning' my Christmas decor. Really planning this year. Thought it might take some of the load off me being so over-whelmed with it when I go to unpacking a zillion things in the middle of the floor while telling two cats NOT to help me. A zillion times! One sleepless night I started plotting different places to put things this year. I want my newly begun collection of Nutcrackers (started last year) pretty much together. But I think the purple one should go with the Santa. And I have two golf Santas and two golf Nutcrackers that should stay together. Last year they were with my two other special Nutcrackers, a policeman and a fireman. These have a lot of meaning! I'm going to put my Village in the antique china cabinet in my entry hall this time I think, instead of Painted Pony Cabinet in familyroom. Tho I still have to move over a 100 statues from BOTH. I was thinking of putting Xmas horses and reindeer in the pony cabinet. I have quite a few of both now. Anyway, its fun to mentally decorate. It also doesn't wear me out or hurt my body. LOL. I think I'll start my Village next week in fact. First I have to make room for all those dog statues to safely go on closet shelves for the next two months! Ugh. hugs, Karen

Close-up of part of the Christmas village I painted in ceramics many years ago: ChChristmas dec made from an old screen: Our Christmas Season breakfast table: Our dining room chandy last December (Nature theme): Our New Mexico home's cozy reading area in our living room: exposed adobe walls; Native American Madonna; original batik painting of a pueblo in the snow, by well-known NM artist, Alice Valdez. Close-up of nature-themed fireplace mantel in same room: Ornament bought just because it was so darn cute! Lynn

Sunfeather - Here it is. Its a small room. The washer and dryer are behind the set of bifold doors closest to the window. Behind the other set of bifold doors is where we keep our laundry. I painted the lady, I painted the chairs, I built the table. Its my crazy painted room I guess but behind the doors is where all the washing happens. I guess the dark walls and the crazy art could be deemed strange but by my standards they are pretty tame.

Sort of a tangential aside and apologies for the thread hijack, tartan, but for those of us who like to decorate our own homes, has anyone seen Jeffrey Bilhuber's newest book by Rizzoli, "Everyday Decorating"? I was reminded of it by a post yesterday at The Glam Pad blog, https://www.theglampad.com/2019/06/jeffrey-bilhubers-secrets-to-everyday-decorating-home-tour.html Andrea at The Glam Pad writes that the book was designed to serve as the ultimate decorating handbook for those who love to go to Instagram or Pinterest for inspiration and design knowledge. "There are so many awe-inspiring, jaw-dropping design images out there, it’s hard to know what to do with this information overload," he explains. "Seeing a pretty room is one thing, but knowing how to distill what makes that space work and translate those takeaways into your own home is an entirely different matter." In "Everyday Decorating", Bilhuber shares the same nuggets of design gold that he has given his A-list clients... The book is divided into chapters that illustrate how to make your home more comfortable, happy, colorful, personal, lighter and brighter, charming, and cozy. Using iconic images spanning the breadth of his career, each of the rooms chosen for the book make a statement, and Bilhuber tells us why with practical advice and easy-to-follow tips that will inspire and empower anyone to make enlightened design decisions. Never again will you sit in the middle of a room asking, "How come I have all this nice stuff and I’m still unhappy?" or "Why doesn’t it go together?" I like his style and I'm always eager to learn more, so I find this description appealing. Will have to recommend it to the library system if they don't have it already, because I like to preview before I buy : ) . I know he wrote "Jeffrey Bilhuber's Design Basics: Expert Solutions for Designing the House of Your Dreams" about 15 years ago, but I didn't think that was particularly successful, especially for those of us who aren't Anna Wintour.