Subject: Blast from the Past

Melissa -

Hi - I hope you had a great Thanksgiving/shopping weekend! My Ikea trip was almost a 100% success - they didn't have the spice racks in stock. That was actually one of the saddest things to me, because I had been so looking forward to using them in Suz's future reading nook, but maybe I will come about them another way. Plus, I'm not assembling the nook tomorrow, so there's still time.

In addition to bringing back my Ikea goods, I also snagged a few of my childhood favorites from my parents' attic. Suz is to the age where she's in to pretend play and is getting to the age where she is more independent, so everything I brought back is geared along those lines. Let me warn you: these pieces have been sitting in my parents' attic for the last 25-ish years (OMG, that is so depressing to realize), and who knows HOW old they were before then...all that to say, they're not in the best shape. But it's their potential I am most interested in. So, without further ado, some of my childhood relics...

Here is a baby cradle I see in Suz's future 'big girl' room for all her stuffed animals and baby dolls:

However, in its current state it looks like something from some scary doll hospital, so I will be painting it a bright, clean white (maybe a laquer-y finish?) and I thought about making a new mattress for it with the fabric from Suz's current crib skirt, since she won't be needing it for too much longer and it seems like a sweet way to recycle it.

Next up, this play highchair:

When I imagined this in my head, I couldn't decide whether I would paint it or not, but then seeing it in person confirmed it for me: I WILL be painting it. Some of the wood has gotten nicked over the years and the whole thing just seems dirty and depressing. If it had been in better shape I might have considered keeping it as-is, just because something about the kittens seems Sally Draper-ish* in a way, but now I am looking forward to giving it a new life with a fresh coat of paint. Plus, Baby Bobby may want to play with it, and the kittens and pink tray makes it even funnier for a boy to play with (and will make Mr. Lass cringe even more).

We have ordered this play kitchen for Suz for Christmas:

I am envisioning setting up the highchair next to the kitchen, so maybe my paint scheme will coordinate with the kitchen. I think I might do the whole thing white and then paint the tray a fun red, and then maybe do red polka dots where the kittens are now.

Lastly, I lived in this table & chairs growing up:

It actually has four chairs, but it was 50 degrees and windy today, so I only pulled one chair out of the garage to show you. This thing is in terrible shape, obviously, but I think it has a lot of potential as well. I think if given the choice I might not have chosen this exact set, but I think it will be cute once it has been painted. But I am getting stuck on what color to paint it. It will be going in the kitchen, near-ish my dining area, so I want it to coordinate with that to some degree, but not match out-right because I want it to still be kid-friendly. To remind you, here is my dining area presently:

I considered painting everything white, but then painting the table top a dark color, just to hide whatever dirt/crayon/jelly will end up on this thing. Maybe like a deep turquoise-y/green? But, just to give you a closer view of this set, check out the legs on the table and the chair:

They have a wave to them which I think is kind of interesting. Should I try to highlight that in some way? I am hesitant to do any kind of crazy color, just because I don't want it to look too Willy Wonka with the black and white tile floors. Thoughts?

I feel like I am an elf in Santa's workshop with all the painting I have been doing around here, trying to get projects finished up before the end of the year. It's an arbitrary deadline, but I want to see how much I can get done in the next month so I can focus on getting my house ready for the craziness to come in March!

Hope you have a great weekend!
Kara

*I know that Dorothy Draper is a real style, but I feel like Sally/Don/Betty Draper have also attained the status of having a style named for them too, right? I guess I use it as a way to reference back to the 1960s/Mad Men era in general.