Musings on Slipcovers...

I'm very tempted by this slipcover tutorial I ran across this morning, titled, "The Laziest Slipcover Tutorial EVER!" We have a great chair, ottoman, and couch that I love- they are really comfortable and roomy and the pillow covers come off for washing, and they were free. I mean, can you beat free? I submit that you cannot.

So I really like them, and want to keep them around for a while, but unfortunately whoever designed these amazing pieces lost their mind around the fabric selection part of the process (or had a showroom in mind instead of my living room, populated with real people), and chose a lovely cream with lavender stripes. MmmmHmmm.

So I've been thinking of slipcovering, but every time I look at the couch, especially, it just seems too big and overwhelming. Also, I get distracted by the piping and the way the stripes line up and wonder whether the slipcover should go under or over the cushions, etc. Also, I'm intimidated by fabric selection. It is one thing to buy fabric for a skirt, or a window treatment, or a mai tai- if you change your mind, it is a small amount of fabric. But a couch is pretty big, and I would want to get duck cloth or something similar, heavyweight, and that adds up quickly. So I don't want to make a mistake, but I'm not sure what is most practical.

I was thinking maybe white- then I could bleach it if it got stained, and line dry it to help brighten it up before it needed the heavy hand of bleach. On the other hand, everything will show up on white.

What do you think? Would white be best? If not, what would be better? A dark pattern? I kind of like the bright, airy look of the cream and lavender, so I think I'd like the white, but I don't want to bring down extra furniture maintenance or extra laundry on my head. Thoughts?

Amoretti giveaway!

Enter in the Fortnightly purse! This time, including tea, digestive biscuits, and a polka dotted tea tin!

quote of the day

The real problem is not whether machines think but whether men do.
- B. F. Skinner

This makes a similar point to one Douglas Wilson made in his talk "Devil in a Blue Dress" in the "Church and Pop Culture" Ministerial Conference, which I've just started listening through.

The technology in and of itself- internet, television, ipod, cell phone - isn't sinful. It is the way you use it that determines whether it is helpful or problematic, acceptable or sinful.

Trailer for "Is Christianity Good for the World?"

So true

more animals

Today...

A small time town parade and town days. Booths everywhere. The perfect necklace, but made of healing magnetic beads that the vendor assured me would be "too strong" for me unless I had chronic pain issues. Hmm. Decide to pass on the necklace in case she is right that it will make me sleepy or unconfortable if it is "too strong". Kettle corn. Brisket and chips. The parade, prominently featuring tractors, four wheelers, bicycles, and horses, wound around the streets. Small dogs in costume. Scary clowns. Kids, high on sugar, and face painted. Sweet tea. Too loud local bands replace country played over the PA after a while. Cedar chests are down the way, on the left. People know us that I've never heard of. They've already seen the baby, he's been up and down the street already, aunts escorting him hither and yon.

Amoretti is having another giveaway!

This time, it features sea salt and an antique silver urn, as well as a Skirty!

Laughter

The most wasted of all days is one without laughter.
- e e cummings

'How to make Yorkshire pudding

Ok, this is not an endorsement, because I haven't tried it, but my "how to of the day" widget displayed the link this morning and I didn't want to misplace it.

Quote of the moment...

In politics, absurdity is not a handicap.
- Napoleon Bonaparte

That explains a lot about our current political situation. Politicians do something ridiculous, and we all go, "Hmmmmm...." and stretch our minds to figure out how it could somehow be ok or mean something completely different. Either way they've got our attention.

Amoretti Giveaway!

You can visit Bekah Merkle's new blog and enter to win a Skirty and some snazzy bookplates too!

So what are you reading?

I'm reading The Penguin Complete Father Brown, and I'm really sad that I'm 7/8ths through! I wish it was much bigger. :-)

Nathan's newest accomplishment...

is switching things from hand to hand! So far he only seems to switch from left to right, so we're wondering if that means he is right handed. I guess we'll just have to wait and see!

quotes

"Try to learn something about everything and everything about something."
- Thomas H. Huxley

"You probably wouldn't worry about what people think of you if you could know how seldom they do."
- Olin Miller

I've got three quotes daily on my homepage, and I liked these two today.