damselfish | House Projects

I had an excellent week. The condo is back with the original negotiator, and it's moving apace once again. I should be moving in about a month.

Pleased, I went to IKEA to procure a desk as I'd failed to find anything else to satisfy my wants, so I got a glass table top and some legs all for $127, which is just a fraction of the prices of the other desks I'd been looking at. Because it's glass it doesn't look nearly as cheap as inferior wood, either. Yay me! Too bad I had to make about a 100 mile round trip to get to the place. I'm beginning to think the "IKEA is out in BFE because of lower taxes and passing on the cost to the consumer" conspiracy has some merit.

But more importantly, I've still been thinking about decor ideas. And for that, gentle readers, I need help from you. I saw the cutest beach vignette container but I can't figure out what's in it!

I can recognize the succulent on the right, and the flowers are admittedly a mystery to me but they don't concern me nearly as much as the grass. The pot is 14 inches in diameter, to give you an idea of the size. I can't figure out if it is some type of tiny, slow-growing grass or an herb. If anyone has any ideas, I would love you forever and ever. It looks exactly like the grass I'd see at Sanibel, except Sanibel's grasses were a good, oh, four feet high instead of a few inches.

I'm also mulling over whiteboard/chalkboard calendars. Senior year of college I had a print out calendar for every month stuck to my wall and it helped me manage my time far better than any computer calendar or book-shaped planner. Being able to see everything all at once, and really make blocks of time that I could see was the solution I needed and helped me finish my 80-odd page thesis early (not even on time, but early). So I'd like to do it again in my condo, since I have a decently large office space. I figured I'd get a plain old whiteboard calendar. Only problem is, I've discovered liquid chalk and it's gorgeous! So colorful. I also saw this chalkboard wall decal that looks far better than anything else I've seen-- miles better than similar whiteboard calendars-- but $70 for a chalkboard sticker? Really?

Google only gives me DIY solutions with chalkboard paint like this one, but no way am I painting a chalkboard on my walls or writing on them. A solution could be to paint two pieces of board with said paint and use those instead as a two month calendar where I can swap back and forth off hanging hooks. I've also seen some really cool stuff done with glass. Anyone have any thoughts?