New Ottoman. It's pink!

Yay, I have Columbus Day off. We celebrated by picking up the ottoman cushion (my mom helped reupholster the base during a recent visit, and it's been waiting naked for too many weeks for its top.).

 

I won't let the day go to waste, but before I start Operation Clean, I had to put my feet up and give it a true test.

 

No need to watch TV, though. Our neighbors seem to be installing an inflatable graveyard next door, complete with ghosts hanging in the trees. Far more interesting to watch.

If Operation Clean is a success, I'll be back later with more pictures of the living room.

Striped upholstery and issues of symmetry

Choosing fabric for chairs is a tad overwhelming. Solids or patterns? And if patterned, what kind? Florals? Zig zag? This pair makes a pretty good case for colorful stripes.

Same photo, different topic: The chairs are the only symmetrical items in this room, which is interesting. The yellow pillow is balanced by the yellow lamp, and if it weren't for that, I think the room would be way off kilter. The more I look at it, the more wacky I feel. I guess I like symmetry.

Bed vs. commute

Perfection in the form of white down.

Someday I will look back at these posts and wonder, "why are there so many pictures of beds?"

Then I will look at this picture and remember that soft, fluffly beds are hard to get out of your mind when the reality is a slushy, cold commute.

It is pretty, though. The view is of Central Square in Cambridge, with a straight shot down Massachusetts Avenue toward Boston. You can even see my favorite building off in the distance - the John Hancock Tower (an I.M. Pei creation).

Tasteful decor: Peppermint candy

A pink bedroom is sweet enough as it is, without anyone pointing out that if it needed a candy comparison,

it would be peppermint ribbon candy. See the red trim on the pillows? It's there on the candy, too. You see where this is going ...

(ribbon candy)

You can practically taste the hand-blocked red and white striped wallpaper in a Cote d'Azur beach house designed by Nicholas Haslam.

It tastes like peppermint sticks, of course.

(peppermint stick)

A sweet settee with pink bolster pillows ...

... is, in candy form, a round peppermint lollipop. If you squint, the ends of the pillows look like the classic peppermint spiral design.

(peppermint lollipop)

And fluffy pink pillows combined with a red blanket

( Decor Pad )

or a crisp wintergreen trim

(Sharyn Blond linens)

couldn't be anything else but pink peppermint marshmallows.

(peppermint marshmallows )

A creamy bed with the vaguest hints of stripes and red (see the tie on the pillow in the back?) and a tufted bench ...

... is a bowl of peppermint ice cream.

And finally, a sparkly white mantel with wintergreen accents and icy, glittery snowflakes

(holiday mantel)

is, in foodie form, an icy, minty drink, appropriately called "Peppermint Cheer."

(Peppermint Cheer)

Lucky for us, Peppermint Cheer has a recipe.

Peppermint Cheer
Ingredients:
1 1/2 parts Vanille Royale
1/2 part peppermint schnapps
1/2 Grey Goose vodka
Shake ingredients with ice and strain into a chilled martini glass, or serve on the rocks. Garnish with a peppermint stick or sprig of mint.

And lucky for me, Peppermint Cheer sounds like it will be a delicious pairing with potato latkes!