And I resurface. I actually have a little post-partum depression today. But this is what I've been up to. Make your Deco Book today

Harold and Maude. What a lovely meditation on the cycle of life. Maude says, "You shouldn't get attached to things, but I love collecting," as she takes Harold into the old railroad car where she lives. I couldn't find any shots of the place she lives, but it's so wonderfully eclectic and full of musical instruments and, um, art. Harold who lives in a huge, old, well-appointed house is delighted. I want to be a Maude who knows that we're all daisies and that we shouldn't get attached to things.

PS: We're launching a new section of the site so I've not been blogging. Sorry. More anon.

Look what the Brooklyn Bachelor's up to. More than I'm up to, as usual.

Thinking I ought to rename the blog "Scrappy Girl Doesn't Decorate."

Yeah. We've discussed this, but look how pretty this fridge is. What if I did a big red beadboard backsplash and had this fridge in the kitchen. Would it work? I'll dig up a picture from the magazine that I'm referring to...

By way of Orange Beautiful, Shelterrific scolds me for slacking with the house decorating. Nice.

When I went to photographer Matt Albiani's apartment to do a video house tour, I was in awe of his wall of friends and photos and memorabilia. It felt like a collection that had existed forever. But he didn't get all the things he hangs on his walls at once. Nor did Thom Filicia, who keeps all the boat propellers he ruins strewn about his lake house.

So how do you make a thematic collection that's evovled over time seem cohesive. With my tree wall, I (or rather, my friend Isaac, who hung them while I cooked):

1. paired things by using similar frames,
2. grouped dissimilar items that shared a color palette,
3. created a balance of large and small pieces by using a large central piece, framing them with smaller ones, then flanking those with larger ones.

If I'd had to do it on my own, I'd have consulted our own how to hang art slide show because it's just full of great tips.

Following this logic, my new Anders Knuttson tree is going below the Frank Evans pieces to the left.

I haven't felt like cleaning my apartment, much less writing about it. But I did one of my favorite little tricks to cheer myself up last week and it worked.

I went to iTunes and typed "sunshine" into the search, then hit play. Up came Roy Ayers, "Everybody Loves the Sunshine" and lots of other terrificly happy songs.

I wound up cleaning out a closet, taking a bunch of clothes out to a consignment shop, and getting rid of a huuuge air-conditioner that I bought but don't need, and listing these shelves on Craigslist, which Apartment Therapy's scavenger picked up this morning.

Kiss these shelves goodbye because someone's coming to get them tonight. If that changes, I'll let you know and you can buy them yourself...

Look at what I was up to two years ago...

...but in true Scrappy Girl fashion, I was walking to the subway yesterday and spied this mattress coil-spring thing with all the batting missing, and had a Eureka moment. I says to myself: "That trash there would make a gorgeous room divider." But did I pick it up? Noooooo. Do I regret it? Yessssssss.

only comes back when some stranger says she's hot. Thanks gowelamb. Scrappy Girl may be hot, but she's gone cold on her apartment and isn't sure what to do about it.

thedesigneditor sends this metal pendant lamp, which I kind of like:

But that's the problem with me these days. I "kind of like" things. People and nature, I love. Things, not so much.

This past weekend I visited some friends in Western Massachusetts and was mesmerized by the company, the garden, the red-spotted newts, the fireflies and the milfoil-infested pond. So much so that I didn't even care that the Salvation Army thrift shop was closed for the holiday.

I'm currently playing if-I-chucked-it-all-and-moved-to-Western-Mass-what-could-I-do-for-work in my head. Any and all ideas welcome.

More about the kitchen appliances sitting in my living room anon.