Nesting

Look at this adorable kokeshi Brooke brought me back from England!

Hohoemi

Her name is Hohoemi, according to the packaging and the little sign that came with her and the label stuck to her bottom. Ho ho ho!

Brooke told me she and David specifically looked for one of these because they knew I’d lost my original in the fire. Apparently they are very popular in England.

In the picture above, Hohoemi is sitting with the tray I bought at the oriental market on Dean’s Bridge, the chopstick rests I bought at that same market and at Hibari Market in Lexington, and a pair of chopsticks from the Dean’s Bridge market. All of these are sitting on the beautiful bar table Mom and Dad got for us:

bar table and stools close up

bar table and stools

They actually sent us two of these, due to a problem with the online ordering, and they said we could keep the second one too. Originally I was going to put them in the dining room, but after building the first one, I didn’t think it looked right, so I put it in the living room. We’ll have to see where the other one ends up.

As you can see, Sean has set up shop on the kotatsu. He loves it. As I have taken much delight in telling everyone, he keeps it on in 80 degree weather.

Originally he was disappointed by the size; we both expected it to be a little bigger. But then I remembered that it is a Japanese piece of furniture :>

I want a low black shelf to go on the wall where the TV is, to hold our books and DVDs. And then I want to get some rice paper accent lights. After that, the living room should be pretty much done, other than curtains and wall hangings.

You’ll note that I have moved the chairs out. One of them is in the office, serving as my desk chair. I put the other one in the bedroom yesterday. I think that works pretty well.

Peter gets comfortable

The rest of the bedroom needs serious work. Our new king-sized bed should be arriving soon, at which point we’ll pick a mattress. We’re thinking about TempurPedic, but we’re going to check out other options too. I’ve always been intrigued by the one with the “cells” that don’t distribute movement, so you can jump up and down on the bed without spilling a glass of red wine. We’ll just have to see what’s comfortable.

Other than the new bed, I’d like a chest of drawers and two night stands. The gold lamps from the living room will probably end up in the bedroom, since they don’t match the sleek style I’m going for, so the night stands will need to be large enough to accomodate them.

I’m thinking about putting the bed we have now in the office, so people can stay over, and to perhaps encourage Sean to come in here and be near me (he likes computing in bed). It just depends; there will need to be something, a small table or shelf or desk, on that wall to hold the router and modem, and Sean might decide he wants a desk after all…so there might not be room for the bed.

I still want a noren (or two!) for the kitchen. And depending on how I end up arranging the bar tables, we might need some sort of dining room table, too. We’ll see. I also still need a shelf for my bathroom.

In all, though, things are really coming together. I’m happy with our space and the things we’ve chosen to fill it :)