How are you holding up during the Covid crisis, Gentle Readers? I hope you and everyone you care about are hanging in there. We (design team and our families) are all healthy and busy, knock wood.
We are delighted that several new clients are starting their interior design projects virtually. Thank you! It feels great to get a jump on these projects, doesn’t it?
In non-pandemic times, I usually do some work-related things on weekends. I might do a little writing, organize the office, or conduct research I don’t have time to do during the week.
But because my office is in my house, the days are running together now. I’m feeling a little like our favorite Dowager Countess, wondering what a weekend is. The rhythm in the house is off. My daughters and husband are always here. My colleagues are not; they’re working remotely. And the dog is stressed out, because she can’t decide where to nap. She doesn’t want to offend anyone.
So to add structure to my life and demarcate week from weekend, I’ve decided that I should do no design work on Saturdays or Sundays.
Good plan, right? But like most of my friends and possibly like you, I find myself getting bored on those days without work.
To wit, this is what I did last weekend.
Cleaned the staircase banister. I mean deep cleaned.
Washed the dog.
Washed the dog’s bed. Washed the sheets on MY bed. Put duct covers on dining room vents that were ugly gaping holes for two years. Touched up the nicks on our kitchen cabinets. Cleaned the cabinet faces with toothpicks. (I wish I were kidding about that last one, but sadly, I’m not.)
And this is what I did THIS weekend.
Discovered the British police procedural DCI Banks.
Sorted the linen closet and asked Ruthie to make nifty little labels for the shelves. Bagged up all of the sheets and towels that belonged somewhere else: a different closet, my mother-in-law’s weekend house, the donation box, the rag bag. (Nicole Anzia, are you SO proud of me?!)
Dusted.
Ate Easter candy from Whole Foods, which, let’s be honest, isn’t NEARLY as satisfying as the tacky stuff from CVS. Georgie disagrees, but she’s up for everything.
Despite doing a lot of stuff, I was far from satisfied. Cleaning and organizing can take you only so far. Like you, I used to be able to ignore lots of things, but now…the house is just getting to me.
So I searched for a bedroom rug. Online. Again. There’s a broadloom I’ll probably break down and order from my amazing carpet guys, but it would take a while to get here.
I looked for a bedskirt. Online. Again. If it ever arrives, getting it onto the bed and ironing it (hopefully not in that order) will eat up half a day some weekend, so that’s good.
I reviewed Ruthie’s suggestions for new wallpaper in the foyer. (You may already know that from Instagram.) Probably #18 on our list of priorities, but a girl can dream.
Finally, I gave in. I took the car — in which, I realized, I had not been for two and a half weeks — and brought some leftover fabric to our fabulous seamstress.
I asked her, from a respectable distance of six feet, whether she would please, please make some pillows for me. Because I am going crazy spending this much time in my house.
And I know pillows will help. Hang in there, everyone.
Annie Elliott Design is based in Washington, DC, but we travel for fun projects. Annie’s design work and insights have appeared in numerous local and national publications, including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Washingtonian Magazine. Annie will be participating in the ASPIRE HOUSE, a designers’ showcase, this fall.
