Thursday, September 20, 2012

Function over form

You might not know this, but I don’t like useless things that are pretty.  My throw pillows are used (great to prop up the boppy!), my books are read, my candles are burned, my bud vases and ball jars hold flowers from my garden in the summer.  You will never see me do a post on styling a bookshelf because I don’t give a flying fart about styling bookcases.  I once put all my books in rainbow order and then realized that was dumb because they should be by author.  That is practical.
I think styled spaces look great in magazines, but I don’t live in a magazine, so I will not bother with it.  I do have a small collection of wooden cat statues because they make me smile, but for the most part I don’t have many things that only have the purpose of sitting somewhere looking nice.  Of course an exception is wall art and picture frames, it’s not like they are making me breakfast or telling me the time, but they make a home nicer to live in, which is something.  Anyramblingblogger, when I realized that I was logging lots of hours sitting in this here glider in the nursery...
I decided I was tired of looking at a blank wall.  I did want a little flat screen there, but I know it wouldn't get much use after his night feeding is dropped.
I bought a cute bicycle print from art.com, and realized a clock to log the minutes would be a welcome addition.  Specifically, I wanted to know how many minutes of precious sleep I was losing at night because I like to torture myself. I found a cute yellow clock at Target, and thought it would look sharp with my art and wall color. Then I hung it up and was pleased. 
So cute!  (Placement looks a little weird here, usually the buggy is against that wall and the closet door is open, so that is why I picked those spots.)  
I was happy until night time, then I was not pleased because this was what I saw:
Well, duh. How the hell am I supposed to see this thing at night?  I like to nurse in an almost totally dark room so Ash goes right back to sleep without a fuss, which he does.  A normal person would’ve invested in a digital clock for the nightstand, but I’m not normal. I decided to try something to make my clock work. I got out my teeny screwdrivers...
pulled out 5 wee screws...
and separated the clock from the glass enclosure.
Then I painted the hands of the clock with this glow in the dark paint I got at Hobby Lobby for $2.20 with a coupon.
I started off using a craft brush, but figured out by the 5th coat that a finger works best.  
I was glad that the paint dries pretty clear.  I charged this bad boy up with some light...
and was completely disappointed.  It is not visible in the dark, and barely glows even after laying under a lamp all night.  
This is the best pic I could get in the dark room.  This makes it look glowy, but that is more a trick of the camera.  Cry.  Guess I'm just not going to worry about what time it is at night.  Hey, at least this pretty clock is functional during the daytime.    

15 comments:

  1. This post cracked me up because that's totally something I would do. And I was just thinking about how we need to put a clock in the nursery because I never know what time it is when I go in there.

    PS - Have you thought about doing a red light in the nursery? We have a red bulb in the lamp on our changing table that we leave on all night and it's great because we can go in there for feedings, etc. at night and see to move around without having to turn a real light on. Plus apparently red lights are supposed to trigger the serotonin in your brain to make you sleep better (you can google red light and sleep to learn more) and P has been sleeping with it since birth and he currently sleeps 10-12 hours every night (just jinxed myself by saying that PS). And you may be able to see your clock in the red light too???

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  2. Uhg, total bummer on the clock, but hey you tried! I laughed at the pic with the cat on the changing table. My cat would be doing the same thing. Always trying new places to catch a nap.

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  3. Ha! I totally laughed at your in the dark picture. This is totally something I would do. I'll ask the Davester if there are any glow in the dark paints that work. He's good at stuff like that.

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  4. I agree completely about function over form! My rule is if something hangs on a wall it can be pretty without actually doing anything, but if it's going to use up surface area it has to serve a purpose, otherwise it just gets on my nerves.

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  5. I feel the SAME way about decor. Function above all, and some nice artwork. Everything else is just a dust collector. In fact, I was 100% with you up until the cat statues. That's just weird. ;)

    I'm sorry your clock was a fail, but it does look super cute against the dark gray wall in the daylight!

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  6. So agree with the function and form thing. What if you put it over one those flat LED night lights. It might glow through the back of the clock. It would definitly be random to have a wall clock over an outlet and not really practical once that sweet little guy starts crawling but it could be fun.

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  7. Haha! I'm right there with you--so many times I've wanted a TV for those late night feedings...which by the way, could leave anytime now! : )

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  8. Thanks for being that blogger who doesn't follow trends but has practicality in your space. Its so REFRESHING to see I'm not the only one!

    -Kelby
    http://peachypains.com

    PS - thanks for stopping by my blog last week and leaving a comment. It made my weekend. :)

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  9. lol, this totally sounds like something that would happen to me. Genius idea though!

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  10. I'm SO with you on the bookshelf. Great idea about the clock!

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  11. This is why I love you, sexypants. You keep it real & you make me laugh.

    I did the SAME thing!! I hung a glam little ornate wall clock right after we brought Q home...& couldn't see it. So now I have a small ugly digital clock that lights up when I tap it.

    ::sigh:: What happened to us?! Sleep deprivation, that's what happened to us. Also, I think I drink more wine now than I did in college, it's how I deal. ;)

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  12. I really like the bicycle print your chose. And as for the clock, you gave it a good shot at least it's cute and functional during the day.

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  13. Boo, I thought for sure the glow in the dark paint was going to work! I'm with you, whenever I get up in the night I have to torture myself by looking to see what time it is. :)

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  14. Haha this made me laugh and smile.

    I do have to say, however, about having color coordinated books-- I keep mine in rainbow order, but I'm very visual, and I know my books by the colors on their spines. However, I hate that it's been such a trendy thing to do in the last several years.

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  15. It was worth a shot! Sara - what paint color did you use in the nursery? I love it! Sorry if you have posted that detail before, but I am really behind on my blog reading. :)

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Thanks so much for reading....your comments mean a lot to me!
Sara