mounting a 50 year old deer rack

....and did I mention cleaning it?  Yuck.  Don't read this post if you're feeling queasy.

My husband's grandfather shot this deer about 50 years ago in western Massachusetts.  But he failed to remove the skin/fur from the scalp before he mounted the rack in the shed.  Where it had remained....until I brought it home.  After polling guys at my office about how best to clean the skull cap (a perk of working for the Dept of Fish and Game), I'm letting the skull cap soak, then pulling and scraping the scalp until it's clean.  The image above is after I scraped the FIRST layer of gunk off.  That yellow stuff is more...goo or whatever.  After scraping it all off, then I'll do a peroxide treatment to bleach it. 

I'm planning to mount it to this curvy, oval plate from AC Moore. Probably staining the front face and painting the edging BM Hale Navy.

But how to style it?  I prefer the European style where the skull isn't covered up with leather or cloth.  I like seeing the white of the skull and where it meets the antlers.  Here's a few ideas....

farewell trading

deerly behooved

damn you sconces

(houzz)

probably in another world, or in another home, one might be jealous that we have wall sconces. probably. but, I despise them. they look like generic dentist office lights and make me cringe every time I walk down our hallway. they basically look like the one pictured above, but with more metal showing.

I want to replace them with much more vintagey feeling lights. some day. but then, I saw this clock on one of my favorite sites three potato four and now am thinking it could replace the evil sconce in our living room. I love it.

how much cooler would we be with this clock hanging out of our wall? much cooler.

summer...

I'm craving it. big time. feeling trapped by all this cold and snow with little bean, wren. so, I day dream about our decks when she naps.

this is definitely happening...

(stitch a wish)

I'm eager to start an herb garden on one of our front decks that gets morning sunlight but tends to be more shaded. there's a chance I will not be able to find wine boxes without paying a silly amount, if so, home depot has great little crates in various sizes for a good price. like this one below for $6.50.

(home depot)

a move and a bedroom

readers, it has been ages since I've posted. much has happened. my husband and I moved from california back to chicago where we bought our first piece of property: a condo in Andersonville.

also, we had a baby this summer, a beautiful little girl who is already 5 months old. it's all going too fast.

the condo we moved into is newly gut rehabbed and has many fine qualities. that said, it's a little stale and needs some adjustments in the details. now that things have settled down in the land of parenting, I am starting to get that mid-winter itch to make it all better. (and I cannot ignore that desire to improve the place for when we eventually sell it).

my big focus right now, (besides day dreaming about gardening and plotting furniture purchases for our decks), is our bedroom. I am still in that very neutral, very simple ease sort of mood when it comes to decorating. I am afraid to put anything on the walls - especially in the bedroom - because I simply do not want to overwhelm the mood or find myself sick of the artwork.

here's what I am in the mood for (all thanks to pinterest)

(the cozy bedroom)

I like the idea of this wooden headboard but hate the cliched writing. barf. and also hate how the whole thing feels a little forced. I want easy, simple, cozy. 

like this one is actually comfortable and real. and beautiful. and pretty much the best around. (clearly I am drawn to wood walls). 

I also am drawn to the idea of a bed on the floor. am I crazy? I know my husband would not go for it, but there's something so relaxed about it. 

(blood & champagne)