My tiles are done!

I found an artist in Washington state on Etsy.com to make three maple leaf tiles for the bathtub surround. I'm trading for syrup. The tiles are done and will be shipped out soon. I can't wait to see them.

I sent him a stack of leaves from the Battel maple woods, so they will truly bring the woods into our house.


I think I managed to do a good job of getting the maples into the house as I wanted, yet without going overboard. The vinyl flooring has subtle maple leaves (among others) in it. The knobs on the new kitchen cabinets are maple leaves. The new kitchen cabinets and the bathroom cabinets are made of maple. The rooms are all painted the colors of autumn leaves, but toned down. The metal all over the house is a deep bronze, which reminds me of a tree trunk in winter (or the humusy material under the leaves year 'round). The shower door is a leaf pattern, though it's fairly abstract and not necessarily maple. I have two different styles of maple leaf curtain rods to go in some of the rooms. Anita gave me a cute maple tray, and Beth gave me some framed leaves and some cool steel leaf cut-outs that I may hang on the barn door. And that's all!

I'm not going for kitschy, so I will leave it at that and promise not to add more maple.