So far, so good!

Welp, I'm a big blogger loser because I don't have any decent pictures to share with you of the paint. Turns out we've been too tired/busy to mess with taking pictures with any consistency. I know I've disappointed you, and I'm very sorry. I'll have to invite all four of my readers (Thanks for your support, Mom and sisters. I'm lookin' at you, too, Chez.) to see it in person to make up for my losery, nonpicturetaking ways. Now that we have that out of the way...

Things are looking great! I can't wait to get furniture, accessories and style the rooms to see what they will really look like. The only room color I wasn't happy with was the kitchen. It turned out too blue for that space. Fortunately, we have a great, helpful painter who offered to paint it again for free when he heard me say I wasn't pleased with the color. What a guy! We didn't have any time to experiment with colors so we're having him paint it the same color as the study. It's probably going to be too light for the kitchen, but at least it will be consistent between the two rooms. If it doesn't work out, The Redhead and I can paint it ourselves when we have more time, but I wasn't going to turn down his offer!

Once they leave, we will still have the interior doors, powder room, laundry room, bedrooms and upstairs bathrooms to do (all remaining rooms need ceilings and trim painted as well). Don't worry. We're having the painters give us an estimate on all that "just in case." :) We may become DIYers some day, but we're not quite there yet.

Anyhow, we're headed out to see my parents this weekend. We'll be admiring their brand new, stone patio and retrieving my grandmother's chairs and other pieces my mom is so graciously storing for me. Have a great weekend, all!

Paint Week!

We broke down and hired painters! They will paint most of the downstairs and the stairwell THIS WEEK.

I am so nervous!

I know I shouldn't be and that we can always change what I don't like, but I'm having a hard time fighting off the thought that I am going to hate every color I picked out. Especially the ones I picked out toward the end of my obsession with making a decision. There are three colors I gave little to no thought to. I just bought some gallons so I could move on with my life. It's probably best that I live too far away from work to run home at lunch or whenever to check on things. I'd drive those poor guys nuts.

Anyhow, they are starting with the living room today. I'll let y'all know how it goes!

Odds and Ends

Today, I have a couple of pictures of odds and ends that will go into our house. The images are of not-so-great quality as they were taken with an iPhone, but I wanted to go ahead and show you. Because....well...I like them, it's Friday, and why not? :)

The first is the light fixture I bought at Round Top for my dining room.


I spotted it while waiting in line for a quick restroom break. If I hadn't had to wait in that line, I don't know that I would have spotted it. The clerk wasn't sure of it's story, but they assumed it had been in a bank or something once upon a time. Won't it look great with a neat ceiling medallion? I just think that glass globe is beautiful, and I can't wait to see what it looks like installed!

The next picture is of one of my grandmother's chairs that I want to have recovered and incorporated into the living room.


As you can see by the picture, they are currently stored at my parents' house in the playroom. However, they originally presided over my grandmother's formal living room covered in silk. By the way, I just love formal living rooms. They seem to always be still and peaceful. I remember feeling that way in my grandmother's, and perhaps that's why I feel that way about them all. I am so honored to have these chairs for my own home now. There is nothing better than beautiful pieces with personal stories!

And finally, I was flipping through the most current Pottery Barn catalogue the other day, and nearly died when I saw this:


I know this isn't going to mean much to you, because I haven't shown you a picture of my buffet, but believe me when I tell you, it looks like Pottery Barn snuck into my house and copied my buffet! I got mine at Round Top last year, and one of the only differences is that mine has a really neat latch for the bottom doors. The other main difference: Mine cost less than half of what they're asking. :)

Happy Friday, friends!

Studio Violet!

I am DYING over this tea set today!!


Please, please, please go here and here to see all the pictures.

Studio Violet, why, oh, why are you European without a retailer in Austin? I suppose I shall have to live with the few unique items you sell online. *sigh*

Coming together (in my head)

First of all, hook 'em horns! Congrats to my Longhorns on their win Saturday against OU. It wasn't pretty, but I will take it! Keep it up, guys!

As far as the house goes, I only have mental progress to report, but there's a lot of it. And know that almost all of the mental images I've described in the past have changed quite a bit!

The week before last, I spent every evening after work at paint stores agonizing over swatches and what samples to take home. The walls are looking pretty schizophrenic around here with rashes of various colors splotched about. Last Sunday The Redhead and I finally collected some gallons of paint to have ready for whenever we can get to them. We weren't able to do any painting last week or weekend, but hopefully we can at least do some spackling and taping this week and get some accomplished after work...someday... Here are the colors we purchased (keeping in mind that once we get the rooms painted, we may adjust our ideas [again]).

Living room: Popped Corn by Behr


I actually never bought a sample of this, but I did buy samples of a white that was cooler than Popped Corn and one that was warmer. I wasn't totally happy with either of those I tried so I thought Popped Corn was a good compromise. By this time I was so tired of trying samples and looking at swatches, I went ahead and bought the gallons without sampling first. So there.

I decided on white for the living room because there are so many rooms that come off of it (study, kitchen, dining room and the stairway wall continues into the room in columns around the entryway), it really needed to be a neutral that could have accessories that tie those rooms together. I think white walls can be so crisp and fresh and make furniture and accessories pop. Plus, knowing me, I will want to change out the accessories from time to time to change the feel of the room. White walls will make that so much easier to accomplish.

I just love the color blue, but couldn't bring myself to have a totally blue living room. I mean, that would be A LOT of blue! To incorporate the color without it being overwhelming, I decided that the kitchen and study will be blue, then I can bring their blue into the living room with curtains, which will look so fresh against the white walls. Here's an example below from Cote de Texas. The room itself has a much different feel than our living room will have, but the contrast between the curtains and the walls gives you the idea.


It looks like there we may also decide on a dark couch (either a taupe or dark gray) with dark wood legs and probably have a couple of my grandmothers chair recovered, which also have dark wood on them. I think they will look great against the white backdrop!

Kitchen: Surf by Martha Stewart (her colors are at Lowe's, but I had Sherwin Williams do colormatching because I've heard that Lowe's paint is of mediocre qulity)

(I couldn't find a good online swatch I could retrieve for you, so this will have to do)

The kitchen's limited wall space will be this color blue. There is one wall that hides the fridge and that will be painted in chalkboard paint, because I thought I thought it would be a nice contrast and because it's just fun! This picture from design*sponge got my wheels turning for that:


I've also been thinking about this Martha Stewart project:


The kitchen seems like a good idea for this...if I could keep it neat. :)

Study: Sea Spray Blue by Martha Stewart

Flash player, again, shut me down from copying images, and I couldn't find a good picture of it online. However, it's basically a little lighter version of the kitchen color.

Both The Redhead and I liked the idea of a blue study. The rub lies in that it's a small room with a big, vaulted ceiling. It will be very interesting to see what the walls do to the paint color! The other challenge is making sure the blue compliments and doesn't detract from the pool collage that we want to do (The Redhead was a swimmer for most of his life and an NCAA waterpolo player). I got that idea from this picture found on beachbungalow8 a while back.



I think we will have so much fun together finding pictures for this project!

Dining Room: Mindful Gray by Sherwin Williams


Ok, ok, so I know I said I'd paint the room soft bluey/greeny then have red accents like Marie's dress. Turns out my china is way more green than I thought, which was clashing a lot with the colors I was trying (Tidewater by SW spoke to me). After much agonizing, the walls will be gray, and I'll have my chairs covered in turquoise to compliment the china.


Oh and at Round Top a few weeks ago I got the coolest light fixture for the dining room. I'll make sure to post all those fun finds next!

Upstairs hall/Stairs/Entry Columns: Repose Gray by Sherwin Williams


Master Bedroom: Dovetail by Sherwin Williams


I think the Dovetail flowing into the Repose will look really lovely. Hopefully something like this house I saw on d*s.


There you have it! A hypothetical paint tour. :) Now, if we can ever get started... I'll keep you posted. (Get it?! Posted! Ha!) Have a great week!

We're in!

Quick update:

Everything went super smoothly with closing. We had to address several issues at the house after we got the keys. Turns out it had been vacant for a year, so a few things had to happen to sufficiently shake the dust off. That was all stressful, but it turned out fine in the end, and the cost was minimal. Thank goodness!

We moved in yesterday and couldn't be happier to be here. We have way more stuff than I thought we did, and the house feels way bigger. I'm sure we'll outgrow it in no time, but right now it feels great to stretch our legs! Yesterday evening some neighbors came by to welcome us and brought us a pot of mums. Also, I happened to know one of the neighbors who came by from my old job. What a small world! She said, "I'm so glad it's you!" That made me feel so great. :) They were all extremely nice, and we feel so blessed. Some other friends of ours who also moved to this suburb recently took good care of us and brought us dinner. What a lifesaver you are, Chez!

Also, I fall more in love with the neighborhood and surrounding area every time I drive around. I am so thankful for all these blessings and woke up with a (very exhausted) smile on my face this morning. :)

Next up: Antiquing with my mom in Round Top! Be back Wednesday!

Big day tomorrow!

We close on our new nest tomorrow morning! Is it a bad sign that I'm already tired and the work hasn't even begun? :) I could tell I was feeling stressed earlier, when I was getting extra upset about unimportant things. I'm like my own therapist. "So Cameron, are you angry because your shoe came untied or is this a manifestation of the stress you feel because you're buying a house and all the responsibility that comes with it?" Hmm.

I'm sure I will feel a little better once I can get into the house and actually take some ACTION on the unknowns instead of thinking about what action I might want to take SOMEDAY when I get in the house. I'm also excited to get a feel for its personality. Hopefully the living room will tell me what its favorite color is. If not, by a lucky turn of events my mom is in town this week, and I'm sure she'll have some great input and ideas. I am so relieved she will be here!!! (please note the multiple exclamation points)

Anyhow, I will let you all know how things go and try to keep you in the loop on our projects we'll be working on.

Oh! I almost forgot to tell you that I found a fridge! My husband and I have been trying to decide between buying one on Craigslist or buying one new. There was also discussion about whether we should get a black one to match the other appliances or plan ahead to replace all appliances and begin with a stainless fridge. Well, I was at Lowe's over the weekend with my friend Chez (HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CHEZ! I LOVE YOU!), and we stumbled upon a stainless fridge in the exact model I wanted with a little dent on the door. It was DEEPLY discounted, so I snatched it right up! What a great find! Big thanks to Chez for the appliance shopping moral support!

Alright, that's all for now. Please be saying prayers for my sanity! Can't wait to share more soon. :)

Happy September!

Happy September 1st, Everyone! The air hints of crispness (Read: It is now, like, 96 outside instead of 106) and football season is upon us! ALSO, our closing is scheduled for the 10th. :) Things are getting pretty real, which is exciting and scary all at the same time. Very overwhelming regardless. Seriously! What color am I going to paint the living room, kitchen, stairway and upstairs hall!? Anyone? Bueller?

Let's move along before I need a paper bag to breathe, shall we?

I've changed up some of my ideas for the master bedroom (mostly because I never found yellow bedding I liked). I want it to feel like we're taking a little trip somewhere every night. Like we're sleeping in some calm, expensive hotel room.

I'm thinking a dark gray along the line of this room on design*sponge:


And an upholstered headboard like these from Urban Outfitters and Target:

With fluffy white bedding kind of like this I saw on Cote de Texas:

(Note to self: learn how to keep white sheets bright.)

There is a little nook for seating that might be good for something fun like this fainting sofa from Urban Outfitters:


I think grey velvet curtains from Pottery Barn would be nice and sleepy:


Am I on the right track? Do you want to curl up and go to sleep? Zzzzzzzzzzz.....

Dining Room

About the only room I feel pretty settled on is the dining room. This house does not technically have a formal dining room, but it does have a breakfast room that is separate enough that it can be used as a formal dining room so I want to dress it up a little. Here is what I'm thinking (I am sure I will get better at this whole virtual decorating thing as this goes along...bear with me!):

The Room:


I apologize for the poor quality of the picture. It was taken in a hurry the first time we looked at the house.

Second, you need to know the room is inspired by this dress, which you've seen before here:

I am in love with this dress.

Continuing on.

Wall color:

Maybe something along these lines.

Furniture:

I have an antique draw leaf table that is square and has seating for four at its smallest. When it is extended, it can probably seat six to eight. I'm sorry I don't have any pictures of it right now. You're not really missing much because it needs a bit of refinishing, which I will work on when I have my very own driveway and garage(!). I would say it has kind of a similar feel and color as the dining table in the original dining room/breakfast room post. I don't want to distract from the room I'm describing here, so I'll just show you that the color of the wood is probably about like the picture below. I also have an antique buffetish piece that is fashioned from an old store cabinet that will probably go in the room as well. It has some neat old hardware on it and looks great with the table.


I have two different styles of antique chairs, but both are still about the color of the table. Four of the chairs DESPERATELY need to be recovered. The other two are already covered in a red and gold striped fabric (my grandmother had them refinished and recovered for me when I was in high school). The first four I am thinking of covering something like this Joel Dewberry pattern.


Maybe not this specific pattern, but it gives you the color idea.

Lighting:

I am still loving capiz shell chandeliers, and I've been looking at this one from West Elm because I like the rectangular shape.


Square might be better for the room, but, again, you get the idea.

I also like this lamp from West Elm. I think it would look good on the buffet.


Other:

The flooring is a neutral-colored linoleum in there right now, which will come out eventually in favor of wood or tile. In the meantime, the linoleum is in fine shape, so we'll deal. Maybe a rug is in the dining room's future?

Not sure about other accessories and wall art. I definitely want to display some of my crystal and china - probably in some neat antique cabinet on the wall (can't WAIT for Round Top in October). I just wanted to get the big ideas in my head for now.

There you have it! I hope you're having a great week!

Progress!

We are officially under contract as of yesterday! Because the house is a foreclosure everything was moving a little more slowly through the process so we didn't expect this for another week or so. Also, we had our inspection yesterday, and that went great as well. We will need to do some maintenance things here and there, but there are no major problems (no roof, foundation or termite issues, etc.). We are so excited! The next hurdle will be the appraisal process, which I've heard can take a couple of weeks in itself. Not to mention the possible issues we could face caused by the government changing some rules. They seemed to have fixed one problem but created some others in the process. Oh well. We are excited to see God's plans for us and the lessons He will teach us in this.

It is hard to know where to get started on things around the house. Over the weekend I plan to start making a list of things I want to do/buy so I can then jot down some estimated prices. From there I want to prioritize the list and start thinking about a rough timeline for different projects and purchases. I know "the best laid plans..." and all that, but the hope is that the more organized I can get now, the easier it will be for me to deal with the tangents and unknowns that will pop up later.

I do think I want to buy (or borrow if possible) a paint fan deck. I'd like to see ALL my options for color. I had some ideas in my head, but of course after seeing our house, all my ideas have started getting cloudy. This is going to sound a little weird/lame, but I want to consult with the house and let it have some input in my choices. Right now it has all white walls and all the builder fixtures. It's probably excited that it finally gets to show off its personality, too! Ok, enough house personification for now...

I promise as soon as there is less creative chaos in my head, I will let you in on my ideas. For now here's a view of the downstairs that gives you an idea of the lay out.


From right to left: Just out of the picture to the far right is the front entry. Next to that you can barely see the doorway into the study. Then, of course, is the stairway then a coat closet. Then kitchen, which is bigger than it looks here. Lots of good cabinet space. Far left is an archway into the breakfast room/dining room. The little hallway you can see leads to a powder room and the laundry room/entry to garage.


This picture better shows the entry and study.

Well, there's your first peak of the layout. I can't wait to share more with y'all as it comes to me! I hope you're having a great week in the meantime!

Lucy, I'm home!

Let the neighbor(dog)s know



we're (hopefully) moving in!!

We found out last night that the seller accepted our offer! We have a long, (hopefully not too) bumpy road to closing, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that things will work out. Please keep your fingers crossed, too!

I would LOVE to post a bunch of pictures of the interior and give you a tour of the house, but I'm trying really hard to pace myself, so I won't start posting those until we're under contract. But you better believe I'm going to be virtual-decorating up a storm soon. :)

Thank you for all of your prayers and good thoughts. They have paid off thus far, so please keep them coming!



:)!

...

No word on the house, yet. *sigh*

In the meantime, this picture makes me smile.


The garland project itself is more than I am interested in tackling right now, but it's fun all the same. You can find it here.

MIA

Sorry I've been missing lately. After the special session, I've been laying pretty low. Too hot to do anything I guess, including blog. A million days straight of 4000 degree heat is NOT ok. Now that we have that straight...

Welp. We placed an offer on a house yesterday.

(I hope it comes with the cute redhead in the orange shirt, but I'll have to check the list of things that convey to be sure...)

Apparently there are already three other offers so our hopes aren't very high, but we figured why not. We will either get it or we won't. If not, then there are other houses in the sea or something.

Look at this oak tree.


I think it really needs a cat or a kid in it. Probably just the cat for a while at least. Those are less expensive than kids.

Anyhow, this is some of what I've been up to lately. Looking for a house to feather and all that. I will let you all know how things turn out.

I leave you with this super cute headboard from a DIY entry on Design*Sponge. I think it's creative and super cute!


Have a great day, everyone!

Special Session

A legislative special session starts tomorrow. Hopefully, it will conclude by the weekend, and I'll see you soon. Hopefully...

To those of you not affected by this, have a great 4th!!!

Tuesday

First of all, I want this pillow from Etsy for the grey and yellow bedroom I think I want.


Please notice that there is an owl in the upper left hand corner peeking at you over his shoulder, a tiger in the lower right corner and a little grey bird above the tiger. Love. It.

I think this pillow would be perfect in the master bedroom in my head: grey (with just a hint of blue) walls and a yellow and white bedspread with this colorful pillow (keeping things not boring) on it.

Second of all, I need a sewing machine and the knowhow. There was this lovely yellow bedding at Pottery Barn last spring. I thought it was beautiful so I told my mom, "I really love this bedding, but since I don't usually like yellow, I have no idea what kind of room I would put it in or what color walls it would require." The rest of the conversation went something like this:

Mom: "That is pretty bedding. I really like grey and yellow together. I think it would look great in a room with grey walls!"

Me: "Ew! Yellow and grey?! No, thanks."

Mom: "I dunno. I like it."

My mom knows more than me.

Aaaaanyway. Now, of course, I can't find yellow bedding that I like, and I certainly can't find that yellow bedding I was drawn to last spring (wouldn'tyouknowit). Therefore, I need the sewing machine (Don't forget the knowhow. I need that, too.) so I can make the duvet cover I see in my head, which incidentally I have yet to come across online or in stores.

I'm still working on finding pictures of inspiration for the grey and yellow bedroom to show you (all three or four of you, you lucky ducks). Will post those at another date. In the meantime, have a great week!

p.s. I like writing things in parentheses (even if it is obnoxious and grammatically incorrect).
p.p.s. I also like the little turquoisey blue chair the pillow is on in the picture.

Hooked

I found the Nie Nie Dialogues yesterday through Angie's blog, and now I'm hooked. Stephanie was in a horribly tragic private plane crash last August in which the pilot died and she and her husband were badly burned. Her husband, Christian, escaped with about 30% of his body burned. Stephanie had much more serious burns (I think around 85%). They have four children and an unquenchable love for each other and their family. I spend most of yesterday evening and this morning reading as many entries on her blog as I could before my eyes crossed. Before the accident, her posts were all about her family and her creative life (she made lovely things in the kitchen and is a very talented artist!). She conveys a sense of joyful contentment. While her posts now include her long journey of recovery, you still feel her happiness and contentment. She is beautiful and inspiring. A lovely example of what a woman and her family should be. Just thought I'd share her with you, too. :) May your weekend be filled with love and peace.

Happy Friday!

I saw this on this blog the other day and loved it's uniqueness. It makes me want a unique front door, too! On a side note: do you think I'll ever get tired of this shade of blue?


Have a good weekend!!

Another Kitchen Thought

Here's the deal: I really, really want a formal dining room. I am not a fan of the "open layout" trend. When entertaining, I want it to look easy with a spotless house and a lovely table setting in a room that feels special. But if the only dining space is in the kitchen, which is also completely open to the living room, that means my guests can see all the dirty dishes and countertops I didn't have time to clean up before their arrival. For these and other reasons, I don't think open layouts are Donna Reed approved. However, with our price range, we can't afford to be too picky. If a house otherwise meets our requirements, I don't want to get hung up on its lack of a formal dining room. I mean, I'm not Donna Reed. Get over it. But, I had a great idea today. I mean, I was SOOOOO excited when I thought of it. I later realized that the excitement was probably more from a nondrowsy allergy medication/coffee induced high from this morning. I've calmed down a little since then, but I am still excited about it nonetheless.

What if I dressed up my kitchen/dining area to make it feel a little more fancy? Like the kitchen is now part of the formal dining room. It's so simple, I don't know why it didn't dawn on me before. In fact, all two of my readers (hi Mom, hi sister) are probably thinking, "Duh, Cameron. That was so easy, we didn't already tell you that because we thought you knew." In fact, I think I'm excited because of the simplicity, and it's my blog. So humor me. :)

This morning I was checking Twitter, and one of the bloggers I follow linked to the following pictures and commented on how she'd like to throw a cocktail party this kitchen. What? A cocktail party in a kitchen? After seeing the picture, I understood what she meant, and my wheels started turning.



See?! Totally begging for a cocktail party. While this kitchen isn't completely my thing, I love the idea that it represents. My kitchen can feel special like a dining room. (I just have to really make sure I have time to clean up those dirty dishes and wipe off the counters.) (On another parenthetical note, I am SO loving the capiz shell chandeliers I'm seeing everywhere lately.)

Thinking through this concept, a kitchen I posted about previously came to mind:


This kitchen is open to a casual eating area (for all intents and purposes we'll say it's not a formal dining room even if we don't know that for sure). We already know the kitchen is beautiful from my previous post. Then, the designer has given the eating area extra oomph with that chandelier and dressier chairs. The important thing about this kitchen/dining room is that it feels special, but it also feels comfortable and inviting. It's not necessarily begging for a cocktail party, but it would be a perfectly appropriate dinner party setting. This kitchen is much more my style than the cocktail party kitchen, even though I think the cocktail party kitchen is fabulous!

I'm having so much fun with this, I'll almost be sad if we do buy a house with a formal dining room. Almost. :)

Making my way back

Hello!

After weeks of energy-sucking, mind-squishing busyness at work, I am finally making my way back to the things I love. This weekend I am exploring the weeks and weeks worth of blogs I've missed, and plan to blog myself again soon. In the meantime, I'd love to direct you over to this post at Design*Sponge, which has some of those elements of a fresh mix of traditional/modern design I've been so fond of lately. There are also a couple of pictures I liked most from the post below. Enjoy, and see you soon!!

I love how this room is clean and traditional but so creative with the shoes and bags on display. Plus, I love how there is a place for everything!

So fun how they used these traditional profile silhouettes with the nontraditional colors!

Living Rooms

I would like to dress like this:


And live in her house:



But, really, it's not very practical and probably not that comfortable. I'm thinking I'd rather stay here on vacation, but come home to something comfy. The dress, I'll continue to dream about...maybe it would make good inspiration for the formal living room I want someday...

I have pretty traditional taste with a leaning toward neutral, soothing colors and antique furniture pieces. Just writing that sentence, I got bored. I am too young for this! I need to insert some funk into my decor. Don't get me wrong, I'm not about to up and paint my new living room hot pink, but I have got to do something different in my new house. Like I said in my first post, it's hard to figure out what to do with a room I've never seen, but I shall brainstorm nonetheless.

I need to be on the lookout for some funky and/or contemporary pieces to mix in with my antiques and neutrals. I want to keep in mind that since my instinct craves soothing colors and antinques, it would be unwise to stray too far from it. I will work with my natural leanings as a base. A personality-infused accent chair, lamp or throw pillow can go a long way. Let's start with a palette:

I am loving this room that Brooke Giannetti did:




Although this is a bedroom, I like this color scheme and feel for a living room. (I'm thinking maybe yellow and grey bedroom, but I'll get to that in another post. Yes, Mom, I am thinking of stealing your idea.) Really, the room is good inspiration for everything. The color scheme is serene, but not boring with pops of the bright blues and greens against the crisp white. But I also love the over all feel of modern traditional. You've got the contemporary lines of the chandelier, rug and bed with the traditional skirted chairs and tufted bench and ottoman. I love the balance and simplicity. Let's be real, though. I cannot paint my living room white, and white furniture in a living room is just ridiculous unless you live in the palace displayed above only, using that room once every five years, banning children from even looking at it. So, how do I translate Brooke's room into my living room while working with what I have?

I have been dying to paint a room porcelain blue, so there is a very good chance that our living room will end up that color.


It's happy, breezy, soothing and looks so nice with neutrals, which I know I am trying to move away from, but it's not like I can afford to start all over again. For goodness' sake, I have a khaki sofa the size of an ark that is bound to follow me around for a few more years - I need to work around it. I also have some dark wood antiques and some white painted wood pieces. Let's figure out some more color.

How about a bright green chair:


And/or a blue chair, darker than the walls:

How about this fun birdcage pillow from etsy?


Or these three black birds:


Or this green owl:



Anything with vintagy prints like found on design*sponge would do nicely.

A couple of these crystal lamps would be nice (p.s. My Mom tried to get me interested in lamps like these a few years ago. At the time I thought she was crazy...now I have some in my bedroom and want them everywhere):

You get the basic idea. I want to build on the neutral base I have available, bringing some fun and youth in with bright colors, fun prints and contemporary accent pieces. You know, I have a magazine buried in a stack somewhere with pictures that would illustrate the modern traditional idea perfectly. I'll find it soon and put it on here. Anyway, now all I need is a house...