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!

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. :)

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!



:)!

I need to get my hands on a house!

We're still a couple of months away from being able to buy a house, so I'm kind of stalled out on design planning. I believe that each house has it's own personality, which means I can't truly plan rooms until I've met my house. I have ideas for how I want the rooms to feel and how to update a kitchen without replacing the counters and cabinets, but I need to meet the house before I can really get to work on what color the living room will be or what linens I need to get. In addition to the intangibles of a house's character, I will also need to see what color the floors are and what type of material they are. We likely will not be able to replace any floors, so they will also play a part in the design choices I make. Not to mention figuring out dimension and storage space so I know what furniture the rooms need. In short: I need to get my hands on a house!

At this point, I've looked at a few hundred (thousand) design blogs, and pictures and ideas are getting jumbled up in my head. I've started saving links to posts I like in a draft e-mail, but after 30 or so links, my little draft e-mail feels pretty disorganized. Hence, this blog. Here I plan to post the pictures that inspire me, design ideas I roll around in my head (can you paint laminate floors?) and links to blogs I love. Hopefully having everything written down and shown in one place will help me keep on top of the brilliant possibly useful ideas that pop up from time to time. Those things tend to disappear within a couple of days if I don't a)implement them or b) lock them up/record them somewhere easy to find.

I also hope I can keep up with this blog after we buy a house and record the progress of feathering our nest. These are exciting times, and when I feel like the progress is coming along too slowly I want to be able to look back and remind myself how much we've done!

Anyhow, for whomever might be reading this other than myself, that's my intro. :) Look out, house, wherever you are...I'm gathering my feathers and heading your way!