Monday, November 16, 2009

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!

Friday, October 23, 2009

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!

Thursday, October 22, 2009

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*

Sunday, October 18, 2009

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!

Saturday, September 26, 2009

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!

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

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. :)

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

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.....