tickled (not) pink...

Just a sneak peek at the Big Ballerina's bedroom. It's all painted out. I even channeled my inner Martha this weekend. And sewed a duvet cover for her bed. 

I haven't done that in years. But I got tired of trying to find "the perfect one" in stores and online. So I went back to Macy's where I bought her sheets. Grabbed a set of Martha's sheets in the perfect blue.

On clearance. With an extra 30% off. *woot*

Took the flat sheets from both sets. Cut them to size. Finished the bottom edges. And sewed them together. (Leaving an opening at the bottom, of course.)

An hour and $15 later. Her bed was made. And LB was asking me to do the same for her room.

I decided to use different sheets for each side of the cover so she'd have options. And so she could actually make her bed herself. Just pull the duvet up. Fold over the top. Done. Instant coordinated look.

There are still a bunch of changes to make in her room. But tonight she actually chose to go up to her room to read.

And LB couldn't resist ambushing her.

This Indecision's Bugging Me...

The painting is all done. And as my friend, Mitzi said in her comment, it IS like the story "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie." I knew that going in. Which is why it took me so long to take the plunge.

So....nothing is finished just yet. There are duvet covers on back order. Carpet swatches lining the bedroom floors. And paintings still waiting to be hung.

Oh, and more magazines filling my mailbox just to taunt me.

One of the things I've been waffling over is drapes. I have Roman shades on most of the windows, but since there is no moulding around them I also had drapes to dress the windows. I couldn't decide whether or not to put them back up. Especially in the dining room.


That is, until I spotted this light show going on in there the other morning.

Nope. No drapes going back up in between those windows. But do you think it would look strange to just hang them on the outer edges of the two windows?

I don't know. I like fabric. And it just looks nake-y in there now.

*big heaving sigh*

Should they stay or should they go?

I enjoy this. I really do. But I also hate it at the same time.

What Am I Going to be When I Grow Up?

47. HGTV's Next Design Star winner

Murphy's Law...

Murphy Brown. Murphy's Law. Whatever it is. The universe is determined to undermine my good intentions.

I promise I won't talk about paint for the rest of the year. But just as I'm moving forward on a set course, I find things like this in my mailbox.

Yes, Coastal Living magazine smacks me in the face with "Fresh Paint Ideas for every room!" and "Have fun with color! The best ways to brighten your home and your life."

I shouldn't read it. Right? I should just ignore it. Information overload. I must resist. But my design ADHD wants nothing more than to devour this issue. Crap!

And the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. The Big Ballerina had to write an acrostic poem for English this week. With five extra bonus points if she could make it tell a story and rhyme. She was not thrilled with the assignment. I told her, "Write about something you know. It will make it much easier." Here is her poem...

Behind the door is green and yellow paint.
Every time I see it, it makes me want to faint.
Do I paint it purple or blue?
Red and orange are good colors too.
Over and over we paint a swatch.
Onto the walls and then we watch.
My poor bedroom! It's becoming a botch.

She was stumped on the last line so she googled, "words that rhyme with watch." And then she asks me, "What does botch mean?" Ba-bam! 105 on her homework assignment.

Off to grab a Diet Coke and read my new Coastal Living magazine. Happy Friday!

Meet Larry. The Painter.

I'm cracking up at all of your comments on my last post. Here are a few answers to your questions.

Yes. Larry is his real name. When he calls he says, "Hi. This is Larry. The Painter." It makes me smile every time because a) he's the only Larry I know, and b) I'd recognize his voice and southern accent anywhere.

Larry is exactly 64 years old. I know this because Larry IS my Eldin. What a great comparison! Larry has basically become part of the family. We talk as he paints. He listens to me as I ponder why I have boxes stored under my bed for items I bought over five years ago. I listen to him as he tells me about "Daddy" and how his advice was to "do something for a living that nobody else wants to do because then they'll pay you good money to do it for them."

While he's painting he also helps me do little projects I never got to. He cut down the curtain rod in the living room that was hung too wide and has bugged me for years. He changed the air filter on my bedroom ceiling. And then proceeded to vacuum out the vent for me while he was at it. Yes. Larry is my Eldin.

When Larry painted our house about six years ago, he was raising his grandson. Today his grandson is a senior in high school. And he's now raising another grandchild. A four year old little girl. When I heard this I knew exactly what to do with the bag of beautiful dresses that LB outgrew (or refused to ever wear). I sent them home with him. He came back the next day and said it made his wife's day. Yeah! And on Valentine's Day we gave him a dozen gorgeous eggs. He had told me about the chickens he used to have. So I instantly knew it would make the perfect Valentine for him.

Luckily, Larry realized how stressed out I was becoming. That I wasn't able to find the right colors. So he quickly rearranged his work schedule to give me the rest of the week off. I am so relieved. But you know what? I miss him.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day! Hope everyone felt the love today.

BSD is away right now so our traditional family crab leg dinner has been postponed until Saturday. It's actually a good thing that he's gone since my paint saga continues. I won't bore you with all the details. But it basically consists of...

spend all night looking at paint chips.
drive to paint store in the morning. get samples.
paint samples.
hate samples.
spend more time looking at samples.
drive to paint store in the afternoon. get samples.
paint samples.
hate samples.
wash. rinse. repeat.

But I did manage to choose a color for the main living spaces. So Larry has been busy.

Once I get everything back into place I'll have you all over for cupcakes and show you around.

Do Over...

So it took me two years to pick a paint color. And when I finally pulled the trigger. And left Larry alone to paint the kitchen. I came back home to discover.

I hated it.

And I had three more gallons of a color that turned out to be minty green. WTF?!?

I didn't know what the heck to do. Suck it up and have him continue. Or stop the game. And call a "Do-Over."

My stomach was literally in knots. I may have even had an accident in Lowe's the next day. All over a freakin' paint color. I kept reminding myself that if this was my biggest problem in life. I was a very lucky girl.

I know that I am.

But could I LIVE with mint green walls? Or could I LIVE with being wasteful?

It felt like all those times I'd go into the salon on a major high with a magazine photo of "the hair cut." The one that would transform me into someone else. Instead I'd walk out deflated. Looking at the same old face. But now with ugly hair.

Or in this case. Minty walls.

And since paint doesn't "grow out" like a bad hair cut.

Wasteful won out. And just to be brutally honest. There were two more paint swatches on this wall before I finally picked another color. And stuck with it.

Forgive me father, for I have sinned.

Note: I want to apologize for not getting over to visit my bloggy friends in a while. I feel badly. I have seriously been consumed by this painting project and my photo class. I hope to get over to "see" you all soon.

the best dollar I ever spent...

Tomorrow is the big day. Larry the painter is coming to transform this place. Only a few more hours left. For me to change my mind. I'm pretty sure the paint store opens before 8:30am.

I'm starting with the kitchen. I figured it would be the easiest to prep. I am an idiot. It's now 10pm. And there is still crap everywhere.

I thought I was going to throw a few things in some boxes. Move the toaster, the coffee maker and a few random jars into the dining room and be done.

That was before I climbed up on the counters to take down the vases. And realized they were covered in grease. I spent a good portion of the night degreasing the place.

But luckily I had the help of this magic potion. Have you ever heard of this stuff? LA's Totally Awesome All Purpose Cleaner. This stuff really works miracles. It's concentrated and there are mixing directions on the back that are too small to read. And I think it says something about not breathing it in or wearing a haz mat suit when you use it. But I just sprayed it on these vases. And wiped the grease away with a wet rag. Same for the kitchen cabinets. Spray and wipe. Totally Awesome stuff. Just like the label says.

And the best part? It only costs $1. At The Dollar Tree.

OK...my last box is packed. I'm ready for Larry. I'll be dreaming of the changes a'comin...

Nightie, Night.

not so perfectly imperfect...yet

Ack! It's that time of year again. The point in the earth's rotation that sets me off kilter. And makes want to change everything in my house.

There are so many projects I'd love to do. But BSD. Who is quite handy. Is either not here. Or he's outside sweeping the driveway. And I am left alone with these ideas. Swimming around in my head. Causing me to lose sleep. It doesn't help that that damn money tree won't grow either. It must be the lack of sunlight in the backyard.

But I have got to get off my butt and do something. Make some decisions. Move along already. Because I just can't take this anymore...

Or this...(although I do stick a calendar over this mess. Which, I have to say, is actually uglier than the swatches. )

Top: SW First Star  Middle: BM Marscapone  Bottom: BM Gray Owl

Ok..and the worst offense? The project I started, oh? About two years ago. (MC, if you still read, don't hate me.) I don't even think I know what the paint colors anymore if I wanted to choose one. I dream of these walls being planked with wide horizontal boards so I've been paralyzed.

So I'm putting this out there to help push me into action. You've all seen it now. My utter lack of follow through. I'm hoping that knowing my dirty little secret is out there that it will spur me on.

So far so good. I've been reading this book by Deborah Needleman. And I'm taking copious notes.

I also called Larry the painter this morning. He's coming over tomorrow to give me an estimate. Now I just need to choose a color already.

For the main portion of the living space (not the bedrooms) I'm leaning towards white. Don't laugh. White is beachy. It's bright. And it goes with everything. Reading about a house Jessica Helgerson recently designed she said, "I'm moving away from color as decoration." And I thought, "BINGO!"

So...anyone want to chime in with an opinion? Do you have white walls? Or is white boring? Is this a great idea? Or a dreadful mistake?

Project 365: January 2012

I know you've all seen most of these photos already, but I am SO STINKIN' proud of myself for completing a whole month of this project. I have tried this for the past two years, and have never made it a full month. Maybe it's true. The third time's a charm. *knocks wood*

It's been a lot of work. And I hope, hope, hope that I can keep up the pace. I wish I knew more about layouts because I have no idea how to get all the pictures into a collage this size any other way. And the pictures aren't even in the correct order. Oh well. I did figure out how to make a really cool Flash player gallery of the month, but I have no idea how to upload that here. It sucks being so computer illiterate!

Anyway...thank you SO much to all of you who encourage me to keep going. Your friendship and support make my heart happy.

It's February. The month of love. This month ranks right up there in our book. I look so forward to all the pink, red, hearts and sappiness. Bring it!