We sold the house!

I can't believe it has been a year since I have wrote on my blog. We have had a lot of changes. Over the summer we sold our home and moved. These are pictures of the "old" place. I have to admit I kind of miss it. Our new home is beautiful but needs a lot of painting. I am completely overwhelmed and don't even know where to start. I still haven't even hung pictures on the wall yet!

Christmas Card 2010

With Love Chartreuse Christmas Card

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A little peek at my almost completed bedroom

"After"

Well, I was able to get one picture before my camera battery died. I love how my new room looks. So different from the "before" picture. The nightstands were spraypainted with Rustoleum's Heirloom white and then slightly glazed and distressed. The paint on the walls is Benjamin Moore's Gossamer Blue. I cheated though and had it color matched at Home Depot in their Behr paint. I still need to sew up some new curtains. I also have a chair that I want to slipcover... but we are off to a good start.

"Before"

The Insanity of picking paint colors!!!

Do you struggle with choosing paint colors? I have painted my downstairs a total of 3 times and I am stilll not totally satisfied. My latest project has been choosing a color for the Master Bedroom. I wanted a blue with a little bit of gray, but not too muted, but with a little bit of aqua or green to it, but I don't want it to look green, but I don't want it to look like a babies nursery, but I don't want it to look too muted, and I definitely don't want it too bright... do you see where I am going with this?

I always seems to know what I don't want, but I don't know what I DO want! It is so frustrating.

So after several months of gathering paint chips from every store, in every shade possible, and after about 6 cans of sample paint I finally took the plunge. The winner is.... drumroll......

BENJAMIN MOORE : GOSSAMER BLUE

Pictures of the room coming soon!

What was I thinking?..

Have you ever made a decorating decision and regretted it so much? About two years ago, I got it in my head that I had to have this bedding. It is Ralph Lauren "Cold Springs". I was able to buy all of the pieces separately on Ebay and save myself a ton of money. Even then, I still spent a load (I am embarrassed to even admit how much). I made the curtains myself out of an extra king size duvet that I bought. I made 4 panels out of one duvet. They are about 54" by 86". I was able to save quite a bit. Buying that kind of yardage of heavyweight decorator fabric would have been so much more expensive. I even lined them with blackout liner for those Saturday sleep in days that come along once in a blue moon . Well, to make a long story short. By the time I finally got the drapes done, I decided I really didn't like the room at all. It wasn't my taste. It is pretty, but not soothing or very light and bright and coastal/cottagey. I have taken it all down and it is ready to be listed right back on ebay. It makes me sick to think about what a waste of money it was.

On the bright side... I have painted my room the most beautiful shade of soft blue gray. Pictures are coming soon. Oh,... and please ignore the plastic storage bins peeking out from under the bed, and the unfinished paint job on the other nightstand. I have "project A.D.D.".

Stairs are finished!

So the stairs are finally finished. I was a little nervous about staining them, but I was nervous for no reason. It was actually very easy. I stained them a rich mahogany color and then followed up with 3 coats of polyurethane. I had to lightly sand in between each coat. I really love how they turned out. Now I need to paint the apron (white part that runs along the bottom) and paint the walls too. I would really love to add some white wainscoting up the wall and tear out the carpet and put in hardwoods. We will just have to wait and see....

Dressing up the Mantel

I decided to change my mantel around a bit. After all of the Christmas junk came down, I decided the stuff I had up there before the Holidays was too FAll/Autumn looking. Those colors work well in this room, but I wanted to lighten it up a bit. I shopped around my house and started with the Ivory plaque over the fireplace. The tall candlesticks were a pewter color and I spray painted them with Rustoleum's Heirloom White and put some glaze on them to age them a bit. I really need to get better about taking "before" pictures... sorry.