inspiration re-discovered

I’m having a ball with this painting stuff.

There is nothing more gratifying than watching a wall go from white/off-white to something other than white/off-white. You’ve got to understand – Husband and I lived in apartment prior to his deployment. What does that mean? White walls. Everywhere. From there, we moved into my parents’ house. The walls weren’t white, but it wasn’t our space. It wasn’t personal. We had a bedroom (for which we are eternally grateful, the words just don’t do it justice) and that was it.

Now we have a house. With walls that are changing color by the day (or week, but who’s keeping track?) And it is so exciting to see it all (slowly) come together.

That brings me to my wall.

When it comes to wall colors, I play it safe. Conventional. Well, figuratively speaking I suppose. I’ve never had my own house to play with before. But prior to actually closing on and moving into the house, when I thought of the colors that I’d use, I imagined low-key tans, sage greens, blues. Nothing that requires going out on a limb or being daring. And that’s when I caught my first glimpse of the Simone Print from Pottery Barn. They showed it as a Roman Shade, and I fell in love. The green and cream colors in the print match the dishes in my kitchen and since the kitchen connects to our dining area (I call it an “area” because it’s not a formal dining room but it’s not just an “eat-in” kitchen, it’s somewhere in between) I thought the Roman Shades would look nice in a room that separate but apart from the kitchen. And so that was the plan. So I got daring, and because of these shades, decided that I wanted to paint the big wall in my dining room a burnt orange color. Daring.

So I found the shade of orange I wanted, painted the wall, measured the windows for the shades, went online to Pottery Barn when what to my wondering eyes should appear, but the words “Not in Stock” next to my precious Roman Shades. The inspiration behind the orange wall – gone.

Then just yesterday, I finally decided to get the ball rolling and call my local Pottery Barn to see if they had the proper lamp shades for those great lamps I purchased way back when, and they had them in stock at the store, so they put them on hold for me.

I went to pick them up today, and while the lovely sales lady went to get them for me, I made my way back to where all the curtains are displayed. Then I saw it. A full-sized drape in the Simone Print. “They have drapes in this?” I asked. “Yes, but that’s the last of them, because the print was discontinued” she replied. I told her the size I was looking for, and they had just 2 left. “I’ll take them” I said.

And so, just like that my orange wall will not be without a companion; in fact, I’m more excited about the drapes that I was about the Roman Shades.

This is why you should always go into the actual store – you never know what you’ll find!

it’s really been a month

I promised several readers (who I know personally, and see on a pretty frequent basis – but apparently I’m much more exciting in the blog world than in person) that I would post something today.

I’m posting from my living room couch which has been pushed to the center of the room, along with all of my other living room furniture, so that I can paint. I’m living in chaos, but here I am.

I’ll start from the beginning.

Husband and I closed on our home on Saturday, October 24th. Three days prior to closing, I contracted the flu. (I’m assuming now that it was not of the swine variety because I have since looked at a chart of the symptoms of a regular cold, the flu, and the swine flu, and my symptoms were more in line with the flu) Even still, I had a fever, chills, aches, chest congestion, and a lovely cough. I sat in closing, sweating and only partially aware of my surroundings. Even still, a home we acquired:

(Please try not to look at the horrible landscaping. It’s on my list of things to fix.)

I spent the week after closing cleaning the house in preparation for moving into it on Saturday, October 31st.

With lots of help from family and friends, we moved in, unpacked the “essentials” (kitchen items, bed and bath linens) and were left to our home, just the 2 of us for the first time in two years. That’s right – my husband and I, who have been married for three years, haven’t lived with each other or alone with each other in 2 years. I bet you have a brand new appreciation for your circumstances now, huh?

Then the painting began.

In the week after we moved (again, with the help of family of friends) almost the entire first floor was painted. It is my goal to finish it up entirely before Christmas. Maybe even Thanksgiving. I just have trim, a 2nd coat on the living room, and the foyer left to paint.

And so, I’m off to paint.