Waving the White Paint Chip

Alright, I give in...I chose the wrong color white. As in, I'm not seeing much difference between Polar Bear from Behr and good old Kilz. Bummer. At least I haven't put the shelves back up, right?

On the bright side, I did find a color for the walls. After Tony saw the various shades of green on the wall, his comment was, "Do you like that?" Smart man isn't he!

As soon as I said, "No, not really." He added that he wasn't fond of it either. As if I couldn't tell that from the way he posed the question!

So, after failing at choosing a white paint color, I decided to head to Sherwin Williams for a little advice. It's amazing the difference a professional can make. All I did was explain my white fireplace and golden oak trim. An employee pointed me right to a few colors. What do you know? I brought them home and like them all!

I'm basically going to paint the walls the same color but with a green/gray undertone rather than a golden/brown undertone. (If you know more about color than me, which is very likely, you may think I said that all wrong, but it does make sense to me!) Basically, it makes me happy.

It's not the only thing making me happy right now...

Check out this fabric my friend found for me. She's going to make me some pillows for my updated family room. Love! (Now, I just have to come up with a way I can do something for her. She not only sews, but she also gives awesome hair cuts. Compared to that, I've got no skills!)

But I do have new fabric and I can't wait to see it turned into pillows!

I Painted The Fireplace White (Or, My Husband Is Really Patient!)

Well, hello old blog of mine! Tonight you're just going to have to be that old long lost friend that I turn to when I need advice. Well, at least the advice of your readers. Is anyone still out there? (Little Brother, I'm talking to you!)

A couple of weeks ago, my little man started kindergarten. My oldest daughter, Ann, also started first grade. Needless to say, even though I still have my three year old at home, it was rather quiet around here. Perhaps that's why I did what I did.

The thing I did was to venture out to the garage and open our giant bucket of primer. Then, armed with only a foam paint brush and a desire to brighten up my family room, I began priming my red brick fireplace. I didn't wake up with any plan of painting the fireplace, but I did it all the same. I guess it's just how I roll.

Four years after buying the house, the only thing we had changed was the furnishings. Well, we'd also added that cutie in the picture to our family.

By the time I picked my kids up from their first day of school, I had a primed fireplace. All that painting, as well as playing with my three year old, helped to keep my mind off of how fast my kids are growing up.

Well, by the next week, I was painting the shelves surrounding my fireplace as well as the mantle. Much sanding, priming, and painting later and I have a LOT of white in my family room. So, now I've got a white (possibly too much so) fireplace and shelves and I've got no idea what to do with the rest of the room. That isn't exactly true. I'd like to paint the walls green. However, I'm having a hard time coordinating with the couch which I have no desire or means to change. It's green, of course. I guess I kinda have a thing for green. So...

Hello White! I think? I like you.

To make a long and boring process short, I've got a very white fireplace and surrounding shelves combined with walls that are basically tan and all sorts of shades of green that I'm trying out. I suppose I should also mention my rather dated wood trim. After paining all the brick and wood that makes up the fireplace wall, I have NO desire to paint the trim. At least not anytime soon.

I'd probably be more forgiving of the trim if I didn't feel like it limited my color choices so much.

There you have it. (That is if you're still reading!) Now, it's your turn to weigh in with some thoughts. I'd rather go with a more modern look. At least as modern as you can go with an 80s traditional two story house!

Your thoughts?