Master Bath

I think I said I would post some pictures of the bathroom? Since it is actually straightened up and clean, I figured today was a good day to take some. Note the very grouchy mug on stella. uggg!

Just some pictures I've saved

Looking at these rooms I like I realize, hmmmmm...Matt is right, I do like "girlie" style. suppose there is no cure for that!

Bookcase

I put some left over wallpaper in the back of this bookcase. I thought it would lighten it up a little. but the real problem in this room is the wall color...but oh, oh, im still not done painting my other room yet. and i dont love the idea of doing another room! it just takes a lot more time than i actually have.

Kitchen

Hello!
Thought I would post some pictures for a friend of mine who is going to be designing a kitchen soon and likes how my kitchen turned out. Creating this kitchen was a serious "labor of love." It was a long, hard, often stressful process...but now I can say that I have successfully completed a really huge remodeling project - pretty much all by myself. But, reality check here, of course I did NOT build or paint the cabinets. The people who did that were awesome and deserve a ton of credit. The cabinet maker was able to interpret my designs (although I was very detailed, down to the very inch of every bit of this space). The man who spray painted the cabinets and stained the hutch part of the kitchen is extremely talented, and the final white color was from him "getting" the type of white I wanted. I looked and looked and couldn't find a swatch that seemed right, but he must have used this color before and chose it for my kitchen. He was awesome.

I think part of the appeal of the kitchen is the vent over the stove, with the shelf, the corbels underneath. Also the varied heights of the cabinets creates interest and gives more of a "furniture" feeling. They are also of varied depths. Many people have said to me, "why did you make that one part wood and the rest white?" I think that it adds to the furniture and custom look of the room. I wanted to make something that looked like a hutch. There is beadboard detailing in the back. behind the stovetop is a simple tile, it is blueish green. I wanted a white or light countertop and that was really hard to find. Wound up using granite because my father in law loves granite. I think I would have chosen corian because it is so tough and comes in a cabillion colors so I could have had white? But this pretty greenish granite looked awesome in the end. I also love the faucet, it's sort of old fashioned country style. It is polished chrome...nickel? now i cant remember. Anyways, so many decisions I sweated over in this kitchen!!! I can't even begin to detail them all...But hopefully my friend will find the pictures helpful. bye for now!

Thinking about plantz

Oh, I love planting things! It's so warm out and I can't wait to have a minute to play in the dirt! Rafe is loving eating mulch...that's what he was doing while I took these. Why are children determined to choke on little things? Anyhow, here are some outside shots. Thought they would be fun to have for when the day comes that things grow and/or change, to compare...

First picture is of some evergreens we planted last year. I love them!



A problem spot...I tried to plant some grasses and apparently didn't water them enough last fall...don't think they are coming back! this is an awkward (sp?) corner and I'm not sure how it should be landscaped. Don't want to block sunlight into the dungeon, i mean, basement, so has to be low...I think part of the problem is the shape of the bed - it goes to edge of gate, which is crossing traffic flow, and makes bed too deep for simple 2-tier layering of plants. Maybe I should just clarify the path to the gate with stepping stones or something. I saw a pyrimidal holly once - so lovely! maybe could use in here somehow? I also love those pyrimidal dwarf alberta spruce. I know they are so common, but they are so adorable, too.

This is a graceful sycamore which we planted last fall. It wound up in that spot sort of accidentally (couldn't dig where it was intended). I love this tree. Need to go visit it to see if it's doing alright - doesnt seem to be budding and has that very dark trunk at top (can't see in photo)

Um, the rotting deck. What can I say? it obviously needs to be replaced, but decks are so beyond anything we are going to invest in right now. The boards are splintery and moldy! Last year I bleached it, which got rid of some of the mold, but also damaged the wood even more. I'm seriously considering putting some of that pretend grass (plastic turf?) type of stuff on it this summer so that it is not so splintery and slippery. Plastic turf - doesn't fall into the "green" theme, eh? That's alright. As you may have noticed, I have WAY TOO MANY IDEAS to ever get close to tackling this deck as a project.

Which brings me to this thought: i've noticed that the busier and more stressed i am, the more ideas i get! and the more i feel like playing blog! avoidance? stress relief? distraction? i'm not sure. But there are so many things I need to be doing right now and this is not one of them. Better scoot.

Oh, forgot about this one. The other gate that needs some plants. Oh, and the fence is rotting, as well. So many cute things would go well here! Easy straightforward shape - just needs some sort of cute shrub, or perhaps something like 3 forsythia which wrap around the corner. lots of things would look nice. And for the biggest time sucking pretend dream project of all -- i fantasize about painting this fence white. Kinda silly, since it would surely need to be repainted about every year, huh? But I'm a sucker for a white picket fence. Isin't everyone?

Red Room

I've taken the first baby steps towards changing this room...with little kids to watch after, you've got to do all projects in baby steps! So, stuccoed the holes, today sanded that. I have white not-so-yucky primer, which will be a necessity no matter what color I wind up repainting this room, since the red is so dark.



Plans for this black chair: I would like to slipcover it in white cotton. It has an enormous ottoman that I would also cover. And put these upstairs. (I am smirking at what a huge project that alone is! ha!)



Blue chair: is really too small for in here, and was intended for Stella's bedroom, anyways. Will move it up there.




This slipcover will be easier to change, if I decide to. The colors of this chair as it is go alright in my bedroom, and I think the chair would do well in there. However, in a land where I have no money or time constraints, I would also make a new slipcover for this chair, again in white cotton, and with a skirt. Since I can remove this slipcover and use as a pattern, this is definitely a doable project, although I'm sure it is trickier than it at first would seem.

I don't know what to do with this room otherwise...still thinking about colors, a rug (some day), and trying to decide - what is the real function of this room? Right now nobody goes in here, nothing happens here. other than the occassional piano playing.

Also, I hope to someday find something I can hang from this chandelier which will make it less formal, and more whimsical. Remove some crystals, replace with --- beads? ornaments? oragami? not sure.

All just thoughts, things to occupy my mind when I would rather not think about the more immediate things I SHOULD be doing! :)

FIREPLACE IS DONE!

Lookie here! The fireplace is painted! It looks SO much better now. Bye bye Temple of Gloom!!

Getting my pretend logs installed and working has been a long, many efforts project (gas was leaking, had it fixed, leaking still, fixed again, 3 attempts to have logs installed, etc etc.) But here it is - all done! and just in time for....70 degree weather! ha ha! Actually, it got cold again, so I've turned it on a few times. Pretend fire - might be better off with just a tv playing a picture of fire? Who knows. But this is the solution for now. The flue is severely cracked so it is not safe to have "real" fire. I'm thinking of Firemarshall Bob, does anyone else remember him? Lordy, that was Jim Carrey before he became super famous! Hilarious!

Also in the picture you can see the little "Valentine's Day" pillows with Matt and My initials. Stuffed with kapok pillow inserts (so soft, by the way!) and some floor pillows, the covers for which were on super sale at Pottery Barn, the store I love to hate.

I am obsessed with learning to paint portraits. I want to paint a great picture of both Stella and Rafe. Right now, I'm at below amateur level, obviously. The grouped ones are quicker practice pieces, and the one in front of mirror is a little better, but still quick - exactly the length of a Backyardigan episode, to be precise. I've considered reworking it to complete her eyes and warm up the color, but I think I am learning that painting without a subject before me is not so great...I really struggled with the big Rafe painting in part because it was from a photograph. So the problem is, i can't actually get these children to sit still, so how will I paint them. Hmmmm. I haven't figured that out yet. Maybe I should find another model, but the only person who might agree to that would be Matt. Hmmm, something to consider.

Going to and from Stella's preschool, I see the wonderful barn I am longing to paint. I imagine being out there in the grass painting it. When would I get a chance to do that? Probably never. I really, really want to do that, but I don't have enough alone time to do it. If Matt is home, we already are always taking turns running out to do errands and stuff. I would really like to have a few more moments to myself. It probably sounds so selfish. I try to give and give to my children and give and give to my home, but secretly, I want to indulge in selfish things, like having time to learn to be a better painter.