more nice exterior pictures. i love the dark shutters and door here, and of course the amazing driveway/walkway.

don't remember exactly why i saved this picture but, it is an exterior, so ill just throw it in here.

luckily, i already have the right man for the job.

spying on others: took these pictures of somebody's garage doors. i think this style is perfect.

a stone i am considering (though have no idea about prices of these things yet!) called harvest mix by earthworks.

playing house summore

here is an architect's rendition of what we could do to the front of the house. wow, he is a really good artist, huh? threw in the cupola for good measure, although we would obviously not need that extra expense, ah-hem.... yes, tear off all the brick and the cedar designs (half-timbering), and replace with brick. i think the plan is a good one except for closing up the entryway with the stone wall. it would look great from the outside looking in, but the view looking out would be even more obscured than it is already. the door would remain where it is currently, but where there is currently a single post, there would be a wall. to about where the broom is standing in this picture. rafey, get back to your sweeping!

it's all such a lovely distraction right now - since we haven't actually gotten a bid yet for how much this renovation would cost...

the research photos

it there is one thing i learned in school...it's that tequila is not meant to be drunk by the mug-ful. in addition, you might as well do your research. in fact, i remember sometimes having the problem that i would in fact do too much research. i would get distracted by interesting details and go off on a tangent. and lose sight of the big picture. okay, so maybe what i really should have learned is that i shouldn't get too focused on details? what? something about a mug? what? ugggg.

oh ya, i remember now. research. yes, i tend to want to get a lot of information before making decisions. rather than simply paint the front of the house, there is a grand new plan....replace the schoolhouse red brick with STONE. please nod politely while i say - stone is almost always superior to brick! unless you are a post office or a hospital.

so STONE. talk about a research project. composite stone? oh yes, it is manufactured something-or-other that is made to look like stone! stone veneer? that is actually REAL stone. then there are stone suppliers and retailers and even just plain stoners. it's terribly confusing.

you might be wondering, and what about this house? this house is so pretty, isin't it? so many details that i like, in particular the stone and the trim color, and also the shutters. and it's got a cupola, for goodness sake! and it happens to be for sale, so i looked it up to see if there might be good pictures online? this house is for sale for 2.2 million dollars. have you ever heard of such a thing?? maybe in california? shocking.

but all of that is really irrelevant. i went and took my own pictures. i was hoping that a builder person might be able to tell me what this stone is, and i also wanted to try to match the trim color.

how about i just move here? sigh! could this house be any more darling??

another example of colors and stone.

i'd like to end with a picture of my actual house but guess what? i still can't figure out how to move pictures around on the page. i try to drag it, it pops back into place.

exteriors again

EXTERIOR COLORS

LOVELY houses! none of them mine, obviously! but looking for ideas of color combinations.... picking out a color for one interior room is nothing compared to trying to do this outside, when the sun changes things so much, and you have to account for multiple colors (trim and body) plus window and gutter...yikes! this is not likely to be figured out soon enough to complete this fall.

bo's kitchen tile

I'm kinda predictable in this: if you ask my opinion on something, I'm gonna do a google search and find pictures for you! I love projects. I love tile, too. My mother in law is redoing her kitchen countertops and backsplash and I can't wait to see how it turns out! She has probably already made all her decisions, but I thought I would throw out some ideas in case she has not. t the first photo - i like the small squares with slight variation in color, thought she might like that, as well

i am thinking that the mix of shapes in this tile pattern might be nice - could be monochromatic, but have a little interest to it. i think this would work well if all countertops were off white.

again, the mix of rectangles and squares (not in these colors)

more of this idea: the squares of multiple shades of the same color.

and again, but on the diagonal. I also can picture all countertops dark green, the small brick pattern in green, with off-white+green for the diagonal square pattern. actually, I really like this one a lot. I like this sort of "trim piece" look that the brick layer provides.

distractions called rugs

okay, so this is not a rug...but i wanted to post it before i lose track of it...the most beautiful kitchen in the world, most likely. can't put my finger on the why of it.... i like the modest size. the stainless with the gray finish, the stainless lights. it's got that "pretty" of martha stewart style - pretty but practical (speaking of the lighting) and tidy. i love it.

speaking of martha stewart, here is a rug that i just love in the m.s. line from safavieh (spelled wrong, i think). i love the coolness of the colors and the retro pattern.

i would love a faux bois rug, of course.

and this one is so darling, too.

did i mention that the rug is for the front hall? and i'm absolutely not buying one any time soon. that's why it's only a distraction, not a project.