kitchen update.

nothing much to say, but here's a preview of what the kitchen might look like when it is done. (and please ignore the command strips holding the bin pull in place - i was still figuring out where i wanted it! classy as always...)

so... good news and bad news on the kitchen update.

i've made a TEENY bit of progress (i'm attacking the work a section at a time so i don't get overwhelmed) and it's clear that this is a great product.

however, it's also clear that it's going to take 4-5 coats of paint (not including top coat) to cover the dark cabinets.

so it's going to be a little while before i can show you how this turns out. but in the meantime i will try to post some photos of the updates to the dining room, family room and office.

keeping busy!

oh, cr*p.

so, while there are many, many, MANY projects still on my list for this here ol' house, for the most part i do like it in it's current state.

the only real exception is the kitchen. while we are extremely lucky that it had been upgraded for modern-day life, it is clear that it was done without any thought about how it would integrate with the rest of the house.

remember, our house was built sometime around 1865-1880, so THIS (seen here on one of our walk-throughs in 2009) is not what i would have chosen to do with the kitchen.



so, now, i'm finally going to go for it. cabinet transformations in "pure white" and vintage hardware are at the ready - and i am steeling myself for several weeks of painting and frustration. i'll tell you later if it was actually worth the effort!

wish me luck!

if.. you... asked me to...

well, YOU DID if your name is sandra, elaine or kelly.

no real post today, just a quick update on the mirrors for the dining room. some of you may recall that i was playing with a few ideas for the finish (and blogged about it here).

so many friends liked the multi-colored graffiti look that i decided, "what the heck? we're only young once!" so here you go...

ignore the styrofoam up top - just testing different angles for the mirrors to hang at...

if you're curious:
- mirrors were a sale item at pier one
- used the following paints: rust-oleum in "white gloss" and "black gloss" and krylon x-metals in "anodized purple"

thanks to emily!

the fabulous miss emily of emily a. clark hosted her monthly reader participation post a week ago today and i was lucky enough to be included.

this month's subject? entry halls and foyers.

some of you may have already seen my before and after shots in the "paint it black" post - click here if you haven't!

i ain't sayin' she a gold digger...

well, due to laziness and because it seems it's impossible to book a contractor, i have made very little headway in the dining room. for months it has been a glorified storage locker-slash-project room and it is all so very sad.

well, while i can't empty it out until i find a contractor WHO RETURNS CALLS to fix up the basement, i can still plan for the day when i can decorate and entertain in there... (please, god, let that be SOON!)

the room is large, with our very high ceilings, so i've been looking for some high-impact items to fill the space. one thing that was absolutely necessary was to add at least one mirror - i love the way they reflect the candlelight during a long dinner party with friends - but it would have to be BIG.

i searched and searched antiques fairs, consignment and antique shops, craigslist, ebay, but i just could not find what i wanted. then, one day, at pier one i spotted this one. the finish is truly HIDEOUS but it is over 4 feet tall and has great bones.

close up of the original finish... yuck.

so i tried high-gloss black...

and high-gloss white...

and a fuschia metallic paint.

it's kind of a mess, but sort of fun too!

but i think i'm back to my original inspiration, so i have ordered some gold lustrgild paint in the hopes of creating something more like this:

so hopefully, sometime next week, these two lovelies will be finished and hung and i can finally say i have made some kind of progress in here!

will it never, EVER, end?

"what a looooooong strange trip it's been" for me and this here dining room. it was probably the room i was most excited about when i moved in - not because it is the most beautiful (in fact, it was the most neglected - i can't even conceive of what those college kids were DOING in there.*), but because i love to entertain.

*okay, i really can because, you know, it wasn't SOOOOO long ago that i was a college student myself. i just don't want to imagine those things happening in MY dining room!

from the start, i wanted it to be a cozy room that people could relax in for hours. it started as this mess below - well this is actually after the carpets full of funk were removed. i can't find a better photo, i think, because i had avoided the room for so long.

again with the baby-poopy yellow. EVERYWHERE with the baby-poopy yellow. to make it a bit more serene i decided to go for a mid-tone gray. i tested about 10 and chose the one you see below. (again, apologies for the mess - until the basement is cleared for use, the dining room is doubling as a storage unit.)

i tend to like cool colors, but this just looked horrible. i had exchanged the poopy baby diaper color for an actual baby's nursery (which is just sad and scary if you don't have a baby friend of your own)!

when it went on, it was a pale blue and i hated it. but i was so frustrated that i just finished off the room because i had no idea when i would get to painting it AGAIN....

in the meantime i found this amazing photo. noe this - THIS - is what i was looking for. so, against my usual color instincts, i went about testing some dove grays - colors that had a bit of brown in them to warm things up and create that cozy vibe i want. i finally settled on "stormy monday" by benjamin moore.

and, last night, i got my lazy bones off of the sofa and painted one wall to see if it worked...

i also dedided to do something a bit radical - i'm painting everything from the crown molding down in this color, including trim and baseboards. I'll be using alot of white, black and gold decor - and texture - for POP.

i like that it's neutral enough to show off any color that i might incorporate into holiday or party decorations. because you know me, with the color. and the sparkle.

what do you think? great or BIG mistake?

OH - quick side note... i decided to try a new paint formulation last night as well: benjamin moore's aura. it's alot more expensive than the color-matched paints i generally buy at home depot (which are great), but i did love this stuff. goes on very smooth, great coverage, and very low on fumes. thumbs up!

project doorway update: ready for its close-up!

is it sort of pathetic that i'm waxing nostalgic about a project that's not even done yet? (it's okay to say yes. i said yes.)

i have only one room left to paint and that means project doorway is rapidly coming to a close.

so let's raise a glass - scotch if you've got it - to the progress we've made on the paint front over the last six months. here's a retrospective of our work...

the front door, interior:


inside of the downstairs bathroom door:


the inside of the built in nook on the side of the fireplace:


inside of the upstairs bathroom door:


inside of both master bedroom closets:


inside of the guest room bedroom closet:


the back door, interior:


i'm loving this door in nicky hilton's INSANE closet (and i'm SWOONING over those shoes she's wearing). pretty sure that this is what will end up the inspiration for the doors in the dining room...


hope you've enjoyed the close-ups!

paint it black.

oh, man, i LOVE this song so much. really, it may be the best song ever written.


i wanted to do something VERY dramatic for the entrance to the house, so here's my ode to this most awesome of songs - i have painted my entryway, and the newel post and banister (though the balustrade remains white), high gloss black (yes, you read that right!). and i painted the door red, which i know mick explicitly warns against but, well, screw it. i like the pop of color.

so sorry, mick!

what we started with... (more puke yellow in this house than you could ever have imagined, right?)
and now!

as you can see, aside from needing a few touch-ups, i'm playing around with possible patterns that i will add in white. i'm leaning towards bare tree branches.

have any brilliant ideas? send 'em my way!

project doorway

(l-r) benjamin moore "magenta" in the master bedroom closets, behr "sailboat blue" in the upstairs bath, and chalkboard paint in the guest bath


whether you're saying "auf wiedersehen" or "guten tag" in this house, i hope you'll enjoy it just the same.

one of my favorite projects i have christened "project doorway" (in honor of one of my very favorite tv shows).

my goal is to paint the inside of every door. i love a little (and unexpected) pop of color!

here are a few of the doors that i have been working on. i have MANY to go, but this is a good start!

"make it work!"

"you know what you gotta do when life gets you down?

just keep painting.
just keep painting.
just keep painting, painting, painting.
what do we do? we paint, paint, paint.
OH HO HO, how i love to paint.
when you WAAAAAANNTTT to paint you want to paint..."

okay, so those aren't the EXACT lyrics, but pretty damned close.

gina's lease is up on the 1st - so how did we spend the the beginning of this week? painting until it hurt. literally. i have taken more advil this week than i did when i thought i had the swine flu!

the floor guys were scheduled for wednesday morning, so we had precious little time to use those foul carpets as built-in drop cloths. and, by god, we were going to take advantage!

so monday night, with the help of super sarah and kate the great, we knocked out the office and the upstairs hallway, including the ceiling (but minus the area under the chair rail, where i will be installing anaglypta or lincrusta - is there a difference?!).

tuesday we took a half day and headed to home depot - and lunch at in-n out to fortify us - to buy 15 (!) more gallons of paint and planned to knock out the rest of the house. ha! well, a girl can dream...

nom nom nom

with the addition of maggie & melissa the magnificents, we managed to put a dent in things (and i made a great game-time decision on the color for the guest bedroom). we completed the master bedroom, the guest bedroom (including ceiling - ugh), and started on the stairwell and living room. neglected the dining room altogether because, by the time i could finish cleaning, i knew i'd be stuck at the house past 2am again.

gina, kate the great, and magnificent maggie

melissa works on the 24-foot stairwell ceiling

bathrooms we can save for later - just a fresh coat of "super white" should do. kitchen will require some strategy - want to paint the ikea cabinets but have to figure out if i can do that without ruining the birch veneer. (suggestions, please!)

here are a few before and after shots for you. colors look a bit ish-y as i was using the camera phone.

what do you think??

master bedroom in "solana beach" from ace hardware - a gorgeous grey-blue

guest bedroom in "beach water" by ralph lauren. it's like a mint chip milkshake - so pretty!

office in "super white" by benjamin moore

half-baked upstairs hallway in "marilyn's dress" by benjamin moore (waiting for textured wallpaper and molding) - this is the most lovely gray i have ever seen

ugh. living room, peppered with "blue shale" by behr

and a sorely neglected dining room

"my colors, my honor, my colors, my all...

...with my colors upon me one soldier stands tall."

- ice-t

y'all remember that one?

here's a look at the colors i'm playing with for the house interior (the red door actually represents the inside of the front door).

and, yes, i'm thinking cotton candy pink for the office. you got beef?! ;)