Special Delivery

Today, just as I was saying goodbye to a neighbor who had stopped over for coffee, Tommy walked up to me with his hand out.  The kid is forever handing me crumbs, fuzzies, stray hairs, leftover food, all day long so I didn't even pause.  I put out my hand and accepted his delivery.

It was a poop turd.

Yep.

I knew right away.  Thank goodness my neighbor has kids and was not overly grossed out by my newest present.  I hope this is not the beginning of a new phase.

And the Oscar Goes to...

Behr's "Observatory" by Home Depot in an eggshell finish.  I showed up at the paint store, but couldn't buy a color I knew Tom hated.  So I ditched Starless Night and hunted the racks for a slightly lighter shade with a hint of gray.  Observatory fit the bill.  Here they are side by side:



Top: Starless Night , Bottom: Observatory

I bought a gallon instead of a sample (crazy, I know) and headed home, along with 5 potential samples for our bedroom.  I started painting while I waited for Direct T.V. to show in the FOUR hour window they gave me.  Guess who never made it and called 30 minutes after the window had ended? 

Bye, Bye Coral Bells-

Hello, Observatory!

I didn't get nearly as much painted as I had hoped, but I do love it.  I am hoping two coats will cover the red, but it is pretty bright, even under the blue.   No more living room pictures until we are done and moved in. 

The Perfect Color

I'm a pretty good painter by now.  After deciding I would rather have a new dining room set than pay out some serious cash for a painter, yours truly will be painting the formal living room and two bedrooms.  Now begins the task of wiping down EVERY surface in the house to remove the sanding residue.
First, I detoured to the kitchen yesterday where I  scrubbed every cabinet, inside and out.  By far, my least favorite room in the house.  Cleaning the cupboards was like shining up a piece of poop.  Pointless. Gotta love my microwave, which appears to be working.  Just wind it like a clock and on it goes.

Today, I wiped down the entire living room.  Up went two samples: Behr's Starless Night, and Sherwin Williams Indigo Batik. Tom of course liked Indigo Batik better, and I preferred Starless Night. We later decided Indigo Batik would be great for P's room, but Tom still wasn't sold on Starless night.

Here is a website with a dining room painted in Starless Night:  http://www.tenjuneblog.com/2011/01/im-blue-da-ba-dee-da-ba-da.html

Feeling it was a bit too dark, Tom asked for something with a little gray to it.  I found some images of Sherwin Williams Homberg Gray (see picture below) on this website:  http://themoesfamilyintexas.blogspot.com/2011/07/big-revealthe-dining-room.html.  Could this be it?? Great, right?

Off I went to Sherwin Williams.  The guy there loved me considering I came in 15 minutes before they closed Sunday.  I got my sample of Homberg Gray, returned home, then headed back to the new house at 8:30 to slap on the newest color so Tom could see it on his way into work Monday.  Did I love it?
Definitely hard to say when painted on a sea of red in a dark room, but I think I like it.  Can't say it looked exactly like the photo above.  Tom is weary. Here's how the samples look in the real world of my living room:

From Top to Bottom:  Sherwin Williams Homberg Gray, Sherwin Williams Indigo Batik, and Behr's Starless Night (this was taken at 9:00pm with a halogen light as the only lighting)

 I am more confused now than I was yesterday.  Maybe the daylight will help sway me.

Bright and Shiny

It is no secret-  I love all things bright and shiny. And my new floors are just that:

Living room with Minwax Dark walnut Stain

Entryway with Dark Walnut

Dining Room

 

Upstairs bedroom with the slightly lighter Minwax Provincial stain

 

Upstairs hallway in Provincial

 My goal this weekend was to get the living room and the 3 upstairs bedroom walls I plan to paint wiped down, but I'm not sure how I am going to feel in the morning.  No luck on finding someone to do the built-in bookcase I need.  I have convinced a contractor working just a few streets up to stop by on Monday and take a look at what I need done. 

36 Wishes

Sunday I turned 36.  We went to dinner with my best friend from college and her husband, but the highlight of the day was being presented with my birthday cake, compliments of Chef Patrick.  I also received one belated gift- P's cold.  I am currently miserable with a packed schedule this weekend. 

Floors

The hardwoods have all been stained (I went with Dark Walnut downstairs and on the stairs, and Provincial upstairs) and the floor guys say they will be completely done tomorrow.  They did it all in just one week, on schedule (they had told me 1-2 weeks).  We discovered a leak behind the fridge during the process, but my brother-in-law, a complete angel, was able to get there the same day and fix it for us.  Pictures to come Thursday or Friday. 

Now I just need to track down someone to complete a built-in bookcase for us to act as a wall so the boys don't fall into a stairway.  The only leads I have gotten are all busy and can't get to it anytime soon.  Talked to a contractor today who thought they could squeeze us in.   

Tom and I have tentatively settled on a deep, rich blue for the living room to cover the red.  I picked up a few samples yesterday to try out this weekend.  Not looking forward to wiping down EVERY wall in the house to get rid of the fine layer of floor dust before I even start painting.

And happy birthday to me on Sunday- my husband gave me the thumbs up to order a dining room set so we can actually fill the front room.  It will be delivered at the end of this month.   The boys gave me a garden landscape book to help in the planning of our new beds and gardens.  Tom got me the house (even though it is "our money", I know he would have been to content to stay where we are). 

If it wasn't for an up-all-night ear infection for Tommy Friday, and a cold for P Saturday-Monday, it would have been the perfect weekend. 

Decisions, Decisions

I swung by the new house today around 530 to check Day Two progress on the floors. Here are few photos from Day One:



You can see the need to unite the floors with one common stain.  The stairs were a whole different color also.



Front entry with sanding underway



Upstairs hall with sanding completely done.

Now the big decision...which stain?  We have very golden floors at our current house that don't look all that different from the sanded photo of the upstairs hall.  I really wanted to go darker, although I know every dust bunny will really show.  I love rich, deep woods.  When the hardwood guys gave me the Minwax sample board, I was drawn to Dark Walnut.  Dark walnut was lighter than Ebony, which I think is the blackish stain currently in the living room and library/den (see the first photo).  Our floor guy, who has been doing this for a zillion years, said he thought it was going to be darker than what I wanted and recommended Provincial

This is the sampling I found on the living room floors- the far right shade is Provincial.  The other two stains are way too light for consideration. 

The only light I had was a dinky floor lamp and at almost 6pm, the room was already pretty dark.  I think I am going to have to go back in the morning to see what it looks like under natural light., but my gut says trust my first instinct and ask to see the Dark Walnut stain which they did not do.  I may still end up with Provincial in the long run. It is a beautiful shade that would match just about anything.   I could also clean less.  Hmmm, tempting.   I almost wonder if the second stain color (on the left) in the first picture was a Provincial stain to start off with.  I hate making such permanent decisions! We are going to be living with these floors for the rest of our time in this house.  Any suggestions?