Searching For The Perfect Paint Color

I'll be the first to admit that I've made many mistakes when choosing a paint color. Prior to moving in, I did the right thing and bought testers of all the paint shades I wanted for each room...yet in the end I tested only ONE. The story is, I had only one paintbrush and after I put one tester on the wall I went to rinse off my brush for the next color and discovered our water hadn't been turned on yet. So I just said, heck, the colors will be fine...and bought the gallons of paint the following day. Only to end up loving 3 out of the 5 colors.

My lack of patience can be laughable sometimes...

So besides the obvious tip of buying a few testers (they're usually less than $3!) and actually using them...here are some other tips to avoid that smack your head moment when you realize you made a big...sometimes expensive...and most certainly time consuming, boo boo.


Benjamin Moore

When viewing the swatch, hold it the way of the surface you'll be painting...

For instance, if you're painting the wall...hold your swatch up vertically to view the color. It's amazing how the way you hold the swatch truly affects the color due to the way the light hits the surface. Same goes for painting the ceiling. Hold the swatch above you to get a truer idea of the color.

To avoid unwanted undertones, grab a swatch of the unwanted color and compare...

I've been the victim of choosing a color that I thought was what I wanted...but then I got it on the walls and crap...a sneaky undertone comes out and it's not at all the color I was going for. How to avoid this? If you have an inkling that an unwanted color may be in your swatch, or if you're just trying to avoid a certain color...find a swatch of the unwanted color and place it next to your desired swatch. This can help bring out any sneaky undertones.

For instance, I bought a gray once only to find out that there was a tonnnn of blue in it. I was originally looking (don't laugh Rob) for a true gray. No undertones. Well, with the swatch in hand, instead of just imagining what it would look like against the white trim (which white doesn't help unveiling undertones) if I had grabbed a blue swatch and placed it next to the "gray" one I had in hand, the blue undertones would have been unable to hide. Undertones can be seriously sneaky. You gotta trust your eye. And if you don't trust yours, ask a friend!

Paint the tester on various walls of the room...

Lighting is huge when it comes to color and how it appears. I've learned to put the tester on various walls to get the best perspective of what the color would look like. And also to view the painted area in the daytime as well as at nighttime. Again, lighting can change a lot.

So I'm definitely embracing these ideas while I'm dreaming of painting our dining room/family room...and possibly our kitchen.

I'm also tired of feeling restricted to the colors offered at my local home improvement store, so I did myself a favor and ordered myself a Benjamin Moore fan deck. Yeah, with 1232 colors. It's odd how giddy this makes me feel. I've heard it time and time again how awesome Benjamin Moore colors are and I'm finally convinced. Since we don't have a Benjamin store around here, I plan to use the swatches to be color matched.

I just started browsing their colors and here's a few that I fell for...







Anyone have any painting regrets? At our last home, I had a lime green living room, an orange sherbet office, and a light blue room with a royal blue accent wall. I. am. not. kidding. I don't completely regret it, but my goodness, it was a lot of color. Anyone else drawn to more vibrant colors like me? I want to paint a room that Majestic Violet soooo bad!

Repainting. 2nd or 3rd Time is a Charm, Right?!

Yeah, I should of known this would've happened.

So we've lived in our home for only 2 1/2 years...and so far, I've already REpainted the hallway and our master bedroom. Thankfully I'm satisfied with our master bedroom. Our hallway, still not so much, but about a year ago I was feeling cheap and wanted anything other than the pale blue we had in there, so I used the color that we originally painted our master bedroom. Yeah the color that I also didn't like.

Genius, huh?

Anyway, so this repainting post isn't about the hallway, I just can't bear to think of repainting that so soon for a THIRD time...but this post is about repainting our dining/family room.

Currently these conjoined rooms are painted a purpley gray color called "Dusk" by Martha Stewart. I remember when I saw this color swatch, I was OBSESSED. I get that way with colors. I do still like the color, however the thing I didn't know about this room was how little natural light it gets. Causing this space to feel cave-like. Especially our dining room. See our house doesn't face the sun. The sun goes over from one side of our house to the other side. No front and back light here.

All that to say that I'm facing the reality that we're going to have to repaint.

Yes, WE, Rob. (pleeeeeease? I love you!!!)

There's also another need to paint believe it or not. It looks like Rob, Finn and I are being blessed with a new bundle of joy...a sectional!! Lol, hopefully nobody fell off their chair on that one.

Yep, it looks like my sweet father and stepmutha :) are in the process of relocating and are wanting new furniture. That leaves their blue sectional all to us. That created the other reason to repaint. Dark blue sectional with a dark purpley gray color doesn't work for me. Too much color and too dark. Originally I wanted a light colored couch in that room to offset the darker walls and to brighten up the room. But how can I say no to a free couch? Paint is much cheaper than couches, right? And I'm totally already picturing it in my head and I'm a-lovin it. (flashback to Molly Shannon on SNL..."I love it, I love it, I love every minute of it!!!")

So yes, very excited about those changes ahead. Will be sure to share them on here too.

I also got a much anticipated package in the mail today. Aren't packages in the mail THEE BEST? Lots of caps in this post. Well, I found a site called Picplum. For any Instagram lovers out there, this is a great site to actually print all those pics you collect over the days, weeks and years. They're also super cheap, $1 a print! And there's something about a square photo that speaks to me. I love me some symmetry.

Aren't they cute? They come in 4x4 and 5x5 prints in a matte finish. These are 5x5. I'll use some for my desk at work (I need pics there of my baby boy!!) and frame some others here at home.

Alright, well that concludes this random post. Itching to go to the paint store to get some swatches...too bad Home Depot closes at 10pm. Laaaaaaaame.

Alright, off to snuggle with my boy. :))))))))))))))))))

Two Months!

Two months already...although at the same time it feels like forever.

He's gained exactly 2 lbs and grew 2 inches since birth. Such a great feeling as a mom (and a nursing mom...you know, cause you don't have that guarantee of how much he's getting) to hear that he's gaining weight. Rob knew I'd be happy to hear that, and I totally was.

It's been quite a month. I returned back to work which hasn't been easy, but I'm trying to take that one day at a time. We never know what our future holds, so maybe this won't be permanent. That also explains why my posts have been a lil infrequent along with projects around the house. But I'm still focusing on that dining room! I've been brainstorming for what the heck I wanna do with those walls.

I do know that because this dining room is like a cave, I wanna put some mirrors on one of the walls to reflect the light. So that's something...but I'm still mulling over a few things in my head. Sometimes I'm tempted to just give in and do whatever, but I don't want to get ahead of myself. If I'm gonna have to stare at this, I want it to be right. Ya know?

But ANYWAY. Back to the star of the show...Mr. Finn. :)

Dear Finn, oh what a month this has been! You started to smile and coo!! It's absolutely amazing. You like to have conversations with us whenever you're on your changing table, and give us lots of smiles up there too. You also got your first bath in your whale tub this month! You liked it for the first 7 minutes, then you were done! But I think you're going to eventually love it. You also started going to church with mommy and so far, you like to sleep during the music part. :)) This past month was when your mama had to return to work and daddy is now watching you during the day. You guys have so much fun together, from tummy time to story time. I knew your daddy would always love to read to you. Sometimes it puts you to sleep. :) Last week you managed to roll from your tummy to your back! You little rolly polly. We love you so much baby boy, and love watching you grow. We're so proud of you and are so thankful to be your parents. Happy 2 months sweet boy!

Xoxo,

Mama

Now for a few pics from this month.

These taken during one of our many conversations...

You snuggling with mama after her first day back at work...

You and your wonderful daddy...

You looking SO grown...my little hambone.

Gah, this kid melts me. Love being his mama.

Love to you all!

Window Treats And Tealy Goodness

Our front room is a major work in progress. For someone who is strongly affected by her environment, I've become quite numb when I enter this room. It's a coping mechanism I suppose, lol.

What's it lacking? Well just about everything.

Why? Because we don't have couches.

Yep I've realized that I haven't paid this room much attention because the time isn't right for us to drop a bunch of money on a sectional that I've measured out for the room (one day, West Elm Henry sectional, one day).

So I've decided to no longer let our lack of couches bring down the rest of the room. And in effort to help this room not sound like an empty echo-y hall, I'm turning my eyes to our dining room.

Let me start by giving a quick glimpse to the layout of this room. It has a dining room, and then what I'm calling the piano wall and then the area that will have a sectional couch one day.

Yep, no fancy drafting software here, just some good ol pen and paper. :))

And here's some older photos of the room at it's finest...har har. This was when we had to empty our closets for new carpet. In the first pic, you can see the piano wall (left corner), and if you look closely you can see the blue tape in the right corner on the floor that is the measurements of my future sectional :), and then the crazy lookin dining room below. Wow-zah.

We've almost purged our house of every window treatment that was previously here when we moved in. All were an older once white blind, like what we currently have in our dining.

Well this post isn't touching those blinds yet, but it does touch on the much needed curtains around it. I've searched a while for curtains for this room. I'm drawn toward patterns like at Urban Outfitters, however I didn't want to commit without knowing what the rest of the room would look like. So I decided on a solid. And to my surprise, velvet.

And to no surprise, teal.

See, I've discovered without my knowing that I have a thing for teal/aqua/turquoise.

There's Finn's car seat...

 Our outdoor chair cushions...

My fuzzy blanket from Target...

And now these teal curtains.

Here's the before...

And after...

Mmm, I'm loving it. I love hanging curtains close to the ceiling...it draws your eyes up and makes quite a dramatic statement. With the shape of the room I was able to place the curtain rod so it appears that it's wedged between the two walls. Also when you hang your curtains like this it visually expands the windows instead of shrinking them.

I love my realistic looking fake lemons.

So here's what else I have planned for the rest of the dining room:

• Purchase a rug (probably jute or some other natural fiber for durability)
• Update blinds
• Hang art/mirrors (mirrors to reflect light in this cave like dining room and make it appear bigger)
• Find 6 solid wooden dining chairs on Craigslist (paint white if not already)

Anyone else have an eye sore of a room that you're tired of staring at? Or have you found some recent motivation and started to tackle a project? Nothing like checking something off a long overdue list. Like my sectional. The day that's purchased and moved in our house, I'll probably throw a party and sleep out there for weeks. :))

V-Day

Valentine's Day. Typically Rob and I don't celebrate V-Day, but you know what my favorite thing about Valentine's Day was back in the day? The crafts you got to do at school. The little bags you'd make and put on your desk to collect all your valentines from classmates. Aw, sweet memories.

So I did a little craftin to celebrate.

I just did a little somethin...wherever my brain took me. Nothing fancy. Ended up making a card for Rob and one for little man. And I had a plan for using those hearts.

Here's a pic of Finn this morning with his first Valentine's card. He was happy for about a nanosecond...then just needed some soothing. A first Valentine's Day can be rough on these little baby emotions. ;)

His first Valentine given by his mama. That's the way it should be, right? :)

Rob also surprised me yesterday and organized for my mom to babysit and we went to our favorite Mexican restaurant. Rob has this joke, although he wouldn't call it a joke, that no matter what he plans ends up getting messed up somehow. Lol. It doesn't truly feel that way, but we do make memories in the process. This night was no different. First, I can't recall the last time we got some serious rain here and lo and behold as we're about to head out, a torrential downpour arrives. With no umbrellas, I grab a trash bag (super classy) and put it over my head and we run to the car. And we quickly learned that this wasn't a quick Florida rain, this one was holding out. We couldn't find close parking at our restaurant, so we had to park far away down the street. It sounded like the rain was letting up right when we were getting out of the car, however, it was a false alarm. We get out and there was no turning back. The wind was blowing the cold rain in our faces and my trash bag wasn't doing it's trick anymore. Needless to say, by the time we arrived at our restaurant, we were drenched. And cold. And wanting a dry towel and a heater. It was hilarious. We got our chips and salsa, and I couldn't help but place the warm chip on my cheek for some heat. Lol. Oh sweet memories. Love him. It was so nice to just get out of the house with him and simply talk and laugh over our yummy grilled chicken tacos.

Oh and Finn did wonderfully with his Nana. He slept. Yep, he has impeccable timing sometimes.

Don't worry, Nana was awake while she watched him. :)

Here's a few Valentine pics that I took this morning...

Our very own little cupid. :)

Happy V-Day everyone!

One Month

Baby boy turned one month old yesterday

I was thankful to get a photo without Mr. Finnious fussy-pants coming out. But I told myself, rain or shine, tears or no tears, this photoshoot would go on.

The lip and almost tears did come out sooner than later though...

His little face melts me. So here's a little synopsis of your first month, Finn.

Dear sweet boy, it's been quite a month for you. Your first month of life has felt much longer than just a month. Maybe because of all the feedings every couple of hours since you're such a growin boy. You've showed us a few smiles this month, I think it's cause you're happy. Your favorite things to do are eating and sleeping and being in your swing. Oh that blessed swing that soothes you so wonderfully sometimes. Oh and you love love love to have your hair washed. I could just stare at you all day. You are so precious, sweet boy. Your mama and daddy love you so much. Happy one month!

Xoxo,
Mama

It's A Balancing Act

God. Rob. Finn. Family. Friends. Church. Decorating. Music. Blogging.

Lots of other things weaved in there too. How to balance it all...I have no clue. Lol.

So in effort to not lose focus, I wanted to start making a few little goals for myself...I probably won't be putting a timeline on anything, but to see it written out will help me.

God: My goal is to make a point to set aside time each day, I don't care if it's 3 minutes or an hour, no matter what, to either play some worship songs on the piano, read a verse/chapter, or just sit and pray. I'm most centered when I'm centered around God. And I'm not setting any time frames, because quite honestly I'm not the type that can follow a set schedule without it feeling like I'm just marking off a task on my to do list. It's the way my brain works. I just want to spend more time trusting what I believe and living it out.

Rob: Go on a date with this man...and not in 6 months.

Finn: Trust me, sweet boy, you've got my attention. I'm gonna try to be the best mama for you.

Family and Friends: Once little guy is less fussy and pumping is in full swing, go out with friends and family. I know this will happen eventually, it just feels hard to do at the present moment.

Church: We'll be there eventually. Missing LifeQuest! Thankful I can listen to the topics online.

Decorating: Start offering decorating services (for a small price) via mood boards. What is a mood board? They're a digital compilation of a room design or makeover. For example, here's the mood board I created for Finn's room...

The idea is to gather all the information (wants/needs/design dilemmas) from the client and find items/paint colors/art and create a mood board to be used as a guide by the client. The beauty of this is that the back and forth correspondence is done via online, meaning that these can be created for anyone, anywhere.

Music: Oh music. Oh writing. I miss you. I'll never let it die. And never want it to fall off my things that I want to do. It takes probably the most dedication, but I still gotta do it.

Blogging: Blogging has become quite a wonderful outlet for me. This is my 91st post. Wowzah. Can't believe I've stuck with it this long, but I'm thankful I have.

I just wanna make sure I keep my head around the right things. And not just one thing. Cause I can get some major tunnel vision sometimes, ya know what I mean?

Love to you all!