Edge, roll, touch up, repeat....

and repeat and repeat and repeat.

No, I don't tape. But, I am not saying it isn't a very important part of painting. I spent an entire summer painting houses, to make some $$, and I learned how to edge without using tape. In some instances, we did tape some, and we will tape when we do the stripes in Mary's room, and yes, it is a pain, but it does work. Anyway...on to the reason for the blog.

Yup, I am FINALLY putting all of my home decor plans to use. I love to think up home decor ideas in my head, and sometimes I will put stuff together on the computer, for future use. In fact, I think I have about 10 files on the computer, just for home decor ideas..for the future. I have tons of pages from home decor magazines stored away in a folder..for future use. I have been saving some here and some there, in order to purchase some home decor items...in the future.

Well, the future is here! And once we got unpacked, it was off to the paint store. After all, paint/wall color is where you being when it comes to decorating. No, I don't really know what I am talking about, I got that from a home decor magazine. ;) But it makes sense. The walls were completely clean and freshly painted white when we got here(courtesy of the family that lived here before us). All prepped and ready to be painted. I could hear them calling.

I knew what colors I wanted, but I didn't know what shades of these colors I wanted. I spend days looking at paint chips in several paint stores and finally found a shade of green that I loved. (for the family room)

I tried to get some pictures of the colors of the rooms, but honestly, color just doesn't show up exactly how it looks, in a picture. It just doesn't happen. The green I picked for the family room turned out to be awesome. I lucked out on the first try. I am not a fan of the ever so popular sage green, because it does not match the decor I have, and it is too light for my style, so I went a few shades darker. It is not dark green either. How is that for confusing. In fact, I looked at so many greens, I can't even remember the name of the one I finally picked, and I don't want to go look at the paint can right now. I think it had the word "herb" in there somewhere.
This is what is looks like, and I LOVE it.

The next room was the kitchen. We did one wall in the same color of green as the family room. That was not in the plans, but I thought of it last minute, Ben liked the idea, and it turned out awesome. We wanted the rest of the kitchen to be light. I like light and happy kitchens. We decided to find a cream color with just a hint of green in it. Easier said than done. I came home, with what I thought was the perfect color, and it ended up looking bright yellow! It was so ugly! So I went back to the paint store and picked a new color. Again, easier said than done. I painted a strip of the wall with it and I didn't like it at first. Then it dried...and I really liked it! I don't know the name of this color either, but it is cool. I will call it "cool, cream, green, fun, mess-up-but-like color." I tried to take a picture of this color, but it just looked white in every picture. The green is so subtle, that the kitchen mostly looks cream, but with our awesome accent wall, it pulls the green out of the cream/green color.

And then it was on to the living room. One word...Holy Crap.
O.K. that was two words, but because I said it so much, it just became one big holycrapwhattheheckwasIthinking word.

In my mind, I could see this awesome tanish goldish color. Yeah, the guy at the paint store rolls his eyes now when he sees me coming, because I tell him stuff like that. So, I spent FOREVER looking at all of the tanish goldish colors and finally picked one. After painting a board with it and starting at it for days, I decided I didnt' like it. So, it was back to the paint store. This time I found the color I just knew was perfect.

I got the baby to sleep and painted part of the wall. I waited for the paint to dry, and at that point, I liked the color.
So, I went to town and painted like a mad woman until the baby woke up. I didn't stop to look at it much, because I wanted to go as fast as I could while I had time to do it. THREE hours later, I was dead tired and the room was done. I stepped back to look at my masterpiece and almost barfed. And if I had barfed, it would have blended right in with the walls. It was HORRIBLE!!! It looked like someone had rubbed mustard all over the walls and then peed on them, after eating a lot of vitamins (which turn your pee all sorts of cool colors) I wallowed in self pity at the waisted effort, paint, alone time, and $$, and waited for Ben to get home. As I predicted, Ben just looked at it then looked at me. He didn't like it, but didn't want to open his mouth in case I did like it. Good man. I told him I hated it, and I could see the relief in his eyes. I sulked for the next two days.

Then, it was back to the paint store. Same guy working, same eye roll. This time, I grabbed a ton of paint chips and went outside where the "true colors" came to light. I couldn't believe the difference. I ended up coming home with a color I never thought would be tanish goldish, but after another long nap from the baby, another three solid hours of painting from me, another day of painting the vaulted celilings with Ben and a ladder (that was no small thing folks, edging vaulted ceilings is nothing short of a really cool circus act), the room was complete! Well, almost. The couch we ordered for the room will be here Monday. It is very gorgeous and very victorian, just the way I like it.Oh yeah, and a picture of William, to fill that plain white spot in the frame. Oh, and the mirror to go above the couch, and maybe this cool coat hanger I have my eye on. Not to forget the candle holders that go on the wall, and the cool temple picture thingy I have in mind....O.K., so maybe not complete yet. But the painting is done! I call this room the "fancy room." I now love it.
FEW!!!!

Next will be the kids rooms. Mary's will be black, light pink and dark pink.
The boys room: dark green, burnt red (can't wait to try to describe this color to the paint guy) and dark brown
The toy room: outside theme, and it is a secret, but it will be SSSOOOOO cool! I can't wait.

Speaking of secrets...Ben and I were sustained on Sunday, so now we can say what are callings are. It didn't matter anyway, the day after we got our callings, the whole ward knew what they were. HA!
I am the activity days leader for the 10-11yr old girls. We had our first activity yesterday and had a good time. There are 10 girls, and they are all so cute and very kind. The lady I work with is really cool and she is a good friend already. I am VERY excited for this calling.

Ben is the Teachers Quorum Advisor. He is very excited as well. Lots of activities, and campouts. Male Bonding stuff. Perfect.


So, there you have it.

Anywhoo...We are painting machines here at our house. It is a lot of work, but I love what it does to the place. Edge, roll, touch-up, repeat. That's the story folks.