Neutral Didn't Last Very Long

Peek behind Hazel to the hallway two+ weeks ago:  silver and black horizontal stripes (playing dress up here with little friends).

This week: soft matte pink over the black.  Thinking about painting gold over the pink for more shine.  Ceiling is still minty.  If these walls weren't TEXTURED I would have painted them 10x more often.  This came-with-the-house texture is not my favorite feature.  If they weren't in dinning room, living room, whole hallway I would sand them down.  Waiting for the remodel day when wall between kitchen & living room comes down before re-do textured walls.  I still love open-concept house plans.  Really want to fix the bottleneck passageway between kitchen and basement stairs...

Painted church pew light pink (was mossy green), used staple gun and IKEA rug to make off-white furry table.  Did add bright coral lamp and bright green tray back into room.  Couldn't stay completely neutral for long (bright is nice, but I crave saturated colors)!

Love Color but Moving Towards Neutral Experiment

I love LOVE color, bright saturated colors, all together.  For awhile I have been making over our living room to Radiant Orchid, combining the teal and blues and greens, very analogous color scheme. 

As I was pinning one day and looking at trends, I was startled into the "duh" moment of moves towards neutrality.  Why neutral?  Why blah/boring/subtle?  Is it really more calming, serene, relaxing?  Experiment motivation, and I just had to see what it would look like, try it on.

I painted.  Kept the same lines, just neutralized everything.

Bleached a few things.  I laughed at all the things that are decidedly NOT neutral in our home.  On purpose.  No wonder people seeing it for the first time are overwhelmed, hit in the face with so much to look at...

I rearranged art and looked for less bright things, hung up a feed sack on stretcher bars.

Made burlap header for gray curtains, painted out the blue/green faux bois, even painted out the black stripes in hallway...Everything toned down...How long will it last?  Trying to find my permanent forever home style.  Using what we have.

Morphing Living Room, Again

I have a little friend who comes over on Wednesdays to play who was very, very concerned 2 weeks ago when he saw the harp missing from the right of the fireplace.  Averett grabbed my hand in his three year old insistent way and brought me to the spot and repeatedly asked me where it was.  We moved it into the sewing room for early-morning safety---I have up to 13 Bible study students still walking through here in the dark early hours and it was getting too much attention.   Our 13 year old harp tuner musician genius friend plays it safely while Roxie plays games on my computer, and it has worked out great.

I've been thinking about color change for the ceiling for awhile:  constellation with stars, mixing the turquoise and purples...I had Utah Benjamin Moore Blue skies with clouds painted on it years ago...The triangle ceiling has been fun, but I am ready for a change.  I took down the horizontal grey and white (wrapping paper) stripes from the mantle to expose analogous faux bois!  I've been thinking about making it look like the Ikea wood fabric, greys, to tone it down again  (when I do the ceiling).

Maybe it is a seasonal or a holiday thing, or trying out Pantone's color of the year Radiant Orchid, but I tried some bleach pen writing on some thrifted fuchsia sheets and made pillow coverings, and dyed the faded ocher couch cushions with purple Rit dye...made a flower ruffle pillow because I wanted to try it out, recovered the table with magenta vinyl... 

And made a HUGE "cocktail straw" wreath using instructions from Vintage Revival.  I learned that floral wire is much, much cheaper than the jewelry wire, even in same store, same gauge.  And "coffee stirrers" are not stronger than "cocktail straws."  (Notice the little bending curve bottom left.)  I spray painted this one red and love how it looks, love the geometry.  I made a smaller one following VR directions to cut straws down that I hung in front door shown on INSTAGRAM.  Easier than it looks to make, and fun!

(PS.  This week I moved Jen's chair painting to this spot in the living room, moved this wreath to dinning room window, and hung Stewart's orange quilt in the front hallway opposite "Love and serve 1 Another" sign which hangs above the arch.  Another example of domino decorating, move one thing, something else moves...)

Worth It

I could have painted this myself, but it was perfect, exactly what I needed. I like how KJV "temperance" is worded as self-control. I want to be better at this, recognizing the spirit, and knowing when I am NOT feeling it. Source: artist Dee Kasberger, "Urban Soul"

If I am feeling hate, anger, sadness, chaos, impatience, mean & yucky, evil/bad, doubtful, harshness, and no hope & giving up with wild abandonment, I am not feeling the spirit, but the adversary's enticings.

Juxtaposition

I love black & white houndstooth patterns. Found some fabric to go with my houndstooth quilt in living room.

Since You've Been Gone

Small changes:

Uncle David painting hallway. Orange hamper in bathroom.

Max learning how to cut hair. He also cut Sam's!

Zombie Fish was free, from an auction I was at with the Love Family. It was in a lot of linens & old trunk, and they didn't want it. I love this guy, makes me think of the awe we should feel when looking at this beautiful earth and the great creations (see this Nesting Place post on the subject! She inspired me!) I want to paint him. I researched, $800 for a mounted sailfish like this, but in blues, turquoises...it has potential! But we are used to the big clock being over the fireplace, so we ask each other what time it is, "Fish O'Clock."

Roxie & Suzanna think he is very creepy looking, mostly because of the eyes, and a certain Dr. Who episode. I love him. $8.00 at thrift store. Needs some restoration paint work. Sitting on the air conditioner near our kitchen door entrance.

Now What? Decorating Dilemmas

My husband grew up in a home where things were decorated, once, and the furniture stayed in place for years, decades...

My family moved every 4 years or so when I was young. And my mom liked to experiment, change things. I remember my bunk bed in three different places in our San Jose house, and it couldn't have been me moving it by myself?

Part of cleaning a room, for me, is seeing if things would fit better, or look nicer, or be more convenient rearranged. John has learned to turn on the lights before walking through a room, in case the couch is no longer where it was the last time he sat down...

And it isn't always me on my own changing things. Gifts, sharing bounty creates new "problems" to solve. New raw material to play with and create a new environment. Always in the pursuit of beauty/comfort/function.

I have a sweet friend who is a collector/antique-admirer. She gave me this fireplace surround/mantel. Oak under dubious white (lead?) paint. Wash your hands often. There is a beveled mirror that fits into the middle frame. This is waiting for a good cleaning and paint peel. I love the history of this piece, the detailing, the grandness!

(My friend also sent me home with these nifty chairs, enough to make a no-more-waiting for "Elijah" chair for each of my seminary students...either a Christmas present or early Passover gift? I will get them involved in this project and post finished pictures!)

I had just finished gluing on these blue stones to our brick fireplace surround. Cover them up with oak antique? Or take the saws-all and just put the top third of the mantel on top of my existing woodwork mantel??? Secure it how? It is top heavy to begin with, and massive, would need more support below...There are some engineering questions to figure out before I can do anything else with this project.

Finished this zebra pillow for my chair (once an Emma skirt), and then found a great curbside freebee chair...In my perfect living room, there are enough comfy chairs for all of us, sitting around a round central table. That means getting rid of the couch, or putting it in another room...

Do I recover it to match the rest of the black & white & turquoise decor in the living room? Embrace the purple? Start over with a clean slate?

Frivilous problems, these decorating questions of mine. It all has to fit within a budget of use-what-I-have-spend-nothing. SO it is all about rearranging. Editing. Choosing.

Little Decorating Changes Around Here

I changed the living room. Everything was from my fabric collection. Nothing new purchased. Green is now dominant color. Lots of greens. Yellow-sided greens. Luanna calls them "pea greens" like split pea soup green, not fresh or frozen. The new family rule is no shoes on the sheepskin rug (this rug is from Ikea, yes. Used to be in our red, red bedroom, then sat in a trunk for years, then along a bench for a year...) It is a good place to have family prayer. I want a quiet, gathering place, where we can read scriptures quietly together. We've been singing the same hymn all week long: #134 "I Believe in Christ" helping Roxie learn the alto part for the Primary program coming up...

We are still here!

Too Much of Us?

I don't really know who reads this blog unless you post a comment. Are you getting tired of seeing us everyday? Smiling, happy, in love...still looking for work. John applied today for one that sounds promising. I feel like I say that every day. Lots of long romantic lunch dates that end at 2 pm when the high school kids come home. Cross country is over and wrestling hasn't started yet.
Serious faces (sitting in front of our living room window. The window is reflecting the room, but the stained glass you can see on the left of John's shoulder--that is St. Paul's across the street. This shows the color of the room-deep turquoise, matches my favorite curtains. Going for a monochromatic look in here. Maybe. This week, anyway!)

Must take pictures of some quilting tomorrow. Or change the name of this blog:
Lunch Dates
Us Everyday
Side by Side
Johnny's Rib
Early Unexpected Unwanted Retirement
Praying for a Miracle
Waiting for Windows to Open