Roll on the Paint

Since I've been doing a lot of (re)painting, I thought I'd show a tip on how to keep the work moving along... a lot faster.  I used to buy the metal paint tray, pour paint in the tray, and move the tray sooo very carefully every time I inched down the wall to roll more paint.  Of course there were times I wouldn't be paying attention, accidentally kick the tray and paint would splatter (usually all over me!).  Then a painter gave me a very useful tip on rolling my walls.....

Pour the wall paint in a 5-gallon bucket and slide in a metal grate (the roller handle even hooks on the grate as a holder.... so perfect!)...

Then dip the roller about half-way in the paint to coat the roller...

Then lift the roller toward the top of the grate and roll downward on the grate a few times to remove excess paint.  Keep rolling down until the roller is ready for the wall.  Now, paint!!!

When work is done for the day, slide a plastic shopping bag over the bucket (and roller) for an easy way to keep the paint fresh and ready for the next day (there's no shortage of Target shopping bags in this house!).

A 5-gallon bucket is heavy duty and perfect for my paint jobs.  No more knocking over paint trays... this bucket can hold its own!

Happy Weekend

Hope you have a good one and find some time to relax, put your feet up and read a good book... I'd absolutely love to climb this ladder, pick my new Nate Berkus book, Home Rules, off the shelf and plop on the couch... such an amazing room!!!

Apologies, No Source

See ya Monday!!!

Happy Birthday to My Sweet Girl

We have a birthday in our house this week.... our baby turns two!!!  We'll be eating cupcakes decorated in pink from top to bottom, loaded with lots of frosting, and of course topped with sugary sprinkles ....

Paul Mutton

They'll be wrapped in something like these...

Heyyoyo on Etsy

topped with something like these...

Love the Day on Etsy

and set at a table decorated like this... ha, this last one is wishful thinking (but doesn't it look so great?)...

Shindigz

If you love the tissue paper pom-poms (above) as much as I do and want a new DIY project, Kara at Kara Paslay Designs has a great tutorial.... using coffee filters!!!  Try it, have fun!!!

And, happy birthday to my sweet girl!

White Dove... Blue? Really?

I was a little baffled at what I'm about to show you (ok, more like super baffled)!!!  Remember here and here when I raved about Benjamin Moore's White Dove as the color I chose to be painted on most of the interior walls in the new house.... you know, the color I claimed to be the "perfect color, the no fail white"?

As more and more White Dove paint was going up on the wall, I started to see a hint of blue, a light baby blue color.  I thought I must be seeing it wrong (my painted swatch didn't show any blue, my previous house painted White Dove never showed blue).  Then I brought the husband to look at the walls and he said it was definitely blue.  Definitely blue, huh?   Now if he can see blue, then something was wrong, definitely wrong....

Do you see blue?

It may not look as blue as I'm making it out to be, but trust me.... IT'S BLUE!  Where's the soft white, the sometimes subtle yellowish, gray tone?

Well, after a few minor tantrums, I moved to plan B... paint again!  You might think I'm crazy, but that blue wasn't working for me so the walls got slapped with another coat of paint.  The sweet guys at Benjamin Moore whipped me up a five-gallon bucket of Floral White (one of the original colors painted here) and off I went.... ahhhhh, so much better...

Now, looking at these two pictures, you're probably thinking.... there isn't a difference.  Believe me, looking at it in person makes a HUGE difference.  I think it's kinda cozy in here now.... a lot softer.

I'm still completely baffled by the definitely-baby-blue-color that White Dove presented, and don't know why it was so blue (a reflection from the colors outside through the window? the flooring? a bad batch of paint? the lighting?).  I'm stumped (and so was my painter and the guys at Benjamin Moore), but I do know that next time I pick a paint color, I'll be painting a HUGE swatch (bigger than this) over a large portion of the wall.

All in all, I'm actually happy that it looked blue so I could get to Floral White.... hello Floral White, welcome!!!

To Bunk or Not to Bunk: Part 4

The bunk bed decision has been made!  We're keeping the two twin beds and putting them in bedroom #2.  Bedroom #2 has the wall space for twin beds put side by side (unlike bedroom #1) and if we opt for bunk beds in the future, there will be plenty of space.  Well, that was an easy decision!

Now, I'm searching for ideas to style the girls room... here's a few photos that offer tons of inspiration (I love the colors and style)....

House Beautiful: Krista Ewart

Apologies, No Source

House to Home

Luxury iHouse Design

 House & Home

Domino

 Pottery Barn Kids

Cottage Living: Tia Zoldan

I've been loving Tia Zoldan's daughter's room since it first appeared in Cottage Living a couple years ago.  Any bedrooms catch your eye that made a lasting impression?

Dazzling Drapes

When we were house hunting in TX, this floor-to-ceiling window and the enormous amount of natural light flowing through the main living areas were the first two things that caught my eye in this house.  Then I realized I would also have a great view of the kids playing outside from just about every angle... this was perfect!  So... offer extended.  Offer accepted.  SOLD!!!

Now, about those drapes... I'd like to keep them (and save some $$), but I'm thinking about giving them a little flair.  Sewing a thick (or thin) piece of trim down the side or adding about one or two feet of printed fabric along the bottom edge would really help with the "wow" factor.  Something like these...

Traditional Home

Apologies, No Source

Elle Decor

Leeann Thornton

Simple touch, but such a great effect!

Looking Forward To...

the day I can unpack this light fixture!  Right now it's sitting in storage, packed snug in a box, waiting for us to move to our permanent residence here in TX.

My grandpa made this light (handy, huh?) and my dad hung it in our entry way in Virginia.... I absolutely LOVED how the colors sparkled against the mirror when the light was on.  I'd turn it on even when there was no need for a light just so I could see more pink, turquoise, yellow, lime, and a little bit of red shine in this tiny room (I know, I'm not being very green here, but it was too pretty not to have lit up). 

I don't think these pictures do justice for the light, so hopefully when we move (again) I can get a fantastic picture... once I decide where to hang this precious fixture.

West Elm = Inspiration

I opened my mailbox yesterday to find one of the greatest designed catalogs ever, West Elm.  I love West Elm, and now that they've revamped their catalog I love them even more!  Maybe this is just the graphic designer coming out in me, but everything from the size, texture, layout, font, colors = AMAZING and so inspiring to flip through!!!  It almost made me want to drive straight to West Elm and shop.  Then I remembered.... I have three kids who need to be fed (and I'm also on a budget). 

So, I will daydream...

amazing...

To Bunk or Not to Bunk: Part 3

If you just joined us, welcome!  I'm in the process of deciding which bedroom in the new house will be for the girls.  Two possible layouts were planned here using the girls furniture for bedroom #1, one with two twin beds and one with a bunk bed.  Then I found a few rooms here designed with bunk beds to help inspire some ideas (if we go the bunk bed route).

Now, on to bedroom #2.... here's a possible furniture layout using both twin beds.

I like the simplicity of the side by side twin beds... they both fit so perfect along the blank wall.  Definitely a possibility....

Which layout is your favorite?

Time to Play

or maybe that should read "Time to CLEAN".   Kind of embarrassing, but this is our playroom and this IS what it usually looks like (does anyone else have this problem?).  The room is suppose to be set-up as a living room or maybe dining room in our rental, but it's so much more productive as "toy center", don't you think?  Oh, and yes this is what guests see as soon as they open our front door!  Welcome to our mess, uh, I mean house!

So anyway, let's forget about the mess and move on... kinda...

In our new house we have a room that will (again) be designated for toys and called "the playroom".  But, I want a plan this time... you know some REAL organization (well, as much organization as a five, three and almost two-year old can handle).  Here's some room ideas to get my mind turning on what to do with all these toys and how to best inspire creativity in my three little ones...

Chalkboard wall is a must!

 Kohler

I love the simpleness (and the colors) in the picture below... we kinda have the clips and string thing going on in our current, messy playroom too, but I love how in this room the clips hold a wide range of items.

 

Flickr

This wall map is great... the playroom (really any room) is a great place to include educational resources!

 

Ohdeedoh

And, bookshelves.... our playroom is gonna need some storage...

Pottery Barn Kids

Turquoise

 Land of Nod

 

Ohdeedoh

And maybe even a little desk....  how cute is this?  Martha Stewart is always so creative.... that bench slides under the desk for storage and simply pulls out to use as a comfy seat!  Perfect!

Martha Stewart

Oh, and our playroom wouldn't be complete without a table and chair set...

Kids and Baby Design Ideas

Maybe I should start by cleaning the playroom today.... maybe...

Four Colors + A Few More

After several different shades of color swatches were painted on the wall, I finally selected the interior colors for the new house!  I'm loving the way these colors look together on the palette!  Yee to the haw!!!

The four final colors:

Benjamin Moore's White Dove, Wythe Blue, Grant Beige & Texas Leather

You'll notice in the color mix that one of the colors is called "Texas Leather"... now, in all honesty I was debating about which dark color to go with and it all came down to the name.  Since I'm now a Texan (does living here for two months qualify me to be a Texan?), I had to go with the Texas name!  Who could pass that up?

And, of course I added one more color to the palette - Royal Fuchsia from Benjamin Moore.  If you know me, then you know that I love to add a little pink (and then a little more) in my house.... so, this deep-colored pink will be popping up in a quite a few places (like it did here in this house).  Whether it's paint on a chair, fabric on a pillow, or a rug on the floor, there will definitely be some Royal Fuchsia going on in this house...

Benjamin Moore's Royal Fuchsia

There will also be a few surprises on the walls, like good ol' chalkboard paint from Hudson.  The kids playroom wouldn't be complete without a big dose of this on the wall, and the fact that this chalkboard paint comes with a choice of 24 colors, makes them amazing... AMAZING!

Hudson Paint

And... a little stenciling, my new favorite!  Something like this, from Cutting Edge Stencils, will likely be a project for a wall or walls once we move in the house.  Think metallic trellis... gorgeousness!

Cutting Edge Stencils

So, what's the paint palette look like in your house, any surprises?

To Bunk or Not to Bunk: Part 2

I've been searching for girly bunk bed designs to help me decide which bedroom would be the best choice for the girls new room.  If I use bedroom #1, shown here, a side by side twin bed layout would really limit their floor/play space, so a bunk bed could be the solution.

There are plenty of rooms designed with bunk beds to use as inspiration, but I really love how these designs have a feminine and sophisticated look...

Hub Pages

Flickr

Goop

Elle Decor

Country Living

Sarah Richardson Design

Apologies, No Source

Coastal Living

I'm loving the curves and detail of the bed pictured in Elle Decor, but bunk bed prices?  Mmmmm, not so much.