Painting Navy

Inspiration (thanks, Pinterest!)

My neighbor's old window has been leaning up against my garage wall for over a year now, and I think I've finally devised a CONCEPT for it. It will be called a "concept" simply because I have NO idea if this will actually work in the real world. I'm what you might call design-challenged.

I have decided to paint the old window a deep navy blue and hang it above the piano. Ideally, I'd like to use this window as the backdrop of all kinds of seasonal décor since our fireplace mantel is crowded out by our not so small TV. I chose navy simply because it goes with SO MANY other colors. However, I went the cheap route on paint. Why oh why do I do this to myself? The man at Walmart couldn't figure out how to pull up the mix list for the Ben Moore color I had originally chosen, so I grabbed a paint chip from their selection that I thought matched. Did I take it outside? Nope. Sure the colors matched under fluorescent lighting....but I don't have any flourescents in my living room. Result: Royal Blue instead of Navy. The Royal Blue is a bright, saturated, delicious color, but not what I wanted. Taking a cue from my friend Julie, I went in search of other paint cans in the garage to mix the color I desired.

First of all, it's important to note that you should never try to mix paint that's been mixed in the store. There are too many factors that will play into the final paint result, such as texture, sheen, and the fact that there might be a rainbow of added colors if you didn't mix them well enough. However, I only worry about that if I'm attempting to mix paint for walls. Small pieces aren't a big deal to me! So I mixed my Stunning Navy with Black exterior paint. If you can't tell a difference from the left image and the two on the right, you might be color blind.....or my camera did a poor job of capturing the difference. Either way, I'm much happier with the mix! Be warned though: mixed paint takes FOREVER to set up!

Weekend in Review

Brian went on a backpacking trip overnight with some buddies, so I figured Saturday would be a great day to get a TON of stuff cranked out. I started the morning by spray painting some of my plastic containers I picked up from Old Time Pottery for $8. I got through the first and realized that it would be soooo much easier if I had a little gun to attach to the can. My trip to Ace rewarded me with two gun attachments, a flat of peachy verbeanas, and 5 more cans of spray paint. I can't help myself when I find spray paint 40% off! By 2pm, I had sprayed 5 pots (Krylon Regal Blue Gloss & Rustoleum Blue Satin), an old pitcher (Krylon Bahama Blue Satin), and 4 candlesticks. The candlesticks went through several color changes....I still am not sure how I feel about the final Krylon Buttercream Gloss. I also had time to scrub the deck and hand-paint 3 more terracotta planters in an Oops Paint from Home Depot --- love those $5 cans! The color is a little green for Robin's Egg Blue, but I hope I will learn to love what I've got!



Hopefully, we'll be able to plant something in our containers next weekend!

Downstairs Bathroom

Every one of my friends would tell you that I am afraid of color on walls. Every wall in our house is Relaxed Khaki (except a random blue room that the previous owner wanted blue). What if it doesn't look right? What if it doesn't match? I want color, but I have commitment issues! I decided to dive in with our downstairs bathroom. I started off with a light blue...but I really didn't like how cold it felt. So then I went with an olive color, but Brian said it looked like well...ya know...so I resorted went to see my friend Sarah for some color help. She is WAY better at color choices than I am. I probably should have just asked her first, but I was "diving in"...I wasn't thinking!

We walked through her house and I picked out shades of green that I liked. I took a towel and some names of other colors she had picked out, but I was unsuccessful at Lowes. I ended back up at Ace, my fav, where I told them the entire round-about story of my color woes. The paint guy told me he wouldn't sell me any more big cans until after I tried some smaller cans first. I picked up Sherwood Green and Wedgewood Grey. By the time I got home, I realized that I liked the Grey color more so I should probably save it for a bigger space (like my dining room...one day). Here are some of the latest pictures. I am hoping to do a travel theme!



Here's some inspiration links: Wall Clocks with times of places that we've been (i.e., Eisenach, Germany), Vintage Post Cards banner or framed, and I would love to get some crown moulding to top it off.

Dining Room Upgrade

We've been looking for a dining room suite for months. Our wish list included: Queen Anne chairs (with our without cushions), a table with at least 1 leaf and 4 legs (no pedestals --- Mr. F hates running into those under the table), cherry stain, and matching lighted China cabinet with lots of storage on the bottom for easy access. It is surprisingly difficult to find this combination for a price that we WANTED to pay. My sister-in-law, designer extraordinaire Rebecca, found a great set at an estate sale. The Pennsylvania House set was made in the mid 80s (I found shipping tags under some of the chairs) and has had at least one owner. The table has some significant dings, but we think it gives it some character!
Before our new set, we had an oak table originally from Alaska that was passed on to us. Rebecca was so sweet to let us borrow her beautiful chairs. They were a dramatic improvement over the caned 70's style chairs we used to have. Rebecca is going to help me pick out new fabric for the new chairs. We also have to decide on a new paint color (I am leaning toward Benjamin Moore's Wedgewood Grey) and get some picture frame moulding on the walls.
We love our eclectic sets of China. The green pattern is from a full set that my dad used to keep in his basement. The blue set on either side is part of a 7 setting group that came from my Gramma Cloyes. Stored below are 5 settings of grey and pink floral.