A Perfect Weekend and Color Choices

Well, yesterday, I waved goodbye to my parents as they drove back to Nashville. We had such a good time while they were in town! To be honest, we didn't do anything huge. Dad had a conference to work on Thursday and Friday, which gave mom and I some great mother-daughter time, which we often don't get when I come to Nashville because there are so many people to see.

We had perfect weather the majority of the weekend with temps in the mid to high 80s. Mom and I explored around town a little and discovered great little shops in downtown Plano, including a bake shop called Bake Rejoice. The cakes were amazing and we enjoyed sitting with a cup of coffee and just chatting as the bakers made magnificent works of art around us.

The next day, we decided to visit McKinney Main Street. We were so surprised to see how cute the downtown square was. It was a perfect day for popping in and out of stores. In one of the stores, I saw a cute little crocheted hat, which prompted mom to teach me how to crochet the next day! So, expect to see some of my creations soon ... well, as soon as I get better at it.

Overall, it was a great visit, and I am so glad they could come. I can't wait for them to come back soon!

Tonight, Landon's parents are coming into town, so we are looking forward to another great visit. I'll let you know what we discover while they are in town!

Oh, and remember the three things I wanted to get done before our guests arrived? Well, one of them did not get done. Because the dining room chairs took so long, I did not get the master bedroom painted.

Still, I thought I would show you the colors we were considering. I know they are all very similar, but we've chosen the one we want. Can you guess?

I'm not going to reveal just yet. You'll have to wait and see!

Three Weeks and Counting

I have three weeks and counting to get my house ready for the "TX Visitor's Extravaganza"! That's right, we are prepping for lots of guests to come. First, will be my mom and dad Oct. 19-24. Then Landon's mom arrives Oct. 25, with his dad following close behind. They leave Oct. 31, but Landon's sister and brother-in-law join us Nov. 3-7! So, we are going to have a full house for nearly three weeks!

I am looking forward to every one of their visits. This will be the first time any of them have seen our home and our new neighborhood. I'm also excited because:

1. For three whole weeks during their visits, my house will be clean! This rarely happens, but I will make it a point since we have guests.
2. This gives me an excuse to try out some new recipes for dinner and eat at some of my favorite places around town.
3. And most of all ... this gives me great motivation to finish some projects on which I've been dragging my feet. 

So, here's the list of "must-do's" over the next few weeks:

1. Paint and recover my dining room chairs. Seriously ... how long have I been talking about doing this? Well, I'm procrastinating no more. The temps are supposed to drop over the weekend into the 80s (yes, it's currently still in the high 90s) so it will be a perfect time to get in the garage and get this done. Plus, we're going to need a table to eat at with all our guests!
2. Buy a shower curtain. Since I think everyone will want to shower while they are here and I removed the glass shower doors, this is really a necessity. I have found "the one" at Bed Bath & Beyond but the two stores I went to this week are both out of it. I'll hit up one more near my house (yes, we have one on every corner; that's the advantage of living in a large city). If they don't have it, I'll get the store to order it.
3. Paint my bedroom. The hideous "cotton candy blue" with various other "sample" colors on top is just not doing it for me. I have three more samples to throw on the wall tonight and then we are making a decision!

And, if there is time, I have a few other things on the "wish list" of to-do's including spray painting the entry way chandelier and painting a few other walls but we'll see if I get that done.

So, the next few weeks are going to be busy for me. What's on your to-do list?

P.S. I know that all my future guests read my blog, and I expect they will all say, "You don't need to do anything for me!" but please know I want to do this. All these things are tasks that need to be done. Consider yourself good motivation! :)

Huge Paint Fail

Remember all that talk about me reading up on design rules in an effort to make myself have a better eye? Well, it obviously failed.

I have been looking for the perfect paint color for my bedroom for over two months now. I started first with placing various paint chips on the wall. After going through every brand of paint and tons of chips, I finally decided to try out Valspar's La Fonda Mirage.

Knowing that colors shouldn't be judged by their paint chips, I bought a sample and put it on my wall only to realize that it was more sea foam green than beautiful, relaxing spa-like green. It was not what I wanted. 

So, I decided to switch from green to blues, thinking that would be a safer bet. This time I grabbed three paint samples and slapped them on the wall.

After living with these for a week, Landon and I finally decided that we liked the bottom color best - Martha Stewart's "Heavenly Blue." And, we spent several hours on Labor Day painting on our Heavenly Blue. Two gallons of it, to be exact. 

Well, all I can say is that it is anything but "heavenly." It looked so great on the little 8 x 12 swatch I painted on the wall, but in mass quantity, it is just too much.

At first, I thought it would look better when all the furniture was moved back in place. When that didn't make me feel better about it, I thought perhaps a good night's sleep would help. Not so much. 

I will say, when I got home from work Tuesday, I realized I might be making it worse in my head than it actually is, but it still hasn't grown on me. I don't expect it will. 

Before I show you a pic, let me paint you a word picture. Think blue cotton candy. Landon said it reminds him of baby blue. Regardless, it's got to go.

Here's the before.

 
It's amazing what lighting can do, because in this first picture I took, I didn't think it looked too bad.

But then I took some others and this "Heavenly Blue" showed its true colors ...

It's funny, because when I first started looking at paint colors, I told Landon I wanted something "lighter" than our original green. Well, what I got was something brighter. Lighter does not mean brighter. Also, I went from a warm color to a cool color, and I determined that is one of the reasons I don't like this color.

I can't believe I made such a huge mistake. I know everyone always says that painting is the easiest way to update a room, but I do not believe painting is easy. I think it's a lot of work, and it's not something I enjoy. But, I guess if I'm going to make a major mistake, this is the one to make because it is, at least, fixable.

So, I'm back on the hunt for the perfect paint color, and I'm open to any suggestions you might have. I am most drawn to warm blues and greens. I've been searching on Favorite Paint Colors for a few ideas. I'd like to make a decision by the weekend so I can remedy this mistake quickly. But, if I can't make it by Saturday, then I'll have to wait two weeks because I'm out of town for work next weekend. I really don't think I can live with "Heavenly Blue" for that long, but we'll see.

Gone is the Gold

Remember the frames and mirrors I bought at the estate sale a few months back?

Well, Saturday, I got up early and headed to the garage before it hit 100 degrees, and began transforming these beauties. I was a little worried because the back of the spray paint can said not to use it in temperatures over 90 degrees. I'm pretty sure it was already at or close to 90 degrees by 10 a.m. I was worried it might affect the results but ...

I'm happy to say the project was a success!

I especially love how the detail of the mirrors turned out.

I also decided to spray paint the frame my bridal portrait was in. As you'll remember, it has been sitting on the floor of my bedroom since we moved in.

I could have just put some newspaper over the glass and been done with it, but instead, I wanted to take the pic and glass out. Well, this proved to be a bad idea because the corner  of the glass broke as I was getting it out. So, it's looking like I'll either be buying a new piece of glass or looking for a new frame.

I plan to do the other frame from our wedding (also sitting on the floor as seen in the pic above) but didn't get around to it this weekend.

These will all eventually be going on the wall in my bedroom along with my yarn letter. But I'm hoping to paint my bedroom first. This is what my bedroom wall has looked like for over two months.

And this is "third generation." It doesn't even reflect the paint samples that have already gone up and been vetoed. I've literally grabbed every green-blue color from Lowe's, Home Depot and Sherwin Williams. Finally, after much debate, I have made a choice. 

We're going with the middle color -- Valspar's La Fonda Mirage. The color is from their National Trust for Historic Preservation series, and this particular color is named after Santa Fe's La Fonda Hotel. That's not why I picked it ... I really just like the color. But, it's good to know.

The picture above doesn't really sow the color best. Hopefully I'll have it on the wall soon so you can see it better. 

Bedroom Switcheroo

I decided to change up my bedroom this weekend. When I originally told Landon this, he gave me one of those looks. You know the kind ...

See, when we first looked at our house, the previous owners had their bed up against the window. When we officially gained the keys and began moving things in, I was pretty set on not having it that way. I wanted something different, but because of the shape of the room and the various doors, there was only one other option. So this is what we settled on.

This is taken from the doorway. The door in the back is my side of the Jack-and-Jill bathroom.

This angle is taken standing in front of Landon's side of the bathroom.

Well, we lived with this configuration for five months before I decided maybe the bed in front of the window was the way to go! When I told Landon this, he asked how I thought I was going to move our big, heavy furniture. After reading a couple of other blogs, I realized the furniture sliders were the way to go.

I had my doubts. Matter of fact, after we put sliders under all four posts of the bed, I looked at Landon and said, "Do you think this is going to be as easy as they say it is?" His reply? "No." I felt the same, but to my surprise, that bed slid right across the floor with ease. I'm officially sold on sliders! 

Here is what the room looks like now:

The pictures just don't do it justice (still need to work on my photography skills with all my free time ... ha!). It actually really opens up the room. Plus, I now have a great empty wall to hang up my pictures and perhaps some new art.