Inspiration Monday #2

I'm embarrassed to say I completely forgot to do my inspiration take off last Monday on Pinterest! As I sit here typing tonight, my eyes are crossing from exhaustion. I had one of those "Ground Hog" days. You know, the one where you keep getting everything wrong or stuff keeps happening until you start to wonder if you should just go back to bed and when you wake up it'll all start fresh?! Ugh! Seriously, it was beyond comical by the time I realized there were TWO soccer games, not one this evening. I finally put on the brakes, packed the two older ones off to games with Daddy and let Little Guy finish his nap as I cooked supper. I never miss a game, but today was about to send me over the edge, so when he suggested I stay home I jumped on it:)

Anyhoo, ready for some inspirational brainstorming from one of my pics? I took this a few years ago at Kiawah Island off Charleston, SC. We had one of those rare beach days where starfish were all over in tidal pools! Running from pool to pool with buckets, the boys and I made memories we'll never forget.

So, here it is:

"Kiawah Starfish 1"
B.E. Interiors Photography
Sorry, guys. I'm still in summer mode and never leave it willingly!

When I look at this picture, calm neutrals, easy but sturdy fabrics and taking it easy come to mind. So, I took that and ran with it...creating a family/living room off these colors and textures. To see the board, go to http://pinterest.com/belgin/inspiration-2/ . I'm not even going to copy and paste tonight. I have to get up and actually get dressed to take the kids to school as I have a conference at 7:25 am. Oh, the horror! Yes, I actually drop the kids off dressed in either my PJs or workout clothes! All the people who know me from the gym don't even recognize me with make-up and my hair done. Sad...no... pathetic! Better get the coffee set to brew!

Hope you enjoy the board. Take it and run with it. Make it your own or let it get your brain wheeling. See where your creativity takes you with this picture as your starting point.

The Power of Paint

I normally would not do a post today, but I've been so busy I'm behind on a few so I'm playing catchup.
I'm been a very busy girl. Hubby took the two older boys camping this weekend for a guy trip. With them cleared out of the way and just the little guy around (and Scottie Dog) I pulled out the paint cans and started on that dining room! It took me forever to decide what I was going to do and I'm still not sure, but one thing I was sure about...those walls were going to take some serious priming so I figured I'd start there. At this point, I've climbed a ladder more times than I want to think about. I'm exhausted and about to sit down to a cup of coffee, some dark chocolate and a little Design, Inc. t.v. to build my strength back up!

I'm back and finishing up this post at 11:30 Sunday night. YAWN!

I also finally finished the cut-out rendition of the of where I'm headed with this room (using the very first original photo with the old hardwood floors):

Dining room mock-up with out wall art.

It's hard to see, but there is a very faint tone-on-tone damask stencil on the walls. The ceiling won't go quite that blue, but you get the general idea. I want more tailored slipcovers, but the table is very close to my ideal, albeit a little more polished. We're going for ROUGH! This was the best photo I could find that gave the right idea and angle for the table.

Now, just for fun, here is a visual review on where this room has gone in the last three years:



The way it was when we moved in.



Where I initially took it, but tired of the color after a couple of years.

Cleared out and ready for the makeover to begin!

Prepping and trimming out.

Where it's at now - wide angle lense - thus the funky curve on the columns:)

Cloudy afternoon shot.

I continue to be amazed at the power of paint! One of the reasons the green was initially chosen was to make the moulding detail pop. After looking at these, you can see it accomplished just that. Although I love the lighter side of the creamy white, it takes that visual pop away.

For some reason, I've noticed I have the hardest time going with white walls. I just automatically gravitate to color. Not bright obnoxious color, but the kind that is easy on the eyes yet stimulating. The average person seems to have trouble with being scared to use color. I am the total opposite. I have a hard time NOT using it. The muscles in my hands were fighting me today as I was putting so much white on the walls. Kind-of reminded me of those commercials where the man is fighting himself about changing the thermostat to a lower temperature! Comical:) Some of the best and most tasteful designs out there incorporate white walls and I'm ready to change up my approach to bring in color with fabrics and accents, versus what I've always done which is to use the walls for my main color.

Today, while I was putting the final coat on the walls (of the initial white primer) I had the thought that maybe I should paint the inside of the wainscoting to this time around or all the mouldings to create that visual contrast. That is a MUCH easier fix if I'm not happy with it later or feel like changing it up at some point. The trick is making it tie in seamlessly with the open hallway and foyer.

Did you notice that the globes are currently on the chandelier? It actually isn't bothering me as bad without the green or red walls. I'm still planning to change it up, though.

I haven't gotten to the ceiling yet. Getting the walls primed took a full 12 hours and three coats. Let me clarify...11 foot ceilings means A LOT of climbing up and down! Every muscle in my body is screaming "Go to BED!!!" But, first we had to go watch and and shoot off our own fireworks. Happy early 4th of July!

I'm Obessessed!

I'm just on a roll. Like I said before, I get an idea in my head and I fixate on it. Too bad it can't be the second set of draperies I'm working on right now! Instead it's my dining room I can't quit thinking about.

My kitchen was supposed to be the target for a makeover this summer. I want to paint the cabinets in there so bad I can't stand it. But, for some reason, I have gotten fixed on making my dining room more "workable" for me. Maybe it's because I've spent so much time in there lately sewing. Guess it's a good time of year for that as it's only... +/- 100 degrees outside!

I digress. Remember me saying I was going to neutralize the walls? Now that I've decided on the fixture redo, I'm working on the walls. I just am not getting to excited about ANY color I've looked at to repaint. I want to lighten and neutralize, but no color seems to be getting me in a tizzy. So, I had another idea. I love wallpaper, but darn it all...could I pick a harder room to do? What about going with a good textural element like a tone-on-tone or grasscloth? If money were no object, I'd be placing an order right now for a creamy metallic neutral grasscloth from Phillip Jefferies.

via Phillip Jefferies
Ooh la la!

Phillip Jefferies Large Damask 5128
Me likey!

I'm thinking a damask in a similar pattern to what's on the existing curtains like above. What a great juxtaposition it would be with the modern vibe of my boys' artwork that I still plan to keep front and center. It just seems like that huge expanse of space over the wainscoting needs more than just paint, but something subtle. I want to be able to change out the colors and decor scheme if I get sick of one and I am constantly surrounded by color on projects, so thus the need for neutral. I'm guessing that unless one of you kind suppliers [who might] be reading this feel like donating a stencil or wallpaper for me to "sell" to my readers (fingers crossed!), I'm probably going to end up doing a linen like paint treatment or a pearlscent stencil treatment (that I create) over a cream to achieve the same effect. And, I really need to pull this transformation off fairly quick as I also have furniture to redo and sell and veggies to freeze/can at the same time. Figures:)

I also want to paint the ceiling a super pale, barely there aqua blue. I want to create the feeling of wide open sky where the imagination can take flight since this is where I want to have family dinners on an old rustic farm table and work on projects when we're not eating. Nothing makes my imagination go into overdrive than feeling like I'm on top of the world.

This beautiful color I love and I've used before, but I'd probably cut it in half when mixing to go even lighter (it's actually lighter than it looks on screen):



Glidden's Almost Aqua

Then, I'd put a fresh coat of white trim paint on the ceiling medallion. I pulled together a composite in Photoshop of this room redone to the best of my ability. Want to see? Yea, me too. I nearly had a breakdown last night when my lovely computer decided to corrupt the file I'd spent forever on to show you! It should have been a quick computer "makeover", but my Mac kept crashing on me so it took about two days off and on to make. Then it just decided to wipe it out the last time it crashed. UGH!!!!! So, I'm going manual with this one. I'm going to pull together an old fashion mock up of sorts...on paper. Then I'll scan it to share with you. I've got this image coming together in my head of where I'm going with this, like always, except this time I'm going to actually put it on paper so everyone else can see what I'm thinking (SCARY!).