Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Spring has sprung DIYers into action

In the 20 foot walk from my office to the kitchen at work, I overheard 3 conversations among coworkers about home improvement projects they are enmeshed in. I gave a little chuckle as I realized that time of year has rolled around again: Spring. I think of Spring to home improvement DIYers as New Years is to dieters. The motivation and energy is so high initially, but eventually you get too distracted by all the other "life" things that pop up that you don't finish what you start. Our neglected nest doesn't really afford us that luxury.

However, we did take the night off last night, so I don't have the before/afters of the knockoff schoolhouse light fixture installation as I promised. Instead we talked babies, neighborhood gossip, and homeownership woes with our good friends a few doors down from us. Their beautiful new son has delayed some of their projects, and they haven't been able to act on immediate issues that come with owning your home (like the tree that fell on their property during all those snowstorms last month). A year ago, we were where they are now, and I must say, it's great to be back at our reno-happy pace!

So, I'll delay the knockoff schoolhouse light fixture reveal one more day. Instead, I'll share one of my Craigslist finds from the weekend as well as the plans for the room where it will live. And I promise to have completed projects to share tomorrow!

I've been looking for a table to go between these two chairs.


It's been harder than I expected. Then I stumbled upon this for $15

I love the lines of it- especially the tapered legs. The shelf is great too, perfect for magazines. I got it for $10, so I was quite happy.

Now here's where I'm worried. I want to go bold with this table and pick up the aqua/teal/turquoise accents in the room. But I'm nervous Rustoleum's Aqua spray paint is too bold. 













But I'm going to give it a shot! A quick Google search proved that this color could come out in a number of different ways. So the only way to find out is to try it.

The other decision I need to make is what to do with the top of the table. It came with a mirrored top that is clearly unusable. I thought about replacing it with a piece of wood and painting it along with the rest of the table. But that seems boring. I thought about glass, but it would need to be 1/8" thin. That's a little too risky in a toddler household! So I'm thinking replacing it with a mirror is the best way to go. I'd love to hear other ideas/ thoughts/ advice!

When the stair project is finished (hopefully in the next month!), we will be adding a small crown molding to the ceiling and then painting the room again.

Orange was fun, but it can be a bit obnoxious after a while. We gave it a year and I'm good with that.

The new color? Sexy, silky, sophisticated gray from Benjamin Moore. Here are the contenders:

Stonington Gray
Decor Pad

Silver Fox
Apartment Therapy

Baby's Breath

Shane's Studio

I think any of these gray/grey's will work very well with the aqua/teal/turquoise, yellow, and orange accents in the room. 


1 comment:

Leanne said...

I know what you mean. My living room is red and while I love it I'm starting to get tired of it. Maybe another year. I love gray. The little table is so cute. Be bold. Go with the blue. I think it will look great. Good luck with everything. Thanks for stopping by too.