I distinctly remember when I was a little girl, about Jillian's age, and I wanted my room to be pink. What I remember getting, which my parents will tell you was not at all what I DID get, was a can of white paint with a drop or two of pink in it. And to my small child's mind, that WAS NOT pink! Obviously, I've never forgotten that color choice and now, when faced with my more "mature" adult color choices, I say, if you're going to do color, do it BIG! So, for those few faithful readers, here is our new home color palette.
For years, I have had a sunflower theme in my living space and kitchen. We have a royal blue sofa and over-stuffed chair which coordinated with a set of sunflower display dishes I have had up for years. Recently a shelf that held those dishes came unexpectedly crashing down in my dining room. :-( Sad day! I decided it was God's way of telling me it was time to change my kitchen theme. However, I still LOVE the colors and the contrast between the royal blue and the golden yellow of the sunflower so, I will be keeping the theme alive in my new living room, the first room you enter from the front door of my new home. And after YEARS of wanting to put yellow paint on the walls, the following Golden Aura will greet our guests. And I sincerely hope that it looks as good in reality as I imagine it in my mind.
From the living room, you will enter what I lovingly (and joyfully) refer to as the dining "area". A 13'x19' space of glorious hospitality to be had. This area, in our hopes and dreams, will be home to our workspace (desk), a white Ikea Expedit inspired breakfast nook, a pre-existing breakfast bar, family communication center and of course, our dining room table. (Which will be completed with new table linens which I am anxiously saving, still wrapped, until move in day.)
Recently, some friends of our moved into an older home which had been occupied by a group of bachelors (and it showed). In a stroke of genius, they chose to paint all of the walls of their home the most magnificent gray color and I LOVE it. Our old home in Oregon had a base color of khaki, which at the time was far better than white, but eventually got old. This silver/gray concept, I don't think will ever get old, so I'm stealing it. And our dining area, (very limited wall space) kitchen and both hallways will grace you with "Where There is Smoke".
Next on our tour is the Master bedroom. Many years ago, I found the most amazing duvet at Target and fell in love. It is reversible with a white background on one side and a chocolate brown background on the other, and covered in a beautiful array of flowers and leaves in turquoise, coral, different shades of green and yellow. A couple of years after I found the comforter, my mother and I were out shopping at Tuesday Morning and happened upon the most splendiferous selection of coordinating pillows which incorporate nearly the same flowers, stripes and two solid 'themed' pillows, one with palm trees and hibiscus flowers and the other with surf boards. PERFECT for the beach themed bedroom I was trying to achieve. And I tell you, to this day, when my bed it made and all the pillows properly assembled, I am a HAPPY girl!!!
So, to play off the turquoise in my duvet and pillows, I present you with Swim Team blue;
Next is Jilly's room, our little superstar. :) When I had a lapse in judgement and asked for her input on the theme she wanted her room to have, she immediately responded with "I want a stage!" and I wondered "Now, what I was I thinking asking her this question?" It seems our little diva was inspired by recent viewings of Alvin and the Chipmunks and had decided that she wanted to be just like the Chipettes, which necessitated a stage, of course (and fur, but fortunately she has not figured THAT part out yet). So, we found a pallet behind on warehouse in their trash pile and dear Jilly will be getting a stage, as well as a full size Chipette poster which she is completely unaware of (and this mama CAN NOT WAIT to surprise her with it!) Though Jillian asked for a pink room (do you see the resemblance to my six year old self?) we discussed that so many accents in her room were already pink, that maybe a purple room would be a better choice. And this Purple Possibility was chosen. :-)
Next is little man's room, which I decided early on would have a Disney Cars theme. And thus I wanted the walls to be a little boy blue and a little asphalt gray. As daddy is concerned about being too overbearing with color, we chose to be a little on the subtle side with Skys the Limit. Which I hope with compliment wonderfully, the Cars bed set I scored for him on Craigslist, complete with giant plush Lightning McQueen pillow, the Ikea Lillabo play mat and the awesome dresser I found at Goodwill that is just.his,size!!!
The same aforementioned friends who painted their whole house gray (with glorious, clean white trim and cabinets) had a room in their old home that always made me smile. It was their bathroom. And it was painted the most marvelous (& bright) shade of green. It was Behr Sparkling Apple to be specific. But since we are going with Rodda paint thanks to a friend who works there who will be "taking care of us," I picked the closest thing I could find for my laundry room. And I CAN NOT WAIT to walk into my laundry room with it's bright green walls (and custom built laundry folding & basket holding station, thanks hubby) and smile from ear to ear. Okay, so maybe that's a little too extreme in the wishful thinking category but a girl can dream, right? And if nothing else, it will make me think of my beautiful German friend and her spunky old bathroom. :-) So here's to Lots of Lime!
So there you have it, well, almost, the main bathroom will share wall color with our Master Bedroom as we've decided to change it up a bit on the theme and go out with the old (Monkeys) and in with the new (Beach) theme. I want to make it as serene as I can, despite the fact that we will all continue to share the shower and bathtub (though not usually at the same time). :-)
Our playroom has been a bit uninspired as of lately, However, when it was decided to do away with the Monkeys in the bathroom and I remembered that due to my husband's over abundant stash of stuffed monkeys we had always talked about having a monkey/jungle themed playroom, the playroom will have an accent wall of Lots of Lime green and two walls of Soothing Sapphire on either side. The fourth wall, which will fall on either side of the french doors that open to the dining room (as opposed to the exterior sliding door that was off centered on that wall and is now bye-bye) will more than likely be painting with chalk board paint, in black. We shall see.
And thus our Go Big with Color tour is done. Thanks for sticking with me and watching our dreams come to life. Please pray for us this weekend as we celebrate 11 years of marriage with the most romantic of activities . . . . Painting! Woo-hoo! :)
