Christmas Tree to a New Year's Eve Tree!

I never take down our Christmas tree until after New Year's no matter how ragged and brown he looks. I saw this last year and thought it was much better than leaving the Christmas decorations up this long.  We went to the party decor store and I found a bunch of New Year's stuff, but it was much more expensive than stuff from the "Good Luck" section.  Although, once I got the stars home I realized that I had picked yellow/gold and purple and it turned into an LSU tree.  Oops.  I'll have to go back and get another color of star to remedy that. 

Columns and Arches?

First off, Thanksgiving decorations!  Well, Thanksgiving transition.  Halloween is going away.  I took down the Halloween banner and put this one up.





On a whim, and because we had a lot of paint left, I painted these columns.  They were the same color as the kitchen and since I knew we'd repaint that at some point I decided to do some experimenting.



At first I didn't really like it because the contrast of what you saw when you looked past them into the kitchen was really strong.  But now I don't really see the columns (which is what I was going for) I just see past them into the kitchen.






Here they are after Richard got on the ladder and finished the job.





Oh, and we took the books and fake foliage and wine bottle down that the guy who owned the house before us left.



Now what the hell color should I paint the kitchen?

The 3rd Coat

The lady at the paint counter tried to tell me that it was the difference in the finishes (eggshell vs whatever is in the sample pot) that made the differences in the paint color.  I'm sorry, but if the finish type changes the paint color that much they'd have to put out paint chip papers in each finish for each color.  Because it was a completely different color. So it was either she try to match the sample pot or I try to find another color that matched the sample pot and then they could replicate (not holding my breath) the color easier if we needed another gallon. So I found another paint chip and debated whether to get a sample pot or just get the whole gallon. What's the point of a sample pot if it is going to be wrong? We got the gallon.

Which meant that on Sunday afternoon we put a third coat of paint on that stupid teal wall.  I wasn't quite sure if I liked it, but I knew that Richard wouldn't be up for a fourth coat anytime soon.  The left wall is painted and you can see in the corner where we've cut in the paint on the right wall.



Here is the third color on the bottom and left covering up the minty fresh paint.



It's taken until today for me to say that I like the color.  I've looked at it in all different lights (and there are many different lights that hit the wall behind the TV - which is where I spend most of my time looking in this room) and I can live with some of it and I like other lights.



It is very hard to get the real color in a photo, but this is close, and also, it is only during one of the lights.



We still have to do the fireplace wall and an adjoining short wall.  I'm not sure how I'll like the fireplace wall, because the color that it is now really pops out the black fireplace.

And this weekend Richard and his mom are going to paint Autumn's room.  Then hopefully I can get some decorating done in her room (after 14 months of living here).

Sigh...

Why can't the color on the sample chip match the color in the sample pot match the color that comes in the gallon of paint we bought? How can it be so different? We got the teal wall primed on Saturday and the green paint (Aspiration from Lowe's) up on Sunday (only the first coat). When we started I thought "this looks darker than I remember, but I like it in this little area that is done".



Then Richard did the high up cutting in and I did the low.



The light was changing as the sun was moving and at a certain point I thought "this really looks different, I'm not sure I like it". So I painted a swatch on the wall above the swatch from the sample pot. Yeah, completely different color.



The top is what is all over the big wall and just below that is the color I wanted. Now the dilemma is whether to finish painting the other walls in the room that color and then go back with the sample pot and get the correct color as the second coat (because it definitely needs a second coat). Really it comes down to if I can live with the color it is now, and I just don't think I can. Though it looks tolerable and even pleasant during different times of the day due to the sunlight, I think it is just too minty and not classy enough for me. Not that I'm so classy, but I wanted something that was subtle and neutral.

Sigh...

Goodbye Cruel Teal World!

When we moved in there was this ugly teal wall in the family room. For the first few months I could ignore it because we had the TV on another wall. But then we moved the TV to the teal wall. Luckily I was still able to block out the teal wall. All winter we kept the two windows on the fireplace wall open but once summer came around again and the sun was brutal. So we got out the cellular shades that the guy had. Dark green. Dark green next to a huge teal wall. I priced out some replacements but it just isn't in our budget right now. So we live with them.

When my mom was here last week we started talking about the paint color and that sort of started the ball rolling. We went to Lowe's and stood talking about all the colors I could choose. And then I picked up one light green chip and said that I was drawn to these colors. So we got two sample pots of paint, one from that chip and another from another sample group.

The teal wall just sucks up the color so that you can't even see the differences in the light greens. They just looked white.



But on the white walls you could really tell a difference. I like the color on the right in person, but the color on the left in pictures.



You can see the shades in the corner of this picture.



I've decided on the top color in that photo above. We just have to get the primer to cover up that teal wall.

Friday

I finished the first of three planned Halloween crafts today. I saw this link on a blog and just knew I had to make them. The Toymaker called them "Papel Picado" Paper Banners.



I started off with a piece of paper with the image printed on it sitting on top of the cardstock. That took A LOT of work. Then I printed out the design on the cardstock and I changed my x-acto knife blade and that helped a lot. Change your blade often!



I think it turned out really great! It is a good addition to my small Halloween stash of decorations.

Wednesday

For some reason I feel the need to document that I am about to get up off the couch and straighten up the house a bit. Why? Because I've been so lazy for the past year. I think I really checked out after the move and never checked back in. Granted, I wasn't a great house cleaner in the old house either. Maybe it is still the weather but I just feel more motivated at being responsible in my life.

The stuff from Costco is still sitting in our entryway, I need to vacuum seal Autumn's old clothes, and remove all of Autumn's toys from the family room back into the playroom. That should be a daily thing like it used to be.

Of course, right now I'm watching the Biggest Loser and I keep fast forwarding to the next person weighing in instead of getting up off the couch.

Windows are open, get that good air inside.