My friend Myquilin (better known as The Nester) is my Interior Design guru. I read her website and sigh at how beautiful and serene and lovely her house is, then usually look at my house, shrug my shoulders and assume I will never be able to pull off anything pretty or serene.
But something has gotten into me the last few weeks. I needed a distraction from my thoughts; I needed something to keep me busy and my dad had some time off to help me paint, so without really thinking about it, I started rolling the snowball and gave it a good shove.
The results are turning out marvelously, if I do say so myself. I have a long way to go, but I am slowly piecing together the home that I’ve always desired but assumed myself too inept to actually have.
I mean, we all know that I stink at DIY projects, right? Last time I attempted a do it yourself project, I ended up needing a steroid shot to combat my tracker jacker bites.
Dad and I repainted half of the interior of my house last week and I must say, it looks smashing. Of course, now all my furniture no longer matches (hello Craig’s List!) and I need new curtains and area rugs (hellooooo IKEA!) and…well, you get the snowball analogy, right?
I’m trying to reuse the few pieces that I can by repainting them. I made my first attempt at painting furniture on Saturday. Using Annie Sloan chalk paint (which is supposed to be fool proof…I decided to put it to the ultimate test), I refinished the table that was behind our couch.
We didn’t pay very much for this table and I’m not attached to it so I figured it I messed it up then no harm done. Friends, everything you’ve ever heard about Annie Sloan chalk paint is true. It practically does the work for you. Case in point – this is what my table looks like now.
Once I finished admiring my handiwork and patting myself on the back, I looked around at what needed to be done next and I asked myself, WWND?
What Would Nester Do?
She would shop her house, that’s what she would do. And so that’s what I did. I moved the blue vase from our bedroom (which Lee makes fun of…he calles it “Grandma’s Ashes” – punk…) and a couple of the colorful frames I had scattered throughout the house. I grabbed my pretty yellow pitcher that always makes me smile and a stack of books and threw it all on top of the table.
Then I went to Michaels where I bought the letter ‘S’, a piece of scrapbook paper and the bright green frame. I removed the glass, glued the paper on the back of the frame and then glued the ‘S’ to the paper and stood it proudly atop the books.
Look at me go!!!
I’ve also had these pretty Alphabet Bible Verse Cards for awhile and I’ve wanted to do a better job of displaying them so I used my thinker, looked through a couple of magazines, and I decided to keep it simple. I grabbed a couple of thumb tacks, a piece of string and the little clothespins that I use to hang up Christmas cards and viola!
Indeed…I do love it. I love it a lot – especially the way the colors all move from one room to the next in a way that makes sense.
Now I just need to sell all my brown furniture (except the pieces that I plan to paint…nothing wooden is safe in my house now. I MIGHT BE ADDICTED TO ANNIE SLOAN!) But it’s all starting to come together, slowly but surely. (Warning: The color and quality of these photos are not good. I didn’t have the patience to keep trying to get it right. The walls are a very pale, light grey…)
If you know anyone who might be interested in the dining room table and chairs and the hutch, let me know!
The cornices above the windows used to be dark brown. It took several coats of white paint (the same paint I used on the trim) to cover it but it was worth the effort. Now I just need some bright curtain panels to frame the window.
It’s not perfect…yet. But that’s the other thing that Nester has taught me – It doesn’t have to be perfect to be beautiful. For now, I’m just happy with progress because it feels like something in life is finally moving forward. This, oddly, gives me a sense of hope for the future.
Who knew redecorating my house could be so philisophical?!
I looks SO good and give ME hope! 🙂 We are putting our house on the market next month and I am hoping it sells quickly…. in part so I can start in a new place with a clean decorating slate!
Thanks! That is the one silver lining of moving, isn’t it? That you can start fresh? 🙂 Good luck!
and wow….the typos! “I” look so good? hahahahahahah oh well, it’s early on a Monday!
Love Love LOVE it! What color is that paint?
Thanks, thanks THANKS! 🙂
The paint: The Grey is called Moonshine (Benjamin Moore)
The Yellow is Benjamin Moore Hawthorne Yellow
The Red is Annie Sloan Emperor’s Silk. 🙂
You’ve come so far. Still no hope for me!
Listen: If there is hope for ME, there’s hope for anybody. 😉
That red table is freaking amazing! Go you!!! I need you to come help me pimp out this brown RV interior.
That antique buffet you were thinking of painting? I say don’t. First, I’m told doing anything at all to an antique destroys it’s resale value and you might find it worth selling someday. Also, leaving one or two pieces in a sort of neutral state helps ground the colorful stuff and hold the whole look together. I think the Instagram pic looked excellent with the dark brown and all the little pops of color in the frames.
Pimp my RV. THAT COULD BE YOUR REALITY SHOW! You and I could be the hosts, which if you stop and think about t for very long sounds like an AWESOME idea. So awesome I’M COMPELLED TO WRITE IN ALL CAPS!!!
😉
Naturally, I would have to come to all your exotic destinations to help you work. It only seems right, of course…
it does indeed look great! i have a feeling it won’t be long til annie sloan pays me a visit too!
I’ll come help you! It will be even more fun to do it with a friend! 😉
Oooohhh…and even better. Maybe the guys can take the kids to do something super fun and we can paint alone! This is sounding better all the time!
now we’re cookin with gas!!!!
🙂
I love it!
Thanks! Me too. 🙂
Who are you? And what have you done with Kelli?? Now you get the glorious obsession with painting things and changing things up. Addictive huh. Keep it up you are doing a great job! I think painting that big piece white or black would look amazing against the grey walls!!
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