"Getting rid of everything that doesn’t matter allows you to remember who you are. Simplicity doesn’t change who you are, it brings you back to who you are."

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Pandora's Box

I like warm colors in my house.  Makes me feel all happy and snuggley.  It seems that the gold colors I'd selected are pretty popular.  My friend Deb stopped by and told me that mine was the 3rd kitchen that she's seen that went "yellow" this year.  (I wonder if we're all wanting to surround ourselves with happiness and warmth.)


That must be the reason why the "Have a Nice Day" smiley is yellow.

Tuesday morning I was singing Here Comes The Sun as the kitchen started to transform.  By Wednesday morning I was singing Yellow  It's amazing that this same color in my north facing rooms looks completely different than in my southern exposure kitchen.  Lemon yellow to a rich gold.

I started my massive painting project on Monday morning.  It was cloudy and I was in the mood so I dug in.  I got the front entry way and my (and the dogs) lounge/TV room completed in one day.  It took about 8 hours and it wasn't too bad as I was only going a shade lighter than the existing color.  Pretty easy.




I decided to attack the kitchen Tuesday morning.  It rained all day.  It took me 3 hours just to tape everything and another hour to cut in.  All those freakin windows!  All that wood trim!  Argh!  I worked until 6 and called it a day.  A long day.  (It's amazing how good a glass of wine tastes at the end of a day like that.)


Wednesday, I started up at 6am and could really see how different the kitchen looked.  I had to apply a second coat as the green still showed through.  Touching up, stripping off the tape, putting everything back in place.  Another full day.


Now I know why some people just up and move into a new home every few years.  When you have an older home, (and mine is only middle aged) and you decide to update one little bitty thing, (like paint), it suddenly shows off how bad the rest of the house is.  



The kitchen walls are fresh and bright.  The sink is stained, the floors nicked up and discolored.  The wood trim needs cleaned and restained.  Some of the trim is scratched up by the dogs.  If I replaced one piece it would stand out and look out of place, so I leave it alone and say it adds "character"

SM and I agree that we need new curtains and a new rug.  I'm thinking I'd like to do a tile back splash too.  Along with replacing the sink and floor and..."Oh no"...What have I done?  I've opened Pandora's Box.

All in all though, we like it a lot.  The kitchen looks and feels much bigger and  the color brightens things up so we really don't need much light on at night.


Tomorrow I hope to start on the living room and hallway.  That will also likely be a 2 day project.  Then hopefully some outside yard work this weekend.


Man, the time is just flying by!



8 comments:

  1. I'm a dark green and burgendy kind'a gal (works well in the log house), but I do yearn for yellow and have been contemplating that for the one tiny wall that's not log in the kitchen. Your new paint job does make it seem more cheery! Att'a girl!

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  2. Tami - The colour you chose is stuning. And all that edge taping - you have waaaaaaay more patience than I do LOL

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  3. Tami - your kitchen looks great! Love the yellow color you chose.

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  4. Everything looks great! I just love yellow! It's a very hard color to get right though and you did it successfully! I tried 8 different samples of yellow for my dining room before I found the right one! It absorbs and reflects and can look totally different in every room.

    My present home is 83 years old. I call it new since my last house was 200! I did one room at a time, except for the refinishing of the floors. Because as you say, when you add fresh paint it makes everything else look a bit worn.

    There is one room we have left to do and have been putting it off for years....the bathroom. It has to be totally gutted and I just don't want to deal with it. I think that I may have my son do it in the Spring while we are on vacation!

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  5. I'll be showing this to hubby when he wakes up. He laughs at me---my whole house is sunshiny yellow--I love the color-so bright and cheerful. That's kind of important when you live in a place that has 6 months of winter......and December/January the sun NEVER shines. That color brightens everything.
    Love your results! And you're so right-it opens up a whole bunch of other projects........

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  6. Yeah, one thing leads to another...
    The brighter color makes the room look larger. Great job!

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  7. Oh my gosh it's beautiful! I love yellow. Most of my house is yellow now. We have grey skies most of the year and the yellow helps to dispel the gloom.
    Great job!

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