Are You Ready For Some Mushroom?

As I mentioned previously,

G.O. has been busily replacing all of our original woodwork upstairs.

Before:

During:

More during:

Yet more during:

And, in conclusion, even more during:

My goal for all this beautiful woodwork?

I want to paint it gray with warm white walls.

This time I’m choosing a gray

which skews a bit more beige than plain Jane gray.

Something just like this,

which (my personal favorite), Country Living magazine,

is calling Mushroom:

A Pinterest search for Mushroom yielded this yummy photo:

I have a Pittsburgh Paint fan deck upstairs this morning,

hoping to find the most perfect Mushroom.

The good news is that I found 3 contenders!

The lightest — Swirling Smoke:

Or perhaps something in the medium range, Ghost Writer:

Or the darkest Mushroom, Stonehenge Greige:

(Greige is another word for Mushroom, by the way.)

Here’s my inspiration photo again:

My 2 top contenders are the medium, Ghost Writer,

or, if I am brave enough, the dark, Stonehenge Greige.

Stay tuned!

Powder Room Highs + Lows

I recently shared the story of our powder room’s paneled walls,

which involved a lot of masking tape + a lot of poly molding from Home Depot.

Soon enough, everything was given a coat of medium gray paint:

Flagstone by Pittsburgh Paints.

Check out the awesome before + after!

I know!  How great!

 All that molding gave the newly created room instant age!

Here it is, before — that space was once a short hallway:

I love how the carrera marble hexagon floor tiles

coordinate with the Flagstone paint!

The carrera marble is repeated in the vanity top from Pottery Barn,

which I think has been discontinued:

I chose the New York widespread faucet

from Signature Hardware, $259.95:

Who remembers the wonderful Martha Stewart Everyday at K-Mart?

I loved everything — from home decor items, like this enamel soap dish,

to garden goods + holiday collections!

The striped mug is an oldie Ralph Lauren pattern, Farmstead Ticking,

found online at Replacements, Ltd.

It’s not currently available, but I love this adorable candlestick, $11.95:

Hurry!  There are only 4 left!

Back to the powder room!

Our mirror started its life paired with a beautiful dresser,

which we refurbished + sold.

I briefly considered painting it

but couldn’t bear to cover that pretty wood grain!

Our pretty porcelain light fixture

was discontinued from Pottery Barn, + I found it on eBay.

Don’t you love the vintage-style cloth-covered cord?

Speaking of vintage, I hung these blue transfer ware plates

above the sweetest blue shelf that I found in an etsy shop:

But wait.  We need to talk.

I am on the fence about those plates.

I love them, but they just don’t look that great here.

But look at the plates I hung in our main bath!

I couldn’t love them more!

I can’t believe I did this,

but I guess I assumed that if I loved plates in the main bath,

I’d love them in my powder room, too!

I don’t.

I don’t know what, if anything, to hang there.

If only Joanna Gaines made house calls!

I mean, how in the world am I going to find a designer

who speaks my design language,

way out here in the middle of nowhere?

Well, check this out.

My friend, Claudia, told me about this thing called Havenly.

It’s an online source of interior designers + decorators.

You can read about how it works on their website.

I think I am going to take their design style quiz, later today.

How much fun will that be?

As always, stay tuned!

We even painted some unfinished wood switch + outlet plate covers from Menards:

See you next time!

 

Black Is Back

When I last blogged, I’d bid a sad farewell

to my dream of groovy red appliances for our canned ham . . .

. . . but I bounced back by embracing the ham’s original black appliances.

I briefly flirted with the idea of painting our cabinets black,

because black is definitely a thing now, + I’m totally on board with it.

But please, though.

Black cabs were just not going to happen, not in my little world.

The good news is that I actually really like all the warm brown wood in our ham!

Let’s move on now + have a look-see at our counter tops:

G.O. removed the sink (+ replaced the ugly faucet with this newer, cooler one!) . . .

. . . + the stove top:

And SURPRISE!  Our counter tops are now black!

Yes, black!  Paint!  In a can!

Not the stuff that’s supposed to look like granite,

although I do kind of like that darker black at the far right:

I wanted plain Jane black, instead:

Dare I say that I am hoping for a soapstone counter vibe?

Anyway, the fumes are just nuts, so beware.

G.O. wore a half mask with charcoal chemical filters,

+ he didn’t smell a thing, not even inside our tiny canned ham!

It’s best to paint in several light coats; these photos were taken after coat #1:

But wait.  There’s more!

It’s not just our counter tops that are getting their paint/love . . .

. . . G.O. painted our walls Pittsburgh Paint’s Thin Ice!

It’s a near-white with just a hint of gray,

+ has really brightened up the camper’s interior.

I LOVE IT!!!

Here you can see the difference between the original beige + the new light gray:

That back splash area will soon be sporting some very cool press + stick subway tiles:

L O V E !

I can’t WAIT to see those tiles against the black counter tops!

So.  Lest you think that G.O. is doing all the heavy lifting, never fear!

I, too, have my own pet projects, about which I shall soon blog.

Stay tuned!

Small Updates

Long time — no blog!

Here’s why:

G.O. , not pictured, has been busy

painting everything at our old house.

 I’ve been sewing like a bee on some new merch

for my biz, RedBird Vintage Home.

Like these:

Zoom zoom!

All this working + sewing means not much progress on the Dutch colonial.

Fear not, though . . . we have completed a few projects.

Let’s start with the new closet doors in our bedroom.

Those 6″ long window sash pulls came from Menards.

They’re big, beefy + slightly industrial, don’t you think?

The doors, while new, have the same 5 panels as our originals.

See for yourself:

G.O. painted them the same dark color, Black Magic by Pittsburgh Paints.

Let’s have a look-see at our powder room door:

Don’t you love the way the black doors pop

against the pale colors of our house?

And please.

How swell is my very beloved, vintage LADIES SIGN!?

It used to hang over the powder room in our old house,

+ not long ago, G.O. finally brought it over.

There’s more to share,

so stay tuned!

A Beautiful Old Door + Gorgeous Original Hardware

Our bedroom is nearly up + running at the Dutch colonial.

There’s a bed, a rug, a nightstand + a leaning floor mirror in there now,

but stay tuned for photo ops.

Today G.O. finished painting the door

Pittsburgh Paint’s Black Magic,

just like all the interior doors throughout.

Here ’tis, as seen from the kitchen:

The powder room door is just to the right:

Next up, we have a view of the door from inside the bedroom.

This view is out into the kitchen, with the powder room door at the left:

Check out the original hardware!

That beautiful plate was covered with paint,

so G.O. stripped it + scrubbed it with a brass bristle brush.

Stunning, don’t you think?