Has Gray Finally Had Its Day?

G.O. has been busy with the woodwork upstairs,

so it’s now or never for me to select a paint color for said woodwork.

I’m thinking a medium to dark color with white walls.

G.O. wasn’t on board at first, as he often isn’t.

The last time I had darker woodwork with white walls was in 1985,

when I chose a pretty gray

from the Benjamin Moore Historical Colors Collection.

How 80’s of me!

Fun fact:  Benjamin Moore still has their Historic Colors Collection!

Back to my dark woodwork with white walls aspirations.

This:

Yum!  Notice the wainscoting,

which is painted with the same color as the woodwork.

Upstairs, we happen to have a pretty embossed wainscot of our own:

Sad!

I can’t wait to see that original feature shine,

once it’s painted something darker, with white walls.

My first thought was gray, which had me asking:

Isn’t there enough gray downstairs?

Is gray going to fall out of fashion soon?

Aren’t brown +/or beige making big comebacks?

THE STRUGGLE IS REAL!

Anyway, within moments, I began my search

for a neutral that’s more beige than gray,

or, as the popular kids call it: “GREIGE”.

Speaking of which, check out these beautiful greige rooms,

in a charming Charleston, SC home:

 

It’s not just me —  you love it, too, right?

Meanwhile, I’m now back on the prowl for a greige paint that I love!

Stay tuned!

 

Got A New TV Show To Love

I’ve got another favorite HGTV show — it’s called Hometown,

starring this super cute couple, Ben + Erin:

They had me at their old pick up truck* + their incredibly cool logo.

Don’t you love logos?

*G.O. says the truck looks like it’s a ’64 Chevy (+ he always knows.)

Thumbs up!

Anyway, you know the drill with these shows:

The cute hosts show another cute couple some makeover wannabe houses,

the second cute couple chooses one, + then the re-do ensues.

Take this house.

Please.

It had plenty of curb appeal but now has lots more.

Extra points for the highly coveted (by me) red window sashes,

which play nicely with the pretty red Japanese maple.

Every yard needs at least one Japanese maple!

Here’s the living room, sporting some really tragic green paint:

Now check this out.

I’m interested to know your thoughts on the busy tile fireplace surround.

I surprised myself with how much I liked it!

They based all their color choices on the tiles, which I think is genius.

My favorite makeover occurred in the kitchen (as it most often does.)

Here’s the lame + sad before:

Is it wrong that I like the existing vintage floor tiles?

How could you not love white cabinets with pretty gray back splash tiles?

The range hood design is pretty swell,

+ little granny loves the bridge faucet, too!

I swear, I had that exact, same utensil crock from Lillian Vernon in the 70’s!

Yes, I’ll admit it —

the natural wood floor is way better than the original tiles.

Look how sweet — that little pass-through window

looks into the adjacent breakfast nook:

Notice how they kept that original cupboard, which rules:

Erin asked Ben to make a new copper counter top,

+ he didn’t even complain!

We’d have been all like this:

Ha ha ha ha ha!

Now, then.

The breakfast nook benches were originally one very long church pew.

Good job!

At the top of the stairs, there’s a cozy sitting area,

which, in my little world, would never be used,

but hey.  It’s cool.

The best thing about the master bedroom is the tall wainscoting, which I love

+ which I now want for our own bedroom.

You can’t go wrong with pale blue walls, either!

Oh, + check out how the artwork’s been hung low,

on the wainscot, rather than above.

That vintage blue dresser is definitely calling my name!

We’ve got that same blue striped blanket, from Target,

+ I think that groovy tan + white gingham bedding is from IKEA.

So.  Are you watching Hometown yet?

I’d love to hear what you think of it!

Who Knew? Black Staircases!

So.  During last night’s football game,

I happily surfed Pinterest for hours,

stopping only to watch TV during the commercials.

Did you do the same?

I was on the hunt to find photos of black staircases.

As crazy as that might sound, there were 12’s of them!

Exhibit A:

This all black plus natural wood rules my little world!

  I had a light bulb moment about black stairs yesterday,

not long after I blogged about the new staircase in the latest Fixer Upper episode.

Here ’tis, in all its before + after glory:

Wouldn’t the X’s be more attractive

if they were smaller instead of all squooshed out?

Plus, that style, while cool, is ultra trendy

+ is going to look dated sooner than one might think, I fear.

Let’s be real — those railings probably cost a small fortune,

not to mention their perfectly good staircase ending up in a landfill!

Wasn’t there some way to ramp up the style of the existing granny chic stairs?

Exhibit B:

:

More of the natural wood tones, this time with white baseboards.

Plus that herringbone wood floor is so beautiful!

Exhibit C:

Here we have everything painted dark gray,

which works, in my opinion, because of the natural wood steps.

Oh, + look at that light fixture.

Black + antique brass = stunning!

Exhibit D:

Again, with the gray — and lots of it,

looking fantastic with the natural wood steps.

Exhibit E:

Hey, how crazy is the door’s being painted out like the wainscoting?

Frankly, I’m on the fence.

Check out the brass, though!  Winning!

Exhibit F:

More amazing black wainscoting,

+ what are our thoughts about the stair runners?

I vote yes!

Exhibit G:

More wonderful wainscoting, but look — they’ve painted the risers white.

Exhibit H:

Donna Dotan Photography Inc.

Here the spindles + baseboards are left white.

Aren’t you crushing on that gallery wall + their picture light fixtures?

Exhibit I:

Exhibit H:

How Goth!

But I “keed”.  I think it’s amazing!

Exhibit I:

 Yes, that’s Roger Hazard of A+E’s Flip This House fame.

He + his husband, Chris, live in Sharon Springs, NY —

the same town as the Beekman Boys!

 It’s really no surprise that they painted their staircase dark gray;

look at the exterior of their dark gray house!

Now, where were we, alphabet-wise, for our photos?

I dunno, but look.  These are the last 2, I promise!

And they are of the staircase of our own Dutch colonial!

Stay tuned for what we will do with it!

 

 

Wainscoting Hopes + Dreams

Earlier this week, G.O. assembled our powder room’s vanity:

IKEA

He gave it thumbs up for being very well constructed.

It even has the soft-close drawers!

Just to banish the IKEA-ness of it all,

methinks I’ll opt for different pulls,

hoping to trick things out a tad.

Speaking of which, the marble vanity top I ordered

is scheduled to be delivered from between 8:30 – 10:30 a.m. TO-day!

Pottery Barn

OMG — fingers crossed I’ll love the marble!

Stay tuned!

* * *

In a perfect world, our powder room would be completed

so all this happiness could be installed TO-day, too.

Instead, it currently looks like this:

Good things come to those who wait, no?

I keep telling myself that!

Meanwhile, let’s fast forward, shall we?

Here are my current wainscoting hopes + dreams for this space:

hookedonhouses.net

Since our powder room is narrow + has high ceilings,

it could have kind of a silo vibe going on.

The ceiling treatment above might be just the ticket

for a tall, narrow room — plus, it adds character

+ will give the brand, new space (carved from a former hallway)

the “always-been-there” look that I covet!

Here ’tis again:

I’d say they’ve added a small trim piece about 10″ (?) below the ceiling line

+ painted out the top wall + ceiling both white.

* * *

True to form, G.O. nixed my hopes + dreams

when I finally showed him this a.m.

“Too much white!”

* * *

No worries.  He’ll love it when it’s done, I promise!

Stay tuned!