I have another blog, www.pugglywuggly.blogspot.com and its all about our dog, Jack. But, while I write in his blog sometimes I wanna write about ME (a little selfish, probably...does it bother me? Oh hellz no!)
So, my hubby and I bought a house 3+ years ago that was built in, er, 2003? When we first moved in I couldn't wait to paint, decorate and really sink my teeth into things.In fact, the night we closed on the house, I started painting the kitchen, 'Dutch Cocoa' (by Sherwin Williams). I was so proud of myself, but somewhere along the way, I've started to put things around the house.
No real purpose, no real reason, I would just put things where I thought they should go. (You know, until 5 minutes later I changed my mind, uh-gain...)
This basically boils down to one thing, I'm a designer who is having trouble designing her own space. The more designers (or architects) I tell that too, the more comforting I feel because they agree, designing your own house is much more difficult then designing someone elses.
This upsets me because I can walk into someones home and redesign it in less than 10 minutes in my head. However with my own house, I'm constantly drawing blanks.
I know that sounds bad, and if any of my clients (or boss, eek!) read this, they might wonder about my abilities.
To help jump start my house redesign, I've taken photos of the way it is, send them to my bestie (best friend) Derona, in London and we've been talking over colours (as she'd say). (D and I met in college, both studying interior design...she grew up in Nassau and now lives in L-town...)
My first project in my new mindset was our laundry room.
It has been an obnoxious shade of baby boy blue for 3+ years now. While I can appreciate blue, I cannot tolerate the baby-blue anymore.
So here are the before photos: (yes, I have a 'thing' for cows...don't judge!)
Here is a common misconception in design:
"If I have a small space, I need to paint it a light color so it looks/feels bigger"
Lemme put it to you like this, my laundry room is about 6' x 6' and now its painted 'French Baret' (#1610 Benjamin Moore- I refer to Ben. Moore just as Benny, yes we're on a first name basis...)
French Baret is almost black! Check it out for yourself, does it look bigger? Smaller?
Painting has always been a theraputic exercise for me. Maybe its the fumes? Maybe its the concentration it takes...whatever reason, I love painting.
The next rooms in my whole house makeover marathon are the kitchen and then the family room. The lighter color (forgive me, I don't know what the name is off the top of my head) will be replacing the Dutch Cocoa in the kitchen...and the darker one will replace the green.
Its taken several weeks for me to find a paint color that the hubby likes to replace the green. "I don't want beige" "I don't like that color, it doesn't have enough color in it"...yes, its been a merri-go-round of fun, but alas, we've found a great color! (Thank GOD!)
