Saturday, December 15, 2012

Distractions

I slept just over twelve hours last night, from about quarter after eight Friday night until almost nine this morning. It still doesn't feel like enough.

Lunch with some sweet friends and their adorable daughters. The girls are at ages (four, and twins at almost three) where they can communicate fairly well, and have interesting things to say (at least interesting if you find the way kids' minds work fascinating, which I do). So fun.

Off to the paint store on the way home, to figure out something for the sewing studio. I want blue, but not that blue, nor that. The sample ordered for the potential drapery fabric has not arrived (Dear Joann Fabric, why is it you sell certain drapery fabric only on-line, but then say it will take 3 weeks or longer for the samples to arrive? And why, in spite of that, did I receive one of the four samples ordered yesterday (not the one I need most urgently, of course)? At $35 per yard (on half price sale, no less), I'd think you would be anxious to sell the stuff). That complicates the choice a bit.

Nevertheless, I came home with a sample to try, in a blue that leans gently into green.

If you aren't completely bored over my incessant talk of paint colors, let me show you what I'm currently looking at, and planning to cover up. Room #1, the bedroom.

As it looks now, pictures taken with flash:
From the doorway
The room is currently pale peach. As you can see from the quilt (not mine, made in China), the bedroom in the old flat was green and lavender. Time for a change. The shelf above the bed was left by the previous owners; it is coming down. If you are local and want it, I can measure it and let you know how long it is.

The carpet is a nice, deep Berber in oatmeal with flecks of tan and brown. It appears to be fairly new, since the previous owner also left rolled up pieces of carpet from its installation out in the parking bay.

The furniture is old-growth maple in an early American style. Yes, that is a twin bed; I've slept in that bed since my parents moved me out of the crib to make room for my sister. While I wanted to get a queen sized set after I moved to the flat, with a bedroom measuring ten feet by ten feet, it wasn't possible, much less practical. A new bedroom set is on The List, but nowhere near the top.

The elliptical is not used as a clothes hanger. Unfortunately, it's not used for it's intended purpose much, either.

From the next corner to the right of the door
This shot is looking towards the closet, a wonderful deep walk-in with rods/shelves on both sides and a full length mirror on the wall immediately opposite the door. A bit of whimsy in the closet: the pull for the light is a silk cord ending in an oversize jingle bell.

There is no overhead light in this room. Not shown in the pictures is the white ceiling fan hanging from the peak of the ceiling. If you take a look at the previous picture, you'll see that the wall behind the bed is shaped like a child's outline drawing of a house. The entire room is painted one color, which I like; painting the ceiling traditional while would really break up the room, not in a good way.

From where the elliptical stands, more or less
As you can see, the hallway outside the room is the sage green that dominates the living room.  Because of the odd angles and open concept of that room and the loft, decisions need to be made on which color (loft or living room) go where. More on that when I post "before" pictures for those rooms.

The windows on the left fill most of the wall. You can see a little bit of the electric radiator along the wall under the window, and the thermostat for it on the wall. The place actually has a gas furnace (register visible on the wall in the second picture), but the electric heat does still work. It will never be used, however, as I'd sooner burn dollar bills in the fireplace (just as costly, but providing more heat).

The pictures taken with the flash really do show the color of the walls as it looks in real life in the daytime. Most of the time, I see the room by lamplight, which rather warms things up:

Taken from the same spot as the second picture.
In spite of the big room and tiny furniture, the room looks and feels cozy at night. The new color is a pale, silvered grey-blue called "Cay". The character of the room will change quite a bit, moving from warm to cool. I've a quilt in progress (started over two years ago) that will go in this room. Rather optimistically, the quilt is a queen size. If you follow the link, the lightest blue-green is about the color the walls should be when all is said and done.

Well, that's the tour of one room of the four that will be painted after Christmas. I still need to straighten and take pictures of the other rooms, as well as begin the process of prying the painted over outlet plates off of the walls. The valance will come off, to be replaced by one I make (the fabric sample that did come is for fabric for the valance in this room; it looks as if it will work well).

While I'm beginning to think I was crazy to want to do all the rooms at once, I'm starting to look forward to the transformation. Besides, once the painting is done, I can take my time putting things back, unlike having the deadline for getting things ready.

After all, I still have packed boxes sitting in the sewing studio...


2 comments:

melissa said...

Funny to see the "beware of dog" comment at the bottom of the blog. :)

Ahem. Anyway. Was wondering if the paint, CAY, was a Sherwin-Williams color? I found that one in a Google search and it's a pretty blue. Very refreshing. Would that be yours?

And, really, I think it'd be a great move to have your ceiling painted a soft white. The distinction between ceiling and walls might be cozying (but at 10x10, it is anyway...all our bedrooms are that size). Might make the ceiling seem less tall. Just my thinking, not that you were asking for anyone's opinion. ;)

I love decorating!

Diane said...

Yep, it's S-W, so that would be it.

I must not have been clear; the old apt had a 10 x 10 room. This one is a healthy 16 x 13.

I thought about the ceiling, but I kind of like the high effect. The plan is to put a big quilt on the wall behind where the bed is. Right now there is nothing on the walls, so the ceiling feels extra high.

Getting excited, but a lot of work yet to do!