Saturday, April 30, 2011

light jade and french blue


Ta-da! It's done*!

Before I dish on the details, here's a reminder of what the room looked like when I moved in:

And this is last summer, when I put up primer and sanded down the outlines of the polka dots:


Last weekend during painting:



I went with two shades from Glidden: Light Jade (on the window wall) and French Blue (on the other three walls). And I'm really happy with the way it turned out.

Most of the furniture and accessories in this room are from my mom. The bed was hers as a child, and she brought the rug back from India in the late 1970s. She gave me the nightstand on my 15th birthday, and the vintage ivory bedspread last summer. (I've had the floral bedspread and pillows since I was six, the curtains came with the house, and the lamp came from IKEA in college.) It is really nice to have at least one room in the house that didn't need anything new :)




Confession: I put up the trim tape over a year ago, and even when I knew I wasn't going to paint the room for a few months after priming it, I still never took it down. They say it shouldn't be up more than a few days, or it won't keep a seal against the paint. But... it was totally fine.

*Almost done, that is. I have a few things to hang on the walls, but I need to paint some of the frames first. And figure out some sort of closet solution, since this former nursery doesn't have one of its own.

So, who wants to be the first guest to stay in the newly-finished room?

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

what shade of blue?


It's a great question. I started painting the second guest bedroom (aka blue bedroom) this past weekend. What shades did I pick? Well, since it took me six months to buy the paint after deciding on colors, I figure I can keep the secret a few days longer.

In the meanwhile, enjoy these gratuitous pictures of my blooming bulbs. Aren't they purty? And how about some Easter brunch action? Yeah, I know that's what you're all here for...





Thanks to my friend Lindsay for bringing the strawberry and cream scones, clotted cream and carrot muffins! Between those and my brother's french toast (and, it's true, my usual obsession with hash browns and sausage, which of course made an appearance) we had a lovely Easter brunch.

And then I painted some more. If all goes well, I'll have a new before/after post for you in a few days!

Happy spring, dear friends. Isn't this just a wonderful time of year?

Sunday, April 10, 2011

stubborn as spring


The old blog background is back... a tribute to the 60-degree weather we're finally getting in Minnesota. About time! While I've been tormented by spring flowers and weather in Atlanta, Indianapolis, St. Louis and San Francisco the past few weeks, I've been staring at my garden every moment that I'm home. Willing it to grow as I watch.

Which it finally started doing this week. I swear, this tulip was an inch shorter when I left for work on Thursday morning. By the time I got home that night, it was pushing last fall's matted maple leaves up so it could get more sunlight. Stubborn little things, tulips are.

The rhubarb is coming up already, too...


So excited to see how they all look in a few days!