White Nails & Trees on the Floor

Late nights. Bright lights. White "nail polish"...all with this hard-workin' man. Everything is moving forward! The paint is done. We chose Benjamin Moore Simply White...to match the IKEA Lidingo cabinets. It's a much warmer, softer white than the Behr Ultra Pure White that we initially chose...and I love it. That warmer tone meshes well with the orange in the hallway, and it's crazy but it just feels different in there! I never knew white paint could evoke such emotion. When we first started dreaming of our new home, a white room flooded with light...and lots of color...that is what my heart desired. I'm so glad we made it back there...after a tiny detour.  

Next up...FLOORS! Eeeeeeep! I am so excited for this step. I'm going to have REAL trees on my floor. Beautiful wide-plank circular-sawn douglas fir. *sigh* It will be our first time using unfinished wood, and doing the whole staining sha-bang. We are definitely going for a well-worn, distressed look...not a super shiny showroom floor. We like a medium-brown...not too light, not super dark. Tell me your stain color favorites!

I've been doing lots of research and gathering tips, but I would love to hear any input y'all have on how to make this process go smoothly! Matt is very confident already...but every little piece of wisdom helps!

And then there was this. A moment in the sunshine for mama (captured by sweet Bella). As I sat here today, drinking my afternoon latte...listening to woodpeckers above me and the breeze sifting through the trees...I remembered the healing power of sunshine and movement. 

We've had a long couple of days 'round here. Big house decisions. Insurance adjuster excitement.  My van is at the shop all week. And both Lucy and Emma had colds that magically morphed into stomach bugs. I was up all night cleaning up puke and poop and nursing nursing nursing. Mmmmmm. You're welcome for that visual. Be very glad that this isn't a scratch and sniff blog. I'm really hoping the rest of us dodged it this time around!

Living in the basement can have a not-so-happy effect on me. Especially when life is feeling hard. The clothing from 3 tiny fashionistas eating us alive. My sweet little kitchen is adorable, yes. But after a month of limited everything, I'm really feeling the temporary nature of it. Nothing seems to have a "place". And the dogs just ate my last bra. *why oh why?!*

I crave natural light, and it is minimal down here. I have to remember to get outside (or at least up to my big windows!) when I start to feel closed in and overwhelmed. The warmth of the sun and a quick jaunt up the rocks lessens the heaviness almost immediately. Today I ran in circles through the trees and over the rocks...around and around...in my pajamas as the dogs chased behind. It felt amazing. Like a reset button was pressed in my heart. 

Some of my other favorite "reset" activities:

• Spinning a hoop (scientifically proven to lift spirits!)
• Turning on delicious music
• Soaking in a hot hot hot bath
• De-stressing with my oils (Balance and White Fir are my BFF's)
• Caffeine goodness or a glass of wine (yes, artificial stimulants...but they have the power to change perspective in a wonderful way!)
• Connecting with Matt (not in THAT way...ahem, well, that's awesome too...but just a hug and a quick reassurance does wonders for my spirit).
• Reading scripture...Psalms especially.

How do you "reset" when life feels out of control?

IKEA Round 2: Bring on the Lidingö

You guys. We went to IKEA and I didn't cry! ;-)  My amazing friend Shelly took care of Bella and Lucy all day long...so that Matt and I could focus and get it all done with as little drama as possible.

After many late night discussions, more tears of frustration and random bouts of laughter, we decided on the IKEA Lidingö cabinets for most of our kitchen. In white.

And..we're re-painting. Again. Back to a white that matches the cabinets. Yes. We are. Stop it with yer judgey eyes. While I love grey and white, the grey was not meant to be in our room with enormous windows to the sky.

Our process at IKEA went super smooth...we chatted with a kitchen specialist to finalize the layout we had done from home on ikea.com. After she placed our order, it took about 2 hours for them to pull all the pieces from the warehouse.

We took that time to eat meatballs, and grab some other goodies from the marketplace that we needed. You know..."needed"...like purple flower pots for my succulent babies.

Our number finally made it to the FINISHED side of the processing screen, so we headed over to start taking inventory of everything. We did end up having one piece that was oversold, but it was only a slide out for a drawer. No big deal.

The warehouse attendant seemed a bit annoyed that we wanted to check that each piece was there...but I insisted. I've read enough blogs to know that you don't want to sign off unless you know for sure that it's all there!

And so now we have 82 boxes/pieces to assemble and turn into a kitchen...a place to nourish and nest. I'm giddy with anticipation...let's make food!

But not until we paint and the floors are finished. So many steps...but we're getting closer!

And as I drove into the sunset with the love of my life...I was thankful. For everything. That is all. xo

Choosing Paint is Crazy-Making

"It's just paint!" 

I have long exclaimed this phrase to friends and family needing support through their painting process.

"Stop fretting! Just do it! If you don't like it...you can always change it." Well, yes. All of that. However, now that it's MY house and MY time, I'm singing a different tune. As you can see from my large collection of sample pots, I've been spending a bit of time trying to decide. 

I told you about our IKEA drama. And how the IKEA white cabinets won't match our white walls. I was sad. I cried. But I moved on...because I LOVE grey and white. And that's what we decided to do. It turns out Matt didnt LOVE the stark white everywhere anyway. My kitchen will still be mostly white because I'm doing subway tiles on the walls...but the grey will help to warm up the living room in a wonderful way. 

We chose Martha Stewart Heavy Goose in Behr flat enamel, and brought home a little pot to sample on the wall. Because the light in our space changes every 1, 254 times a day, I knew that I needed to actually paint the color on the wall and not just bring home the paper sample. So I painted this little square, along with a few other accent colors. 

We liked the lightness and tone (or so we thought)...so we went for it and bought a 5 gallon bucket. Oy. I think you know where this is going. Matt spent all morning painting. When I saw it all done, on every wall...in all the lights of the day...I hated it. *sob face*

It was super light. Almost white in some light...but not quite white. More like an icy baby blue. Let me repeat that. ICY BABY BLUE. In my largest living space. I tried my best to soften the blow when I told Matt. He was NOT happy. Understandably. 

I gave him a day to consider my new ideas...and eventually he agreed that it was a bit too blue.  Although, he probably would have left it and just lived with it. But because is amazing...he said, 

"I will re-paint it. For you. Because I love you."

"Ohhhhhh thank you thank you thank you!" I exclaimed. And then I got busy looking for other greys. I thought I had done my research the first time, but apparently not enough. Because there are unlimited grey paint options and a zillion blog posts about it. I knew I had a little more investigating to do. There are so many tones of grey. Purple, green, yellow, neutral...but it all depends on your space and light, so one size does not fit all. 

After all my research, I settled on Porpoise by Behr. I loved how it looked in this house. So I brought a pot home, along with the lighter version of it on the palette. Foiled again! It initially looked good wet, but when it dried it looked so dark and purply! I couldn't believe how different it looked. 

I started looking through my sample pots and found one that I liked. I put up SIX sample sections...all around the room in different light. I Pinterested. I Googled. I sat and stared.

I stared at it while I sipped my coffee. 
I squinted at it in the mid-morning light.
I gazed at it in the afternoon glow.
And I laid on the floor after supper. 
Looking. Looking. Looking. 

And after all that, I said "I THINK this is the one!". Matt doesn't like to be standing at the paint counter ordering and have me say "I THINK...". But we went for it. 

Nimbus Cloud by Martha Stewart is our color!

You can see it on the wall above...those two samples are Nimbus Cloud. And you can sort of tell that the other grey on the wall was that nice icy blue. Hard to capture it's glory in a photo. It's a nice neutral grey. If it has any color at all, it might be a teensy bit of green. But I like how it looks next to the white fireplace. 

As I type this, Matt is busily painting away. He just finished the first coat and it looks good. So happy to be moving forward. 

In other painting news, we painted the hallway! Green and yellow! Then...wait for it...I changed my mind! The green felt too cold and sage-like (Wheat Grass by Behr). And the gold color got REALLY dark gold at night and was muted orange-y by day (Cork by Behr) And it felt like every other space we've ever lived in. Which for some people is a good thing...but I'm ready for a change.

So we went for something totally different. Toasted Coconut by Glidden. I love it. It feels like a warm hug. From Olaf. I love how it looks with the grey and white. This is the lightest it gets...and then gets darker throughout the day.

I'm going to paint the door a contrasting color...maybe green or yellow. And we are contemplating barnwooding that entire wall around the door. The wall going down the basement steps will be covered with big and small white frames with yummy art. The ceiling will be the same white painted wood that is on the living area ceiling. 

On the little half-wall and down the steps, I'm dreaming of some funky wallpaper. What are your favorite wallpaper sources?

Yes, it's bold. And it's not for everyone. But it's US. I can't wait to get curtains and art and furniture in here so I can stop obsessing about paint and move on to obsessing about accessories. Plus, adding all of those things will radical change how it all looks and feels. 

The master bedroom is painted now as well...and I AM IN LOVE.  I just found my dream bedspread on Etsy...a 1940's vintage piece. I'm working the entire room around that. Eeeeeep! I'm waiting until it's all done to show you...neener neener ;-)

So...the paint is nearly done. The gas line is getting run tomorrow. All the little things that have to happen before we can put it back together are happening. There are so.many.little.things. We are hoping to start laying down flooring late next week and then it will all move pretty quickly after that. We hope. 

In the end...it is just paint. Crazy-making paint. Relationship-building paint. Self-discovery paint. I'm glad that little journey is over! 

Tell me your paint stories! Happy Friday everyone!