Coming Clean

My house, while cute, has a lot of potential.  We’ve revamped the outside and worked a little on the inside, but now it’s time to start the bigger projects.  Originally our first room to get an overhaul was supposed to be the kitchen, but my husband texted me the other day asking me what I thought about adding cabinets to our laundry room.  I have been wanting to do that for a long time, so I said sure!

My brother-in-law is a civil engineer who spends a lot of time designing things on a computer program.  He was the one who helped us create the plans for our patio project.  Anyhow, he came over the other weekend, took a bunch of measurements, and drafted a couple laundry room plans for us.  Then, he and Jeff headed to a cabinet store to get more ideas.

Today, I believe the work is going to get started.  We are basically revamping the entire room.  Here’s what it looks like now:

See?  Lots of potential.  His job is to add cabinets, counter tops, and more storage.  My job is to make it pretty.  That’s where you guys come in.  I need some help.  I’m not horrible at decorating, but I’m definitely not the world’s best.  Not like Supermom!  Here’s what I know:

I want dark wood cabinets and neutral counter tops like this:

So my question is…what color should I paint the walls?  Do I go with a neutral color like Oat Cake?

What about a teal like Mermaid Treasure or Gem Turquoise?

A purple like Twilight Pearl?  (Is it bad that I especially like this color because it has “Twilight” in the name?)

Or how about a yellow like Lemon Tart?

I honestly have no clue what I’m going to do or what will look good.  What do you think?  What color is your laundry room?  Oh, and Supermom, what brand of paint is your favorite?  I’m always up for suggestions.

A New Wash of Color

Every new parent-to-be has to ask themselves that controversial question:  how do we decorate the baby’s room?  Luckily, my husband knows what’s good for him is very supportive of my opinions and let me take the reins on this project.

When I first found out I was pregnant, I immediately decided I wanted to decorate the room in neutral colors in case we got pregnant a second time with the opposite sex.  I love greens and yellows and browns and, after a few weeks of searching, found the most adorable bedding set to accommodate these colors.

(source)

I had decided I wanted a light brown room to compliment the bedding, but Jeff took one look at the bedding and suggested, OK demanded, blue.  I fought him at first, but ultimately decided he was right.  After all, one of the cheapest things to change in a bedroom is wall color.

We went to Lowes and got tons of paint samples, then hung them on the wall at home and compared them to the bedding.  Jeff looked at me and said, “what about green?”  So I trekked back to Lowes on my lunch break one day and got scads of green samples.  The minute I put them up against each other, I decided blue was the way to go.  Who would have thunk?  (This picture was taken after I had weeded out about 15 other blue paint samples.)

Monday started a long stretch of four days off for me, so I headed back to Lowes bright and early armed with my color choice.  I picked up two gallons of “River Mist” and one gallon of “Cream in my Coffee” for the closet.  It needed a face lift.  I also grabbed a few other necessities (tape, rollers, disposable trays) and headed back to the house to get started.  I don’t know about you, but I hate prep work.  Why can’t I just decide I want to paint and the room be prepped for me?

Jeff had moved all the furniture and other closet “treasures” (read: things I need to dispose of, but still hold on to just in case) out for me the night before,

so all I had to do was remove face plates, tape edges, and put down the plastic tarp.

Well, that and protect my phone with a Ziploc bag.  It works, people!

Finally, I began!  Ugh, edging first…

Side note: pre-pregnancy clothes + 27 week pregnant girl = psuedo redneck with a beer belly.  Just sayin’.

I slapped on the first coat and took a break to let it dry a bit.

Phew!  This painting thing is hard work on a preggo girl in 80º weather!

I ended up letting the paint dry overnight, then finishing it up Tuesday morning.  Then I got to work on the closet.  I had to remove the old shelving and spackle the holes.

Wednesday morning, I painted the closet, deciding two things:  that I had blindly picked out almost the exact same color the closet already was (no paint samples required) and painting small closets is kind of tricky!  You have to maneuver just right.

Finally, this morning, I was finished.  All I had to do was remove the tape, replace the outlet covers, and vacuum.  I have to say, I think it turned out great!

Stitch agrees.  She likes having a new space to lay.  She keeps wandering into the empty room and meowing.  Maybe she just likes to hear herself talk?

Finally, I grabbed the ottoman we picked up from Babies R Us this past weekend and placed it in the room.  It’s kind of a weird color, almost like a brownish sage.  Luckily, in the room it looks more brown than green!  I’m very pleased with the color, both of the room and the ottoman.

Now all we have to do is get the baby furniture purchased and placed in the room.  It’s coming together, slowly but surely!