Pink Curtains, Or Why My Husband May Divorce Me

Ben is pretty tolerant of my decorating whimsies. He let me choose the wood flooring in our house. He let me paint the dinette peachy pink. He begrudgingly allowed me to paint his office... twice. Basically I get to control all aesthetic decisions in our house.

Except for the pink curtains.

If you will recall, I planned to do double height curtains in our great room. Well I'm too tired to tackle that expensive problem right now, so I decided to just throw a pair of cheap (but good) Ikea linen curtains on the lower windows to allay my neurotic empty window fixations. I chose some pretty basic flax linen curtains and figured everything would look kinda like this:

Ok, and I may have taken the liberty of switching out the navy chesterfield for a pair of those Ikea Mellby chairs, because in my heart of hearts I know a pair of chairs (or maybe a chaise) would be best for my house... also, for anyone doubting the quality of Ikea's new leather wares: go sit on them. They're really nice soft pebbled leather. Totally worth the price.

Anyway, the mockup isn't perfect but I think it proves a priori that the flax curtains would be just fine and we should hang them and move on.

But...

And:

Plus:

Maybe a little too girly, but still:

Finally:

Yeah. Pink curtains keep whispering sweet nothings in my ear.

And of course Ikea sells pink linen curtains, so I mocked that beeswax up.

I switched the art because I think pink works best when mixed with dirty colors... otherwise it comes off as juvenile and/or cloying.

So now it is super girlytown up in there. Ben also hates the lady painting, but that is just wrong.

What do you think? I would say the board does not accurately reflect colors, that the curtains are warmer and and that there is definitely baby pink in the rug even though you can't see it in the board. Overall the rug is more raspberry than red.

Or perhaps I should just go halfway to girlytown with the lady painting and flax curtains? I could probably ask my sweet MIL to sew coral pink velvet piping on the curtains to up the oooo ahhhh factor.

So, for $100 which curtains should I choose? Flax? Or risk the wrath of my normally mild mannered husband and demand pink? I am, after all, about to be vastly outnumbered by penises and I don't really think he has a leg to stand on.

Ahem. Insert joke here.

And another joke.

Ignore my morning prurience. Instead tell me which art and curtain combo you like.

Thanks.

[Head Over Heels, Ruthie Sommers, Pinterest]

The Power of Paint Compels You

I am possessed by the urge to paint EVERYTHING.

Ceilings.

Floors.

Woodwork.

Chairs.

Paintings.

Kitchen cabinets.

Kitchen cabinets.

Kitchen cabinets.

I've visited Benjamin Moore so frequently of late that Sanders is probably wondering if he should set up a cot for me.

Yesterday when I went to the high risk doc, I frantically interrogated him about the possibility of harming the baby from SO MUCH PAINTING. I mean, I use the fancy low VOC Aura paint, but still... there are nights I go to bed with paint in my hair. And under my nails. And who knows where else -- I can't see down there anymore.

He said not to worry one bit, to paint away.

So in case you were wondering, our little peanut probably will probably come out with only two eyes and sans vestigial tail.

Although extra parts could come in handy someday?

Gotta peruse some paint chips. See y'alluns later.

[House and Home, Mary MacDonald, Veranda, Jamie Meares, Laura Day, unknown kitchens all via pinterest]

Pink Dinette + Sciolari Chandelier = Girlytown

Well, I'm not really sure why I decided to paint the dinette and kitchen peachy pink. But I done did.

There she blows -- Benjamin Moore Terra Bella. Many thanks to Sanders, who thinks that Karly and I are crazy for suddenly wanting to paint everything pink and peach and coral. He still went way above and beyond to help me pick a lovely shade.

I have to say that lucite and brass was not where I thought I would take this house, but Mr Sciolari was in the right place at the right time for the right price. Plus he reminds me of Superman's Fortress of Solitude, and that's a good thing.

I still have a lot of work to do, but I think we've already improved the situation we moved into:

Have you ever seen so much brown in your life?!

Although the (TEMPORARY) table and chairs are clawing my eyes out, I'd still say it's far less offensive than it was.

Now, all I need is a new table and chairs and window treatments and maybe a rug and some art... I'm liking indigo as an accent color, which I'm largely drawing from the front room scenario:

Dark Harbor and Terra Bella are so happy together.

Anyway, this calls for some mockups. I'm so predictable.

#1 has a dreamy Thom Filicia rug that costs way too much, integrates the navy chesterfield I already own, supposes that I will buy a new tulip dining table (and I am -- really). Then I threw in schoolhouse chairs and country club art to give it some old skool flava.

#2 is a little more modern regency, with an affordable kilim rug and some very affordable cafe chairs. I took Chester out just to see how that would open up the space. Still buying the table. Awesome leopard painting will be available at Minty soon.

What elements do you prefer?

I really don't know what to do about window treatments in any case... I was crushing on Naomi's curtain idea, but now that the color is so fussy I'm thinking that simple and tailored is the way to go.

Tune in tomorrow to discuss ways in which my new paint and chandelier are making the shabby brown kitchen look even browner and shabbier.

Something must be done to rectify the situation.

Hint: paint will be involved.

Until then please help me buy cheap amazing things to finish out my dinette space.

Thank you.