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]

Ohm Mani Padme Hum

Hello fine friends, thank you so much for all of your comments (and mockups!!!) on my lighting score and dinette drama post. There was kind of a lot of feedback to process there... so I got overwhelmed and did absolutely nothing towards addressing the dinette/kitchen problems last weekend. Instead we painted ceilings and stair risers.

Sexy.

Not really, but it feels nice to get a neutral base going so I can hear myself think around here. I'm getting the tiniest bit closer to solving all of the (my) worlds's problems, so here are my responses to some to your questions and comments.

1) The dinette is the dinette and the front room is a playroom because the front room is kind of secluded and will never ever get used as a dining room. Also it is very very wee.

Hi, front room! Don't worry, paint for the shelves is still on the docket. It's looking like wall color in high gloss.

I am the decider. Boom.

2) I am feeling very wiffle waffley about our current dining table. I hate to put time and energy into painting it properly (it will have to withstand childocalypse), so I am trying to decide between leaving it suburban brown and saving up to buy this:

$1100 shipped. On one hand, I am a little gun shy about the quality... it has a cast aluminum base which is a plus, but that sucker really has to be heavy to stay upright when tiny monkeys hang off the edges. On the other hand, I think a simple pedestal table would solve a lot of problems. In all white, this guy would go with almost any chair, bench, settee, etc, imaginable.

3) You may have steamrollered me into painting the kitchen cabinets. MAYBE. I have about 800 things to do before I propel a watermelon sized human out of my vagina in a few months, so this is low on the list. But it's on the list.

Now I will just have to decide on a color. I will tell you now that I want cream, and you will probably tell me to go gray green. It's going to be an epic struggle.

4) Speaking of baby, if you think the dinette drama is a hot mess, you should see all the paint swatches in the fetus' room. Sanders has been very patient with my umpteen sample requests, but he probably secretly (or not so secretly) wants to kill me.

This was my inspiration, and while it's very cute I just can't find a green I like in that room. It gets a lot of light and everything goes neon pastel babytown in there.

Meet my new inspiration. It's perfect -- well, except for the sharpened obelisks of doom. But I think I'm going to go creamy neutral tone on tone, with a pop of cobalt. Lots of texture.

Ok, so that's only four things but it's four more than I had last week.

Now you can decide whether I should splurge on the table and what color to paint my cabinets.

But fair warning: despite the fact that it's now covered in paint swatches and the ceilings are painted with raggedy unfinished edges, that area is kind of on the back burner (until I start tearing my hair out over its horrificness). My ever expanding belly is urging me to prioritize...

Baby here in T-14 weeks. Also car #2 is dying.

Deep breaths.

[nursery via Apartment Therapy, amazing room via Wendy Schwartz Designs]

How Many Colors Can You Paint a House?

It's getting nervous up in here. I love to make decisions for other people, but when it comes to myself I will waffle endlessly if given the chance. So, on one hand it's probably a good thing that the baby is theoretically coming in four months. On the other hand, I'm starting to panic that we're going to end up with a patchwork quilt of insanity because I have to make too many choices too quickly. Mostly I'm freaking about all the colors I'm slathering all over the walls. Teal, coral, peach, navy, oh probably some green while I'm at it... how many colors can one house reasonably (gracefully) hold?

I'm kind of a colorphobe. My downstairs closet is full of gray and black and navy. But my secret upstairs closet (the going out closet) is full of orange and pink and gold and turquoise and acid green. It seems that I almost always chicken out at the 11th hour when deciding if I should slip into something more colorful -- I pretty much have to be hitting the bars at midnight to fluff my peacock feathers.

But I know that while there's definitely an allure to cool and aloof, everyone wants to party with the crazy girl in color.

Am I right?

Still, I don't want to go berserk in here. Crazy should not equal slutty. I just don't think I'd be comfortable most of the time dealing with that much stimulation... from color. Duh.

I will admit to loving just a restrained shot of color -- that perfect foil for an otherwise neutral and serene palette.

But I don't know... once I get going I kind of can't stop myself.

luxe interiors

And then things get interesting.

I'd like to know what you think about "the rules" regarding color in decor. How many colors can you balance in one room? Three? Five? Infinity?

What about in a whole house?

I mean, we're definitely going beyond light beige, medium beige, and dark beige here.

But can every room be a different color?

Please discuss.

[Pinterest, Porter wallpapers/fabrics, AD, Jeffrey Bilhuber, Pinterest, World of Interiors, Luxe Interiors]