Refinished table & chairs are nearly complete!

I posted last week about refinishing my antique table and chairs.  The table is almost completed, but I still have to work on the leaves.  It's been surprisingly sunny here in Michigan and the glare is been a stinker for my camera!!  I probably need to put a nice runner or some sort of "decor" on it as well, but for this week, I'm enjoying the beauty of the new finish!!  Hope this inspires you to tackle a refinishing project!!  Th results are fantastic!

Choosing a family room paint color in 45 minutes...

A few weeks ago I mentioned our ongoing home improvement updates in "Here we go AGAIN".  In some rare feat, John got the drywall/painter to begin in 2 weeks...only no one really told me until the night prior to arrival.  Hmmm.

So Wednesday was super fun choosing a family room color between working at The Market and my evening cooking class.  Not to mention all the furniture is under plastic.  I'm happy to say I DID IT!  45 minutes, while placing a French cheese pre-order, gathering materials for the cooking class and dealing with Pierre's stranger-in-my-house anxiety. 

I brought home 2 books bulging with Benjamin Moore's entire color collection.   I was really leaning toward a red paint again, as the previous color was "Merlot", and I have loved it for 3 years.  I had a clear red (think tomato-red) in mind.  John also suggested a shade of orange, possibly a dark terracotta (what strange alien has taken possession of this man?) that a cousin has in her kitchen area.

Well, we were both wrong.  I didn't want to purchase new furniture for this room, so I needed to work with the upholstery which has an olive-green tone to the browns.  Most of the oranges were running to corals or brick and the clear reds were a touch too modern for the overall look of the room.  So I went with a color called "Glazed Pear 1092".

It's a color similar to a bosc pear with a nice caramel tone.  It matched well with the couch and furniture, looked great with pure white trim and melded well with the olive green of the living room, as there is a french door that separates them.

Here are a couple shots I took with and without flash at 5pm and 8pm:



I think this piece of artwork needs an olive green background?


We are all shocked at how much we love the color!  Thinking about some roman shades for the windows, even though I like them bare, it might add a little pizazz.  Still have a bit of organizing and decorating to do....I'm avoiding the computer cord cluster. 

Here we go AGAIN!

In the Midwest, it's customary to host a high school graduation party for your children.  Most are done in an open house fashion and the June Saturdays are usually fully booked!  We are not an exception, and it's a really nice time to get to see family and friends!

Our "baby" is graduating this year and the plans are already in motion.  The date is set, tent is booked, the menu tentatively a go and invitations will be ordered shortly.

Each previous "Graduation Party" has been a learning experience.  Lessons in order of importance;
1) Start painting the house earlier than April
2) Do not leave vacuuming until the last minute as the power might go out
3)30 lbs. of pulled pork is just enough for 250 people at an open house.  37 lbs. is too much.
4)Glittery table confetti takes a minimum of 2 years to clean up out of your driveway/yard
5)Do not get black frosting on your cake even if it's the school colors-it makes people's teeth scary; ditto on the edible photo transfer...no one wants to eat your kid's eye, so you have to.  Creepy.

John didn't blink an eye when I started discussing changing my kitchen cabinet hardware, painting the hallway, having a few minor drywall repairs done, installing a couple new light fixtures, changing the living room curtains and more.  In fact, he even went through the house and made a few suggestions of areas that need to be freshened up, helped me drill new holes for the cabinet hardware and choose paint for the hallway.  (Can you read my shock and awe?) 

The project list is long, but do-able.  My goal is to have the majority of the interior work accomplished before March when we will begin on the exterior/yard/gardens/shed...

 Fun new lampshade for "project room" to hang above work table!

I purchased Behr paint in "Tea Cookie" for the hallway, a very light and creamy yellow.  (Why I can't find a photo online is beyond me)  I needed a neutral since all of our bedrooms, baths and laundry room open to the hallway.  You've already seen my project room with it's brown paint, my bedroom in plum, another bedroom is painted a peacock blue and Jamie is working on "Couture"  paint;

It looks muted/darker than the picture (thank goodness) and I think we may do a silvery grey glaze over it to tone it down a bit.  We have some funky galvanized metal shelving and baskets along with white trim, sheers and blinds and a soft black paint on the furniture.  Cross your fingers! 

The girls bath needs a bit of drywall repair and a paint job, which I may use the "Tea Cookie" in here as well.  I also picked up some great towels in Jade:

Looks exhausting when I see it all in print.....

New Plum Bedroom Paint

Last year (seems odd to say that on only January 12) I decided I needed to repaint my bedroom.  I loved the green, but the color was a bit (more than a bit) out of date and I just needed something different to be quite honest.

John and I had our 1950's ranch home remodeled in 2001-2.  We changed the layout from a typical 3 bed 1 bath to a 4 bed 2 bath and 1st floor laundry.  We changed the layout and added about 800 square feet.  Our children were just 14,12 and 9, so the timing was perfect.  I chose to keep the same bedroom, but had a larger window installed and a small walk-in closet.  At that time, I also had the builder add crown molding to the ceiling, which is painted a glossy white to match all the trim throughout the house.

While I love looking at design magazines, an all white house just isn't for me.  I'm trying to like the grays that are popular now, but I just really prefer full blown saturated colors.  Our slice of SE Michigan tends to have more than it's fair share of cloudy days, so for me, the gray paints just echo that feeling of drab.  I'm not big on lots of "stuff", I tend to trip on rugs and hate open cabinets.  (I would have to dust everything before each use with open cabinets! UGH) 


I have been so happy with having wall sconces with a dimmer added in my bedroom to eliminate the need for lamps.  Because of our layout, I knew I wouldn't be moving the bedroom furniture until all the kids moved out and could always put the dresser between the sconces and it would still look decent.  It also keeps valuable floor space available as our bedroom only measures 12X15.


My bedroom dresser and side tables are cherry with brass fixtures.....had to work with that.  Many wall colors looked really putrid with the cherry.

I knew I wanted to do a shade of plum, yet that was harder to choose than I thought!  Most shades that appeared "plum" were garish purples and orchids once I got them home.
I finally went with a color called "Chocolate Raspberry"- how can that be "plum"?  It was exactly what I wanted!  A neutral/brown undertone, rich, deep color, yet restful and soothing.  I decided to go with black accents, curtain rods, picture frames etc. that sort of tone down the plum.


I had a bit of good luck when I stopped at the neighborhood hardware store and found these cool wall plaques that were a tarnished brass look actually designed as garden decor.  I scooped up 4 different styles and hung them on each side of the dresser mirror to tone down and echo the dresser handles.

I had trouble with the bedding.  Most styles were too contemporary to go with the furniture, or too white to hold up to 2 cats, a dog and people that make chocolate at work!  I settled on this comforter "set" that I don't love, but works great until I find one that I love.  The plum is here for the long haul, so there is no rush!

I added a rattan cube that adds some storage for extra blankets and a great place to store things off the floor.  (Pierre uses it as a boost to jump on the bed too!)  I bought an ugly picture at the flea market in a great frame for $5 and swapped out a piece of a reproduction Van Gogh which adds a great splash of yellow to all the plum!  While my goal is always original art, this French scene over my bed is lovely to me.  I like it's darkish muted colors and dreamy focus.

 

I still haven't found curtain panels I want, so I've just left some white sheers until I do.  I also really liked these wrought iron curtain rod & ends.  It gives a bit of architectural interest in an otherwise boring location.    I'm thinking of have some big, floor length curtains made, similar to some in the apartment in Paris we stayed.  I would like a beige-y pin stripe fabric with pinch pleats on top and possibly wrought iron exposed hooks or circles.  A little sheen to the fabric might be great too. 

I'm shocked at the neutrality of the plum.  I love it with yellows, blues, greens and even orange, looks great as an accent color.

Now that the holidays are over, I will have a bit of time to visit some unusual spots for vintage finds and great decor items to bring the whole room together!  

Paint brush in hand & Zucchini Gratin in Oven!

Our Michigan summer has been beautiful and crazy hot this year!  After spending much of the winter potty training Pierre, I am not complaining!  It has given me time to take a good look at a few area of the house while enjoying air conditioning, however, that could use a bit of attention! 

My living room is looking like Army barracks with all the olive green going on!  I'm not sure what exactly happened, I just kept accumulating green stuff!  So, my first order of business was to give it a boost of color.

Otto got attention today while Pierre was napping!

I took a small white bookcase that was stuffed with *duh* books and got to work!  I went with a Valspar paint called "Copper Glow" in a satin finish.  It works well with the olive tones I currently have everywhere, and I tend to prefer warm colors to cool colors. 
I think you'll agree it turned out great!  I will be stopping at an import store this week to pick out some cool knobs for the drawers.  Maybe copper metal with a verdigris finish?   

I also picked up a new lamp with a fun base and neutral shade and a huge purple jar.  I'm not sure the jar is right for me....but I have other places in the house it could work.

Will commit and remove plastic shade cover :)

I FINALLY finished up the bookcase makeover from months ago.  I twas tough going through those bottom 2 shelves full of magazines!  I organized by color, which seems to be so popular these days, and kept other decor items to a minimum on the shelves.

Whoops-will take and post photo soon!

While I was busy with all that, Pierre was busy with this:

Of course that 4am potty run really took it's toll on the little dog!

As we are inundated with zucchini, so I threw this Zucchini Gratin together while decorating and cleaning.  I demonstrated this at the last cooking class and we've all agreed it's fantastic and fairly quick!  I am giving the amounts for a whole batch, yet I consistently make only a half batch and it feeds 3 comfortably.

ZUCCHINI GRATIN

6 Tablespoons butter
1 pound onions, sliced thin
2 pounds zucchini, about 4, sliced ¼ inch thick, yellow and green look great together!
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoons fresh ground pepper
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 Tablespoons flour
1/2 cup hot milk

1/2 cup heavy cream
¾ cup bread crumbs
¾ cup grated Gruyere cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a large sauté pan, melt butter and sauté onions until very soft, but not brown over low heat. 
Add zucchini and cook covered about 10 minutes until tender.  Add salt, pepper, nutmeg and cook uncovered about 5 more minutes.  Stir in the flour and hot milk and cook over low heat until a sauce forms.
Pour into 8X10 baking dish.

Combine bread crumbs and Gruyere and sprinkle on top of zucchini mixture.  Bake about 20 minutes until bubbly and brown.

Be prepared to fall in love with zucchini again!