Getting Settled

The first order of business was taking one of the two coat closets and turning it into a pantry. In just a few short hours I was happy as a clam. My new kitchen is about half the size of my old one, but I did a major purge before moving, and I'm finding the smaller space suits me just fine. Of course, I don't have four children at home any longer.

I really intended to live with the walls as they were until spring, but after scrubbing and looking at nail holes where I didn't want them I became restless. Verne knows me extremely well, and told me to buy the paint and we'd get started. I was so relieved!

We have a living room and a family room in our new place, and I thought it would be fun to go kind of bold in the living room. Turquoise bold! I dreamed, and I planned, and I bought paint samples. I was going to keep the walls neutral and have just one accent wall. I bought a lamp, scouted for curtains, and chickened out. Back went the lamp.

I decided to keep things neutral, and I'm so glad I did! The photos don't really give you the feel of the room. The wall color is Sherwin Williams Aesthetic White, only it's mixed in Farrell-Calhoun paint. The color changes throughout the day. Early in the morning it looks very white, but as the afternoon shadows roll in it changes to a soft grey. It isn't cold at all. This was our first time using Farrell-Calhoun, but after Verne talked to the man at the paint store he really wanted to try it. We're both really pleased. (I haven't washed it yet, of course.) Coverage was great, and application was easy.  We were both really pleased that there was zero odor.

This was no small paint job. The foyer, living, dining, and hall are all one area. It took two days to get two coats on. Verne then changed out all of the beige switches and outlets for white. What a difference! He's still working on stripping the grates for the air returns as they had several coats of paint, and we didn't want to add to them.

I looked high and low for curtains. The big window in the living room faces west, and there are really tall tress in the front yard. The room can be rather dark, and I didn't want to completely cover the window. I found two great pairs of panels that I couldn't decide between at Tuesday Morning, and I  bought both. I'll swap them out in the spring. The panels in the dining room coordinate with both.

I've been really enjoying making this new place "home" after being out of my own place for the majority of 2014. I'm looking forward to Christmas!