Paint is NOT for the Faint of Heart...

Just made a $500 mistake in my bedroom. Chose 957 Papaya by Benjamin Moore and it came out really golden on the trim...TOO golden. Looked too dark for me so I'm switching to Linen Weave on the walls and 50% Linen Weave on the trim. Can't go wrong there. I've got Linen Weave up in my gameroom and LOOOVE it. It's so soft and subtle. I'm going to love it in the master. The White Dogwood came out ADORABLE in my little girls room...who knew pink could be SO difficult to get right. Not too dark, not too light...Juuuust right! We did Extra White on the ceiling to open the room up a bit and it's just going to be THE coolest once I get in her hot pink velvet w/ green trim Jonathan Adler-esque headboard!! My Restoration Hardware Silver Sage in the guest/"Craft" room is perfect. It's not sage at all...it's more of a grey. Actually I've heard it mentioned that it's the exact same color as Benjamin Moore's Grey Wisp~-color #CC1570. Learning that RH's color palette is made by BM makes this seem likely. So there you go... Now on to my pesky teenager...she wants TURQUOISE...oh my. Do you know how HARD it is to get turquoise right? I've gone through more pint size tester cans than I can count...the list includes BM Antiguan Sky, Birds Egg, Waterfall, SW Tantalizing Teal, Benjamin Moore's "Woodlawn Blue" HC-147 & "Palladian Blue", Tropicana Cabanana Benjamin Moore, and Barely Teal to name a few. I even emailed the author of the fabulous House of Turquoise blog, Erin, and she sweetly emailed me back her favorites! (BM Antiguan Sky and Birds Egg were among her suggestions.) But at long last I've settled on BM Blue Diamond! It's GOR-geous...we'll have to wait and see it on all 4 walls, but I'm really hoping it won't be too bright. Coupled with soft white bedding and a iron canopy bed, I think the room has potential to be a stunner! We're ordering some mirrored furniture including a side table and a vanity, which I'm really excited about. I think the turquoise and the mirrors will look really cool together. So now I'm off to get milk for my kids...gotta remember to feed the kids during this whole renovation process. Be back soon! XOXO

Renovating Is For The Birds

Joyce Horn antique french blue chest being placed in our powder bath

awaiting the marble top with dropped sink and hardware~

just barely squeaked this one in!

The big hole in our backyard which will soon be a

pool enjoyed by all! So exciting!

OK so this photo should have gone before the last one but I'm still learning how to add photos to my newbie blog! Pool being staked out! We replaced the Austin stone mantel with a bigger fireplace box and stone mantel. This part of the renovation was major...the design, the stone, the size, redoing a fireplace is heavy duty stuff, friends. The mantel is in and now the bookshelves and cabinets are getting a facelift as well~ hopefully mine will be next! :) We purchased a new home!!! We looked high and low and finally found just what we've wanted. We knew it was "the" house when my sweetest little one looked up at me with her big brown eyes and said, "Mommy, buy it! This one feels like home!" OK, kiddo. Done! It's a really sweet 6 year old Texas Hill Country home with a BIG porch in the front (and back) and TONS of room to be the perfect "hang house" we've been searching for, for our kids teenage years! Yay!!! Right? Right! Until we decided to update it, just a little bit! We hired a fabulous builder, and decided on the first round of "must do's" to make the home more "our vision." We decided to add a new stone mantel with a huge new fireplace box, took out some crown molding & chair railing, rounded some entry ways, landscaped, decided to put in a new pool, painted the entire interior, redesigned the great room bookshelves, added Gothic glass front cabinet doors in the kitchen, added new custom mirrors in bathrooms, ripped out the built-ins in the powder bath and replaced it with a gorgeous antique chest that we'll drop a sink into, pulled up all the old counter tops and floors in all the upstairs bathrooms and replaced them with Cream of Marfel marble, changed out all the old sconces and chandeliers...just to get us started! And, the list kept GROWING! So much fun, (really) and very exciting, yet a bit daunting in the scale of the things. Then, much to our chagrin, the electrician hit a pipe in our attic and flooded the front of the house with water from the indoor sprinkler system. Greeeeattt! Now it's an even bigger renovation. Hey, at least it happened at the beginning of the job and not the end..let's look at the bright side, shall we? I've made a lot of decisions and am now about to choose carpet...They're painting today so I'll head over to check that out and make sure I like the colors I've chosen! The pool permit has been approved so soon there should be a massive hole in my new backyard! I'll keep you updated on my progress!

We'll see where this leads! Onward and upward~ XOXO