August Sunshine

One of this past week's projects has been painting the little window-wall in the main room. According to the paint chip, this color is "Saffron Thread," but let's be honest and call it "Egg Yolk" instead.    

It changes in the light but is more orange than yellow, exactly as I'd hoped. When the walls were still bare post-painting, I wasn't so sure about it, but now as I rehang each of the pots, pans, and needlepoints,  the color seems the shade I was going for, after all.  'One more coat for the pots and pans wall, a tumble in the wash for the curtains, and a rehanging of the string lights, and this project will be done, in time to brighten not-far-off fall days. 

♥

View from the Bubbles

The view from the bathtub was too pretty not to capture this morning.  I've been having trouble sleeping lately so have been lounging daily in hot tubfuls of "relaxing lavender"-scented bubbles in the hopes that they will help me at least settle down for a nap.  I've really never liked the scent of lavender, though, and I'm still awake two hours post-bath, but it was worth a shot, and at least I've gotten to enjoy the combination of bubbles and sunshine in my newly-painted bathroom for the first time this past week.  Love, love, love this color. But back to vanilla bubbles for me, and now back to bed to try again for sleep too.  

Paintbrush-Extender for the Short Ones

I finally finished painting the bathroom this week.  I kept waiting for cool days that didn't come, so on a day with temperatures in the low nineties, I got out my supplies--and invented this one for the impossible-for-me-to-reach corners--and got it done.  Now, to move everything back into the room and hang the new curtain and shower curtain.  And to finish painting the half-painted bedroom, since I started both rooms the same (July!?) week and am eager to be done with these kinds of projects for awhile.  But what a color!  This is a real improvement, bold and fresh-feeling.  ♥

Bathroom-Painting Begins

Yesterday afternoon was entirely too humid a day to begin this project, but I wanted to take advantage of my day off by at least starting it.  Off and on for about four hours--breaking only for iced tea, lemonade, a chocolate brownie (thank you, Mom), and a zucchini-Parmesan omelet (thank you, Dad)--I finished most of the first coat.  This shade is "Rally Green" by Sherwin Williams, and even after so much painting, I'm finding it hard to describe to my mom.  "Kind of a springy green with some aqua in it?  More vivid or a deeper shade than old jadeite dishes, but kind of like that?!"  Then the light changes, and the color above becomes more like this, ↓

and what I had almost wanted to describe as looking tropical now seems more workaday vintage green.  I like the color, in any case, and am about to begin round two of the painting.  I'm still so surprised that our apartment's building manager has given us permission to paint at all, I almost couldn't help but be delighted to see just about any color on the walls.  :)  I actually love the whole barely-there shades of white and pink and pale-pastels-in-general in shabby chic decorating and did my bedroom in my first all-to-myself apartment in 2002 in the softest pink, and if we had more room here, I'd likely decorate a guest room or something that way again.  For now, though, and in the little space we have--our entire apartment is only 542 square feet--I like the rainbow of bolder colors we have here.  More iced tea, then, and back to my springy/tropical/ jadeite/etc.-covered paintbrush. 

Mantel Makeover (and Over and Over)

A full year and four months after my dad built this mantel for me and Mike, it is finally the way I want it and ready to display a few of our other treasures.  This is the mantel we were given for our first wedding anniversary present from my parents in April 2012.  ♥  My mom bought the wood for it, and my dad made it in just one day, in the hours before Aunt Laurie, Uncle Warren, and cousin Mark arrived from out of town for the weekend.  "Make it extra small for them," my mom had instructed my dad.  "They're in an apartment, remember."  And even though it goes goes against all his furniture-building instincts, he left the mantel unstained since he knew I would want to paint it anyway. 

It was the sweetest surprise, but since Mike and I hadn't been expecting it, of course, we hadn't rented a car for that weekend with enough trunk-space to accomodate a mantel, so it had to be stored at my parents' house another full year, until we rented a car again for our next anniversary trip. 

In the meantime, I worked on redoing the wall I knew would be the Mantel Wall.  The mantel is a little over three feet across, and this shortest wall in our apartment is only slightly longer, so this is the perfect spot for it.  Our first two Christmases in this apartment have seen our tree in a cozy nook area just to the left of this wall, so imagine this winter when our tree is beside this tiny white mantel and sweet pink wall!  ♥  But I'm getting ahead of myself.  I knew I wanted the mantel wall to be different from all the others in our home, and since we are not allowed to wallpaper, I worked around the rules by attaching a few yards of fabric to the wall instead.  This pretty print is Tanya Whelan's "Barefoot Roses."  I love it.  I nailed it up in a few spots and then decided to hot-glue painted yardsticks to its edges to make a border of sorts.  I didn't do World's Greatest Job cutting around the smoke alarm, but my mistakes aren't so noticeable in the end. 

By the time we unloaded the van--a van!  We took no chances this time--we'd rented for our anniversary and visit home to my parents this April, the wall was almost ready--I was still in the middle of hanging family photos and revamping my beloved "Home Sweet Apartment" needlepoint, but the fabric was up--and I was more than eager, after a year's wait, to finish the mantel that would grace it.  I bought a rose applique for the mantel's front, and while the combination of tape and wood glue worked its magic, I finally began painting.

First I went with the Sherwin Williams-brand "Captivating Cream" left from the hutch re-do. 

It was pretty, but I hadn't realized that the sides of the mantel's wall were almost the same shade as the now-cream mantel and yardstick-border, and it just didn't thrill me. 

By the time my birthday Tulips were resting on top, I had tried the leftover "Mesclun Green" from the hutch project.  I love bold-colored mantels.  There are some vivid Kelly green ones online that make me happy just to look at, and I've saved photos of gorgeous pink ones too. 

The green was a definite Strike Two, however, and after a couple days spent analyzing various shades of pink paint, I chose a couple, "sure" that if I didn't love one, I'd love the other and could use both for extra projects around the apartment anyway.  First up was Sherwin Williams' "In the Pink."  And by this point, Mike's parents' wedding portrait and my parents' high school graduation portraits were watching over all the action.  ♥

This was too "Barbie's Dream House" pink for me, especially against the pink wall and now-pink fabric-border, so I opened the can of "Charming Pink."  And was not at all charmed, as is evident in the mess of a photo below.  It looked more white than pink when dry, but more unintentionally-faded-white than true white.  By this point, I was tired of the entire project and took a break from all things mantel-related for awhile.

Until yesterday, when I decided that white was the "obvious" way to go.  It would connect the white of the photos' mattes to the mantel, and the brightness would "pop" against the pink wall better than any other color--except maybe black, but this was too sweet a mantel for black.  I explained to the clerk at Sherwin Williams yesterday morning that I wanted a "real" white, not at all cream, not at all gray, nothing yellowed or faded or subtle about it, but instead a true white, and he instantly said, "You probably want our 'Extra White.'"  And he was right.  This was, I see at long last, what I'd wanted all along.  ♥

It looks crisp and bold but still sweet and cottage-ey, it is striking against both the pink floral wall and the framed photos of our parents and siblings, and all the little things that have been set aside for displaying on the mantel will really shine against the bright white.  That patchwork wing chair I've been redoing?  It will be going to the left of the mantel, with the Christmas tree between them every winter.  ♥  With an overstuffed ottoman and a vintage rug in-front, and string lights.  And red hearts!  And trailing houseplants!  And!  And!  And!!

The white seems to show off the mantel's details best too.  Dad did such a beautiful job with this.

After straining back, arm, and neck all afternoon yesterday with paintbrush in-hand, I saw that I was finally done, and I called Mom late last night to tell her.  She completely "got" it and was so excited to hear the news.  "We told you you'd know the right color when you hit upon it," she reminded me.  I had shown her, Dad, and Aunt Laurie photos of the mantel during my birthday visit home a few months ago, and she and Aunt Laurie had said that it looked pretty already but that they could tell I wasn't thrilled with it.  I'm thrilled now, and it was a relief to be able to say so, especially after all the work and wait-time my family had put into this first anniversary surprise for us. 

So sweet!  ♥

And now this dear little mantel and the space around it will get to be decorated, certainly a more relaxing stage than the painting one.  I'm mailing pictures to Mom, Dad, and Aunt Laurie tomorrow.  And I'm not even looking at paintbrushes today, I assure you.  My mantel is done!  ♥

A Hutch Story

August 1st marked a year that Mike and I have been in our new apartment, and I have spent the past couple months trying to cross as many things as possible off my to-do list. Finishing the hutch was a big one, and as of this morning when I took the photo above, it is, indeed, officially done. ♥

This hutch--or the base of it, at least--was the first piece of furniture Mike and I ever bought together, back in the summer of 2007 as we talked and emailed and made plans for me to move in with him.

Val:  I just saw this desk/hutch/bookshelf on craigslist, and for $35 total, they'd even deliver it, and something like that would be nice to have here too, for my books and stationery things and extra kitchen things. I haven't contacted them, but something like that could be worth it, especially when delivery's included.

Mike:  That's really nice looking, so if you want it, we should get it. :)

Val:   Okay, I'll look into it. :) And if this person also has a sheepdog, I can have that added to the bill, right? :)

Mike:  Only if they'll deliver the dog in the same trip as the hutch. :)

Above: Hutch acquired and somewhat fixed-up. 

But I "[had] a vision," as my mom would say. In November 2010, another craigslist seller was advertising an antique cupboard, and I was that much closer to having the finished hutch I wanted. 

The original hutch was a beast, weighing what felt like 400 pounds and standing taller than my 6-foot-tall husband. Mike didn't want to move the hutch into our new apartment at all, it had been that horrifically heavy to get into our tiny studio apartment in the first place. There was mention of donating it to charity and having it hauled away. There were arguments. There was revisionist history taking place. ("It's just a stupid shelf. We can find another one." ~ "Ohhhhhhhhh! You didn't think it was so stupid when you kept using it for your keys and books and precious pans from your mom the past four years! No, it's only stupid when it's time to MOVE it!")   There were Two Stubborn Newlyweds Stressed Out By Packing to Move.  There was an ongoing email-exchange.
 

Val:  You do realize if Stuffed and I successfully sell all your cds and movies, we'll be rich! RICH!! :)

Mike:  Uh, huh.

Val:  Stuffed was actually super-excited about the plan! He's asleep again now, but I'm sure he's just resting up for the big yard sale.

Mike:  I seem to recall that a certain someone has a bunch of her belongings there as well. Better be careful.

Val:  Ah yes, but that certain someone's things aren't really worth much money. We'll stick to our original plan.

Mike:   There is a hutch that might fetch some cash.

Val:  Good luck getting it down the stairs by yourself. :)

Bull-Headed, my dad calls me. Two weeks before we moved out, I walked to the hardware store and bought a handsaw and somehow managed to saw the old hutch into three sections. I remember locking Stuffed into the bathroom to keep him safe, but all I remember after that is that the hutch was somehow resting on its side on the floor beside the bed and I was sawing (and sawing, and sawing) for most of a humid afternoon to break it into three sections. It's likely best not to recall the details. No doubt I dripped sweat and sawdust onto my cell phone and sent Mike a triumphant text message.

In the new apartment late last summer, I put the bottom of the old/sawed-up hutch under the second little craigslist cupboard for the first time and painted it in yet another shade of green. It still didn't look the way I wanted, but it would do in the meantime. 

Below: Yet another shade of green. And Stuffed sleeping blissfully through the ongoing hutch saga. 

Finally last month, I decided to dig into the project and get it done once and for all. After having tried how-many shades of green acrylic on the hutch, I looked at a bunch of colors online and at a Sherwin Williams paint store and found the shades for both the hutch and its trim that I had had in mind all along: "Mesclun Green" and "Captivating Cream" in semi-gloss. I ordered new knobs from the impressively-fast-shipping Kennedy Hardware for the bottom cupboards. I painted Daffodils freehand (but based on stencils I'd seen on eBay and loved) in black inside the little glued-on chalkboard-frames I had added to the cupboard doors in 2007.

And I found the sweetest, most Val-like vintage liner paper for the inside of the middle shelf from an etsy seller who was kind enough to send a little extra in case I'd measured wrong and ended up needing more. It is almost wax paper, this old "Sweetheart"-brand bread wrapper print. Different and colorful and just perfect for this hutch, it was only $5 for a little over a yard, and it went on with regular school glue. I couldn't be more delighted by all of this. 

A full five years in the making, this morning the hutch was proclaimed finished. And without my even mentioning it or fishing for compliments, Mike said how much he liked it. (Ha!)

I know nothing about the people who owned these pieces before us, but today the finished hutch truly has its own crazy love-filled history with us. And a happy, even if bull-headed, home. ♥