i need a vacation

i realize that not posting for over two weeks is no way to build a readership.  work has been exhausting.  i have a twitch beneath my left eye and my hands have been shaking for three days.  i've been getting work done around the house, though, so i WILL post this weekend. 

please don't leave me.

black in action

last week, as i was narrowing in on a grey for the sunroom, i read this.

now, i don't think i'm some design genius.  i've never been able to style a nightstand.  i've made some serious lamp mistakes.  but i definitely don't want someone walking into my house and hearing that awful "divine design" theme song in their head.

owning a house you don't intend to stay in long term is a style minefield.  it's especially challenging in this house because it's already the most expensive house on the block.  i want our house to be streamlined and modern but i also want to be able to sell it.  resultantly, i've been pretty cautious about making changes that might be off-putting to buyers.

so i was going to paint the sunroom grey, which would have been a lovely, if obvious, choice.  but that would have been a wuss move.  most of the rooms in my house are white or grey.  we're probably already at the point where people are going to complain that the house feels cold.  someone will probably buy this house and repaint the dining room beige with a red accent wall.  plus, i saw this house tour that was so awesome it inspired me to do something a little weird.

i painted the sunroom black.

it's benjamin moore black beauty.  it may have been a stupid decision, since it's a sunroom and it already gets really freaking hot in there.  but it's the brightest room in the house and i knew i could paint it black without it feeling like a mortuary.  and i had already bought the white paint for the balcony and trim (not done, by the way, in case you were wondering why the windows looked so crappy), so much of the room will still be white.  and i'm going to do the paneled wall upstairs light grey so that it doesn't feel like it's falling on top of you.

i really like it.  it actually makes the rock wall look less awful.  when ikea finally opens i'm going to buy a white ps cabinet and some karlstad chairs and, with the addition of a craigslist treadmill, the room will finally serve a purpose.

what do you think?

fatty bowie

i was hoping to be able to provide a follow-up post about the sunroom.  but i still haven't picked a grey: 



from left to right, all benjamin moore: smoke embers, coventry gray, stonington gray, and platinum gray

smoke embers and platinum gray are out of the question.  stonington gray is certainly the best of the bunch, but i'm just not sure it's right.  maybe grey is a bad idea?

because i wasn't ready to pull the trigger, so to speak, i did a bunch of caulking this weekend.  i hate caulking.  it's necessary but not all that rewarding.  the end product only looks marginally better than it did in the beginning.  plus, it's such a sticky mess.  maybe i'm doing it wrong:  i always bead the caulk with my finger and wipe off the excess with my hands.  then i try to wipe my hands with wet paper towels, but it's never enough.  inevitably, i end up washing my hands every five minutes, and i'm certain all that caulk can't be good for my plumbing (that's what she said--sorry, mom).

i also have three other projects in various stages of completion.  it's all "before" and no "after" here.

so, in lieu of anything house related, here's a little introduction to another of my pets: david bowie.

david bowie also goes by fatty fatty pumpkin pie and big poppa.  he is obsessed with my husband.  he likes to lie on my husband's chest and purr and drool.  he always initiates this lovefest by approaching slowly with what we like to call "fratboy bedroom eyes."  it's creepy.

at sixteen pounds, he is the largest of the pets.

he loves silvestre:

actually, he loves everything (except the dogs).

he loves his toys:

he loves sleeping on ugly chairs:

not my chair, by the way

and he loves his retro modern pet bed from like kittysville:

he also loves eating grass and throwing up.  i don't have a picture of it, though, so you'll have to take my word for it.

it's supposed to warm up again by this weekend, so hopefully i'll have something painted soon.  it's a balmy 5 degrees out right now; a significant improvement over our high of -1 yesterday.  if i don't get to paint, i'll at least try to do some shopping.  (i just got a promotion at work!  those antidepressants have really paid off!)