Saturday, April 20, 2013

Making Miracles Happen


Well… I pulled it off again. If it’s not your taste and you can’t appreciate styles not your own, and especially if you can’t get with funky colors, or something unorthodox, you might disagree. But I like it. I think it looks fabulous.

I was scared for a minute there. I started second-guessing myself after Kelly came in and said, “Hmm.” She’s a kid so I didn’t expect that, kids being open-minded and all. I mean, her room is the color of Pepto Bismol for god’s sake. So I asked Kurt. He must have wanted sex that night because he said, “I know you’ll make miracles happen. You always do.” So I kept painting but then the next day he said, unsolicited, “I’ve got to tell you, it looks hideous.” Hideous! You can read into that whatever you want but it put a real damper on things so I sent pictures to my girlfriends, but only the ones who like funky colors and unorthodox decorating styles because the last thing I wanted to do was repaint.

It’s only paint and it would have required painting two more coats—one to cover the mistake and the topcoat—no big deal really. But I’m on a time-crunch here. It’s March already (yes, I am late posting this) and I’ve got to get riding if I want to barrel race this year. I’m trying to get as many house projects done as possible, especially inside house projects, because come spring, other than the normal stuff like mowing and weeding and planting and a couple of projects I have no choice about, season-wise, like staining the deck and power washing the house—nothing to sneeze at—I’m going to be on my horse. So I have to hurry. I can’t waste time. The last thing I want to happen is that I feel guilty because I’m on my horse and that cabinet is still shockingly white and it’s ruining the whole look of the living room which is what I call 1940s California bungalow slash farmhouse with a dash of cowboy.

Someone came up with the idea of putting all of my accessories on it before I made a decision and see how it looks then. That’s when I discovered that I forgot to paint the shelves, which turned out to be a blessing in disguise because I like the way they look not being the same color as the rest of it.

I put my blue insulators on one of them and my brown insulators on another one, then I tried leaning a Wallace Nutting picture on it, and that gave me the idea to go get the picture of my mother and her sister getting a pony ride when they were little girls. (That picture is the best of both worlds—it’s retro and it’s western—and I’m not even talking about how cool it is that it’s my mother and you can see her scuffed knees, hence her name Cookie, as in “tough cookie.” She was always proud of that.)

One thing led to another—pinecone basket, metal box with a dragon on it, green art pottery vase that never looked good anywhere else—and once I got all my stuff on the cabinet, I realized I liked it. In fact, I love it! Kurt’s still iffy on it. But of course he didn’t like the Pepto Bismol either.

14 comments:

CountryDew said...

Looks great. Much better than anything in my world, I have to say.

Cape Coop said...

It looks perfect! I really am loving the contrast with the shelves!

Cape Coop said...

It looks perfect! I really am loving the contrast with the shelves!

Tammy Vasa said...

I LOVE IT! It is warm and cozy and homey. I wouldn't change a thing!

Grey Horse Matters said...

Well, I like it. ALOT! I think it looks very good with the shelves unpainted and with all your memorabilia making it different and yet personal. I'm sure everyone will come to love it too. Now get out there and ride!

Chris said...

I like it!

sweetflutterbys3 said...

It's beautiful! I agree, it is warm and cozy. Looks like something from a magazine.

Jeff said...

I'm a little confused. Is the top picture the "Pepto Bismol" color? How did the shelves come to be brown? What color is the cabinet - a shade of avocado? I don't know - I guess I lean in the direction of Kurt. You have such strong colors in the rest of the living room that I'm not sure avocado works all that well. I think what bothers me is the lack of unity in the room, plus I think your accessories would "show" better if they weren't competing with the riot of colors in the room. The stars above the cabinet draw my eye up there instead of towards the knick knacks. It's too "busy" for me, at least in a picture. Maybe it looks better in person. Do I duck now or later??

Becky Mushko said...

Looks good to me! Very warm and homelike.

Beth said...

I think I'd have to see it in person to know if I like it or not. Photos don't always show the true color. It does have a very warm look with the color. But what matters is how you feel about it---it's your home.

Eartha Kitsch said...

I absolutely love it! I bet he'll grow to like it - or at least not notice it anymore. :)

Christina said...

Looks warm and inviting. I like it.

Anonymous said...

Looks great. If you ever want to move back to the Bedford area, I'd love you have you help me decorate my living room. It could use a redo.

Peggy said...

You know I freaking love it. I also adore your collection of insulators. Very geometric, simple shapes which I love. Cool about your pic of mom too!

Funny how we should trust first instincts. Remember when we were talking about color? I believe the first color we said was mint green. Then I got so confused with my love of so many colors and thought what about gray, turquoise, yellow, etc.

You were correct with your first choice. The mint green is fab.

P.S. I got a new mint green vase. Hope to post about that next week.