Karla Nathan – Page 196 – Karla's Cottage

A 5 year old with a crow bar

By Karla Nathan / September 13, 2011

Last week, my time was mostly spent getting ready for the remodelling project. The first step was to haul all of my Rubbermaid tubs out of the garage and give them a bath. Luckily I have plenty of them, every time Home Depot would have a sale and they'd go below $4, I'd buy a few.

I used them for my antique business and for my faux finish/mural biz. These things are great for hauling supplies and paint to jobs, and I never worked on walls in someones home without my open can of paint sitting down inside a tub and my roller pan on the lid. It just gave me a little peace of mind, to know that I wasn't going to spill onto someones floor, since I am ultra clumsy and spilling was a big possibility.

These tubs ended up being the PERFECT amount for my stuff in the kitchen and dining room! Each is full and stacked in the living room now. I've decided that my husband just might have a point, I probably do have too much stuff.

On the other hand, I have the same amount of stuff as a I do tubs. It could be worse.

Right before packing it all up, we had some guests, family came in town to visit for the weekend. This is Grandma Joan, her sis, Ethel with my oldest boy, Ryan.

For some reason, I don't show many pictures of him, do I? I should, he's adorable.

Since I had guests coming, I gave the house a much needed thorough cleaning. I probably wouldn't have bothered if they weren't coming, I'd have told myself that it was all just being ripped up anyway, why bother? But, I'm so glad that I started with a clean house, it made the packing just kind of feel better as I was doing it.

While the company was still here, the contractor sent his guys out for a little excavation under the tile to see if we were going to be able to save the old floors way down under years of layers.

Looks like good news! The floors seem to be there, we'll have to see what they find as they rip out the rest of the layers around the 3 rooms. They think that the dining room is 5" boards, the kitchen is 3" boards and the mud room area is 9" and those head a different direction than the other two.

That didn't bother me, I think it could be very interesting layout. I've got my fingers crossed that all are salvageable.

The ceilings will be covered in un-matching tins, so why should the floor match?

All the tins will be painted the same, and a consistent pattern will be used around the perimeter of the room, with something different in the middle. I think I'll prime them white and glaze them with a cafe au laite color. I like gray, too… they might have a gray wash instead of creamy coffee.

I haven't decided on the floor finish yet. I have to see it all together and sanded down. It might need painted if too much patching happens. I'd prefer just a clear coat with natural wood showing through, but when you have an old house, you have to be prepared for what you want to not be what you get when you start ripping into it.

Along with the floor, this dividing wall will be removed.

I had Sugarwings a couple of days this week, and that big, empty, soon to be trashed wall was just way too tempting for us.

We decided to get out the crayons and chalk and give the wall a good send off.

Soon, we had drawn all over the floor too.

Then, we decided to add texture to our art with a hammer.

But things really got fun when we pulled out the crowbar.

Anybody need a demolition specialist? This one works for pink marshmallows.

Scenes from the renfest part 1

celebrations, dogs, fairies, family

By Karla Nathan / September 11, 2011

As it is every season, the Kansas City Renaissance Festival was just magical last weekend. We had family in town visiting, so the whole group went along with us. We didn't all stay together, but got to meet up here and there throughout the day. The park is so big and diverse, everyone wants to see something different.

Its as much fun to people watch as it is to see the shows and events that are offered.

Or should I say, 'dog watch'?

But my eyes, and my camera are always drawn back to my girls.

And what pretty girls they are. This is Calliope.

And Clover. They both came as gypsies like their mom, this year.

Mayara didn't dress up. She came as herself, a smiling little cuddle bug.

My daughters were gypsies too. I'd made everyone a fairy ringlet to wear in their hair the night before, but some of them were tossed out of the wagon (along with bottles, papers, and a few assorted other tidbits) by the littlest sprite. She is at that "oh-oh" stage. You know, the one where babies loved to throw things down just to watch them fall?

Pixie Pie was there too.

She even got brave and danced with the fairies around the maypole.

Sugarwings, on the other hand, needs no courage, she thinks she is one of the fairies and runs right to them. She deserts us and joins their group as soon as she sees the fay.

And takes flight! See her feet? She is up in the air, flying off to be with her fairy family.

My sis-in-law treated herself to a gown at the festival. I think the clothes are lovely, but personally, I don't get much shopping done there. Besides the giant grilled turkey legs and cold drinks, I don't buy much. But seeing Terri looking so pretty in this gown made me wish I did.

(her fairy laurel is made of old millinery in peach and gold to match her lovely auburn hair)

Mayara loved this floaty tent.

They have a couple of them hanging from trees, and we always stop to play in them.

While we are in them, I always daydream about making one of my own. I can see how it could be done… Wouldn't a pink one make a sweet play house in my yard? They hang from a hook on a tree branch and sway in the wind, with all the chiffon billowing in the breezes.

There are more festival shots to show you, I'll have part two later this week. Remember, if you want to be in a drawing for the Craft Day Giveaway package of ephemera and pretties, please leave a comment HERE.

Just Because

give away

By Karla Nathan / September 10, 2011

One of my recent flea market purchases was a big box of lace. Good lace, lots of the the netting style that I love, but mostly scraps. Still, it was only ten bucks, and I love scraps. I prefer scraps.

I added strips of a variety of the laces to some old table cloth material and made another pillow case for my bedroom redo.

And I have been covering old mail bags with the scraps too.

This one has a little pocket on it.

I'm a crookedy sewer. But I kinda like that look. Like I prefer scraps to rolls of lace.

And I love the way this flower is wonderfully tattered. Perfectly imperfect.

Not that my sewing is anywhere near perfect, oh my. Its a struggle. But I keep doing it.

These bags are in my Boutique now. I actually had a spare moment to do it after all the kitchen packing got done. I've had Sugarwings a couple of "bonus" days this week too, so am extra proud of myself for getting something added to the shop!!!

Something that took my mind off the drudgery of packing was the mail. A couple of sweet gifts arrived recently. This book is from one of our Birdsong Tag Book swappers, Sue Emmerson. She sent it to Sugarwings all the way from Australia. Its a sweet story about a little koala bear who is adored by her mommy, but then, the mommy has a lot of babies and is busy with them, so the little bear decides to win a big contest to win her mommy's love. What she finds out is that her mom really loves her so much, and doesn't care if she wins or loses.

Which was good for Sugarwings right now. Her mom just started nursing school and is super busy, and she misses her. But she knows that no matter what her mom is busy with, she is always loved.

This gift came from my pal, Laurie, just because. Don't you love 'just because' gifts? She said she saw it and thought of me, inside is a fairy medallion, that is every bit as wonderful as this beautiful wrapping she did.

The last time Beth and I shopped together, I bought a few tea towels at an estate sale. I never turn down a $1 tea towel, you can't even pick a hand towel up at Walmart for that price, and of course they never look this good.

Beth told me not to buy more, she had a stack of them in her basement. So, last craft day, she brought a big bag full of towels and napkins too. I feel like I need to throw a dinner party to use the napkins! (but I don't have much of a kitchen right now)

ps-If you'd like a gift too, sign up for our Craft Day Giveaway drawing, please leave a comment on that post.

You'll get goodies from Beth, Mary and I.

Also, please forgive me for not answering comments right now, our remodelling project just started!

Sugarwings first flea market

antiques/junking, collections, flowers, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / September 8, 2011

I want to thank all of you for your concern and caring about Sugarwing's school situation. It broke my heart to see our little fairy so down, she is usually such a sparkling soul. But, I think we are on track now in finding her the right place. She only turned five 2 days before school started, so was the littlest kid there, and frankly, she is not always listening to what people are telling her anyway, so just wasn't ready to listen to a teacher.

It helped to hear all of your stories and advice. It sounds like 5 is often too young to start school, and waiting a year helped a lot of your little ones.

Since she has been out of school for a bit, we've had some good days together. I'd planned on going with Beth to the big Sparks and White Cloud flea that we love so much, but I ended up with this kiddo instead, so had to cancel.

But- I really really really needed a junk day. And not just because it sounded fun, but because I had to scrounge up some more ceiling tins for our kitchen remodel. This was a mission with a purpose!

And I figured that this girl is going to be raised around junk, she needed to learn about how to go about finding and appreciating the stuff. So, I packed her up, rented a movie to put in her Pink Princess Computer (a portable DVD player),filled a bag of snacks, loaded my flea mkt cart, and we hit the road.

Sadly, the snacks and the DVD player didn't mix well. If you spill a box of Chocolate milk into your Pink Princess Computer, its pretty much done for. (this is the same week that our home DVD player bit the dust too. Along with our vacuum cleaner, toilet, modem, home phone, AND our boat has been checked out for the dozenth time by a mechanic, but still died on the lake and had to be towed, then was in a wreck with the towing boat, so I wasn't surprised to see her DVD player break)

When we pulled up to Sparks and got out to shop, she wanted to know where the Bug Store was. I did say, "flea market," right?

She soon found some non-bug and flea related items to enjoy. Like this shopping cart for $1. She insisted that it should be pulled behind her like I pulled my basket.

Then, she found some bugs, and that made her happy too. This time of year, cicadas are plentiful. You don't even have to make a special trip to the market to get them.

This fairy certainly has bargaining skills. She found a disco night light in rainbow colors that was marked $15, held up $3 and the lady smiled and said sure. Another guy gave her 3 plastic ponies for $1, and everywhere else people were giving her stuff. Including free french fries from a food cart, beads to wear, and this great light up butterfly magic wand.

I could get some lessons from her! Now, if only I could train her to find hats and bargain the prices down on them.

We also ran into my friend, Gwen, who runs Bottom's Up, one of the best antique sales around. She gave Sugarwings a pile of flyers to pass out and that kid was determined that anyone within 20 feet of her HAD to take one. She added a quick spin, put her backside in the air and said "bottoms up!" each time, too. I had to convince her that it wasn't necessary to flip up her skirt while doing that after the first time.

This was a trip where I didn't expect to do much shopping. It would be a quick trip down the aisles with my eyes out for tin to redo my kitchen ceiling.

But what to my wandering eyes did appear?? Treasures galore and things I hold dear! (uhm, she and I talk in rhyme sometimes)

I found a few hats, not many, but was glad to glom onto them. They were bonus hats. I didn't expect to have any luck in this department at all.

But the best surprise was that she was having so much fun sitting in the dirt next to me, playing with her bug buddies and new toys, that I had plenty of time to sift through old jewels. There are wonderous treasures to be found there, if you have the patience to look through the ucky stuff too. Beth always gets tired of waiting for me, I could park myself in front of a jewel bucket for an hour, and she is ready to move on. Sugarwings was happy to let the bugs ride on her plastic ponies while I sifted jewels. Next time I go, I'll pack a bag of bugs for Beth. I'm sure that will make her happy.

And later, I ran into a friend who is an ex-kindergarten teacher and she took my little one for a walk while I shopped in her booth and made a ceiling tin deal with her husband.

We didn't stay long, and we probably spent more time sitting down and playing than walking around and shopping, but I'd call her first flea market a big success. She was wheeling and dealing with the best of them, we both found some beloved items, and we had lots and lots of time for rhyming all the way home since the DVD player broke.

ps-Please leave a comment on the previous post if you want a chance to win this Craft Day Giveaway pack from me, Beth, and Mary!

Some of the flowers in the pack are from this flea market day.

Please forgive me for not answering comments this week, our construction is beginning! I guess this phase is more de-construction, the kitchen gets ripped out before it gets put back.

PS again- a photo of my living room was featured on the HGTV site! how nice!

http://www.hgtv.com/living-rooms/charming-shabby-chic-living-room-designs/pictures/index.html?soc=share

Craft Day Giveaway

flowers, give away, swaps

By Karla Nathan / September 6, 2011

A while back, at Craft Day, Beth mentioned a round robin swap she planned with Lisa and asked if I'd be interested in joining. I said I didn't have time, but couldn't stop myself from joining anyway. Its a year long adventure, and only involves making one page a month and sending it on. That isn't too big of a commitment unless you consider the postage. By the time the books are near the end, they could get pretty heavy, and we are sending it around a lot. Only four people are in it, Beth, Lisa, and Sandra, so it goes back and forth a lot.

But worth it. Even though I am cheap, and know that the postage will end up being at least 50 bucks for me by the time I am done. It won't seem that bad, because it will be a little bit at a time! Not $50 at once.

The first month, we do our own cover and one page to get our book started. It goes to the next person who adds a page and then… it confuses me, but Beth is good at keeping me on track and made up an intricate schedule for us to all follow.

The theme is "Her Life In Stitches" Well, I don't sew much, all the rest of the group are good with textiles. I thought, maybe I could make a joke book, and have everyone in stitches, laughing…

But then, I thought, no, I'll dedicate it to my mom and honor all that she taught me. She was an excellent seamstress and while I did not inherit those skills, she taught me a way of looking at things and knowing how to figure out how something is made, step by step. And to have a creative mind while doing it.

I cut the title "Home Arts" out of an 1890s magazine and glued it onto my cover, since I think that suits the topic. My book is beyond sewing, and stitches, but is about the love of home, making stuff, and the art of making a house a creative home.

Beth, Mary, the other Karla and I have been trying to get together more regularly for craft days. We each have our own projects to do, and it just seems like the work goes so smoothly when you can chat and be with friends. Its always ultra casual, some days, I barely kick stuff out of the way so they can get to the table. I know they don't expect a red carpet from me, they are coming to share ideas, gossip and our latest projects, not judge my housekeeping,(or lack of).

Sometimes we share more. Mary brought a stack of old images the other day and let us chose a few. While going through them, I thought about how much fun the whole craft day experience is, and how much it meant to me to have such low maintenance friends, with so much in common. We all drool over the old supplies and half the fun of the day is looking at each others stuff. Everyone likes to share tidbits here and there also. Tips, tools, and actual bits of scrap get passed around.

I thought you might enjoy being a part of it too, and would like involved with the sharing. So, I asked Mary if I could have a stack of her images to pass along. She was generous with them and gave me a good pile. I wrapped up a selection of them with velvet ribbon and added a few millinery blossoms from myself. Beth says she'll throw in a treat from her supply stash too. I'll let you know what it is when I get it from her. But you know she has good stuff!

(oh, and in case you didn't know it, Mary Queen of Glue Books, is hosting a glue book swap)

Here is one of the images from Mary's ephemera stash, and you don't have to do anything at all to get it. Just click on it, open in a larger window and save it to your computer. It will be all pixely if you try to print it as is, so please do open the larger version.

If you'd like to win our Craft Day Giveaway, please leave a comment on this post. Deadline is Tuesday Sept. 20.

I'll leave you with some pictures of the newest listings in the Boutique. Lots of autumn toned millinery!

Welcome back??

family, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / September 5, 2011

This is the scene that greeted Sugarwings and I the other day when we woke up.

The raccoons are back!

They will not give up on trying to steal this guy's food, and knocked over everything on my porch trying to get to through the window. They also left me the empty cat food jug, that they had stolen last week. I guess they brought it back to taunt me with it.

Sugarwings has a theory that they want to get into the house and get her toys. So, she brought me a cooler with a Barbie in it and asked me to write a note for her. Not exactly how I figured we'd get rid of the coons, but I thought it was worth a try.

(I'm leaning more towards something a bit more vicious myself)

She thought that if she shared one of her special Barbies with the raccoon's babies, they would not try to get in our house.

The logic of a 5 year old is pretty special too.

I hope you are having a good Labor Day weekend! I'll have a giveaway for you this week, a little something from the CraftDay Club, so please check back for details.

Fairy Laurels

fairies, flowers

By Karla Nathan / September 1, 2011

This weekend, we'll be going to the Kansas City Renasiance Festival again. To get all geared up and ready to step back into an enchanted land, I made some fairy headresses.

All of these are in my Boutique. And they were such fun, I need to whip up a few more too.

Each is made a bit differently, there is a crown style, a head band, a tiara, and a laurel.

Each is made with all vintage millinery and some razzle dazzle too.

I'm not sure how many people are coming along for the day. We have family in town, so we should have a good sized crowd of revellers. I sure look forward to going every year.

The park that it is held in, is such a shady, pretty place, with hills and dales and the cutest little buildings. Since it is a permenent location, they can really go all out with the decor, unlike most renfests that are set up in city parks.

Plus, how often do you get a chance to be a fairy for the day? Well, actually…. I can be a fairy whenever I feel like it, and often do. I guess I mean how often can you be a fairy in an acceptable venue? When people expect fairies to pop out from every bush, and don't just look at you wondering why there is an old lady with wings on.

Sweet babies

antiques/junking, dogs, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), family, Mayara, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / August 31, 2011

Miss Pixie Pie, is now a big sis! She has a cuddly little brother at her house now. We got over to see him a few days ago and I was able to get some snuggles. There is nothing on earth like holding a new born baby, is there?

We took the big sister home with us for a while to play with her cousin and give her parents a little break. The girls spent a lot of the evening just filling water cans. Its good to have well water, and not worry about water bills, water is such easy entertainment for kids this age.

Afterwards, they were a little shivery, so I fixed them hot cocoa. Not something we have very often in the summertime, so they were both pretty excited to get some. It was fun to have hot chocolate in the summer in the same way it is to have pancakes for supper sometimes.

After getting dry and warm, they helped me make dinner. I like to give the kids a hunk of bread dough and some bowls of cheese and broccoli for them to create their own bread sticks. Our fairy grand kid can play with dough for so long, we almost don't get it into the oven in time to have it done for supper. Pixie Pie was a bit more efficient than her cousin, she got hers done and ready to pop into the oven right away, so I just gave her more and kept her going on it. That kid doesn't mess around, she got them all whipped up in no time, while Sugarwings was still reconstructing the shape of her dough ball for the dozenth time.

Speaking of cooking, my gift for the new mom and dad might seem a bit odd, but instead of buying baby clothes or toys, I like to pack up a big bag full of convenience items. Paper plates, cups, plastic forks, etc. to hopefully save them some time while they are caring for the new baby. Its a hectic time, and its not always easy to get dishes done while caring for a newborn.

Cause watching a little one can sure wear you out!

Earlier in the week, we were lucky enough to have BOTH grands over for the night. Mayara is just getting big enough to come over and spend some time, now that her mommy is not nursing as much. She was so sweet. If I held up her dolly, and ask her to give it some love, she'd plant a big ole slobbery kiss on its head.

These girls are all pretty sweet too, I splurged big time and took them to the groomers for a make over, complete with matching bows.

Our neighbor, Holden thought they looked lovely.

Even with all the cute babies around here, I've been managing to get things done. I went to a flea mkt with Mary, and met up with Beth who was selling there. As sweet as all the kids are, it was pretty durn nice to have a grown up day with junking!

By the way, Mary is hosting her first swap and its a doozy. Its for glue book pages, and she'll provide the book covers, ring binders, plus an ephemera pack to get you started on making your book grow with more art when you get it back.

Our remodelling project has been finalized too.

Its good to finally get all of that settled and mark a date on the calender to start it.

Although, that means, that I have to start packing up my kitchen. Ugh.

On the other hand, it means that I get to pick out flooring and shop for something to build into a kitchen island. I know what I want, now I just need to find it.

I've been adding some things to the Boutique over the weekend, and a few to the long neglected Etsy shop too.

I hope to add more, but then I always say that, don't I?

This weekend we have family in town to visit, and will be going to one of our faves, the Renfest. After that, I have 3 days to get everything in my kitchen and dining room packed up and out of the room so the work can begin. So, who knows if I'll get more added to the shop. Maybe after the packing up is done.

I'll have more additions to the shop to show you in the next post, this one has run on long enough.

Almost Zero Dollar Decorating!

dogs, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), housework, redos, sewing?

By Karla Nathan / August 29, 2011

During my frenzy of de-mousing the house, I gave my bedroom a deep cleaning. Sugarwings was spending the day with me, so it was her job to squirt the wax while I mopped the floor. There is a short period of time when kiddos think that helping clean is more fun than just about anything. Too bad it doesn't last longer. (and you should see how happy she was to hold the black light the time we went on a dog pee search- it was like treasure hunting to her. I wasn't quite as thrilled to find the glowing purple marks as she was. By the way, those black lights are the best tool around when you are housebreaking a puppy!!)

After moving all the furniture and cleaning under and behind it, I wanted to freshen the room up with a new look, but the way this room is laid out, if we want to lay around in bed and watch tv, there aren't many choices for rearranging. So, I did the best I could and moved around some of the mirrors and things on the wall.

The mirror had been in the bathroom before, I switched around a few mirrors and traded them out. Its not as fun as shopping, but it did make me feel less bored with the whole room. I kept the pillar where it is, but took the concrete angel out doors, and set an old vase with silks up on it instead.

The lamp came from the living room, and I pinned a blue millinery rose to it so it would match this room. I have a smaller alabaster lamp on the other side of the bed, so I kind of like having a near-matching set together. (both are from garage sales, years ago for about 5 bucks each)

Zero Dollar Decorating always gives me a lift, sometimes switches and trades are all I need to jump start a room and make me like it again. But, I can't quite call this mini redo that, because I did buy a few things for it.

While I was on my trip to Indiana, I found the alarm clock at an antique store ($11) and the new spread at either TJ Max or Steinmart for $40.

I also bought two indoor/outdoor throw rugs at TJMax for $12 each, but I pointed the camera the other way, so you can't see them here. They are a neutral tan with brown vines.

The most expensive part of the redo was a new sewing machine. I was too cheap to pay $25 for two shams to go with the new spread, plus I preferred using some vintage tablecloths and lace that I had to make some instead.

Half way through the project, I seriously jacked up my 6 year old, low end Singer and couldn't get it to sew anymore. I hate to admit that I am part of America's throw away society, but it would have cost more to repair than replace, so I zipped over to Walmart and got another $89 machine. Hopefully, I'll get another 5 or 6 years out of this one.

The table cloth I used on the top pillows was a little holey, so I patched it with lace, then added rows of sheer trim (a Bird Song Tag Book Swap hostess gift!!). The shams for the other set of pillows were made from curtains that I took down in the bathroom.

Yep, my redos had spilled over to the adjoining bath. Well, when I started moving mirrors around, it hit me that I'd never liked that curtain in there…. When we remodelled, I found it at the Goodwill for $5, it wasn't vintage, just second hand. And it was always too long, I kept thinking that I would hem it and never did, so I just took it down, turned it into pillow shams, and made something else to hang there, while I was on a roll.

My buddy, Lisa, had given me a gorgeous netting and lace bed set that was too nice to use on the bed in a house full of dogs. So, part of it is hung as curtains in the living room, the rest I cut up to make a curtain in here.

Since netting isn't private enough for a bathroom window, I sewed the fabric over some of the table cloth I'd cut up for pillows.

It isn't quite wide enough, so I hung a curtain panel on each side to cover that up. Everything is smoke and mirrors at my house, all made to look better than it really is…

But overall, I'm much happier with the "new" curtains I made. They go well with the Victorian Trading Co. outlet store shower curtains ($20, then dyed with tea, coffee, and Rit)

My husband is of course, just thrilled with more frills. (not really) But he rarely notices what I do to the house anyway, so its fine. He doesn't actually care.

I know I've told this story before, but it was years ago, so maybe its okay to tell it again? My Mother-in-Law was visiting, and my darling was showing her photos of our home in a magazine that had been lying on the table. He was very proud and telling her details about each room as he went through the pictures.

I was a little surprised to hear him so interested, but thrilled to hear him be proud of something I've done- like I said, I don't think he notices things around the house. So, I looked over their shoulders to see which magazine they were looking at.

It was NOT our house. He just thought it was since there were pink roses and chippy paint in the photos.

In this photo from earlier this year, you can kind of see the old curtains on the window. Just enough to see what I mean, about them being a bit too long. They hung down all the way to the rose trim around the tub, the new ones (next picture) are a better length.

(that rose tile is one of my favorite things about the room. While tile shopping, I saw it at a store in Topeka, but it was discontinued. They happened to have a few pieces left in the back room and sold it to me for 75% off. I had enough to put around the tub, plus one extra that I keep thinking I'll make a shelf out of.)

Here is the bedroom from a couple years ago. No, I didn't change much, but just enough to keep me from being sick of it. I'm easily pleased.

Here is another older photo.

Maybe it is more "edited" now. I was going for serene. To cut down on clutter, I also draped a small table topper over an extension rod in the built in cubby above the drawers. It was just a dust catcher, I had stuff sitting in there, not anything functional or really all that cool. Just a couple urns and a photo. I like it better covered up.

I like the whole room better now. I just hope that the bedding stays ivory. The first time it rains and the dogs jump up on it, might be the end of it. White might be smarter, it can at least be bleached to stay white… wish me luck.

Breezy

flowers, hand painted signs, redos

By Karla Nathan / August 27, 2011

While I had my son here, and we both had paint brushes in hand, I asked him to tackle the breezeway with me. I've hated the too bright green it was painted for YEARS. I had painted it on a whim, I'd had a beloved puppy die in my arms after months of nursing her along and trying to keep her alive, and needed something cheerful and bright around me. I also wanted something physical to do to keep myself busy after burying her.

Typically, I don't have a lot of bright colors in my house, unless they are seasonal accents. But, this was an outdoor room, and I thought it was the perfect place for a splash of color.

Instead, it only reminded me of my dead dog.

And it was not fun to paint, since it is clap siding and can't be done with a roller. And I knew that the green would be hard to cover, so I just kept putting the job off.

The new color I finally chose is much more tranquil, and is a much calmer backdrop to the stuff I had in the room already. I left everything just as it was, the only change in the whole room is the wall color. Well, and I switched out the seat cushion, it had been a hot pink. The blue velvet is a cushion that my mom made about 30 years ago.

The bench was hers too. I've painted it numerous times since I've had it. In her possession, it was maple.

The room feels a lot bigger in this pale gray/blue. And I'm so glad we got this done. It makes me smile every time I walk through it.

I was ready to get this room cleaned up and new looking after our recent raccoon attack. Those coons ripped my curtains to shreds, and I wanted to replace them, but wanted to make sure the curtains went with the new color I chose.

Instead of shopping at the store, I shopped at home in my linen closet and found a stack of white on white, striped sheers that I used to have in my kitchen, so my only cost for the redo was a gallon of paint/primer in one (Behr). This kind of paint offers great coverage, and mostly did the job in one coat with a few touch ups here and there.

The white curtains also helped create the breezy feeling this room now has. And under them are new, aluminum screens to hopefully prevent more coon invasions! If that doesn't work, we'll have to go to chicken wire over the windows. Or razor wire….

(the bird cage stand holds a simple chandelier that I've epoxy-ed tea cups to after taking out the wiring and the lighting parts. I keep tea light candles or fresh flowers in the cups, depending on my mood)
Even before I painted over the pea green explosion on the walls, I have considered this my pink and green room. And I figured I'd have to do some redecorating and moving things out when I repainted. I was thinking that nothing would match any more. But I am quite taken with the soft blue back ground, against all the pink florals. Plus, there are hints of blue here and there that I never really noticed when the room was green, like in the pillows, the broken plates in the birdbath that I made, and in the flowers painted on the bench.

There is very little blue in the mosaic table, but that doesn't really bug me. I still think it fits the room fine.

I'd planned on repainting the shutters on the door too, but I'm liking the black and roses with the blue. It seems like a nice contrast, and not too matchy.

(the shutters were bi-fold doors from a garage sale for a couple bucks. I took them off the hinges and painted them up, the other half of the set is on the front door to my studio)

After a while, I just might paint everything that is black now, a medium gray, with sepia glaze over it. But for now, I'm satisfied. The gray is a maybe, and if I decide to do it, will be a good project when I'm feeling the need for another fresh-up.

Do you ever play with Rate My Space on HGTV's site? I have fun with it. You can lose a lot of hours browsing from one room to another… anyway, if you want to check it out, you can start with this room, and give it a rating for me!

Next post, I'll show you a few more of my changes around the house. I've been productive lately!

Author name: Karla Nathan