cabin fever

It's not even that cold here. No blizzard, we dodged Nemo. However, someone in this house was bored and needed a project, and it wasn't me.

I walk out of my room after lounging and reading this week's Indy, to find this... the entire dining room has been pushed to the middle because someone wanted to paint. We've been discussing colors, but I have been avoiding it pretty hard. This is one of the two biggest rooms in our house, one of three left to paint. He chose this one. Alright, you asked for it. Decision time. 

This is what happens when you mess with my dining room. I go nuts, crazy with color. I chose Sherwin Williams - Sequin. It's a little yellow, a little green and might have been a split second decision. We'll see how it turns out. 

yyyyyeeeeoooow. Looks like earwax. Did I make a mistake??

This was my reasoning, the living room will be Library Pewter, into the dining room which will be earwax, into the guest room which will be a dark jade color, that's still iffy. So, off he went to Sherwin Williams to buy some paint. What do I do? I google my selected paint color and see a bunch of terrrrrible rooms all painted ear wax yellow. Oh no, freaked out, called him, gallon had been purchased. We'll just have to see how it looks I guess. I did get a quart of Chinese Red which I'm pretty happy about, I swung by Ikea on the way home from an install Friday and picked up a Billy bookcase. My first real Ikea "hack," not sure what I'm hacking, but I've talked about it enough to try it out. O'verlays have been ordered! 

Back to the dining room. Test patch painted. Starting to freak out a little bit more. 

The night's darkness, chandelier on full blast. I was scared. 

One wall is complete. I'm not panicking...or at least having an attack of panic, I'm trying to adjust and tell myself it'll dry darker. It'll be the mustard, weird green-yellow that I wanted it to be. Eeek. We finished painting, I got a headache from the fumes, we took the dogs for a looong walk in Umstead and I hoped I'd come home and my dining room would be this cool navy high gloss. 

We get home and it's still yellow, but it did dry darker, like I (positive me, not pessimistic me) knew it would. So, I touched up the spots I missed and removed the painter's tape. Dimmed the lights and moved the furniture back into place. 

Again with the ultra-hi tech camera (also known as iphone/instagram), but I must say I like my citron dining room. It's different and it fits with our stuff. Maybe I'm delusional from paint fumes, but I like it. 

Weekend project successful and complete! Hope y'all had a good one too!

Eva Stephen on Spring Decor Trends

Popular home decor bloggers and successful home decorators agree that some of the main catchwords for home decor trends in 2013 are: warmth, comfort, brightness, vintage, nature.

Mixing the traditional and modern:
Vintage has been popular for quite some time now, but it seems it will become an even bigger trend in the upcoming season. Modern with a vintage look – that’s the style to go for. It seems the traditional and modern have reconciled and are teaming up to perform quite a treat to the eye.

Also, experienced stylists are announcing an increased interest in the Oriental and African art, so expect to see more exotic sculptures, paintings, animal print designs and unusual new items in newly bought homes.

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Comfort on a new level:
Our fast-paced lives have made us appreciate our free time and our comfy beds and sofas more than ever. It has become very important to decorate one’s bedroom with much care and thought behind the action.

It makes a huge difference what kind of mattress you choose for your bed, what colours you paint your bedroom walls and how you’ll position the bed, nightstand and closet. All these factors will greatly contribute to how you wake up each morning and how much energy you’ll have to succeed in your daily goals.

Warmth in shape, colour and intention:
Whether it’s the growing distance between people or the hard economic times in the past couple of years, home owners are looking to adorn their homes with warmth. Emerald being voted the colour of the year, many people will paint their rooms different shades of green and choose earthy, quiet tones for furniture.

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Though warmth is big in 2013, spring will bring us another new wave of experimenting with vibrant colours. Technology is advancing at an incredible speed and we now know what Photoshoped images are like. Why not have that experience in your living room? A great tip for decorating your living room is to choose all neutral colours except one which will be a "shocker". Choose a pink or green or bright yellow/orange piece of furniture to dominate the room.

Bring nature in:
You’ll be right on track with home decoration trends if you go green and synch with the growing eco movements. Nature inspired rooms with large windows to bring the outside in, or lots of plants, beautiful pots and vases come highly recommended.

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Those who live in studios or small apartments can “cheat“ with floral wall patterns or animal print bedding, curtains, rugs, etc.


Have a useful project:
Going green is a valuable, positive thing to do. Similarly, many families now practice having useful projects whenever they can find some free time. The projects consist of repurposing furniture, recycling old items, reusing old clothes and other items lying around the house. These projects help family members bond and they become a very useful, “greater good“ activity.

Repurposing, recycling and reusing furniture and clothes is also very useful for budget control.


One very good project idea is drawing and writing on walls. This activity is good on a few levels. It saves you money on expensive paintings/wall decoration, it helps you bond with your partner and it gives your children an opportunity to express themselves creatively.


With these hot new tips on spring decor trends in 2013 you can start redecorating right away!

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