Graphite grey

Sometimes it takes is a leap of faith when you plan a re-decorating project. Having a smaller house is perfect when you decide to do something very different. After all, it would be impossible to make a huge mistake!









I did not make a mistake ~ I really love the Graphite paint shade used here in the entry and along the short hallway. I've learned it's hard to photograph an almost black space ~ the walls on each side of the door ARE the same color but appear different due to the light.




I've put a few items back in place. I have some new ideas. Would like a small candelabra with crystal prisms for the table behind the door ~ a little 'bling' as someone commented. On the long wall, not visible in these images, I may replace the oil painting with a large mirror to open up the narrow hallway.

I'm pleased with this look. It's still neutral and works so well with the new dining room color ~ and no way is it a 'black hole' which was a concern for dh! By the way, he hasn't seen it yet but will in a few hours when I bring him home from the airport. Keep your fingers crossed that he'll like it!

Enter in Style.....

Entering through the cottage front door you are greeted by this

WELCOME sign ~

"Be Warm, Be Welcome, Be at Home"

.................AND, guess what I'm planning for this rather small space where slivers of wall are tucked between several doorways and stairwell..............something I would only do where the walls ARE minimal. I'm painting with the deepest darkest shade of charcoal. The grey black of hematite. The shade of darkest grey before it deepens and becomes true black. The black of night without clouds or bright moon, the black whose only light is the pinprick of a silver star. Perhaps you think this color a bit daring. Even 'over the top'. Maybe somewhat crazy. But think about it. Small areas adjacent to the palest grey walled dining room. The items shown above should pop against the darkness. So I'll try it with that old thought at the back of my mind......."it's only paint, you can always paint over it". DH thinks it will be a 'black hole'. That visitors will trip, lose their way!


My 'inspiration room' is the little hallway at La Madone, the beautiful house I stayed at in Provence. This special corner was in the private area of the owners' home and I thought it just stunning. Black walls, stained woodwork, gold table and mirror, beautiful chandelier, and bust of a woman reading. So French, so elegant, so perfect in that little space.

See you in the velvet darkness, before the full moon.

What do you think of the idea? Have you ever painted a space black or almost black? Did you like it and live with it.....or grab the can of primer and cover it up again?

Colorless Colors

I can't believe it's already a year since I last looked at paint colors! Remember the guest room makeover, changing bland to French? Linen ~ oatmeal ~ cream. The colors on the top paint strip below were the front runners. These warm cream shades were the ones I chose, following much trepidation. Happy to say they worked well and I still love them, and the guest room.

Notes from a very French book might tell one how to find the right shade of grey.....if one knew on which page to look. I just bet the French had already perfected grey even in the 19th century.

One of a set of three French 1865 illustrated journals.

Or, put the alternative plan into action. Look, sigh, pick, choose, then exit that paint store armed with miniature sample jars, mixed quart paint cans, paint chip strips, lots of wood stirrers, a long cash register receipt, and buckets of frustration.

Look sideways at a blank canvas for inspiration. Those 'Linen White' walls. The 'White Sneakers' paint color on the dresser. Try to see them in gentle shades of French Grey.

Remove a few large mirrors and the framed tulip prints from the walls. Important, place a drop cloth, or your dish towel, on the floor. Take an old paintbrush, the one you save for testing colors, hues and shades. Slap, oops, too messy that way. I mean, gently brush a strip of each color in the vacant spaces ~ you can hide them later by rehanging everything until you're ready for the big day. Glance at them in sunshine, through cloud cover, under chandelier light, candlelight.......and definitely moonlight. They will never look the same. Now you're back at square one again.......but vow you will not return to the paint shop to start over.

Didn't you always envy people who get to pick the cute names for lipsticks and nail polish? What a fun job. How about naming paint while watching it dry!

Some thought provoking grey names..................

Polar Star

Calm

Stony Ground

Gravity

Metropolis

Elephant's Breath

Stormy Monday

My final choice doesn't have a fancy name. It's just good old 'Classic Gray' ~ the lightest shade on the right on the wall above. I'm hoping that test strip isn't playing with my mind. Please let it be the right one. You'll know in a couple of days.

What to do with those sample pots and quart cans? Buy some new, shiny, empty cans. Start pouring, mixing, and stirring those grey grays and blue greys together. Maybe I'll invent the perfect darker shade of French Grey...............I'm going to paint the dresser next!

Shades of Grey/Gray

Last month I told you about my dining room redecoration plan here.
I'm amazed that it's been almost eight years since I painted the dining room. After some quick changes from gold to red and then back to linen white - I've lived happily with this until now. The change is imminent - we're turning grey! French Grey of course. Subtle French Country grey, not too dark, not too blue. The French seem to have a knack for mixing and blending the most beautiful greys for those historic village houses and magnificent chateaux.


Packing up the china is a full time job. Small boxes are the secret for easy lifting.

The wallpaper border will come down. Curtain pole may stay this color - grey blends well with cream, ivory and gold touches, all neutrals.

Have you ever had to choose grey paint? You enter the paint store. You stand ready for action at the display.....to make the perfect choice.....to pick your French Grey. Hesitation creeps in, you breathe heavily as you pick one little card with several greys in a line. You stick it back in the display, too blue? You pull out another, much too dark. This one looks good until you hold it next to white....this grey turns beige. Do you know that paint chips slowly evolve from stark white through what seems like another thousand shades of white before you hit the greys or grays. Then you are faced with warm greys and cool greys. Blue greys and green greys.

In your mind's eye you know exactly the shade you are seeking - finding it is harder than you expected.

Come back tomorrow.................perhaps by then I'll have found the right color!

Misty-eyed Morning........

...............along the Devon coast.

My last stay in my hometown of Torquay was in the Autumn of 2007. The days were mainly dry and pleasant and I would awake to a perfect sunrise. Standing at the window of the apartment where we stay, I would hold my breathe as the sun turned the bay to molten gold and the horizon clouds appeared as imaginary mountains as I looked toward France.

On this misty-eyed morning I was up and out early just before the rain came. Rubbing away sleep, tossing on a rain jacket (whoever would travel to England without one!) and walking shoes, I headed through the archway to the road along the beach. There were a few early mornings when a sudden squall would head in from the English Channel and swirl briskly around the bay.

It came so fast, tossing the spray over the seawall. Blowing flapping seagulls and cormorants off course. Throwing bunches of slimy seaweed on the pathway.

The beach huts, already battened down for the Winter, rattled in the wind. Next to them the little cafe which still opened daily for breakfast, stacked up the outdoor chairs and tables. Nobody would eat outside until later. Across the bay the shoreline was just visible ~ it is where my childhood home still stands.

I hurried along the road as the wind picked up, shielding my camera from the sea spray, and ducked into the rather ornate beach shelter ~ these Grecian style columns have stood here since I was a child. As quick as it came, the storm left. The sun came out beyond Thatcher Rock and I proceeded to the headland and climbed higher for the beautiful view.

Retracing my footsteps to the other end of the beach road, I climbed again through a steep, rocky cliff walk, looking back to catch the deserted cafe below, and the end of the Edwardian crescent where the apartment has become my new Devon home when I visit.


The sun brought color back to the sandstone cliffs. The waters of the bay calmed and turned to blue. Soon the small towns, and beyond them the countryside, could be seen more clearly through somewhat misty eyes. There definitely is no place like one's true home.
******

AND THE WINNER IS..................????????

Many thanks to all who entered my 500th post giveaway.
I am always thrilled to hear from each of you. I know it's hard to comment constantly. When one first starts a blog you struggle to 'be known' because you feel someone out there needs to read what you write, look at your photos, share your interests etc. It doesn't take long before many wonderful friends are leaving comments and you try hard to reciprocate. Blogging does take time if you enjoy posting several times a week. 500 posts have taken me 2 years but it feels much longer. In that time I have met so many great people. Some I will never meet in person, others I've already met and it's always been fun.

So in celebration of all those hours spent on those 500 posts........despite my dh's constant "Mary, it's 2 AM shouldn't you be in bed".


...........I am happy to name the winner of my British goodies...........
NANCY at Knitting Paths of Life

Congratulations dear Nancy. I'll be packing your parcel and sending it North very soon.

What a difference.....

...............a week can make. Especially in the garden.

The Hydrangeas by the front porch just over a week ago.

The Hydrangeas as the sun came back and the temperature reached into the high 60's.

Some day, before Spring, they will be pruned......these big, dried heads of the 'mophead' Hydrangeas disguising themselves as snowballs ~ a phenomenon in the South.

Then hopefully they will slowly bud. Those fat buds will burst into new lime green blooms. Then around May they will sing the blues and stay to share their loveliness until Fall when the cycle will continue.

One of my very favorite shrubs, the Hydrangea Macrophylla ~ 'Endless Summer'.

~~~ A REMINDER ~~~
Today is the last day for leaving a comment on my 500th Post Giveaway here.

I will be drawing the winner's name tomorrow.

Pink Saturday

~~ HAPPY PINK SATURDAY ~~

Looks like everything is really coming up ~~~PINK~~~ roses this week, including my own dried roses above which I was able to magically change from yellow to pink just for this occasion!!

..............look at the cute lamp with the little girl in her very pink frock.

My visit to SuzAnna's Antiques the week before last, before an unusual Southern snow covered everything in their outdoor area and turned it white, found me snapping away inside at pink roses.................silk ones, fabric printed ones, framed ones, even beaded ones.

BTW - SuzAnna's now has a blog as well as their web site ~ visit their fun blog written, photographed and produced by the talented Jenny (Susie's daughter) of the Red Bulletin Board, here at SuzAnna's Antiques


Do stop over to visit our fun hostess Beverly today ~ and there at How Sweet the Sound you will find enough to really be tickled pink!