French Dinner getting closer!

Things are going great in the dining room makeover! I'm still at it, revamping several things with paint and quite enjoying it because the results are pleasing. DH is concerned ~ he dislikes change ~ he's worried I will want to change to Bohemian or Baroque in a few years!! No way, this is the look I've been dreaming about ~ French Country, simplified.

This was the sideboard, green with painted flowers on the door panels. Pretty, but getting a bit boring, and in no way did it fit in with the new colorway. So far it's received a coat of Gravity ~ a very pale grey, and since I took this pic below I've sanded all the edges so the original distressed dark paint shows through. Because one coat seems to be the look I wanted, soft and powdery, a little rough and imperfect, I'm not doing a second coat. However, I am doing something on the top! I've now painted it with the dark, almost black, Graphite grey used on the entryway walls (which are visible from the dining room), and am going to do a crackle finish followed by waxing which will hopefully make this piece look older. I may also lightly wax around the door panels to give some depth.Next time I'll share with you what I found on sale and now have sitting in my dining room ~ something I've wanted for a long time!

Dressing Up

Soon, I hope to do the reveal on the dining room ~ I will still be adding a few more things later such as art (I have a piece in mind), and perhaps drapes when I find some vintage linen. The next big project will be changing the look of six chairs with yet another paint job, and recovering the seats with new fabric. I can't afford new chairs right now!

A few snippets of how I'm putting together my china and decorative bits on the 'French' dresser. Remember when it was Welsh?

Some of my favorite items are the antique silver and old books I brought back from the South of France last October. The ice bucket is Italian. Note, I do not polish my silver, I prefer it tarnished!! The colors are so lovely!

Apologies if I've not stopped by your blog lately. We've been having difficulties with Internet Explorer and it's been virtually impossible to leave comments. It took so long and then I lost so many while trying to post them, I gave up................and returned to painting instead!
I am now using Mozilla Firefox as my browser and am finding it awesome.
I'd be really interested to know which browser you use and whether you have found Internet Explorer to be failing you lately.

Sweet Mary at Isabella's Closet made another lovely banner for me. Be sure to visit her for a great selection of ready made or custom banners.

Heartfelt on Pink Saturday

~ Happy Saint Valentine's Day ~

Sweet PINK roses from my dear loved one.

Vintage German hearts I made into a card.

Wishing you a St. Valentine's Day full of sweetness, romance, love.............with chocolate, PINK or red roses, and hearts of course.

Stop by to wish Beverly a happy Valentine's Day ~ she's waiting there at How Sweet The Sound with the biggest group of warm hearted blog friends who want to share their pink today.

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First Signs.......

Today will be another busy one.........just had to share this bit of Nature with you to brighten up the day.

They were nodding in the gusty wind yesterday outside the kitchen window. Bright sparks of yellow between green leaves. They seemed to shoot up overnight in this warm spell we've had for several days. Daffodils, one of the earliest Spring blooms. Accompanied by the arrival of many robins on the lawn, it certainly made one feel the change in the season is not far off.

The signs of Spring.

Later in the afternoon, when the sun was warm, I took my granddaughter to the nearby pond. Armed with a bag of food, we fed a few ducks and an army of Canada geese. Turtles were sunning on the tree trunks in the water, the Carolina blue sky was brilliant.......all seemed perfect in our little world. I couldn't resist and picked just two sprigs of fat, dangling catkins, beautiful with the daffodils.

I hope you will enjoy the early signs of Spring arriving in your garden soon.

Lady Fingers

I ran away yesterday...............to Trader Joe's. Had to escape the dining room and see the world for an hour. I love this store but have to drive to the next town to shop there. Soon one is to be built just minutes from the cottage, the lot is ready and hopefully they'll start construction this Summer.

I spied beautiful boxes of Lady Fingers...............they are from France! Right now my fingers don't belong to any lady, they are paint and wax stained, red and rough from so much washing. They need slathering in sweet lotion such as this one, my favorite Origins 'Ginger'.

Chipped, stained, French Grey wood........my nasty fingers are responsible! It's just about finished and I'll show a picture as soon as I get the top shelves on and display something pretty.

Fresh lavender for sale at the market.

L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, Provence ~ October 2008

If I wasn't so tired I'd draw a bath, throw in a little bag of lavender......and soak my tiredness away.

One of dozens of antiques shops in L'Isle-sur-la Sorgue, Provence.

Looking in my mirror I see I look my age ~ but that's OK, I am getting the painting and primping done, I'm not giving up, and I will sit down to dinner soon in my simple but pretty dining room.

Brushstrokes

I'm feeling like a prisoner in my dining room.................and there's no escape for several more days.

Thinking time continues.

Yesterday's thoughts were bothersome, I couldn't concentrate on one subject for long. No village strolls, no country rambles, no paddling at the shore............just thoughts on how to get the look I want in the room. I take comfort in knowing that many of you who visit here are interested in decorating your home. We share our creative endeavors. We like to use any artistic talents we may have to make our homes special, reflecting our personalities and interests.

The color on the right is Classic Grey which I now have on the walls. The center color is Metropolis which I'm using to repaint the Welsh.........soon to be French..........dresser! The third color will not be used as it's too blue.

I painted the first coat, sanded lightly and painted a second coat.

This brand of paint is great, covers well and evens out very nicely. I'm using a flat finish. Note the color looks a little more blue here in bright light.

The top of the dresser shown here while still cream is also finished except for aging. Yours truly feels somewhat aged herself right now, especially her shoulders and knees! In the reflection you can just see a smidgen of the dark Graphite color used in the entry.

Initial distressing of the dresser using sanding blocks ~ this image shows the color well. May bash it up a bit more then wax to add some age, a soft sheen, and to protect the finish.
This is where my brother calls - from France - and says, "Mar, you need to muck it up a bit more to make it authentic. He's really good at furniture painting and does a lot of it around his French home.

And you are asking.........why does an English woman living in the American South want a room to look French Country. Don't ask me. Blame it on the 'shelter' magazines exposing us to beautiful places far away. Blame it on growing up in a house where we were always painting and hanging wallpaper. But most of all ~ blame it on a recent month in France!

French Village Stones

As I paint, I think..........................

The swoosh of the hairs on the paintbrush touching the wood, depositing color, give me time. Time is so precious and we usually don't seem to have enough of it. When you are giving your all to a project which needs many hours for completion, you can let go of all the other things for a while and, if alone in a room just brushing and smoothing, you really have time to think.


Yesterday I thought about October in France. While painting in soft French grey I relived the pleasant daily walks around the village. I recalled the ancient stones of the village walls.

How do stones support an arch? During the afternoons the small streets and lanes were silent as people rested following lunch.


The elementary school stood across the lane from my family's house ~ the stones were cut from huge blocks.

Soft blue, a shade of green almost aqua, misty washed grey................the colors of the shutters

The grey cobblestones worn smooth by footsteps since the 9th century.

The inclines, almost hills, climbing up toward the ancient village walls.


I wonder what I'll think about as I brush on more paint today?

All images taken in Caunes-Minervois ~ October 2008.

Singing the Blues ~ and greys......

Do you grab an idea and run with it? Do you just get your stuff together and start sanding and painting willy-nilly? Or are you like fuddy-duddy me, planning each step of a decorating project, hesitant to jump in and just have fun with it?

Here's what I do ~ collect magazine tear sheets, paint chips, photos of rooms I love, mount them on a board and stick them up there for the world to see! Meanwhile I think for a while, try to get my thoughts in order regarding where to start, Then I gather the necessities, drop cloths, wood filler, paints, brushes, tape, sandpaper, wax etc. Grab a pair of rubber gloves as I hate to get paint under my nails ~ they're long ~ old towels and t-shirts, empty paint cans and stirrers. Like a witch at her cauldron, I pour and stir, mix and blend - three black spiders, two rats' tails, no, no, no - I mean half a quart of medium grey, 2 ounces of dusty blue, a dollop of whipped cream white.

My current 'story board' as I get ready to paint and distress the Welsh Dresser, sideboard, and other sundry items in shades of French Grey and misty blue-grey.

The large crack ~ house settled? ~ was in this corner. Nice job done to repair that eyesore! And the beautiful now smooth ceiling with the texture gone, forever!!

Here you can see the new Classic Grey shade on the wall and the embossed paper below the chair rail. Like all paints, the color changes according to the time of day and the light source in the room. These pics were taken mid-morning with strong Winter sun streaming in the South facing room. This is why choosing the right shade is always so difficult and frustrating. You know it's never going to end up exactly like the little paint chip so doing a sample board is always a good idea. Remember also that paint dries darker than the color appears when first rolled on to the wall.

Notes about the painting ~

• The wallpaper border would not come down without a long process of soaking, scraping, peeling, yuck! Instead, my painter was able to skim it with 'mud' to make the lower edge disappear and then the two coats of paint covered it completely - thank goodness. Luckily it was a light colored border pattern!
• At first I thought the grey was too light but as it will be a backdrop for the painted furniture pieces, which will be deeper shades, its silvered white shade is really perfect. There is absolutely no blue in this color. As much as I love blue I didn't want a blue room.
• I actually had the paint used on the embossed wallpaper mixed 25% darker but it really doesn't show.

Hope to have more pics once the furniture painting is completed and the room put back together. Then perhaps a dinner party ~ would you like an invitation?

Note: The Graphite walls ~ DH likes the look! He still thinks he may lose his way in the middle of the night, but he actually said, "I like anything you do". How sweet after all these years.

Pink Saturday

If I was to ever paint a room pink I think it would be this pink. Warm, rosy, somewhat intense. A pink you would be surprised by. Not at all wishy washy. Yes, if I was going pink, this would be the right one for me.

This was in one of those large shops with individual booths for rent, most crammed and jammed with stuff. Some owners had just returned from a major Gift Show with the latest 'in things' of the decorating world ~ expensive mass produced merchandise.

But here, in the rosy pink 'room', the owner had tried hard to make a warm, individual space filled with what may have been one of a kind items. My favorites of course were the chandeliers. Elegance and romance personified. Small chandeliers of lovely design. Hanging from the rafters they really sparkled in the pink room and looked quite beautiful.

Have a wonderful Pink Saturday and be sure to visit Beverly at How Sweet the Sound for a long list of friends who are joining in this week.

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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!