The Brown Gray That I Want

I apologize for the infrequent updates. Life is happening and we are keeping busy. We have completed so much and I hope to share that with you guys soon.

"Frame Collage" featured in Martha Stewart magazine.

The “great” room or that formal living room that I long for, is not finished. We’ve ignored it because we have had so much to prioritize and work on. I mean what is more important a kitchen or a stuffy room that only houses books? There are a few things we need to do to this room. We have removed the carpet, staples, and some crazy thing covering the original mantel. We now need to trim down the built-ins because they are a bit goofy, replace the mantel since it was removed and covered up with some ugly 70’s thing, and prime/paint the walls. I want this room to be formal, stuffy, and a bit menacing. I want a shade that reminds me of forest mushroom of the rocky coasts of Washington. I guess what I am looking for a is gray brown or maybe more of a brown gray.

While browsing on marthastewart.com, looking at Frenchies and admiring color combos, I came across these 2 rooms. I love both of these mushroomy, putty, seashore brown grays. This first one is a bit lighter. I can’t tell if it is from the lighting. I really didn’t expect this shade to pair nicely with a pale floor and it does. Despite the boring frame collage, I like what I can see of this room. This shade is a great neutral. It mixes well with crisp white, wood tones, and espresso. It’s a bit lighter than I want to go for the big room we have to work with, but I do like it. I would of loved to have this elsewhere in the house.

The second room is quite dreamy. This is the exact color that I want for the formal living room. It’s moody, dark, formal, and slightly rustic. I want to find this color. I’ve been mistint searching again and I haven’t found it yet.

Perfect brown gray shade.

I guess I am going to have to give in and actually get a shade mixed. I may just have to give up on my dreams of painting the entire house in mistints. Anyways, back to this perfect color. Look at how nicely it pairs with pewter, white, tea stained white, and black! This is the exact color I want. I haven’t’ decided if I’ll paint the built-ins putty or the too bright white trim paint that David chose. I guess I should get the room color first.

-Victoria

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The Boudoir Is Now Pretty, Pretty Princess Pink.

Pink room, different view

OK, so I call this freakishly tiny room in the house my boudoir. I want it to house my girly stuff and all of my favorite curiosities. At one time this room was a super tiny nursery with a built-in crib. Then it became a sewing room and has a great built-in desk with crystal pulls. Then mama left and it became a dark room to start somebody’s amateur photography of local mountain ranges and soft porn.

I am so super siked about having this tiny space as my own. Everybody that comes in says that I should knock it out and make the bathroom larger. That’s a good idea if they want to start the fund to do that. Plus, that sounds like a complicated project and I am not interested in that right now, too overwhelming. I just want to make my space livable.

Anyways, I painted this boudoir a mistint pink. The color is a little more Pretty, Pretty Princess with a cotton candy cupcake on top than I had anticipated. I wanted pink in there, it does so much for my complexion 🙂 But, I didn’t account other factors such as this is a small space with 2 windows. Also, the plaster lacks texture and really makes the paint shine. I don’t fret over color. Any color will do. While painting and seeing David’s testosterone levels plummet to all time lows (lower than trips to the Deco light museum, Barney’s cosmetic counter, or trips to fabric shops), I decide to only have neutral shades in the room ranging from gray to putty to espresso. I will accent with gold metals (much like the room pictured). Pretty, Pretty Princesses don’t accessorize with those things. I really have faith in this color combo with antlers and things from the sea.

View of room from marthastewart.com

While poking around last night I found this great house featured on marthastewart.com (I don’t care what anybody says, I love her). I found the golden ticket! This is my pink shade. It’s paired with grown-up neutrals and curiosities. The trim is painted the shade that I painted the bedroom (a mistint with 2.5 gallons left). David thinks I should paint the trim and windows in there this color to make it look more grown-up but leave the doors white. I’m game but I do have a few worries. Shouldn’t trim flow throughout the house even if this space is smaller than most new houses’ closets? I’m not worried about painting over it because I am painting over black and every other color of the rainbow trim right now. That is what primer, patience, and a paint shield are for. Also, shouldn’t I go all out and paint the doors that putty shade as well to match the trim?

I’m keeping the original light fixture in there that is barren but cute. The built-in is painted to match the walls. It has crystal pulls and the doors have crystal hardware. I will use this desk most likely for applying lipstick or setting waves. I have a putty chair which I have posted on here before. I want a dark wood chair with linen and I’ll pair this with gothic mirrors and other curiosities. I’m on the prowl for a dark wood cabinent with glass doors. I found one for $400 that I want with wavy glass. This is perfect for perfumes, powders, etc. Or at least the ones that I am using at the time. Perfume should not get that much sunlight.

Light fixture in there, before, new color "prettier"

Well, off I go to hang out at the construction site all day while people come over to fix and inspect and I slap another coat of Pretty, Pretty Princess pink on the walls and think about this trim some more. I’ll be sure to share pretty, pretty pictures with you.

-Victoria

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Hooked On Hooks

Anthropologie antler hook

I am not a fan of hooks because they expose your stuff. I feel jackets, hats, etc. should go in a closet, not to be seen or heard. On the other hand, David is hooked on hooks. I guess it is better to see a hoodie hanging from a hook than piled on the floor (the other option).  When you live in an old house, you no longer take closet space for granted. You learn that your storage options are limited. Things don’t “hide”, you make closets. You make do and this means we use hooks. David wants hooks in the new place even though it has much more storage space. Actually the closets aren’t too bad for a house from the mid-30’s. I’ve been searching for “acceptable” hooks. Anthropologie will occasionally get something that I really adore. Such as the silvertone antler hook, that is on sale for $15. I also like antlers, actual antlers and even this silvertone one at Lekker is creepy and I like it. But, they are really costly at $120. I’d rather try to find real antlers to convert into hooks for coats, etc.

Antler hooks.

I also imagine that any old hardware/knobs used as hooks would look nice. Stuff that I could find at bargain stores or even on sale at Anthropologie.  We have plaster walls and I’d rather drill these into strips of wood and then attach them to the plaster. I could use lots of things such as crystal doorknobs, faucet knobs, bent spoons, anything I want. Even beach pebbles. I would make my own like the one you would find at Viva Terra ($49) because I enjoy choosing rocks and I know mine could be cheaper.

Beach pebble hooks.

This would be the most eclectic hook option and most likely the cheapest, but this would take the most time. I have to collect and search for those things and then actually execute this little project.

Another option is to use plain hooks. That’s what we have now and it gets the job done. You can find these anywhere from Target to The Container Store. They contain lots of hooks and usually retail for under $30 depending on the size.

Plain ole hooks

Luckily, I noticed that many of the doors, behind their faux fur, have perfect metal deco hooks attached. They are lovely and the originals. They’ve been painted over but I imagine we can get that off with a batch of lovely chemicals. They are beautiful and match the knobs throughout the home. I couldn’t find any that I could love more. In fact, I am sure to search the local antique stores and salvage stores for more and may inquire about repro ones. We are lucky enough to have Vintage Hardware and Lighting in Port Townsend. Now they have some dramatic hooks. And don’t get me started on their lighting.I’d rather use cheap-o hooks and splurge on lighting. I’m not hooked on hooks.

-Victoria

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