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Wednesday, February 18, 2009

A Day for Walls, and the Great Outdoors!



It is Wednesday (although just barely!) and I am participating in What's On Your Walls? and Outdoor Wednesday. You can find the links to the lovely hostesses (thank you, Susan at A Southern Daydreamer, and Barb at Grits and Glamour) who have created these special blogging days, below, so you can visit and see what the other participants have been up to!

Outdoor Wednesday

What's On Your Walls Wednesday


On my walls? Right now, paint, mostly. I haven't hung much in the way of framed things. But the paint? Whoa, baby, that gave me fits.

If I added up all the paint Howard and I have slapped on walls, I'd have -- well, I'd have one heck of a lot of paint. So, when we bought That Old House nearly a year ago, we figured we'd paint it ourselves.

All ten rooms of it.

One room later (in a Sherwin Williams soft green I can't remember the name of) ...

. . . and realizing that there were still 9 rooms to go, my husband suggested to me that the sweetest words in the world are not "Your Ebay item has been shipped," but ... "Pay the man!"

For the first time, we hired painters. Bliss and terror, in one fell swoop.

Bliss, because Danny and his crew gave an amazingly affordable quote for stripping wallpaper, fixing old plaster, and painting. Terror, because Danny handed me the enormous and intimidating Benjamin Moore color fan deck, and said, "Choose your colors. By tomorrow morning."

Yikes! I love color. I am a color junkie. But to choose so many colors from weensy little cardboard rectangles . . . scary stuff!
(The painters used the empty kitchen as their home away from home.)

I begged and got 2 days to make my choices. While Danny and the crew tore off wallpaper, patched, spackled, sanded . . . I sat at a tiny table in our conservatory and pored over those Benjamin Moore colors.

Here's what I finally chose, and what is on my walls!

Our front hall, above. To the left, the parlor in progress. The hallway is Moore's HC-45 Shaker Beige, which we used for the stair well and upstairs hall, also. You can see our red dining room through the doorway, in 1300 Tucson Red. More of that room is here.

Below, the parlor, in its new coat of HC-44 Lenox Tan. Surprisingly, Lenox Tan, Shaker Beige and Tucson Red are among Moore's most popular colors. I had no idea. My daughter Anne says I must have common tastes. Aren't children delightful? Well, she was kidding. She was. Really.

Now... up the front stairs...


The upstairs hall -- you can see the progress. Wallpaper down, walls under repair, spackle and primer on ... and finally the finished hall with its fresh clean paint!

This is the back bedroom, our official "guest room." It started as an aggressive lavender -- two shades -- with a wide floral border. It is now a clear pale yellow -- 198 Cornsilk. I love yellow walls; they make antique wood glow.
The hall bath. It is wearing a fresh coat of HC-143 Wythe Blue. This is a slightly more intense shade of HC-144 Palladian Blue -- the color we put in our master bedroom.


The front bedroom, nominally our daughter Alida's room, although as she is living in California for 5 years of graduate school, it is actually another guest room. It is painted in 015 Soft Shell, a pink that flirts a bit with peach. Very pretty color!

Not shown: my daughter Anne's rooms; she has two connecting rooms across the hall from the pink bedroom, but they are not yet painted. Anne wanted to do them herself. Yeah, that's worked out well. We are negotiating. As for my kitchen, it was due for renovation this year, but we are postponing it; I will live with its gold-ish walls for awhile longer.

Because of all the colors, I used the same paint for all of the woodwork, I-79 Atrium White. I am happy with my color choices, but oh my! I much prefer the usual system -- pick your rugs or fabrics first; you can always have paint mixed to match!

Now... for Outdoor Wednesday ... you can read the explanation, or just skip down to the pictures and enjoy! They are of Corey Creek, an inlet off Peconic Bay, and taken from my parents' front lawn.

Long Island is shaped like a fish, sort of, with its far ends slanting north and east into the cold Atlantic. The two "fins" at Island's end are called the "Forks." The South Fork is home to the fabled and gorgeous Hamptons, with wonderful fishing and farming, a rollicking social scene, and of course -- Ina Garten.

The North Fork is a much smaller land mass, and quieter than its riotous cousin across Peconic Bay. Dozens of vineyards and wineries have rescued the farming business (the climate and soil are almost identical to that of France's Bordeaux region), and the pace of life is slower, and I think sweeter.

In the winter of 1969, my parents saw a classified ad in the Sunday New York Times for a waterfront summer house in Southold, on the North Fork; they drove out and bought it that day.

In the 40 years since, the little house was expanded once, then twice, then again, and then in 1991 it was torn down completely, and my parents built their dream retirement place, a three story house with plenty of bedrooms, multiple decks, and a water view from every window.

This is what you see from their front lawn:
Now, to me, that is the Great Outdoors!
Thanks for visiting!

16 comments:

  1. Wow, I love all of the colors you have chosen. And I totally understand "pay the man" When we redid our kitchen, we got a great deal on having the floor installed and my husband said exactly that! And your parents place - what amazing views. Thanks for sharing. Kathy

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  2. Your colors are absolutely GORGEOUS!! I LOVE your choices!!

    Thanks for stopping by my itty-bitty blog! You really made my day!! I hope you come back again, soon!

    Robin@http://alabamaslackermama.blogspot.com/

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  3. Cass,
    Those colors you picked are perfect! I love every single one of them. White woodwork is the best! I think my fave is, oh I love them all! You should post this on Met Monday too! The pics of your parents place are just gorgeous. They were smart cookies buying when they did. Cindy

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  4. hey Cass...thanks for stopping by my blog! I've enjoyed catching up with you and your blog.....cannot believe you had to pick out all the paint in two days! Good golly, Miss Molly....you've done great!

    Suzanne

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  5. I've always wanted to own an old house - have gone on so many home tours of old homes - drooling the entire time. However, my "Mr. Fixit" (even though he too loves them) moans when he thinks of the money and investment of hard labor. So - blessings on you for doing it all. Thanks for dropping by my blog and it was great looking at your blog and enjoying your rejuvanating of your old home! PAM

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  6. Your colors are very pleasing.

    I am needing to pick paint colors now for my front entry, living room, dining room and hall...I'm finding it's quite a challenge!

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  7. Hi there. Thanks for stopping by my blog. I meant to leave you a comment yesterday but we kept having tornadoe warnings and the rain kept knocking the DSL out.

    I enjoyed your photos. The paint looks great too. I hope to see you around again.

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  8. Thanks for a wonderful post! Your color choices were just right; I am always overwhelmed by paint chips 1x1 inch, that is going to cover a whole room. Color kind of scares me (navaho white is actually my favorite color!), but your choices are so soft and gentle...until the Tucson Red! I mean it's beautiful, but it makes me smile because that's where we just moved from in AZ!! I never noticed that Tucson had such a deep, red tint to it! Perhaps a chemist from Benjamin Moore liked the place so much that he decided to use it to name a new color.

    An ocean view for the outdoors is so wonderful! Your parents have 3 decks on their dream house? I could stand on everyone of them for hours and just watch the water.

    This post was great eye candy!!

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  9. WOW!! cass I love all the color you have chosen for this wonderful old lady...I just love your home...hugs and smiles Gl♥ria

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  10. Cass,
    Oh, your color choices are beautiful, but your floors are GORGEOUS! And yes, "pay the man" is music to my ears, too. ;)

    Thanks for your sweet comment today. I got outside this afternoon to take some photos, and I think the wind and blue skies chased away some of the blues. Hope you have a wonderful weekend!
    xoxo,
    Mary

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  11. Sorry I missed your post! (It's been a crazy few days)

    Welcome to Outdoor Wednesday

    Thanks for sharing your photos.

    I hope you participate again sometime!

    Susan

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  12. Oh my! Where do I begin? I love the wall colors you chose. Great job. Your floors are stunningly beautiful. I love their warm patina and shine. The carpet is lovely on your stairwell. (After 23 years we still haven't carpeted our stairs.) Your woodwork in the off white is gorgeous---and your view-breathtaking! Thank you for the lovely peek at the progress you have been making! Love, Paula

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  13. Wow, you did a great job picking out paint colors!!! All the colors are so beautiful. I so wish I could find a painter to take down my wallpaper and paint for a reasonable price. :) Beautiful house! Happy Friday!

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  14. I admire anyone who is not afraid to put different colors on their walls! Life is colorful!

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  15. I love the yellow paint color in the temp kitchen and in the hallway upstairs. Do you know what paint color that is? I'm trying to paint my dining room a yellow color and I am having a hard time!!!!! Yes, dealing with the little paint samples is a pain!!

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  16. Love your paint choices! What a lovely job you did. I especially like the lenox tan and soft shell. I recently painted my bedroom a pale peachy pink (pr pinky peach) called Sweet Salmon (also ben moore) but now I'm wondering if I shouldn't go a tiny bit bolder. Hmmm....

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