The Inspiration for Painting my Kitchen…

I fell in love with this house in the Summer 2009 publication of Better Homes and Garden “Decorating” magazine.

I noticed how the white trim really stood out against the paint color of the walls.

I have always loved the contrast of black and white.

Look at this beautiful monogram…

There are so many different patterns in this house, but they go together perfectly.

I LOVE this home office with the adorable touches of pink. I need more pink in my house!

Look how beautiful the burlap curtains are in this bedroom…

And I’m loving this chair…I saw an old chair like this at Goodwill that I’m thinking I might could turn it into a real beauty!

Ahhhhh…..touches of pink again!

Wouldn’t you love to blog on this back porch? I’ve seen burlap tablecloths like this one in Ballard Designs magazine…but I know I could make one for a lot cheaper!

SO, I was trying to find a new paint color for my kitchen this summer because I was tired of my yellow walls.

I tried a color called “Oyster”, and I hated it. My walls literally “glowed” when the sun shone on them.

Then I painted my kitchen a color called “natural”. It looked better, but it still wasn’t what I wanted.

When I saw the above pictures in the magazine, I really liked the color of the walls in the living room. I thought if it looked good enough to be featured in a magazine, then it was definitely good enough for my little house. And I thought it couldn’t be worse than what I had.

So I painted my kitchen for the THIRD time. (Yes, I am crazy!)

AND I LOVE IT!

I painted my den, foyer, and upstairs hallway the same color.

The color you ask?

Khaki Shade by Sherwin Williams

When I posted about the cafe shelves in my kitchen, I had several people ask me what color I had painted my walls.

So there you have it.

When I bought the paint at Sherwin Williams, they told me it was one of their best sellers. Yeah, for me!

Here is a picture of my kitchen. I will be posting about more changes I made in the kitchen in future posts.

Have a blessed weekend!

Traci

Painting some doors black

First of all, I want to thank all you for praying for my mom. She has loved visiting my blog and seeing all of your sweet comments. She feels so covered in prayer and it brings her great comfort.

I am staying at her house tonight. My sister and I are taking turns. We joke that we are doing it more for our dad than for mom. :) He likes knowing someone else is here. And I guess I am doing it for myself as well. I just can’t seem to get enough of her right now!

We are going to the doctor tomorrow to find out some more information about the CAT scan she had on Friday. (The one that told us she had cancer.) My sister and I are going with Mom and Dad just to make sure we ask a lot of questions and help them remember what the doctor says. I feel a little nervous.

Life seems so much more precious to me right now. And the little details of life that used to stress me out, just seem so unimportant.

I am thankful to God for opening my eyes to His blessings that I so quickly rush by each day.

Mom and I have been sitting in the den talking and working on our laptops. She hates that I am unable to blog as much because she knows how much I love it. So, since Mom and I had some time to just hang out, she wanted me to post something.

I am going to share with you some of the doors in my house that I painted black recently in preparation for our family reunion.

The first door leads from our kitchen to our back patio.

Here is the before…

Pretty boring, huh? Notice the dirty spots under the door knob? That’s after I cleaned it! It takes a lot of wear and tear with four little dirty boys running in and out of it every day!

Here’s the after…

Sorry about the sun shining in. I didn’t have as good of a picture of the door as I thought I did.

I love it! And I don’t have to worry about it showing dirt!

Here you can see it through the mirror across the kitchen. It truly is striking.

And here is a picture from across the kitchen table.

This picture shows my drop cloth curtains. Can’t wait to share more about those!

The other door that got painted black in our house was the door from our garage into our kitchen. It was WAY dirtier than the other door. It’s the door that we use the most! It’s also the door that most of our guests come through when visiting. It needed some serious help.

Okay, that one was painful to share! OMG’sh that’s disgusting. But I live with 5 boys, cut me some slack!

Here’s what the magic of black paint can do…

I got the shelf at Goodwill for $5.50 and painted it black. The mirror was from GW for $4.50. The shoe box is my favorite thing in the world. I used to keep it in my den, but it has gotten bumped to the garage since I re-did my den. The boys just throw their shoes in there, and they are out of sight! It’s a great little piece to sit down on and tie your shoes too.

I might get a little vinyl wall saying that says, “Welcome” or something to add to the middle of the door. Still looking for that…

But I love the way they turned out.

As I finish my post, I am looking across the room to see that my sweet mom has fallen asleep in her chair. She feel asleep reading from God’s word. Not surprising at all. She is hopelessly in love with Jesus. Growing up, I remember waking up to the sight of my mom in prayer and bible study. It’s where she has always gotten her strength…and always will. I love you, Mom.

Blessings,

Traci