We painted the kitchen this weekend—it was brown to some, green to others, and yellow to those of us who are not color blind! Now it’s gray. At first I was 80 percent sure I liked it, 20 percent afraid I didn’t. Now I like-it like-it. Since we are now to the point where it’s no longer whole-house initiatives (plumbing for the whole house, electric for the whole house, drywall, etc.) we are going to be attempting to finish the house room by room. So my mission of making our house a home has begun. We are starting in the kitchen and so far, zero and one. Mission Kitchen Table: FAILED. I think.

I painted Nathan’s Great Aunt Hilda’s table, passed down to us a number of years ago… it’s been awaiting it’s debut and this Saturday I decided to dress it up with some black paint. Bad idea. Bad, bad idea. I’m 80 percent afraid it’s the wrong color and 20 percent sure I like it (please also ignore the Ikea chairs and empty frame). I think it’s too heavy visually, but I’m also tired of painting at this point, so we’ll be living with it for a while, until we either really hate it, or more-than-kinda like it.

Crap.

I do like the kitchen color though! ;) To quell my nerves I went inspiration-hunting and found this gem on Bolig:

Things move so slow with the house that sometimes I forget how far we’ve come.

Before…

During…

Almost there…

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The back office…

We’re moving pretty fast with the house, but I’m sure things will slow down over the holidays. Nathan’s moving into a new studio/office, so we’ll probably be painting that this week, but soon enough we’ll be tackling the kitchen, the back stairs (hey Rob, WWSFD?) and finish putting up all the woodwork in the house.

I want to paint the kitchen a pale gray-brown, and then get shelves to go all the way across, with some white subway tile underneath… hide some wires, install some lighting, presto… finished kitchen!

I realize that this is going to sound bad, but I do love presents! I am excited for both the giving and the getting of Christmas, but truth be told, I do love pretty little packages just as much as the giving… the giving is fun (making is the BEST), but presents are just… exciting! I like to see what people think to get you… it’s so nice to get things you wouldn’t normally think of for yourself… it expands your horizons and leaves you with little reminders of the people you love.

The shopping in stores makes me anxious… Remember the Goonies where Chunk says, “I’m not all alone in the dark. I like the dark. I love the dark. But I hate nature! I HATE nature!” Me during the holidays: “I’m not overwhelmed in the holidays. I like the holidays. I love the holidays. But I hate shopping! I HATE shopping!”  I digress.

Since last Christmas I went overboard with asking for house books, this year I didn’t ask for any… and I’m feeling a little askers-remorse. Severe askers-remorse. My all-time favorite is Barbara Bestor’s Bohemian Modern: Living in Silver Lake, but I’m also really fond of Judith Wilson’s Harmonious Home, and Amy Butler’s Found Style. I just wish I had had some forethought to think of house books when asked for my Christmas list. Instead I just clamored on and on about a finished house and a camera (no no no no regrets there!) and said there’s not anything I want (not true!). I know I have a hard time thinking under pressure, but next time, think brain, think!

At home…

Quote of the day:

“I need holly or some shit.” - Nathan

I’m having a day where I want to write. Where I want to be inspired. But I’m not. At all. Waiting for the sun to come out and for the tools to go away.

I suffer from a severe and debilitating disease called buyers remorse. I also suffer from the sister-disease of order-remorse, but I’ve learned to live with it and it is far less draining to deal with on a daily basis since it really only comes out in restaurants (”I’ll have the Crab Cake Sandwich please.” I really wanted the Tilapia Reuben. Happened just yesterday. Should have ordered the Reuben, don’t know why I didn’t.). Anyway, today I ordered fabric for the Christmas gifts I want to make, and my anxiety is starting to fester, but I’m still a little excited about buying some Amy Butler fabric that I’ve been wanting for sometime now!

Here are my two choices:

On another note, Nathan finally hung the closet door downstairs. That is VERY exciting news! I’ve learned to live with not having closet doors, or really a bedroom closet for that matter, but I have always hated that anytime someone comes over, they see all of our stuff falling out of the closet… currently in the downstairs closet we have coats, a candle (in the case of an outage), gloves and such, a basket with dog toys, a rug we bought on sale and hated the second we brought home, vacuum bags, a tennis racket, tension rods for curtains, an Ikea stool, and loads and loads tools. And now, it can all be hidden with closing the door!

Rehabbing has been wonderful, but it has also been one of the hardest things I’ve done to date. With a solid five years behind us, we are *almost* finished with the house and I’m looking forward to life-minus-rehabbing and to finding new things to inspire me. Actually, we still have a good ways before we are done, but Nathan has graciously forbidden me from working on the house as long as it means happy-wife stays among the living.