All in the Paint: Paint Project Reveal Part One

Hello!

I'll have to be short and sweet today, but I've got two fun photos to share.

As I mentioned, we've got Operation Paint Project going on here at our house. It will be a three stage process over the next few weeks: 1) the kitchen cabinets, 2) the breakfast room and 3) the adjoining dining room.

Today, I've got a fun before and after of Part One- the kitchen cabinet makeover! Phew. No one told me how difficult it is to paint cabinets! I'm hoping that it will make painting the walls a breeze, in comparison.

And it makes it really difficult when you are painting cabinets lime green! Ha. Only kidding. We actually took the cabinets from a dingy, off-white beige to a stark, bright white.

Ready for the big reveal? Voila!

Here's the not-so-white before (if only the picture could capture how dingy/yucky/not crisp and clean this color really is!).

And the oh-so-white after.

You'll also notice that we are getting rid of the orange/salmon/pink color that currently graces our kitchen walls (check out our House Tour for more pictures of this vivid kitchen/breakfast room color). Our "out with the salmon, in with the grey" theory is a huge part of Part Two, so get excited, because I certainly am! :)

So, what do you think so far?

Linking to:
Between Naps on the Porch
Skip to My Lou

Thank Goodness....

It is Friday.

As I was falling asleep last night, I started thinking thoughts like- oh! I never finished this project or oh! I never wrote that blog post. To be quite honest, I constantly feel as if I am pushing against time and it just pushes right back! Why oh why isn't there 30 hours in the day?

So. I decided that instead of being negative about what I have not accomplished this week, I thought I'd be positive and think about what I have accomplished since I woke up Monday morning.

I have...

worked fifty some-odd hours... presented at a community council hearing... cooked our favorite spinach pesto pasta (on the one night I was home from work before 8 pm!)... paid our bills... loved on our pups... helped my college-aged sister handle a crisis about which boy she should let take her out to dinner on her birthday (I know, the problems we have when we're only 19!)... wrote my sister a beautiful birthday card... had a lovely conversation with my beautiful grandmother on her birthday... loved on my husband when he had a bad day... watched an episode of Sister Wives (has anyone else seen that show? crazy!)... attended a home owners association meeting... created a "looks for less" mood board... had lunch with a Georgia Supreme Court Justice... and worked on our big painting project.

How's that for a to-do list?! Now that I'm taking a positive perspective, I see that I should be patting myself on the back instead of being frustrated at myself for not getting everything done. Sometimes all we need is a little bit of positive.

Now to the fun stuff. As I mentioned, we've got a big painting project going. Let's dramatize this- we are actually in the middle of

Operation Paint Project 2010

at our house! Our project will be a three stage process. And, of course, you all know about and have given me some incredible input on stage three of the project.  Hopefully we'll be ready to unveil

Operation Paint Project 2010:
Phase One

early next week! But until then... here's a little sneak peek.

No wonder I'm a little stressed- this has been the state of my kitchen for the last week!!

What's that I see in the corner? Awwww.

And while we're at it, here's a sneak peek into

Operation Paint Project 2010:

Phase Two

Lets hope this day goes by quickly, as I know we're all looking forward to a weekend of fun and relaxation! Happy Friday, everyone!!

Help!

I need help! Well, in a million more ways than one, but that's another story for another day.

Even though I wake up each morning and the first thing I see is a tarp covering the entrance to a completely-stripped-down-to-the-floor-joists master bathroom and my yard is a mess because we've started seeding in hopes to have grass in the spring and I'm still continuing to dress up our guest bedroom and the hubby and I have each been working a bazillion hours lately, I've started another project. [See! I told you that I'm completely insane I need help!]

My new project is pretty simple: paint. A couple of the rooms in our house (namely: the kitchen and dining room) need to be freshened up with a little paint. See?! Not too big of a project... and since the bathroom renovation is at the point where we need some professional plumbing work and about twelve plus hours of man power, it is on the back burner. Don't worry, it will get some attention this weekend.

Back to the paint. Some time ago, I ran across this picture (and I can't, for the life of me, remember the source?!).

Amazing, isn't it? Up until, oh, about 8:30 last night, I was hands-down, 100%, most certainly planning to paint our dining room this fabulous navy color. I thought it would work perfectly with the neutral rooms that are adjacent to the dining room.

Our neutral living room plus a bit of yellow (which, of course, would go fabulously with navy).

And our adjacent kitchen is soon-to-be all white. Think something like this.

So what is the painting hold up? Well, I started picturing the navy dining room with furniture in it. Our previous house did not have a formal dining room and so we currently do not have any dining room furniture (only a breakfast table). David and I have a pretty good idea what kind of furniture we want for the dining room, though. And it goes a little something like this.



Image via Pottery Barn



Yes, the outside of a barn is our dream dining room. So pretty, isn't it? But not too formal. Nothing about our home is too formal, so that certainly suits our fancy. BUT, when you look at all of the pretty furniture in my navy-dining-room-inspiration picture, you see furniture that is delicate. Light. Fancy. Formal. Certainly not farmhouse style. With that said, I am now worried that the type of furniture we want in the dining room will be too bold and heavy for the navy walls. Especially in such a small little room as our (empty!) dining room.

Just for an idea, here is our dining room with the previous owner's furniture in it (don't worry, the chandelier is going to go- it's already on Craigslist!).

So, I'm in a conundrum. I think I have to drop my beautiful navy. I just don't think it will fit in. But I have absolutely no clue what color to replace it with. And it will have to be a fabulous paint color in order to repair my sans-navy broken heart!

What do you think? I seriously need some help! Go with the navy? Is the navy too much? Do you have any suggestions for any other fun colors? I really would love to know what all of you think. And please email me pictures if you've got any inspiration photos!