Craft Room Paintover

My lovely craft room is finally coming to fruition (perma-smile!).

If you recall from my inspiration post and my post about the junkyard that accumulated during my master bedroom paintover, this craft room's earlier days have already had some challenges.

This past weekend was my opportunity to change all of that.  After quickly reorganizing the mess to the closet and moving a few pieces to the guest bathroom (only for the time being), I happily began my first coat. As I predicted, this room with only one doorway, one closet, and one window was MUCH easier to tackle than the large master and living room.


Because I went with neutral walls for the two earlier painting projects, I really wanted a jolt of color to keep the creativity flowing. Even though it is only a pale color on the swatch, when applied to the wall, Valspar's Distant Valley (matched to Behr's Ultra Premium flat enamel - see this post to know why) really pops thanks to the sunlight filtering into the room through the corner window.  On the paint sample, the color is a muted, calming blue.  Once it hits the wall, it becomes more teal-y (ok, not a word, but you get it) and vibrant.  Thanks to the addition of bright white trim, the room is now F-R-E-S-H!  Take a look!

"About as creative as oatmeal" before:

A(hhhhhhhhh)fter:

It's always nice to have one more room in the house I actually want to spend more time in.  This is already becoming my favorite place in the house, and one I can't wait to start decorating.  Remaining items for this room will focus around function:  separate areas for jewelry-making materials, scrapbooking/paper projects, and [the great big pile of] other.  The window still needs blinds, which Scott and I can hopefully hang this week while his Dad is in town for a visit.  We finished this room just in time to move any items in the guest bedroom and bathroom back to where they need to go!  More updates are of course coming soon, including blind installation and our first adventure with custom furniture design.  Stay tuned, and let me know what you think of the color choice!

Backyard Woes

My backyard looks pretty much the same since I purchased it (see photos of our one and only improvement to date here).  And, I honestly have NO idea what to do with it.

View from the sliding glass door

Sad, sad patio

As summer approaches, I realize how much I'd like to have a lovely backyard area for entertaining.  Should I put in pavers, Young House Love style?

I really love the idea of a firepit.  It would likely go somewhere around here (warning - I'm not a photoshop expert to make this look legit):

Alas, I have very tall pine trees (and therefore pine needles) to deal with.  The other morning, I received a note on my mailbox with contact info for a tree removal service.  In this economy, I find that there are a LOT of these types of soliciting materials floating around.  Which is great - it's good to know I can get local people and probably a decent price, but does anyone else feel a little self-conscious (house-conscious?) when these are tagged on your front door?  Ok, I get it.  My lawn is a mess, thank you Mr.-Lawn-Service-Ad guy.  My trees need attention, thank you for letting me know.  My siding could use some work.  Sheesh, I got it!

There simply isn't enough time in the day to take care of everything while I'm still trying to manage the inside of the house (I've got my work cut out for me - see the House Tour for a peek).  Still, I can daydream of a beautiful new gas grill:

Weber 3751001 Genesis E-320 Propane Gas Grill, Black

And a lovely patio set:

Outdoor Patio Home Madaga 2009 Conversation Collection

But, before I get to add, I've got things that need to be removed.  For instance, I have an U-G-L-Y bird fountain thing that the previous owner must have decided was too perfectly matching the ugly state of the house to get rid of.

My solution?  This baby's going on Craigslist, free for anyone willing to haul it away.  I've heard that you can do the same with plants as well, so I'll probably put my overgrown plants (and maybe a bush or two) on there to see if anyone is willing to get rid of it for me.  Free labor!

Has anyone else had success with giving away things on Craigslist?  I'm a bit hestitant to give away too much info, so since we're not at home during the workweek, I'm limiting it to weekend giveaways only.  Any tips?