OOPS, forgot to start with this the first time I hit publish:
I HOPE ALL OF YOU HAD A LOVELY HOLIDAY WEEKEND WHATEVER YOU DID AND WHOEVER YOU WERE WITH!!
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Did you ever see the movie "Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House"?
(rendering of what they envisioned)
A black and white film made in 1948 starring Cary Grant, Myrna Loy and Melvyn Douglas. The film is about a couple with children who after the ad exect father(Grant) sees an ad for Connecticut living....... decides to move from the city(renting) to the country(to own). What they get is a dilapidated property, a quick tongued realtor and whole lot of headache. The prospect seems an easy one AT FIRST but then one thing after another becomes a problem. Problems with the architects plans to redo the place, costs begin to mount minute by minute. Tempers flare. Issues with the contractor. All the while Grant is struggling to come up with an ad campaign to keep his job going and his jealousy over their close friend.
If you have ever done any remodeling or even a simple RE-DO you know how the best laid plans can go south - unforseen costs hidden in every corner and things you were told were "easy to do" become the most difficult. Things you dreamed of doing become a nightmare and things you didn't plan on happen to delay and frustrate. When we remodelled our kitchen 20 yrs ago (which was to include adding on a family room on the back side)...... we had to fire the first contractor and start over...it's a long story but suffice to say that due to his negligence we didn't get the family room on the other side of the kitchen with the indoor laundry. We remodelled the foot print of the original kitchen only. I don't know how people do HUGE whole house remodels and survive!
We are going to redo the living room next....no major remodel per se...although we do plan to build a small foyer using part of the front porch so you don't walk right in to the room when you enter from outside.(that's going to be a real task to figure and master) The rest is new base boards, window treatments, changing out some furniture, hanging art etc. Nothing too off the charts BUT the topic of what color to paint the walls is the one thing that lingers.......I forsee, as it has happened before, several paint swatches on the wall in various places throughout the room. This will be the first thing we do in there and YET will take the longest to finally firmly decide on. This brings me to my favorite scene in the movie:
Mrs. Blandings is talking to the contractor and the painter regarding what colors need to be painted where.
{mrs. B} Now, first, the living room.
I want it to be a soft green.
- Not as blue-green as a robin's egg.
- No. (answers the contractor)
But not as yellow-green as daffodil buds.
Now, the only sample I could get
is a little too yellow.
But don't let whoever does it
get it too blue.
- No. (answer from contractor)
- It should be a sort of grayish yellow-green.
Now the dining room. I'd like yellow.
Not just yellow. A very gay yellow.
Something bright and sunshiny.
I tell you, if you'll send one of
your workmen to the grocer...
...for a pound of their best butter and
match that exactly, you can't go wrong.
This is the paper we'll use in the hall. (she shows him a piece)
It's flowered.
But I don't want the ceiling
to match any colors of the flowers
There are some little dots
in the background.
And it's these dots I want you to match.
Not the little greenish dot
near the hollyhock leaf
But the little bluish dot between
the rosebud and the delphinium blossom.
Is that clear?
(he nods his head as she uses her little finger to point out the tiniest of dots)
Now, the kitchen's to be white.
- Not a cold, antiseptic, hospital white.
- No. (answer from contractor)
A little warmer, but still, not to
suggest any other color but white.
Now, for the powder room in here,
I want you to match this thread.
And don't lose it. It's the only spool
I have and I had an awful time finding it.
As you can see,
it's practically an apple red.
Somewhere between a healthy Winesap
and an unripened Jonathan.
(she hands him the thread)
Oh, excuse me. (she is suddenly called away a moment)
(the contractor says to the painter) you got that, Charlie?
(the painter responds) - Red, green, blue, yellow, white.
(the conractor says) Check.
*************
Do you see yourself in Mrs. Blandings?
You have a vision of the perfect color but in trying to explain it to someone else you either sound out of your mind, nitpicky or all they hear is red, green, blue, yellow or white etc? Or you look through paint color fan decks and think "that's it" only to buy a quart, paint swatches and find....nope, that's not it. Oops! NEXT! I am thinking blue or blue-green or a washed out blue....but then I think maybe a more neutral background but not white or off white. It's a wonder I call myself an artist.
I am now in the beginning of my
"Mrs. Blandings picks a living room color" phase.
Don't even get me started on fabric choices......."I don't want country but I don't want too elegant either. It needs to be durable without being stiff. I'd like a cottage look but not too contrived or fully feminie and yet I like some old world looks too". I want blue, but then I like soft green but need a touch of red in there too. See what I mean? It's a process people. I wish I had more rooms so I could just do each one in my(our) various tastes.
Wish me luck...
What is your living room style/colors/furniture? I'd love to see!
Love,
Lisa
XOXO
P.S. DON'T FORGET TO ENTER MY DESTASH GIVEAWAY, see post below.
Also
DON'T FORGET TO MARK YOUR CALENDARS FOR JANUARY 30TH WHEN ONE WORLD, ONE HEART BEGINS!!
