Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Paint chips and pretty things

I'm a huge fan of my house. As much as I really don't care for Kansas, I'd love to be able to uproot my house and take it with me wherever we end up for the rest of our career. It has loads of character with its creaky wooden floors, textured plaster walls and 80 year-old windows that require special ordered screens because they just don't make windows that size anymore. I posted about my non-working fireplace angst several months ago, but I've softened and embraced its presence and sooty breath.

However.

I have unfinished business with the walls. Every single wall in the house is covered in the most hideous color of primer. The rules allow me to paint as long as I either paint them back when we leave (ugh) or paint them initially with a color that is considered a neutral (no bright red or orange...).
I've decided to go with the latter option since I'll already have to repaint the baby's room and that was a chore in the first place.

I tend to base the palette of my house off of my huge art collection which predisposes me to neutrals anyway. The living room will be my first order of business as it's the largest room and I just can't take such a huge expanse of taupey-brown any longer. The focal point of the room is a gorgeous abstract painting done by my favorite painting instructor, Jay Bopp. I originally intended to hang one of my own paintings, a very representational oil of the cadet chapel at West Point, over the fireplace but it merely added to the formality and heavy historical feel of the room. I'm a sucker for juxtaposing modern/cool with historic/warm so I decided on the abstract. In the same vein, the walls are begging for a very light, cool color to counteract the warm tones of the brick, floor and the heavy feel of the leather couch and woodwork. The first paint chip I decided on was a lovely pale blue, but after having it taped to the wall for several months now, I've realized it probably falls too much in the 'color' category rather than 'neutral'. I'm now leaning towards a very pale, cool dove-grey.

Home decor, like everything else tends to run in trends and paint colors are no exception. Grey is currently the new "it" color (at least from what I've seen on the daily blog circuit) and I have no doubt why: it's versatile, you can find cool or warm greys, it's the perfect foil for just about any piece of art and best of all (for me, especially) it's a neutral so I won't have to repaint!


 
GORGEOUS gray room via Ohdeedoh

(I'm sure my art faculty would prefer to see me blogging about painting canvas again but for now it'll just have to be the walls. Hopefully I'll have a post about returning to my oils soon...)

On to the Pretty Things part of this post (though I tend to include paint in that category...maybe I sniffed too much of it in art school, but I've been known to lose myself in the paint section of any store).
I created this style board a few weeks ago of things that have struck me lately.


There's something about cruisers that I love. Perhaps it's the association with the coast and leisure (pronounce that 'leh-zuhr' to get the full effect of my thought process ;) or maybe it's the actual aesthetic of them (the swooping curves versus the sexy streamlined angles of a racing bike). This particular one is just stunning with it's leather seat and mocha details. I have daydreams of riding this beauty along the ocean in Monterey with a little baby trailer on the back (and those gorgeous boots on my feet)...and then I wake up and remember I live in Kansas.
This day at the ocean brought to you by Nirve and currently on sale for $299.99!

Now let's discuss those boots. I have way too many boots, as I've mentioned before. Men (my husband included) will never understand a woman's love affair with knee boots, which is fine. I've tried to curb my desires but every time I think I've succeeded, I run across a new set of leather beauties that obliterate any amount of self control I might have gained. (I should note, however, that I have NOT bought these boots and am very proud of myself). I never realized that Timberland made pretty things until last year when I was browsing online for boots and found their collection. It's just one of those companies that was relegated to the "redneck" category where I rarely venture unless my husband drags me into Cabela's. (Imagine my surprise when I saw Timberland stores all over Italy!) But, as you can see, Timberland makes beautiful boots that are just begging to be on my feet pedaling that espresso colored bike...
I'll stop.
I was going to link to them but they're apparently sold out, which is probably good...

And now there's the matter of that delightful helmet. Because it is, you know, an actual legitimate bike helmet (!!!). If you're as enamored with cycling as I am, you should definitely venture on over to The Bicycle Muse and prepare to salivate. If all bike helmets were tweed, more people would wear them (this is my highly un-validated opinion, by the way). The one I've pictured is the Yakkay Helmet and would pair well with the cruiser and boots (are you noticing a trend?)

I won't wax quite as eloquent over the kitchenware pictured but here are the links in case anyone's interested:

The All-Clad Roaster (which I actually do need, one of these days..) from Williams Sonoma

Studio William cutlery (another "need", since I currently own a mishmash of cheap rusting flatware from the husband and I's pre-marriage lives).

Bodum cups and teapot. Who doesn't love Bodum...really...

The sweater is pretty but after looking at it online for a few weeks, it's not really my favorite (it was overpriced anyway). It's from Ann Taylor Loft but I believe it sold out online a couple of weeks ago.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

i think i need that helmet!