Janet of All Trades

Tomorrow is Halloween and I will be painting an accent wall Orange! How appropriate! I will post before and after photos next week. But in the meantime, I found this in Kitchen in This Old House,November 2009. I love bright colors but not sure about the color combination of the yellow and green,I fear that it is a bit much even for me. The Kitchen has great bones but I think the paint takes away from the charm. I just hope my orange wall is not so much of a shocker. Happy Halloween!

This week has been all about my love affair with basements and laundry rooms. My basement has been remodeled twice in the last two years due to a faulty sump pump that flooded it a few months after it was completed. So we had to remodel again, this time we had to change a few things but it came out better than before. Photos is the before we even started the first remodel and it lead to a dark paneled basement. We painted and then added framed photos and mementos from places that we had travelled. There are still spots for more items but just don't wanted it to look to cluttered. The color looks really red but it is little darker and is called Rodeo Red (Ralph Lauren). It doesn't look much like the entrance to a dungeon any longer.

I still can't get this basement from Martha Stewart Living November 2009, out of my head. Now the Laundry room has becoming my obsession. I would love to have mine look like this although it is neatly tucked away behind a door to hide the mess that growing right now. It has become the dumping ground for all things that don't have a place in our home any longer and is getting increasingly small. I don't spend a lot of time in there..run in and run out, but maybe if it looked like this I would. Not sure if it would make the laundry get done any quicker but it would be nice to have a little order. Organization calms the soul and gets the laundry done now it feels like a spa. Okay now I really want a Laundry Spa.

I love a nice basement. It's a great place to hide and get away from the world. It doesn't have to be a dungeon but can start out looking like one. I have one that started out looking similar to this recent remodel featured in Maratha Stewart Living,November 2009. Dark panelling in a basement I will never understand. But look at the transformation into a light living space. It looks like a totally different space. And the wall behind the wicker sofa becomes a Movie screen. The home owner uses a projector to display images and movies on the wall. I also love the exposed beams in the ceiling as it gives it more height and looks more like a barn than a basement.  I will have wait on this idea that will have to wait for me since we have remodel our basement twice in the last two years,but maybe in the next house will have a dungeon that needs help!

A few years ago my basement flooded and I had to throw out most of my Halloween decorations. It has been a slow process to replace them since I had been collecting items for years. Just a few things every year can accumulate after awhile. The newest purchase are these simple skeletons for my front windows. They will adorn both side of the front door and will be illuminated from behind. Outside I will have tombstone and pumpkin luminaries. No carved pumpkins since I just can't bear to cut their lovely skins. Should be a nice display and will post photos next week!

I think it is going to be Pumpkin Cream. Here is what they look like on the wall. The Pumpkin Cream is much more saturate with red and a richer color. The Bronze Tone now looks to peach and I definitely do not want that. Now on the the other walls. The color on the walls now is Ralph Lauren Sahara and it is a flat paint that shows every single finger print and is impossible to clean. I would like a color similar but possibly lighter. Here are a few colors in the gold/orange family that might work. or I am looking a at a light version of what is currently in the room. But still not sure this will look good or not. I don't want the no wall to be to light and non-color that it disappears or makes the room look off balanced. Okay need to make the decision before the weekend is over, so wish me luck!

I think I may have found the color for our living room. It might be influenced by the season since it is a pumpkin color and the last time I painted out living room was around Halloween as well. I discover the color by accident. I had a coupon for 2 free sample jars of paint from Benjamin Moore. I just wanted to make sure I really wanted orange so I got two that I thought would be close. Although I had already had both of the paint chips at home and didn't like either. Top center is the Pumpkin Cream and bottom right is Bronze Tone. One has more red and the other has more yellow. I really didn't like either of them since they aren't Sunned Tanned Pumpkin..but when I put them on the wall.....  they seem to look the same. Pumpkin Cream on left and Bronze tone on right. They are still wet and the shine is throwing of the color as well as the Pumpkin Cream will need a base coat or multiple coats for good coverage. This is only for two accent walls and not the entire room sinc...