Thursday, March 25, 2010

Day 999: progress inside and out


We have been busy, busy bees lately! Our backyard deck is coming along nicely after four Saturdays of work at countless trips to Lowe's.


Wes has braved cold rain, humidity, and mountains of mud to get it ready for our wonderful spring weather. We have a large and very private backyard (more so when the trees have leaves on them) and have been looking forward to having breakfast, lunch and dinner out there since we moved in two years ago.


Wes' Dad and our friend Ben have lent their hands, and I even helped mix concrete one weekend, but it has really been Wes' labor of love and I am so proud of (and thankful for) his hard work.


Meanwhile, I have been working on a little makeover in our bedroom (here is my inspiration). It was the first room in the house we painted, and I can't really say that I ever loved it. At first it was a bit difficult to admit that I'd made a "mistake," but after going through three paint colors in the office, I decided there wasn't any harm in painting the bedroom again. Paint, after all, is one of the easiest and least expensive thing to change, and usually has the greatest impact.

I painted the walls China White and the ceiling 1/2 formula of Palladian Blue (both by Benjamin Moore) and I love it. After the China White went up I wasn't sure I hadn't made another mistake (this is my first foray into white walls), but now that the ceiling is done it's perfect. Now if I can tear Wes away from the deck for a minute, we can deal with the space our lovely recessed square lighting left us, hang the new light fixture (well, it's new to us) and caulk and paint the crown, and we'll be in business!

19 comments:

paula said...

Jennifer its looking great! love the blue ceiling. Cant wait to see the finished deck.

Unknown said...

your deck is going to turn out so nice!

LindsB said...

GO Wes!! I am so jealous of your amazing deck you are going to have!! Having a deck is like the best part of a house sometimes. My parents have one, and a screened in porch and its where we LIVE in the summer!

I cant wait to see pictures when its all done!

PS- the initials thing is so cute!

Southern Exposure said...

Our house has those same square recessed lights and I hate them! They are so hard to replace because the square hole is so much bigger than most light canopies. Ugh. I can't wait to see your new light fixture. And the blue on the ceiling looks really pretty!

megan @ a life's design said...

Everything is coming along so nicely. I really have to come by and see everything in person!

Kristina said...

Ooh, please share more pictures of your white walls... In his perfect world, hubby would want all his walls white, but I'm scared it'd look too bland.

Under a year ago, I painted our living room and hallway a gray, which now seems WAY too dark and cold. And our kitchen is a BRIGHT green that I wish, now, was a bit toned down! Hubs really doesn't want me to paint again though (too much work, he says)!

RLG said...

LOVE the colors! I'm going light and neutral here, and I'm so excited. I'm hoping it's going to lighten my mood about this place. ;)

Can't wait to see day 1000. xoxo

Katie said...

I love a painted ceiling and the color you chose is really gorgeous!

margaret said...

can't wait to see the finished deck! i hope you don't mind but i linked on my blog to your "flowering branches" post. i loved it and it inspired me to clip some of my own!

margaret

Kelly@TearingUpHouses said...

My goodness, you HAVE been busy! You must be so excited about the new deck!

Kelly

Erin @ Cultivating Home said...

I, too, have the square recessed lighting. Are you going to cover it with a medallion, drywall it to a smaller size, or something else? I would greatly appreciate you posting about this project so I can convince my husband it can be changed!

~Erin

Doug Davis said...

No, no, China White is always the way to go! Looks great!

Amanda said...

LOVE the ceiling. Did you see where the house in this month's Southern Living is 1/2 mix of Palladian blue??? I love it! And yes, the deck is awesome! Go Wes!

Kim @ NewlyWoodwards said...

Ooo... that's going to be a beautiful deck. It looks really big, too. How nice!

Love the painted ceiling and the wall color. GORG!

Catherine said...

You're going to have such a great time out on that deck! Outdoor dining is where it's at come summer! We're looking forward to it as well as LAST year we spent the entire summer building our patio (it was harder than we anticipated). So cheers to outdoor dining! And to the miracles of paint - can't wait to see your bedroom! Trina

Lacey said...

Very pretty! White is just so clean, and the blue ceiling makes it exciting.

Chic Coles said...

Congrats on the progress with your deck...that is unbelievably hard work!

Jennifer said...

Amanda -- I just saw that, too funny!

Chanse and Janell said...

So jealous of your new deck! It's going to be such a nice addition to your house:)