goodbye "toasted almond" hello "smoked oyster"!

taxes are done, so now i can get back to blogging & stamping & other fun things!!!

(this was done last weekend, but i told myself i couldn't finish writing the post or post it until the taxes were done!)

i've been wanting to paint the living room for some time now, but couldn't decide on a color. it's been boring "toasted almond" for.ev.er.

toasted almond as in "we'll go with that (boring)color to make the (boring)husband happy." well he's been the ex-husband for almost 9 years now (WOW!! NINE years?!?!) so it's time for a change!

i had a whole bunch of color swatches but couldn't decide, so it was on hold. i wanted something grayish brown or brownish gray. i REALLY wanted to paint it like the bedroom -- "sueded leather" is my all time favorite!) but i wanted the bedroom to be special so i'm not gonna paint any other room that color. i was trying to decide where to hang the tractor & truck pictures & when i got to moving things i realized how HORRIBLE the walls were & that they MUST be painted. the living room's only been "original builder grade white" (bone actually) & "toasted almond" in the 25 years we've lived here, so it was TIME to paint again!!! it's funny how some of the blogs i read, the ladies paint their walls every year or so!!!! the only room that's seen more paint in more different colors is suzanne's room. it's been 8 different colors!!!! (and one of those times it was 5 different colors at once! she had each wall a different color - blue, pink, green, lavender & the ceiling was yellow!!! so does that technically make it 14 colors???!!!)

anyway --- friday night i just picked up the samples - i'd been looking at them in all different lights - went to lowe's & chose one! i chose "smoked oyster" - it was a toss up between that & "tempered allspice". now i'm thinking i wish i had gone with tempered allspice!!!!! i like the smoked oyster - it's a grayish brown, but it has a lavender undertone. in the daytime it looks very "purple-y". it's pretty at night though & since i'm at work during the day, i'm not lookin' at it that much then!!!! i was afraid the tempered allspice would look too yellow. UGH! i hate choosing paint for a huge wall from those teeny tiny samples!!! WHY can't them make them bigger??????

oh well! the paint is on the wall & it's gonna stay that way for a while. (hopefully not 15 or 20 years!!!) the walls go 1/2 way to heaven & i was standing on the top rung of a 10 foot ladder. up & down, up & down. my calves are soooooo sore!!!! when we had it painted about 12 years ago or so, we had professionals paint it. i don't have the $$ to pay professionals, so it was up to me. it wasn't that hard, but going up & down that ladder took a toll!!

i went to lowe's at 7:30 pm. left there at 8:15pm (wandered around the store for a little bit waiting out a HUGE rainstorm!!! i couldn't see how hard it was raining, but the sound of it in that building was terrible!!!! i started painting at 9 & stayed up ALL night painting!!!!!!

(i've gotten hooked on the tv show "hart of dixie" & have been watching it on netflix, so i had it on while i painted.) finally finished early afternoon & it's a good thing because i was slowly running out of steam!!!! there's one little area above the ledge that i left toasted almond because i was afraid i'd mess up the ceiling because i just couldn't quite reach it!! the contrast is ok -- so until it gets professionally painted again (probably never!!!), that's just the way it'll be!!

original "toasted almond":

(the bible verses are gone. had to paint over them -- woulda looked stupid had i not!!! maybe i'll write them again - haven't decided yet.)

here you can see the difference in the 2 colors:

and all done!!!!!:

(the wall behind the tv is the same color as the wall on the fireplace. it just looks different the way the light is hitting it.)

i need help hanging the window back up. it is HEAVY! i don't know how i ever got it up all by myself the 1st time! it's gonna take 2 people on 2 ladders. (or maybe i was just too tired saturday, that's why it was so heavy!!!! but when i took it down friday night, i thought i might fall off the ladder......don't tell anyone that though!!!) i did put it back up & was sitting in the chair when--- CRASH!!!! it fell down!!! straight down - took the tractor picture with it though! scarred the livin' daylights outta me!!! i was so worried that the glass broke or the wood frame broke -- or even worse-- the tractor's canvas ripped!!!! but praise the Lord, everything was OK!!!! just a little scraped up wall, but i had the paintbrush right there & touched it up & you can't tell!!! it was a miracle the window didn't break! i don't think i had it on the hooks exactly right. i'm gonna wait til suzanne or justin can help me hang it.

it's really hard to take photos & get the true color, but at least you get an idea.

if you wanna see the real thing, come on over!!!!