This New House

I spent most of the holiday season daydreaming about decorating our new home and hosting big family-style dinners, a vision that felt simultaneously far and distant. Then, just three days after Christmas (and ~104 days after our initial offer), our realtor delivered the key that would let us begin our anxiously awaited next move.

Before even setting foot into the house, Jeff and I made a trip to Home Depot for primer and painting supplies. We had a move in plan that we had spent weeks developing. Even though we have bought a beautiful home with many fine finishes and features, our to-do list is nearly twenty items long. Some are no-brainers and more urgent (painting rooms), while others are dream projects that might not happen for many years. To our benefit, our apartment lease doesn't end until January 31st, giving us a month to tackle these initial projects prior to moving in. Therefore, we wanted to check some of the painting projects of our list first.

Jeff surveying the peach walls. 

The kitchen was a shade of peach that seemed to darken the whole room. Choosing a new color was not easy. A lovely glass mosaic backsplash in shades of brown accents the kitchen. We purchased three sample jars of paint and together vetoed them all (for the kitchen at least, I'm using all three in other rooms). After spying a magazine kitchen with a similar brown color scheme, I suggested we try a green. And with very little other inspiration, we just went for it. Having finished priming and painting on our first weekend of ownership, Jeff and I stepped back to evaluate the color choice. We agreed that neither one of us was head over heels in love with the color, but it did achieve two objectives: lighten and brighten the room and blend in with the brown themed kitchen.

Walls are primed. Doors are not. 

Magazine inspiration, our backsplash and color card.

Unfortunately, we did discover that every door in the house has been painted a color to match the walls in any given room. Add that to our to-do list. Every door needs to be repainted, but we'll tackle that project slowly (and maybe in warmer weather). In our kitchen, the two peach doors look like pumpkins against our green walls. Oh well.

Newly painted green kitchen

Feeling accomplished by this first room, we spent our second weekend of ownership priming the master bedroom, which was also too dark for our tastes. We were able to prime the entire space and painted the ceiling a bright white. The ceiling was brown before. I know. Brown ceiling? Yep. Okay, a dark tan. You can come by and see it in Nathan's room which will also need to be painted.

Dark red-orange-brown master bedroom

This weekend's to-do list:

• Paint the master bedroom. I've chosen a blue-gray color that was previously rejected for the kitchen.
• Re-install original light fixtures throughout house (~6 total). The sellers had a formal style that prompted them to remove the brushed nickel type lighting fixtures and replace with brown fixtures that have dark glass (leaving many rooms just plain dark). We'll be selling those if you're interested. ;)
• Unpack books onto shelves. Not a high priority but there are 11 or so boxes of books strewn about the library.