Good morning, lovelies. I am so tired today - my muscles are aching and if I didn't have a lot to do today I could veg out all day - but that's not really my style so I've been finishing off a French sideboard and painting a little cabinet as well as cleaning my house and drafting a business plan for one of my consulting clients.
The reason for my tired limbs is yesterday morning as I lay in bed, you know how you do, lie there for a few minutes gathering your thoughts for the day before getting up to the onslaught of getting kids dressed, packing lunches, where's my hat, library books, my homework and an inevitable fuss from one kids while the other kid is being extra good...etc... you all know the drill... well I decided I'd had enough of the pale blue walls in our bedroom. We've had the same paint colour in our bedroom for 15 years now, in two houses and it was time for a change. And when I make up my mind to do something I like to start straight away. So once the kiddos were dropped off at school I went and bought the paint and got stuck into it.
The bedroom had been painted a lovely soft blue with lilac undertones, Northern Star by Taubmans. I loved our bedroom colour but lately had been feeling that it to be more neutral.
Lucky the gorgeous son of our neighbours was home yesterday and came and gave me a hand. Our bedroom is pretty large (by Australian standards) and the wood trim means there is double the amount of cutting in and with ceilings that are over 12 foot tall it was a lot of hard work. Dylan is very tall so he spent most of the day up the ladder painting the top section. I still need to paint the wood trim. It will be bright white enamel like the rest of our house and so will be a better contrast to the soft French beige that the walls are.
The French woven chair is one I painted and upholstered a year ago. I have had many offers to buy this but I don't think I'll ever part with it as it's one of my favourite pieces of furniture I've made over. It is the chair that was featured in the Home Section of the Daily telegraph last year thanks to my good friend Veronica Morgan of Location, Location, Location Australia fame.
The rest of our house is painted in Dulux Sleigh which is a muted French beige. I wanted a similar colour but not as dark so I asked for a half tint. This means the colour will work perfectly with the other colours in our house but it the room will be brighter. I have been walking in and out of our room all last night and this morning getting used to the new colour and the loss of blue. I think I like it...
The best thing about painting the room is that I've also tidied it up. I gathered up all my random tools - screw drivers, brushes, wax, and more and filled half a bag - I need to put away my tools after I finish a job. It would make for a much neater bedroom!
This is a little corner for the best doggy in the Inner West, Charlie, who is my faithful companion. The painting above the dog bed is new. I bought it when I was down in Eden clearing out my mum's house. It is by South Coast artist John Downton and is of Quondolo Point at Ben Boyd National Park. This is almost the exact spot that I spent most of my childhood, on the beach swimming with my family.
Here is another John Downton painting that was my mother's. I now have several of his beautiful paintings that I need to work out where to hang. In the meantime I quite like this one here on my chest of drawers. These French drawers are now crying out for a fresh coat of white paint. When the room was blue they didn't look too bad, they now look terrible against the clean white walls and I will paint them soon!
While I'm slowing the room, I thought I'd share with you are beautiful original ornate ceiling. They certainly don't make them like they used to. I really adore this pattern. When we moved in we spent a lot of time repairing the original ceilings as the previous owners were heavy smokers (both of them died from emphysema and there were dark smoke plumes in every room. You could see where they sat/lay smoking in bed. (not a pretty visual is it, let's not go there).
Luckily Phil had a dinner on last night and didn't get home till late so the room was back in order for him. He hates coming home to a half finished job. It was a bigger job than I expected trying to get it all done in one day (especially going from a darker to a lighter colour) so I was glad to get it all done in one day even if I am a bit trashed today.
What do you think of my room? better blue or white?
Have you ever woken up and thought I'd going to change the house today on the spur of the moment? I'd love you to tell me what you did, at least make me feel like I'm not the only crazy one.
Fiona xx
