wallpaper borders

i am finally getting around to posting about my front door....(FINALLY!)and despite all of the very enthusiastic votes for "stuart gold", i opted for "leap of faith."



i know, i know!
don't get mad at me! i absolutely love it when you all take time to give me your opinions, and i value them very much! i actually loved the way stuart gold looked, but i liked the depth or leap of faith just a bit more. it was a bit darker and moodier, and i am THRILLED with the way it looks.



the door was actually painted before we left on our trip, and i have been dying to show you, but i was waiting until we had the door hardware on. things kept coming up to delay the installation, (snow, we didn't have the right tools on hand, a piece of the door knob was missing in action, and (of course) football. i mean, who wants to install a door knob when there is an exciting football game to watch? answer? not my husband.)




after 6 months of having a temporary knob on the front door, i am so happy to finally have the "real" front door handle set installed.


thanks again for your patience! i can't wait to show y'all some highlights of our trip, and i have a fun and easy christmas project to share as well. my posting has been a little sparse, i know--the whole computer situation is now partially resolved with my new laptop, but of course then we ran into another issue when we got home--our internet was ssss----l---oooo--w. like, REALLY slow!  because of the location of our house, our options for internet are limited. we decided to go with a company that requires a dish on the side of the house, which is great, UNTIL you have a snow storm...or snow gets in the dish---and then the speed of the  connection slows tremendously. UGH. i wanted to write a post the day we got home (last thursday), but it was taking a full minute or two to open a page. i think things are finally back to normal! lets just hope that we don't get another snow storm!

as you know, my house is white.


when we first moved in, i was pretty certain i wanted medium to dark gray shutters, and a very dark door. after living here a while, and looking at pictures of white houses, i realized how often i gravitate to CLASSIC white houses with black shutters. i mean, i could practically rename my "architecture" board on pinterest "i LOVE white houses with black shutters"...cuz that is a majority of what is there!


anyway, i have decided that i want the shutters (when we add them) to be black.
so, that leaves the front door....
black is a classic look:



and so is red:



i am not really a "red" girl though---i tend to be drawn to darker, more subdued tones like peacock blue and pumpkin and mustard yellow. i started looking at white houses with yellow doors, and something inside of me KNEW this was the answer!


ahhhh! now, to find the RIGHT shade of mustard...


i held up my paint deck to the door and came up with 3 options:


"leap of faith"..."stuart gold" and "autumn gold"



now, i have a kinda weird system that i occasionally use when selecting colors for my own house. first, i will pick out 2-3 colors from the benjamin moore deck...then, when i go to lowes or home depot to mix up my samples, i will choose 1-2 "wild card" options from whatever line that they carry. these are colors that i *think might be similar to the colors i have already chosen, but different enough that i get some variety.

here are the final colors i sampled:


a look at the color standing out farther...i think this is a better representation of what the colors really look like:


and the winner?
what do you think??
please leave a comment!

(*warning! no "pretty" pictures in this post--just run of the mill iphone quickies!)

we haven't tackled any major items on our punch list, but a few small things are getting done.
for starters, we are in the process of having our exterior doors painted:
(isn't the paper towel in the dead bolt hole classy?)


i also bought some shades for my ebay chandelier. this is such a minor thing, but makes a world of difference in the output of light! it is much softer and more pleasant. i am not 100% in love with these shades...i ordered them online and when they arrived, i almost returned them, but i figured they are good enough for now.


my mini office, right off the kitchen is badly needing some storage. we bought this ikea peice but havent put it together yet:
i have been zeroing in on how i want to design this space, and i think i finally have a good idea of what i want! i will be sharing more details soon.


halloween was a blast!



my oldest daughter olivia has officially "aged-out" of halloween, so that was a little surreal. instead of trick-or-treating, she and some friends got together and hung out. so weird that i have a non-trick-or-treating child!

charlotte turned 12 the day after halloween, and so we had a "halloweenish" birthday party for her at our house.  i actually have some professional pictures of a few of the details that i will post later in the week. yay!


FIXED the weird pink streaks coming from my new spot light by replacing the bulb! i was so worried that the new bulb i bought at lowes were going to have the same coloring, but it didn't! i am so happy!


and, we woke up to snow on sunday morning! it was such a shock because the previous two days were in the high 60's. ahhh, utah...you kill me sometimes!

we are (finally) having our front and back exterior doors painted! i am pretty excited. since this is such a small area, i really don't have a design plan for it---just an idea of what i want...what i like to call an action plan!


door color:
the color choice for the back door was an easy one for me--onyx by benjamin moore.
it is my favorite black--dark but soft, and with a neutral tone to it.
all of the other doors in the house are a slightly softer black called "blackjack", but i want the exterior doors to be just a little bit darker and shinier.



art:
i have a set of these vintage guache paintings that my dad bought in brazil in the 1960's. i think i will hang a grouping of them on the small wall adjacent to the door.





 it is 2' x 2'9", and fits perfectly in front of my door.

 i really love the texture and pattern that it adds to this little area of my house. i am also so impressed with the quality and feel of this little area rug! it is tightly woven, and the colors are so deep and rich.


new hardware:
like the rest of the doors in the house, the back door will get this knob:

(the andover series from schlaage)


everything should be all wrapped up by this weekend! i am excited to show you.



thank you to medallion rug gallery  for collaborating with me on this post!

...i also could have titled this post :

"how to get paint out of your hair",

OR

"how to get paint off slate floors"

cuz, yeah.
i had a little paint MISHAP yesterday evening:

as you know, i have been putting off painting gradys bathroom for weeeeeeeeks now. i finally got the motivation last night at about 8pm to start. i know. bad idea #1.


 things were actually going very well. i finished all the prep work in under an hour, started cutting in along the ceiling and around the toilet,vanity and door, and was rolling the walls by 10, happily and loudly listening to pandora on my iphone. (a little abba with some disney movie songs thrown in. don't ask. i was in a weird mood.)

 i had finished my second coat, and had some paint in a container that i was using to do touch-ups along the ceiling. i totally forgot that i left the container of paint on the ladder...until i went to move the ladder and felt the paint fall on my head!!
and drip down my neck!
and basically get alllll over me and the floor.



of course, i had a drop cloth down, but about half of the paint that hit the floor happened to land on the one spot where the drop cloth had pulled away! yeah. good times.
what a mess!