Finally a room I can love

Slowly, very, very slowly, we are re-doing each room in our little old house. When we bought our little 1940's bungalow seven years ago, it was habitable, and while not the ugliest decor we had seen it certainly wasn't my taste. And I didn't even know what my taste was. I'm still not sure, because as soon as I figure it out, it changes. At first, I wanted everything tan and red. It took me many paint jobs to find the "right tan" (I think it was called "Dune"). Dune went everywhere. Walls and trim in the kitchen and living room. And I added a dark red wall in the kitchen and cranberry colored curtains in the living room.

Well, after a few years of "Dune", I got bored with it. And the red. Everything was just too dark. So, I painted again. Paint, I am quickly learning, is the poor decorator's best friend. I will (and have) painted just about anything.

Being the wise person that I am, I knew I'd probably change my mind about accent colors after about 30 seconds. So from the neutrals I opted for a grayish color called "Roman Column", which has now covered every inch of "Dune", except for the trim which is now white. I like it much better, as it's much brighter and makes our little house feel bigger.

Unfortunately, I have not been able to remove all traces of tan and red, since things like furniture, rugs and drapes are a little more expensive, but thanks to Ikea, those things are on the list. This is probably a good time to mention that I heart Ikea for all things home-related. And their salmon meal in the cafe. Delish.

So while the living room will remain in decorating limbo until I save up some money and my children destroy what we have beyond repair, the kitchen is well on it's way to being DONE. I now love my kitchen. Which is odd because up until about a year ago I loathed my kitchen and thought surely it would never change due to cost. But I got creative and managed to change everything on a very (VERY VERY) small budget. Like, next to nothing. I'm not kidding. It does my heart good not to have pink countertops anymore. I painted them black. Yes, you heard me right. And they are awesome now. So now, when I'm sitting in my living room casting evil glances at the red-filled rug on the floor, I can glance into the kitchen and see this:


And this view calms me, especially when I forget that around the corner there are dozens of dishes waiting for me on the counter.

My advice to any new homeowner/extremely poor/decorator wannabe is to...all right, I have no advice because I'm really not that great of a decorator. But I can attest to the power of paint. And Ikea.

And there will be no photos of the bathroom anytime soon.