fabulous photos you must see...

"The Way We Live" is an astonishing book of photos of homes, inside and out, from Burundi to Paris, Stockholm to Oaxaca. This book came across the desk at our library and I keep renewing it because I can't give it up. What I especially like is that the spaces don't look so "done" but have an idiosyncratic, spirited feel. Want to be inspired, well then get hold of this book!

After work I'm off to the paint store--the breakfast room ceiling I'll paint is all scrubbed and ready to go. Spring is starting to happen here as you can see by the hyacinths I cut from out front today. It's to be a rainy week but the blossom are even more fragrant then...

All done!

This is the fun part--taking a photo of a finished room! Behind the bed, just this one wall, is painted a color called Soho from the Ralph Lauren Urban Loft palette. Cutting the edges called for a steady hand and shallow breathing to get the line straight (I don't like masking tape, it always seems give an imprecise line for me). All the rest is painted White Dove from Benjamin Moore.

So I'm excited for the next project: painting the ceiling in the breakfast room. But it's sunny after many gray days and Valentines Day at that so am going to get outside and get started tomorrow!

Inspiration

How gorgeous are these Stockholm interiors from emmas.blogg.se....they really do inspire me. Happy to say that the bedroom is about done (just 1 more coat on some trim, why doesn't paint ever seem to cover in just one coat, never mind that we went from Vanilla to white??) When it is sunny I'll put up pictures.

Since I work in a library I get to see lots of books on interior design and decorating. Why not visit YOUR local library and have a look at one of my favorites, "Contemporary Chic" by Rozemarijn deWitte. All the homes in the book exhibit the elegant, restrained European look I love. Creamy linen and honey woods or energetic primary tones--I love them all. Check out this book !

I got the second coat on the door and trim and some sanding of the baseboards in the bedroom. This paint went on well (Benjamin Moore White Dove in pearl finish) with none of the problems of too-fast drying which I've had in the past, maybe because our weather has been so damp?? My plan is to finish the baseboards this weekend. The white walls and trim are inspired in part by my current favorite blog, http://emmas.blogg.se which is a feast for the eyes if you love looking at sparkling white Swedish interiors, spare with a hit of color. Check out this blog--there is also a wonderful tour of Emma's favorite places in Stockholm!

When I've mentioned my idea of renting out the house people have said "oh that sounds like a lot of work." I'm fine with working hard but it does bring up a good point: how much time and effort will be involved here? And let me start off by saying this is work that Jim and I will do ourselves, after work and on weekends. This is nothing new for me--I almost always have a room I'm painting or a garden project. But things that have been put off (like painting the downspouts and clearing out closets) will have to get done. There are A LOT of those kinds of projects around here.

I'm planning to add photos of the works-in-progress and what I'm really hoping is that you other

DIYers will send on tips and ideas from your own experiences. As soon as these rainstorms end and we get some sunny afternoons I will get back to painting the bedroom woodwork (started before the holidays). The forecast for the weekend is for sun: time to get started. So if you are a crack woodwork painter, please let me learn from you!