Hello fine friends, thank you so much for all of your comments (and mockups!!!) on my lighting score and dinette drama post. There was kind of a lot of feedback to process there… so I got overwhelmed and did absolutely nothing towards addressing the dinette/kitchen problems last weekend. Instead we painted ceilings and stair risers.
Sexy.
Not really, but it feels nice to get a neutral base going so I can hear myself think around here. I’m getting the tiniest bit closer to solving all of the (my) worlds’s problems, so here are my responses to some to your questions and comments.
1) The dinette is the dinette and the front room is a playroom because the front room is kind of secluded and will never ever get used as a dining room. Also it is very very wee.
Hi, front room! Don’t worry, paint for the shelves is still on the docket. It’s looking like wall color in high gloss.
I am the decider. Boom.
2) I am feeling very wiffle waffley about our current dining table. I hate to put time and energy into painting it properly (it will have to withstand childocalypse), so I am trying to decide between leaving it suburban brown and saving up to buy this:
$1100 shipped. On one hand, I am a little gun shy about the quality… it has a cast aluminum base which is a plus, but that sucker really has to be heavy to stay upright when tiny monkeys hang off the edges. On the other hand, I think a simple pedestal table would solve a lot of problems. In all white, this guy would go with almost any chair, bench, settee, etc, imaginable.
3) You may have steamrollered me into painting the kitchen cabinets. MAYBE. I have about 800 things to do before I propel a watermelon sized human out of my vagina in a few months, so this is low on the list. But it’s on the list.
Now I will just have to decide on a color. I will tell you now that I want cream, and you will probably tell me to go gray green. It’s going to be an epic struggle.
4) Speaking of baby, if you think the dinette drama is a hot mess, you should see all the paint swatches in the fetus’ room. Sanders has been very patient with my umpteen sample requests, but he probably secretly (or not so secretly) wants to kill me.
This was my inspiration, and while it’s very cute I just can’t find a green I like in that room. It gets a lot of light and everything goes neon pastel babytown in there.
Meet my new inspiration. It’s perfect — well, except for the sharpened obelisks of doom. But I think I’m going to go creamy neutral tone on tone, with a pop of cobalt. Lots of texture.
Ok, so that’s only four things but it’s four more than I had last week.
Now you can decide whether I should splurge on the table and what color to paint my cabinets.
But fair warning: despite the fact that it’s now covered in paint swatches and the ceilings are painted with raggedy unfinished edges, that area is kind of on the back burner (until I start tearing my hair out over its horrificness). My ever expanding belly is urging me to prioritize…
Baby here in T-14 weeks. Also car #2 is dying.
Deep breaths.
[nursery via Apartment Therapy, amazing room via Wendy Schwartz Designs]
Related posts:
OK, obelisk room is to die for. What is that on the walls…paper? A screen? I am madly in love with everything about it. Even the obelisks. Find a pair and glue them down. Hmmm, though that would not solve impalement issues. Let me think on that.
The table is fab…though if it were me, I would go for the marble version. Though that’s probably a gazillion dollars more. Either way, I think it’s a great solution.
I love the marble, but I’m planning (hoping, wishing) to do marble counters somewhere down the road so that seems like maybe a bit of overkill???
And I think that room has a special fancy door. At least, that’s all I can figure.
Yes…overkill. Agree. Marble countertops are so pretty…good, sturdy plan.
I love the second baby room inspiration.
I can feel your sense of urgency, but just remember your house(s) always look amazing and there is no due date for interior decorating.
Rest while you can!
xo
Oh Erin, your witty posts make my day! Loving that textured room and your nursery plans. Minty green is a HARD color to get right…it’s up there with white and gray, they can go oh so wrong! I’ll always love that table so of course I vote for saving some clams for it.
You might try some very pale blues in the “duck egg” variety…with a lot of sunlight, they should go towards the color of the web nursery. Or it might be worth a try. Especially with Sanders to help eliminate the ones that will not turn green in your room.
What about your hot pink cabinet pin? Just a teaser?
I wish I had the cojones to go for hot pink cabinets, but no way. Never. Honestly the counters are so bossy that I don’t have many choices for colors: greens, rust, beige, brown, warm grays, cream. Blah. I’ll try to take an accurate picture if/when it gets closer to choosing a color.
I’ve tried about 800 different blues and greens in the nursery. To avoid anything too babyish, I have to go medium dark with lots of gray. I think I’d rather go light neutral than dark in there. The room is just so tiny and bright.
love the table and chairs! i am dreaming of panton chairs right now for myself. i posted that Wendy Schwartz photo on my pinterest recently so ya know i love it! for the kitchen, what do you think about dark lower cabinets and light upper cabinets? thought about trying this at my house as a temporary fix.
Just saw this don’t know if you’d like it or not but it’d save you $950.
http://austin.craigslist.org/fuo/2963618258.html
My thoughts, which I don’t claim are of any use to you:
(1) That table has potential. Is the $1100 for just the table, or the chairs too? If you’re not buying the set, I’m less in favor, because IMHO the table you have was working better than the other elements so replacing it for a high price makes less than entire sense to me.
(2) I like both baby inspiration rooms. FWIW, I wanted a very similar (OK, identical) color for my main hallway. I was happy with both Behr’s Water Sprout and Spring Morn – I think Water Sprout is less likely to go cloyingly pastel because it has more yellow in it. Your room is sunny and my hallway is sometimes dark, so maybe it won’t work for you (and I know you use Benjamin Moore, but they can probably color-match the Behr chip), and also I do like the new inspiration room, but I just wanted to offer the thought.
(3) For some reason the cabinets I thought you referred to painting were a few built-ins in the dining area that were somehow invisible in your photos (don’t ask, my brain works in strange ways). I didn’t realize you meant all the kitchen cabinets, and I have no little respect for the scope of that undertaking. (But I will be painting my own.)
(4) Kitchen cabinet color: I like ivory kitchen cabinets. Ivory tile I’m not so keen on. It’s your house, of course, but whether you like the ivory backsplash and floor or not, I don’t think you can have an ivory backsplash and floor AND ivory cabinets. Am I missing something?
(5) The woolly ottoman with the claw feet looks as though it is about to rouse itself from slumber. (The correct movie reference will pop into my head the moment I click “submit.”) If nothing else, you MUST include this element in the nursery. And I will now have to find out a way to work it into my home. I think the ikea $30 flokati is the correct starting point, but the feet will really make it…off to craigslist.
DUUUUUUDE. Your new nursery inspiration is my family room inspiration lately! My parsons chairs want to be cobalt velvet real bad. I think that would be an amazing scheme for a babe!
I would cut off my right arm (and I’m right handed) for that tulip table. Assuming it can withstand the chitlins, you would NEVER regret that purchase. Right?? And then you could close your eyes and point to pick out cabinet colors because no one will even notice them next to that table!!
Also, I’d like to be super creepster and request that you email me so I can get your email address (tobe@becauseitsawesomeblog.com). I need private consult on mi casa. Naomi’s getting hit up, too. That’s what you guys get for being awesome.
If the tulip table will fit, you will never regret the purchase. My three heathens have hardly put a dent in ours. Sure, the marble is scratched and the first few scratches were painful, but that thing is indestructible and I can’t tell you how much I love the oval shape.
On another note, you really think marble counters would be overkill. Cause that makes me
sad. I want marble counters. And the requisite bank account to fund them.
I’m half brain dead today so your not gonna get anything good out of me.
I like the two-tone kitchen idea. Gray/taupey below and creamier on top? I think all cream will be like whoa. Only worth it if you guys are DIY-ing. I don’t seeing paying 2Gs if your redoing it in a couple of years. Paint the frames and just take the upper doors off. Those arched doors make me mad.
I’m down like James Brown for the second nursery. Do you have iron windows? I think you need iron windows.
PS- can you please have Sanders recommend the perfect pale pink for me. I’m redoing the room I’m squatting in and I want to recreate Myles Redd only paler.
http://pinterest.com/pin/45950858668329639/
I’m a big fan of two-toned cabinets. Paint the top light and the bottom dark. Makes the room feel light, but grounded. I have a light grey on my top cabinets and a dark brown on the bottom along with cream walls. All the colors were in the granite counters that were already there. Can’t wait to see what you decide to do!
I wish we had iron windows… that would be dope!
I hate the floor tile and backsplash (shudder), but we won’t be tackling them for another year or two. The cabinet paint job will also be temporary, as I want my old glossy Ikea abstrakt cabinets back.
In the meantime, I could do the two tone idea, I think.
As for the table, the price is just for the table. The top comes in many different finishes. Its appeal is mostly that it will fit our space perfectly and allow for many different seating options. Still thinking on it.
Nay, I’ll ask Sanders.
Phew, I am exhausted reading your post. So much to do, so little time.
Marble is good, but don’t worry about that now. So is painting your cabinets. Left in their current state it sucks the air out of my lungs.
Look at a Farrow and Ball color (or should I say colour) chart for your green baby room inspiration. My guess is that the Brits have figured this green question out. No neon there. Sanders can match.
I found some chairs at the Wisteria warehouse, more than 50% off. Will send you photos.
Agree with Nelya, can’t go wrong with the oval table. Sell the other.
Marybeth
I love that stripey curtain leopard carpet baby room.
I’ve got two-toned kitchen cabinets — cream on top and dark brown on the bottom. I love them (I’ve had them for ten years now and I still love ‘em), it breaks up the room somehow and makes them less overwhelming.
New table = good, and a lot less work than painting the other other one…. especially if you are now going to be painting the kitchen cabinets.
The oval table would make so much sense in there, you can always squeeze extra people and having no legs to get in the way is a Godsend.
Now, for our cabin I took a white oval Ikea dining table (I don’t know the name) that I bought from CL for $50, I removed the chrome legs, I added a chrome steel tulip base that I stole from a small round vintage table I bought from CL for $100. So, for $150 I have a Saarinen inspired dining table. I still want to paint the chrome white, but I haven’t yet. As for the Ikea table top, it is indistructable. You may be able to do such a mash up whilst waiting to buy the perfect new version.
Where are you getting the oval saarinen inspired table? Curious what other tops they have available. $1100 is a great price.
Hi Jeremy, I’m ordering it from all world furniture and they have tons of great tops. So far customer service is very responsive so I think I’m going to go for it. Let me know what you decide to do!