Peacock Blue!

Here is the painted door. 

I love the color- and the high gloss finish.

Thank you Sunny for the recommendation!

Farrow & Ball - Peacock Blue

It is already up - I'll go by today and take a picture. I got this great rubbed bronze mailbox - I can't wait to see how that will look against the blue.

It is bright, but someday when I can finally add black shutters, I think it will be just the right amount of punch!

Photo updates....

The Island has arrived - and in one piece!

 It's dusty in these pictures, and I took them with my phone - so it looks a bit flatter than it really is. Once it is all cleaned up - I think it will look more exciting.

This shot shows the Bamboo on the first floor. I really miss the concrete - but I think the bamboo warms up the room. 

Besides...if we have to sell the house, I think most buyers would prefer the bamboo to the concrete.

This is a shot of the front hall/foyer. 

On the door you can see color samples. I was tempted to just stick with black - to match the shutters. 

(The hypothetical shutters - since I can't seem to find anyone to make shutters that I can afford!)

My husband gave me a hard time about the black - and reminded me that part of the reason I wanted to choose the neutral siding color, was so that I could have a fun door color.

So....I called my trusted color Guru, Sunny. 

She recommended this "Peacock Blue" - and (sight unseen) I decided to take the leap.

The kids are thrilled - they love the color!

In my continued effort to avoid bland and boring choices...

I asked the painter to redo the stain on the railings. I asked for the darkest stain - that would still show the wood grain. 

He switched to ebony, and rubbed the edges so that some areas are more "worn" looking and show more of the oak. 

I think ot adds a bit of Umph

These are the Calen knobs that the builder helped me find. He knew I was looking for a basic, traditional looking knob - and these were a good price. 

Someday - if I get to live in this house - I think I will switch out to glass knobs. In the mean time - I like these.

This is a terrible picture - but I wanted to get a shot of the pantry. 

What defines a farmhouse better than a great big pantry? 

Can't you just see my jars of jam & pickled cucumbers lining these shelves?

(I know ... I should probably start cooking dinner more often, before I make grand plans to start canning, but... I like the idea of it. Who knows - maybe I will start spending my days in my new kitchen, over a hot stove, cooking, baking, canning, singing as I work....stop giggling - it could happen!)

Metal roof is going up - and we are bickering with the city about the driveway - but other than that, nothing more to report at the moment.

I'll get the pictures of the door up soon.

It is sure to make a stir in the neighborhood!

Take care.

Pinterest - it's a beautiful thing!

For those of us that are limited in the memory department, 

Pinterest is a beautiful thing.

For months now I have been able to gather ideas and inspiration from multiple online (and print) sources, and gather all of them on my...

Little House Ideas board.

I don't know how I would have gotten by without this wonderful resource.

In fact, you really could gather all kinds of ideas right off the Pinterest site - without ever venturing out into the wilderness of the WORLD WIDE WEB

(Funny ... Do you remember how they used to talk about that vast abyss on the news - and just the mention of it was confusing and intimidating? Oh my  - what a difference 20 years has made. For better , or worse, things sure have changed! Pinterest is one of those positive changes for me. It sure made the slelctions process easier for this project. I think all builders would be silly not to use it for their clients)

The greatest part, for me, was that I could gather ideas - or style ideas- and save the images as reminders. Once I had the idea, I could scour the internet for an inexpensive way to accomplish  the same look.

One of the great examples of this is the Boy's bathroom. I love the look of the Brockway sink, by Kohler - but that is going to have to wait. In the mean time - I was able to find a great alternative to the vanity lights shown with the sink.

I found these at the Lowes.com site.

I had a wonderful experience ordering from there. The site was down, so I had to call in to the 1-800 #

The gentleman I dealt with could not have been any nicer - or more helpful. I ordered (8) lights - knowing that I only needed (4), but wanting to see them in person before making a final decision.

They were delivered to my local Lowes in about 4 days (no shipping charge)

Here are a couple of the others that I ordered for the kitchen.

I love these too, but now that I have "lived" with them for a few days, I think they are too small for the island. We have plenty of other spots that I can use them around the house though - (mud room & at the top of the stairs would be a couple of the options)

The one thing that I would mention here is that all of the fixtures that I found were in the outdoor lighting section. So consider checking there - on any of the sites - to make sure that you are getting a chance to see all of the styles offered.

We are still shooting for that semi farmhouse/rustic (ish) look - so outdoor lighting works well.

I need to head off to the house to check in before work, but...before I go, I want to add a couple more pictures.

They put the bamboo in this week... 

And the carpet on the 3rd floor...

It's hard to tell from the photos - but it does look nice.

Have a good day!