ANTICIPATION

Today is my birthday.  My 40th birthday.  Other than not quite knowing how that happened,  I'm o.k. with it. This huge box appeared in the living room last night.  It's driving me crazy.  I'm reminded of how my kids surely feel on their birthday when they have to look at their gifts all day and wait until the evening to open them.  I usually have a pretty good idea of what my gift will be, but this time, I'm clueless.  I used to not like surprises so much but as I get older I really do! We are partying with family and friends this weekend.  I'll keep you posted when I find out what's in the box. :) Have the happiest of weekends, friends!  ...

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BLACK INTERIOR DOORS

As promised, here's a look at my freshly painted interior doors. Well over a year ago when toying with the idea of using black, I painted the interior of my front and back doors only, as well as the  french doors that lead to the office.  I immediately loved the difference! I apologize in advance for some shadows and less than great photos.  My hallways have ZERO natural light so they are a real challenge to photograph!  I have so much to learn....and apparently there's a mysterious spot on my lens showing up! My master bedroom...an open door to my next project! I don't even mind the brassy knobs so much anymore.  In fact, I kind of like them now with the black doors and am no hurry to switch them out like I was before painting. As far as procedure goes, I started with Sherwin Williams Solo paint (said to be the same as the "ProClassic" line, they just had to use Solo because the base was so dark) in Tricorn Black Semi-Glo......

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FURBALLS, FIRST, & FIVE

Alright, I think I'm back to a regular blogging schedule!  I limped along with the blog through the summer but the kids are back in school, and I have lots to tell you about!  Today is a quick little family round-up of some things we've been up to lately, but I have some fun house things to show you the rest of the week. We lost our almost 15-year-old cat in February, right when the kids were really starting to enjoy having a pet around.  There has been begging ever since for something new, and Dad was always happy to take them to PetSmart to look at the cats for adoption.  Well, they saw these two on one of those trips and couldn't stop talking about them.  They are right at 6 months old, brothers, born and raised this far in the shelter.  No way we could take one and not both of them.  We went back to see them 2 or 3 times, and after Ray & I had decided we could get them, we told the kids that we could take them home with us.......

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Design Inspiration for MY Home...Always Changing

Good Monday Morning Everybody!  Thank you all so much for your suggestions for an accent color in my office.  The room is coming together and I hope to show it to you soon.  Still organizing a bit and working on some finishing touches.   Today, I just wanted to leave you with some pretty pictures.  I've been trying to figure out where I really want to settle on decor lately and how I want to define "my style," whatever that means! For a while after looking at so many beautiful blogs I was so drawn to images like these:                                                                        ......

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WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU USE?

Hi Everyone! I'm in the middle of a big project...just popping in to say hello and ask for your opinion. A while back I showed you some painting I did in  our office, and I'm finally getting around to getting that room finished!  Right now, everything is off of the shelves and I'm working on some more painting projects.  As I think about putting everything back together, I'm a little stumped on an accent color to bring in.  Here's the base of the room: I know I probably want a bright color, but what?  Suggestions?  You know I'm not afraid of color, so anything is fair game. Oh yeah, the trim is oak in there, which is staying, for the most part.  (It's not as orange-ish as it's reading in the photo.) I would love to read your thoughts in the comments! I hope you all have a great weekend!  The kids are back to school at the end of next week.  I'm ready to get back to a regular blogging schedule and I have ......

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