Treasure Box Wednesday: Treasured Transformations

To indulge in a little personification for a moment, my house lately must feel a little like Cinderella-- post-fairy-Godmother-makeover. In the last month, two rooms have gotten a very new look, and I'm pretty pleased with the results.

Over the weekend, I painted my bathroom that Baby's Breath Pink I showed you all on Sunday. So here's what it looked like Before...
A fresh aloe green, yes. But I was finding it very hard to match to any green accessories these days. Bathmats were more sage or avocado or mint, and tracking down items that would work was a little frustrating.
Also, I had that rich-colored shower curtain I really wanted to use for the winter. So my brain began plots of painting pinkness.
You can see the gold art nouveau styled mirrors and accessories here. These will mostly remain as part of the decor after...er... Cindy's fairytale makeover.

And here we see it in the pink!
The room now has a whole different feel, I think. Where it had felt rather open and fresh before, it feels a bit more sumptuous somehow now. Which is funny because the drapes, mirrors, and ledge shelves are all exactly the same...
Here you can see I swapped a couple of Alphonse Mucha resin plaques-- in a color too orange to really work for the room, for a mosaic vase I thrifted. The crystal items in the vases are actually Christmas decor from K-Mart from last year's post-season sale.
And here you can see the pink with the black trim and the nifty shower curtain. Everything ties together better now, I believe...
And just another last shot, by the pedestal sink.Now, for those of you asking to see the rest of the blue French room I'd been working on, here's where we are...
Most everything is back in place. I've hung a mirror here at left, which has opened things up a bit more and given it some extra shine. (And yes, I had been sitting on that sofa with a magazine... bliss!)
This lampshade I ordered through Ebay. It has courting couples on it much like the sofa cover...
You'll see it's on my thrifted alabaster lamp from a week or two ago. I wish these types of shades were a little cheaper, but even the cost of fabric would be high for something quality. I'm not currently skilled enough to make something like this myself. So this was a splurge.

Over here, I'm still working on this area...

The little Shabby Chic bookcase from Target has my Victorian postcard collection albums in it, and some books I enjoy leafing through. I'm still trying to find just the right combination of accessories. Given both of my best friends who I shop with LOVE blue, I've discovered that I don't actually have much in the way of this color. The bright blue glass shoe in the upper right was a thrift store buy yesterday, actually.

So, that about wraps it up for today.

• If you didn't get to see Sunday's post on how to choose the right paint for your room, you can check that out here.

And if not-- hey, there'll be new goodies this coming Sunday. Hope to see you then!

Choosing Wall Paint You Won't Regret

What is it about choosing wall paint that somehow ends up seeming like a deep, painful decision akin to Kennedy's pressures in Cuban Missile Crisis? I mean, it's just paint after all. Color. Something to slap on the walls, right?

And yet anyone who decorates knows it's so much more than that. It's an atmosphere. A mood. It surrounds you. And most of all... it's a commitment.

Oh sure, it's not like deciding to get married, or to move across the country. But these days paint isn't exactly cheap. So when you invest in your half gallon of the stuff, you want it to work.

So how do you choose paint that will really work for your space?

Well, I may not have all the answers. But I've learned a few things over the years that have made choosing a good color easier. And I'm happy to share them with you today.

• Don't try to decide on a paint right there in the store. Get paint swatches... and lots of them. The lighting in the paint store is not like your home. And it's the light that makes the difference in how a color appears. So make sure your take some paint swatches home and see what it looks like held up to the wall you'll be painting. This leads to the next point...

• See what those swatches look like in all different times of day. A paint swatch that can look terrific in morning light might look washed out at midday and take on a strange glow toward evening. Live with the colors a bit and see how they look and change. This can help you narrow down your choices.

• Remember that what looks very pale on the swatch card might look much bolder as paint on your wall. How does it compare to the furnishings you plan to have in the room? Remember the darker the color, the closer a room will feel.
  

• You can get test pots of paint made up in the colors you like. Spreading a sample of the actual paint can help you get a better sense of what it will be like on a grander scale. This won't necessarily tell you how dark or light a room will get from painting. But it will give you a feel for how the paint will look at different times of day.

• Think about the color itself. Does it lean toward cooler or warmer tones? For instance, you might say my Baby's Breath Pink above is just pink, right? But it's actually a cooler pink-- a purple pink-- as opposed to a more orange pink. The fact that it's a little more toward the blue spectrum of things instead of the hotter orange reds means it will go better with the eggplant and raspberry rugs I have in the room. By knowing whether your color leans toward cooler or hotter tones, you will have an easier time coordinating it to other colors.

• Once you paint, live with the color a few days before passing final judgment. A change of color -- especially if it's drastic-- can take getting used to. The room may seem cozier (or more claustrophobic!) or the color may feel like it's really opened up the room. So give yourself time to get used to the change, and really experience the color in situ itself.

The world's a bright beautiful place-- too beautiful to live without color. So don't be afraid. We all get a little nervous when it comes to making a paint selection. (You can click here to check out the tale of paint panic I had the first time I tried to paint a room!)

Just take your time. Think about your colors...

And then carpé paintbrush!

Wishing you good fortune and great color for all your future painting endeavors.

Treasure Box Wednesday: the Road Less Traveled

In Sunday's post, we talked about how the Victorian look isn't particularly popular right now, so those of us who love romantic decorating can find some pretty amazing things at thrift stores.

This post will explain where some of that idea came from.

Saturday's thrifting was a late start for me, as I'd met my buddy Scoobie in the Strip District of Pittsburgh (no stripping involved!) for lunch and some wholesale food shopping.

I had thought, given I was hitting the stores in the late afternoon instead of mid-morning, that the thrifts would be as picked clean as road kill in vulture territory.

I have no problem admitting I was wrong.

The first thing I spied at the Red White and Blue thrift store was this small, deep Victorian pickle dish...
Made in Austria and partially handpainted, I had a hard time believing this was just sitting on the shelf with the bakeware and serving bowls, and not nestled somewhere safe on the shelves behind the counter.

Guess our scantily clad nymph was a bit much for the locals...

Anyway, it was a surprise find, and needed to be rescued.

Heading down to the second level of the store, that's when I came across this large alabaster table lamp...

Ones at 2/3s the size of this go for around $100 at antique malls, and here I found this much larger one-- in pearlescently beautiful condition-- in a thrift store. It was the second find to blow the mind just a bit. It was 3:30 in the afternoon. How could it still be there waiting for me?

And then was my "inkling" find at the Goodwill. By now it was about 5:30 in the evening and I was heading home. A shelf of planters revealed this pretty leaf planter which I had a very good feeling about...
It reminded me strongly of two McCoy pieces I have-- taller ones, but a similar glaze, similar style and color. It wasn't marked on the bottom, but at $1.99 I didn't really care whether it was or wasn't McCoy, because I thought it would look terrific with the other two.

I had a sneaking suspicion, though...
Here you can see it with its buddies.

Upon going home, I sat in my favorite chair and reveled in my good fortune. And then I pulled out my McCoy collector's book. Boy, it never hurts to have good reference books for the things you collect!-- And I was rewarded. The unmarked vase was, absolutely, the real McCoy.

Right now it sits on my mantle, looking very much at home with its cousins. Yee-haw!

Oh, and lastly-- just because I'm finally feeling happy about it (largely because the hard work is done), I wanted to show you all the finished mantle in my one spare room...
All the bits of plaster and grouting and the newspapers and painter's tape (and frustrations) have been wiped away, leaving me with a lovely, calm and quite French sitting room. The cute little blue lamps on the mantle came from the L&L Fleatique in Adamsburg/Jeannette, and the mantle mirror was an Ebay find-- it's a new piece, not an antique, but I think it tops everything off pretty nicely. I'd wanted something that was already painted so I wasn't defacing any antique pieces.

Well, that wraps it up for this Treasure Box! So, here's hoping as you choose your path in your treasure hunting travels, you uncover the things no one else wants-- but which you absolutely love.

Sometimes being eccentric has its benefits!

• Oh-- if you missed Sunday's post on how the Victorians would have loved thrift shopping, click here.

And maybe I'll see you folks on Sunday. That is, if you aren't out scouting for buried treasure.