A Tale Of Two Chairs (Or, I Can’t Believe The Difference In Price: A Lesson In Frugality)

Which would you chose?

This one?

Or this one?

Are they simliar? Heck yes!

Are they French in style? Heck yes!

Are they priced differently? Heck yes!

Do I need another chair? Heck yes!  (well, NO, but I was on a roll)

Price tag of the lovely (sarcasm here) orange velvet Louis XV style chair.  The price keeps coming down the longer it stays in the sale room.  Are you kidding me?  Think I should wait until September 20th to get it for $38 or pay $57 in August?  Structurally the bones are good and it has nice detailed carving.  And, it just so happens that I have the perfect linen/cotton blend upholstery that would do it proud.

I almost forgot. The price of the brand spanking new Louis XV chair?  $1259.

Why am I still at the computer?  I need to drop everything and run to pick up the Orange Crush chair before it’s too late.

I’ll let you  know what happens.

Au Revoir,

Kim

Do You Believe In Serendipity?

Well, the time has come.  I’m now an official empty nester.  It sounds like a disease, but I’m trying to embrace my newfound status in life.

You won’t believe what I found Sunday morning, the day after moving my youngest into college…

AN EMPTY NEST!

You heard me right…AN EMPTY NEST!

I couldn’t believe it either!

As I was taking Murphy for his morning walk we so happened to stumble upon a nest that had fallen from the tree above onto the asphalt.

So as I walked back to the house, nest in hand, I couldn’t help but reflect on the natural order of things in nature, animals, and humans.

We are all intended for growth….to leave the nest and soar.

I couldn’t help but wonder how many little birds flew from this nest.  But, alas, mama bird’s job was done and it was time to move on.  Such is life.

Was this symbolic or what?  Talk about serendipity.

Here’s to all the new empty nesters out there.  As for me, I’ve decided to embrace the change with vigor and my new motto is “life’s an adventure”.  I’ll start my adventure with Paris next month, s’il vous plaît!

This has been a whirlwind summer for me.

Au Revoir,

Kim

Fifty Shades of GREIGE ???: Interior Paint Choices Revealed {And An Update With Good News!} A Must Read If You Like France

Guess what?  Remember my last post? Of course you do. This armoire is memorable.

I got her…she’s mine!!!  (I’m doing the Snoopy happy dance)  Thanks to all of you who held your breath and crossed your fingers for me.  Now for the logistics of delivery and having her fitted with shelves.  It’ll still be a couple months or more before you see the final reveal of my master bedroom.

On a VERY HAPPY note, my husband and I are going to Paris next month.  Yep…finally.  Here is the Paris Apartment that we will be staying in:

Love the original parquet floors with the updated modern look.

This has proven to be a very Frenchy week for me..an armoire, a Paris trip…what more could a girl want?

And now, for the real post for today! lol

If you are following along, you know I’m finally going to re-paint my rooms (post here).  If you recall the two philosophies I’m subscribing to about paint, then you know one of them is that I like greige.

(via Elle Décor)

I did a little research about greige.

It is pronounced grā-zh.

It’s definition  as it applies to textiles is: unbleached and undyed as in greige linen.

The color greige is a combination of gray and beige and is closely akin to taupe.  It’s a color that will allow grays and tans to live together in the same room.

And, after looking at paint colors until I can’t stand it anymore, I have finally made up my mind.

Ta-dah! The choices:

SW 6071 Popular Gray

SW 6078 Realist Beige

And, two others that aren’t actually a greige but are great fresh light neutrals none the less:

SW 6156 Rice Grain

SW 6148 Wool Skein

I would categorize the last two as more in the khaki range with Rice Grain having an ever so slight hardly noticeable minty green tint.

Here are the four chip cards together.  Subtle, but definitely different.

For darker walls or accent I’ll use:

SW 6072 Versatile  Gray

SW 6073 Perfect Greige

SW 6079 Diverse Beige

I think these will be perfect neutrals lending an effortless backdrop to all colors.  Please stay tuned as I continue my house re-freshing quest.

I came across this photo on the internet (I wish I had the source) and I’m loving the the bright yellow combo with the greige.  Hummm…..master bedroom?  We’ll see.

I’m moving my daughter into college this weekend for sorority/rush.  I’ll be back next week!

Au Revoir,

Kim

Linking up to:

WOW! Us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style

Open House Party at No Minimalist Here

Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage

Inspiration Friday at At The Picket Fence

Potpourri Friday at 2805

I’ve Found It!….My French Armoire

I have been looking for the perfect antique French armoire for several years.  Either it wasn’t the right style or it wasn’t the right price or it wasn’t the right time.

A couple weeks ago, while antiquing with a friend in Louisville, I found it!

Isn’t it magnificent?

It’s going in place of the triple dresser in my master bedroom re-do.

Here is the fancier armoire that stood next to the one I picked out!  It’s gorgeous but a little too frufru for me.

This one is just so “smart” looking!  Not too plain, not to heavily carved.

This is an early piece, probably walnut and definitely Louis XV in style.   I’ll have to have some shelves added.  I really like the flat bonnet top.

The steel ferrures are absolutely beautiful.  They have such a nice patina.  Ferrures are characteristic decorative elements on some of the finest Provençal furniture and are handsomely wrought and polished iron- or steelwork.  Notice the full length piano hinges on the doors?

Oh, be still my heart!  I’m in French furniture heaven with this one!

There’s only one problem:  It isn’t mine yet.  

I hadn’t fully made up my mind if I wanted to jump right in and get it so we left. ( I could kick myself).  I hope it’s still there on our return trip in a couple weeks.  If not, you might  hear me crying!  My husband says if it was meant to be it will happen.

Soooooo, I hope this will be the armoire that you see in my master bedroom reveal in a couple months!  What about you?  Have you found a great piece and kept your fingers crossed it would eventually be yours?

Au Revoir,

Kim

Linking to:

Open House Party at No Minimalist Here

Treasure Hunt Thursday at From My Front Porch To Yours

Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage

Potpourri Friday at 2805

Inspiration Friday at At The Picket Fence

Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground 
French Obsession at Le Chateau Des Fleurs

Color Party Crasher With Some Ideas

I just discovered the multi-blog link party,  Mission Possible: All About Color over at Thistlewood Farms.  How could I have missed it?  Oh, I know, two family reunions this past weekend with cousins from Texas staying with us since last Thursday.

I don’t really have a great color post but I sooooo want to join the party.  It looks like so much fun and I’m really having a good time reading all the party links.  There are some really great ideas out there and really talented people coming up with these ideas.

What to do? What to do?  Think I can shuck and jive and sneak a COLOR INSPIRATION post in?

If people can crash weddings and SOME people can crash White House events, surely I can get away with crashing a really cool Color Link Party?  Maybe no one will notice it’s not really a project and just focus on the color.

O.K. here goes…

1. The PINK poodle

Cool, huh?  What a great idea. I walked behind this guy in our town’s breast cancer walk last fall.  I was in awe.  I’d say perfect pink for the cause.

2. Green apples

My go-to quick decorating secret to add punch and pizazz when guests are coming.  Just run to the grocery and pick up a bag of green apples and disperse them in containers around the kitchen, dining room, and living areas.  Instant success.

3. The orange crush chair

I really am gonna be posting about this guy next.  Hold your thoughts.

Can this pass for Hermès orange?

O.K. I’m on an Hermès kick.  And for some reason I’m into orange now.

4. What about stacking up Hermès boxes for instant color?

 

It would probably help if you had more than two boxes! lol

5. Upholstery spotlight  

I’m re-thinking about upholstering everything in my natural linen/cotton blend.  Drama, people, drama.  Not in life, just interiors.

I’m lovin’ this vibrant orange-red.  May I borrow a pair of sunglasses?

6.  Current color of daughter’s room:  Rye Grass Green.

 

Don’t paint your rooms rye grass green.  No really.  Trust me.  I already sacrificed for all of us.  Reminds me of the Direct TV commercial,  “If you paint your walls a rye grass green you’ll end up in a roadside ditch.  Don’t end up in a roadside ditch.”  Need I say more?

You know how we say sometimes, “It looks better than the picture shows”?  The pictures actually make the color look good.  It’s not.  Again, trust me on this one.

 

And, now I’m just cheating using photos from outside.

7.  Re-purposed cobalt blue Arizona tea bottles for vases. 

Bright colors against white even make the white look crisper.

 

And, the piece dé resistance?

 8. A blue Jasper cabinet.

 

That I can’t get rid of.  It was my mother’s 25th anniversary present from my dad.  Looks like I’m gonna have to work around the teal blue color or incorporate it in my new den office.  I have no choice on the color in this situation.  Stay tuned for that, too.

Love it!

My design style is slowing moving in the direction of color even though it doesn’t seem like it now.  I’m painting with neutral backgrounds, but I want to add pops of color.  More trés chic I think.  More memorable I think.  We’ll see…

That’s the real reason I’m so interested in this party.  And, the hosts are really cool. 

I hope the Mission Possible: All About Color Link Party Police don’t arrest me.

Au Revoir,

Kim

Linking to:

Mission Possible: All About Color at Thistlewood Farms

I’m Having A Huge Paint Party At My House…And You’re Invited!

I’ve been saying for a few months now that I’m ready to re-fresh the whole house.  I think I just want a change.  Change is good, right?  Although I have loved the colors I originally used in the house, we’ve been here almost seven years now and I just want to go in a little different direction.

Soooo,  you all are invited to the new paint party at my house.  Since we are doing so much of the house, we had to hire a professional painter and she starts in about two weeks.

Welcome to my party tray of paint samples!!!  (All parties have serving trays…might as well serve up some paint)

This is what I have been doing all week.  Carrying this tray around the house and brushing swatches of paint on my walls.  (There’s actually something very therapeutic about this)

9 sample cans in all.  You think I may be a little unsure of what color I want?  You should have seen the look on the salesman’s face when I said I needed this many samples.  Hey, it’s a woman’s prerogative to change her mind.

Let me explain why you see a Sherwin Williams fan deck and Valspar sample cans.

We have a great Sherwin Williams paint store here locally and that’s where I buy all my paint.  I’m sure there’s nothing wrong with Valspar, but I think Sherwin Williams is better and so does my painter.  And, no, I’m not being compensated by them.  I’ve used Sherwin Williams for a long time now.

A girl has to be frugal though.  You all probably already know this, but Lowe’s samples are less expensive than SW and they can mix any SW color.  When you’re buying as many samples as I did, you have to try to save some dough.

I’m moving from the two cards on the left to the two cards on the right.

The majority of my rooms are currently painted SW Blonde then Porter Beige Tellon (which is a lot like SW Practical Beige which I also use).  Don’t ask where the Porter came from.  That’s a whole other story!  In the dining room and guest room I have SW Mannered Gold.

I don’t want to just jump on the bandwagon and paint everything gray.  But I do want a softer, fresher, more subtle coloration without a lot of color tone.

There’s two philosophies that I’m subscribing to on the paint:

1.  I’m agreeing with Suzanne Kasler’s mantra of keeping a light neutral background that let colors pop in the use of textiles and furnishings in the room.

2. I like greige.  Yes, I do.  It’s a nice compromise. 

 

I’ll be posting a lot about paint over the next couple of months.  I think this is going to be a long process.  At least, I’ll be going room by room with lots of befores and afters.  That should be fun!

What are your go-to colors?  What are your favorite neutrals?

Au Revoir,

Kim