I just can’t not

I realized the other day that this is the first time in my life I’ve attempted to put together a house starting with nothing.

Beginning with when I first got married, I always had some “stuff” I brought along to use in whatever apartment or house I was moving into.  At first, it was from the house I grew up in, and my college apartment.  When we got married, my husband had his own apartment furniture (which mostly consisted of things from the house he grew up in).

As we slowly expanded, the stuff we acquired usually came from garage sales, family hand-me-downs and Wal-Mart-quality stores.

I guess in a way not much has changed.  Except for the Wal-Mart part.  I’m very happy to report my “manufactured wood” furniture days are behind me.

Now when we receive family hand-me-downs or buy something used, it’s something antique or special.

It is AMAZING the difference between antique furniture and modern, even from high end modern stores.  Antiques are made from REAL wood.  There wasn’t anything else to use.

But back to furnishing a house from scratch – there are a million choices to make when you’re beginning with absolutely nothing.  And I’ve been thinking about how to paint it for a while.

My first inclination was to paint it all white.  After all, the house is very, very dark without much natural light, and the current dark paint colors make it feel kind of cave-like.

I was also thinking that as a rental property, to have just one color – white – would make it much easier for future touch ups.

But I’m just not a white wall person.  I just can’t not throw some color in somewhere.

Colors make me happy.  And colors help tie all the elements in a room together.

Of the last ten houses I’ve visited, almost every one was gray.  Gray , gray, gray.  I know it’s the color of the moment, but it reminds me of a dreary sky.  I think gray is the new beige.  I need color!

So after visiting the paint store, here is the plan, subject to change:

These colors make me want to pull out my roller skates 😄

I’d like to do a palette of green, orange & blue or teal.  To honor the 70’s vibe of the house.

I’m not sure if I’d ever use orange in my house/home or not, but since this is an “occasional” home, why not?  I’m going to try to stick to the lightest, barely-there shades for the walls, because the house needs to lighten up.

My husband pointed out what the house really needs to make it airy and lighter – skylights.  But they’re definitely not in the budget at the moment.

Coming soon – some paint before and afters!