Inching forward

I have a little bit of progress to share.  Last week I was at The House of Goodwill for a couple of days by myself, and I was able to complete almost all of the molding painting in the kitchen.  (Deglossing followed by four layers of paint.)

I say almost all, because after my family left, I realized the small piece of visible floor molding continued behind the refrigerator, which I was unable to move by myself.  So I'll have to come back to it.

It took me two long afternoon/evenings to get it done.  Here it is:

This is the ceiling molding before.

There is really excellent quality lighting in the kitchen, with lots of task lighting throughout. 

It definitely helps make up for the darkness of the cabinets and the paint; I think it also makes it harder to tell how dark this kitchen actually feels.

The walls are flat darker colors, just like everywhere in the house.

It wouldn't be so bad if there were more windows and natural light, and if the cabinets and molding weren't so dark.

The house was full of these dark, earthy colors, like this terracotta color in the kitchen.

The color combo in the house was dark greens, grays, browns and this.

Again, if there was just more light if might have been ok.

Here is the molding after.  

One less dark element in this kitchen!

If you look at the first pic posted here, you can see what a difference it made painting this window frame white!  It brightens up that whole section of wall.

NOT fun to paint! 

(It required all kinds of interesting body contortions to do it...)

Of all the colors that were used in this house, this tiny section of wall in the kitchen is my favorite.

I really like this sage green color.

It's still going to be changed, because it's still too dark, and doesn't go with the rest of the palette I'm using.  

I feel like this molding change is a good example of a small change that makes a big difference.

I have to go back to the home/house with my family Monday for another doctor appointment.  *Sigh.*  But I'll be coming back within two days so I can get some of the painting done that is easier to do when I'm here alone.

Before we leave Monday morning, I'm going to have my husband and son pull the refrigerator forward, and also the washer and dryer out from the walls so I can paint behind the appliances next.

If I thought I had to bend in interesting ways to paint that kitchen window, I'm sure this will be even more fun.  But having the appliances pulled out will make the kitchen area feel more messy and chaotic, so it's better to do it while the family and dogs are not here.

And I've got one more beautiful thing to share.  Remember my tree peony at home that was in the middle of blooming when I left?  Well, the cut flowers made the loveliest little vase:

I couldn't leave these behind with no one to admire them, so they came with me!

I just love how enormous these flowers are.

Don't they look pretty in this little mirrored container I bought at Goodwill for $2?

Here's a little tip:

When I have a container that I'm not sure is watertight, or it's something that I might not want to get wet, I put my flowers in a glass vase inside the container I REALLY want to use.

(This is especially helpful if your container is wood or metal.)

I have quite a few sizes of these glass vases (from Goodwill or WalMart); so I have some that will go inside of almost any standard-ish shaped container I may use.

These are the same peonies in the first photo; this is the vase inside the container.

And one last pic, just because I have to:

This iris in a vintage vase has the prettiest colorings; the plant came from a division from a friend a few years ago.

Since irises only stay in bloom for about three days, I had to bring this one with me as well.

One flower in a bud vase is as simple as it gets.

Simple and exquisite!