Color us happy

The sad news is that Noah's sister, Sara, and her new hubbie, Leon, have jumped the pond and taken up residence in jolly old England. London to be specific. The great news is that we got some nice QT, in the form of a visit, before Sara had to leave for good. (The silver lining is, of course, that we now have a great excuse to visit -- and a place to stay!)

We took full advantage of having an extra adult in the house during Sara's stay, and we decided to tackle a DIY house project...painting.

For those of you who know me well, you might be scratching your head. Moi + painting? Say it ain't so! After painting our living room in the house we tore down, Noah and I swore that we'd never do it again. Painting would be a thing we'd outsource from here on out. Like hauling heavy boxes when moving from address A to address B. Or scrubbing toilets.

But I've recently become addicted to the design/DIY blog Young House Love. (WARNING -- it's highly addictive, so please don't say I didn't warn you!) And these guys, who recently moved and are redoing a whole new house, make painting look so easy and fun. So I decided to give it another chance.

And... it was easy and fun! And the transformation was so major and immediate. I love it!

I started nice and small with the kitchen island. And while I don't have before pictures, you can paint one in your mind. Because until this color went up, our ENTIRE house was "moon mist", an ever-so-slightly-yellowish-tinted white.

Benjamin Moore's "kingsport gray"

Then we tackled Lily's room. Before = none other than "moon mist." After = Benjamin Moore's "freesia." The exact same color as her cousin, Camilla's, room. Because, you know, at age 6 imitation really is the most sincere form of flattery. That and the fact that these girls are two halves of the same person...separated at birth (and by about 15 months).

BEFORE

Taped, furniture moved to the center, and ready to go!

The colors we were deciding between -- purple, purple and purple. Guess what won? Purple!

AFTER





And while we have decided to leave the big/hard spaces to the painting pros, Noah and I are up to the challenge of bedrooms. Next up... Anna's!

Color us happy, indeed!