Home Improvements

We've been busy bees the last couple weeks doing all kinds of things around the house. Details you ask? Okay, if you insist.

Even though we've already done a lot to freshen things up, the original part of our house, the 2nd floor, still had some late 90s remnants, ie. brass door knobs and ivory light switch and electric socket plates, etc. So last weekend we, and by we I mean Jimmy, decided to tackle replacing the old switches and sockets with new white ones. Every light switch and electric socket had to be rewired and we had a lot of them. It was a much needed and much appreciated upgrade!

Old ivory plate - notice the white trim contrast

While he was at it, he added light dimmers in the kitchen, dining room and living room for ambiance! While we're on this picture, he also replaced our dinosaur of a thermostat with a new digital fancy one. Thanks Martha for the Amazon gift card to make this upgrade possible!

Old thermostat and new white plates + dimmers

Fancy!

Now for the more interesting, maybe someone will care, stuff. This past weekend we took on not one, but two paint projects. First up was exorcising the "Barney" from our bathroom. With the help of Jimmy's brother, Kevin, we painted our bathroom Behr Windsurf Blue in 2010. I always thought it was pretty (modeled after a Coastal Living picture I liked), but Jimmy always hated it's purple hue, so away it went. In it's place, welcome Behr Tide Pools - a really nice blue/green.

2010 - Windsurf Blue

2012 - A much brighter, beachier bathroom

Last, but not least, we painted the nursery! I decided a long time ago, regardless of whether we were having a boy or girl, that I wanted to go gray. Never did I think it would be so difficult to decide on the actual paint color. What an ordeal! I wish I had done more upfront research on actual paint colors and less just bookmarking of pictures I liked. Blue gray, purple gray, green gray, tan gray, oh my! After multiple trips to Home Depot, Lowes and Benjamin Moore, spending $24 on 8 paint samples I'll never use and multiple testing sessions, it was my co-worker, April, who finally helped me bite the bullet and go with Benjamin Moore Gray Horse - a true gray despite how green gray it looks on the swatch.  For anyone else with the same plight, April provided the following support to help solidify my decision.

http://stillplayinghouse.wordpress.com/2011/10/25/shades-of-gray/
http://www.chiccheapnursery.com/2010/real-rooms/bright-contemporary-nursery-for-baby-p/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thebline/4587524726/

Before - early on in the sampling

After

Thanks April and everyone else I bugged for an opinion. We're very happy with how it looks. Love the contrast of white trim and wood floors. Now to start decorating!! I'll make sure to take the final reveal picture in natural light...