End of January!

Well, another week has flown by and now it's nearly February. I didn't accomplish much this week as far as the house is concerned, but I've been pondering things, so that's somewhat productive. What have I been pondering?

1. Fabric to make dining room curtains. I love the fabric Joi uses in her dining room at Nuestra Vida Dulce for her no-sew curtains.

She got this Amy Butler fabric at www.fabric.com so I checked the site out. Since I want to get the Andalusia Rug from West Elm (or something similar, which I can't really find for any cheaper), I thought this fabric was too green. But I don't want yellow curtains and a yellow rug. What do you think about this combo?

  

So that's one thing I'm pondering.

2. Another thing I've been thinking about is the living room. I've got the "ok" from John to buy a credenza, order ceiling medallions for the walls, and order pillows. I am completely overwhelmed by Etsy's pillow collection, but would like to try to go out of my comfort zone and buy less matchy-matchy pillows. I would also like to cut out the sizes of the medallions to test them out on the walls before ordering - so that'll take a little time. As far as a credenza, craigslist is hit or miss. It looks like to get the mid-century Danish modern style I'd like to get, it'll run around $400. Which really isn't bad for an entertainment center made of solid wood. I don't want to paint it, so I'm in the market for a certain color, too. I'll keep you posted - this has been a long time coming!

3. And finally, I've been thinking about my mom's house. She's been trying to find a paint color forever, and nothing seems to look like the swatch when they bring it home. It's very odd. I've even sent her home with some of my neutral-colored tester bottles, to no avail. The Glidden "olivewood" that my house is almost entirely painted looks nothing in her house like it does in mine. They're going to be re-doing the kitchen soon, but they also want to update the house as a whole. They have beautiful dark-stained 6-panel doors, but they also have a dated wood baseboard throughout. So, we've been toying with the idea of going white. However, she doesn't want to paint the doors white. What do you think of the mixed finish look? According to the D&R nest board, opinions are mixed. Here are a few photos I snagged as examples:

A very clean look here, especially with the very subtle wall color. Makes the wood door pop.

Another great example of how it can work, especially with the right paint color.

First of all I love this door. But the look seems to blend really well.

This door is probably most similar to my parents' house. I would stay away from the darker wall color if they're trying to brighten it up.

As a teacher, I know that non-examples are really helpful. I am not a fan of the opposite - wood trim with white doors.

What are your thoughts on this look?

So we'll see where they go with their house. I would love to play Clean Sweep and get rid of some of the knick-knacks that they've accumulated over the years, but we'll see if I can twist mom's arm enough. :)

Anyway, I'm off to the Home Show at the T-Dome. Hopefully I can get some work done today and tomorrow around the house -- I've been working on my toilet paper roll art a la White Waxflower, so stay tuned!