Front Room Maturation Program, not for the Faint of Heart

Once there was a Front Room, and it seriously lacked some... well, to be honest, SENSE OF STYLE! I would say that this was right after we bought our couch that wouldn't fit through the door so we had to yank the original, historic, real-divided-light and storm windowed front window and install one that actually opened so we could get our stupid new couch in the house 3 weeks after we bought it. As you can see, we put new trim up on the left window and not the right because I was lazy. But not too lazy to put the ribbon up between the pictures to "tie them together." I know, you want me to teach a class on decorating. I'm sorry, but my schedule seems to be so full lately. Maybe next semester.

Seriously. Could I have picked a starker white? Atleast I threw some monotone boring pillows in there to make it seem more homey.

So then I got all brave and edgy and painted the walls green. Same pictures on the wall, and the kids had ripped down two of the ribbons, but I did manage to make some curtains. I promise to teach a Curtain Sewing 101 class next semester, too. Be sure to sign up early because I'm sure the seats will go fast.

Oh, and take note of the brown cabinets. You'll see them later, but they won't be brown. Just in case you got confused and thought you were in the wrong house. Nope. Same one.

I did like the green. It was soothing. Mellow. Clean for the first time in it's life because I needed a picture to put on the flyer I was making so we could sell our house. Obviously, that didn't work out so well as we are still here.

But I think I'm a little past mellow now. I decided I wanted fresh.

My only problem was finding the "right" fresh. The first one looked like a swimming pool (picture #1) the second was too green (#2 and #3) but I went all the way up to the ceiling to make sure.

I liked the shade of the swimming pool, tho, and lightened it, and got baby boy blue (picture #4) and on, and on, and on. Then I thought I'd do a nice two toned job until I actually painted the second tone up there and I thought Fred was going to lose it.

But... after 9 paint samples from two different paint stores, a crazy fast trip to Arizona to borrow some painting mojo from my sister, I said to heck with it, picked a paint chip I had never tested, and slapped it up on the wall before I could change my mind.

Welcome to the world of Gertie's (that's my pseudonym, btw) mad skills with panorama-maker. I'm thinking about teaching a class in Panorama-making, too, but it'll have to wait until next year. Like I said, my schedule is pretty full.

Remember the brown cabinets? White!!
My toesies? Still glittery, two weeks later!
That white box on the corner of the mantle? An upside down styrofoam mock-up of the mantle build-up I am planning because it looks so wimpy there above the fireplace.

Next to come... a play by play of how I got my bathroom from the neutral brown-ish I thought I wanted but really looked purple and I definitely didn't want purple but left it there for 5 years anyhow, transformed into a tasty chocolate brown delicasy smeared all over my bathroom walls.

Chocolate, I said.

I know I said smeared and I know it's in the bathroom, but let's have some manners here, people.