Green flowers, walls, and floors

Lenten roses are in full bloom right now, and I think the colors are perfect inspiration for our soon-to-be bedroom.  The floor is about 1/3 painted with a first coat. You can see in the picture below the odd stain color that is meant to match the red oak throughout the rest of the house. The dark spots are discoloration from the 30+ year old carpet padding. The floors are pine and in not great shape.

We've tried to refinish the floors that are worth it throughout the house and decided the work involved in getting this area up to snuff would just plain be too much. Why am I rationalizing this decision to you? Because the guy at the hardware store made me rationalize it to him, so I feel like it's some sort of sin to want to paint wood flooring.

The brighter green (above) is the first coat and still wet. It darkens into a nice deep pea green when dry (below). The color is Sherwin Williams SW6180 Oakmoss, though I didn't see a latex floor option at SW, so I bought a latex floor/porch paint from Lowes. Next I'll nix the green walls, but since we have enough navy to get the job done I'll use that up, noting that I'd rather a soft neutral pink in its place.

Our pretend nest

After about a month and a half of horrible pregnancy sleep (bad dreams, sore hips, tossing and turning, waking up every 2 hours to pee) C and I finally caved and realized it was time for a new mattress. We've had a few beds since getting married, switching from a queen to a king somewhere along the way. The actual king bed frame was too big for the room, so we sold it on Craigslist, put the mattress on the floor with a headboard/shelf built by the Mr. and we've been sleeping that way ever since.

King beds are big, and C and I decided we wanted to sleep closer together, so now it's back to the queen size. First we found the frame, then we found the mattress. Naturally the excitement of a new bed brought on a full-fledged case of nesting, so I've been pinning and dreaming up what I'd like to seen in my own restful bedroom. Keep in mind we have the charcoal carpet, the bedside table, the long arm sconces, and the painting.
 

As an aside, and to make it clear I'm not actually on a spending spree, just daydreaming. I also feel I need to share some background: these little projects lately were updates necessary prior  to getting an appraiser back in the house as part of the mortgage loan process. We've had one appraiser who gave us value far, far less than the actual property value, and a list of repairs to be made before the bank funding goes through. While we've completed the necessary repairs, we realize a bit of paint here and there will benefit us greatly. Basically we're staging our own house so we can buy it. Cracks need repairing, paint needs touch ups, ceilings need replacing. Other than that, there are a variety of finishes on the hardwoods upstairs, so to unify the space we're going to paint the floor. 

Knot exactly

2 x 3' acrylic on canvas. True Lover's Knot

Yesterday Mabel and I settled into the studio, both armed with paint and brushes, and got to work. She was creating decorations for a party she was planning (I'm still fuzzy on the particulars) while I worked on the knot painting. After a 2 hour stint, I thought I'd reached a reasonable conclusion. Mabel disagreed, "Too much green. Sometimes I like green, sometimes I don't." She made it clear that in the case of this painting, it was a time of dislike.

Since the painting is a gift to Charlie I asked his thoughts. He suggested I dull the green down, and since he asked nicely, I guess I'll do that.

It's a good excuse to hang out with the kid sans-TV, and she likes to ask me about different paints, why they're different textures (thick and sticky, runny, etc.), the different colors and variations in the same colors, and why I paint the way I do. Seems pretty insightful for a 3 year old, but I'm biased. I wonder how many more afternoons I'll have the ability to keep her interested in paint? I'll take what I can get, and cherish the moment the other day when she sat on my lap and told me how much she likes watching me paint.

Back in the Goop

I can't remember the last time I sat down and worked on a painting. I've painted textures for scanning and using in drawings, I've painted with Mabel, and I've definitely been painting walls, but I think the last time I worked on an image as a painting was before M was born.

A week or so ago I decided to do a painting  of a True Lover's Knot for Charlie for Valentine's day.  The next day I went out and invested in some good gesso to cover an old canvas. I've considered quality gesso (that offers good coverage) to be an indulgence, and the last time I actually bought the good stuff  was in 1997, when I took Painting 101. As a poor art kid, I quickly found sufficient, cheaper alternatives to a $30 tub of goop. Back to the gesso: it was intimidating.

Two nights ago I sat down for about 45 minutes and got started, then another 45 minutes last night...and here's where I am. They may be short sessions, but it's been nice getting back in the goop.

Upstairs bathroom update

After a week on lock down from a cold, I'm back up and at 'em, though everything is exhausting. If it weren't, I would've hunted down the camera to take a picture of our kitchen counter covered in cold remedies for Charlie (medicated) and Mabel (homeopathic). Being pregnant, I didn't partake in the syrup swallowing marathon.

Before the cold took us down, I got a few swipes of leftover paint (from the downstairs bathroom) on the walls of the upstairs bathroom. The trim needs a good deal of touching up now, too. I also took down a ledge shelf that was a clearance purchase at Target 6 or 7 years ago and had C put up 2 of his firewood shelves. (Normally I'd do that part, too, but the wall zips we use for heavy duty hanging are self-drilling and for whatever reason don't cooperate with me.) We plan on having the sink and tub resurfaced in the near-ish future. Then...it'll be onto something else!