avoiding the unavoidable

So, first off, so sorry about the lack of posts. Ironically, I've been so busy with wedding stuff that I haven't had a chance (or the motivation) to post. Oh, and I've also been super busy AVOIDING doing wedding stuff! By painting. And painting. And painting. Our little '45 home was painted this weird, almost dusty rose-ish colour, that at first glance seems neutral, but is SO NOT! NOTHING matched or blended or whatever with it! Most importantly, none of "my" colours did. So I couldn't help myself. Especially in an open-concept house, wall colour makes a HUGE impact. So, I had already painted an accent wall at the back of my kitchen in what can only be described as brownie batter brown (seriously, that's exactly what it looks like), which, not surprisingly, pushed me to keep going. So, I picked out Buffy (the paint not the vampire slayer), a greeny/gray-ey/taupy beige and painted out the main hall, "front"entry, laundry area, the rest of the kitchen (minus the backsplash which got brownie-batter), including the bulkhead above the cabinets, and the dining area. Conveniently, we have a framed-in archway which separates the kitchen/diningroom/laundry from the office/living room which gave me a natural stopping point...

Anyway, long story short: it looks AMAZING. I always thought I would hate "beige". But with the crisp, wide white moldings, almost-black wall, and HUGE windows everywhere it looks GREAT! Best yet, it pushed me in a new colour direction as I realized that the perfect colour to tie the whole space together, including my future plans for the rest of the house, was a deep, rich MacIntosh apple red. Alone, the taupe looks too green to be able to play with my favorite aqua-ey accents, but paired with that Dr.Pepper-can red, it works SO well! Yay! I even did a quick diy, printing out Googled pics of chili peppers, raspberries, and said apples to fill up a multi-shot frame I already had! Cheap and chic! Perfection.

Now, here's hoping I can score a couple red accessories at my shower lol! *SO am kidding!* *kind of* Regardless, it's my 28th bday coming up on Thursday and I'm seriously looking forward to a day of junk stores and thrift shops to hopefully scores some cute new accessories. Above is my total inspiration... image from Apartment Therapy by Lily Gahagan.

because hopefully I'll only do this once

So, I had to make a big girl decision recently: should I sell my house? It might seem crazy, but we are a couple of the lucky few that bought low enough that we could hopefully still make a little profit, and then, let's face it, it's a buyer's market. We could get a LOT for our money right now. Financially, it's the exact right decision.

But... We're getting married. In less than two months. And part of me want to say "After all the opportunities that we had to let pass us by, why would we let that happen again." But the fact of the matter is, I can still sell my house next year. I can go through the stress of showings, and trying to market it, and negotiating, and then hopefully trying to find another home if this one sold... next year. What I can NOT just do next year is get married. I'm doing that right quick here. And it's important to me. I don't want to look back on this time (because it is a "time", not just one day, thankyouverymuch) and think, "Wow, if only I hadn't been freaking out over the house, it would've been great". So for now, that project's on the back burner.
The fun thing, though, is that that means that the home renos that we've been planning can go ahead, which go a long way towards keeping my brain off of constant wedding-alert. So a little non-wedding inspiration... I love this pic more than words, and it's given me the sudden inspiration for exactly what colour to paint my kitchen... Now the feel and the style are quite different from what I've got, but it's the sandstoney colour of those cabinets, with the bright red of the geraniums... loves it. Can't wait to post pics of me whipping up our wedding cupcakes (see? the big W word is never far away!) in my newly painted kitchen! Watch for it! Image from Annika Vannerus.