...The Next Four Choices...

When we didn't like any of the first ten color samples that we painted on the dining room walls, we opted to look into more tones (I learned that term recently). 

Richard went and picked out four more mint green samples and painted them on the walls on Tuesday afternoon, and it looks like we maybe, possibly might have a winner. 

Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately), Richard had already primed the walls before I got a chance to get a picture of the four new choices. I did want one picture showing FOURTEEN color options on one wall. Just, you know, for the humor of it. 

Our four choices in this go-round were:

Sherwin Williams Fleeting Green

Sherwin Williams Topiary Green

Behr Spearmint Stick

Sherwin Williams Greening

We liked Topiary Green the best, so Richard painted a big section of one wall with the rest of the paint sample. This way we could see it in a larger section and not compared to the other samples around it. We got a chance to live with it for a week or so to see if we really did like it as a color for the dining room and not just as the best color out of the fourteen options. 

I'm really amused that it took us 14 samples to pick the one we really wanted. I should be careful in my amusement/mentioning of it. I felt like we had an unusually high number of colors on the walls when we chose between eight colors for the guest room. And then the next room that we painted (this one) has fourteen choices. I can only hope that this trend doesn't continue. We have, like, eight more rooms to paint. 

So, it looks like we have a winner! Hopefully we'll have the walls painted and the trim/picture frame molding painted soon! I can't wait to see how this room looks when it's all said and done. 

Thrifted Frames

I do love a good thrifting trip. 

Every few weekends, I'll hit a few Goodwills, and one thing that is always on my list to keep an eye for is frames. I always check out the frame/mirror/art section to see if there are any good ones or big ones or square ones. I usually don't care about the color because I can either spray paint them or just hold onto them until that particular color works for a gallery wall or a certain photo or piece of art. 

Some of them are a little more difficult to make-over though. But only just a tiny bit more difficult. These are the ones that were custom framed or the big ones that aren't a normal frame size. They have more backing behind the frame and almost always have paper across the back from the original framing. 

I found these two green frames a few weeks ago, and then found this nice, big white one last weekend. So I've felt motivated to get a new gallery wall in the works with these three. 

I just flipped each of them over and used a blade to carefully cut around the edges of the paper backing. 

This revealed another layer on the back (thick cardboard for each of these frames) that was held down by staples. This was probably the most tedious part -- having to carefully pry each of the staples out or bend them up in order to have clear access to glass front of the frame. 

Once I removed all of the layers of backing and moved the staples out of the way, I then had access to the artwork (yes, that cat picture is considered art). I kept each piece of the backing and the artwork in case I need any of when I put my own pictures or art in the frames. 

After I emptied the frames, I just primed and spray painted them white. And now I have three frames (one large-ish and two medium) to anchor my gallery wall. 

I guess I need to get to work on what to put in the frames. 

What looks like a thumb in the bottom right-hand corner of the photo is actually just spray paint on the drop cloth. I swear. 

Oh yeah, and since my body is actively building another person, I wanted to take precautions when painting. I was in the incredibly well-ventilated outdoors, and I also wore this guy: 

Also, please note that my thumb tip is white. So that couldn't have been my thumb in the previous picture.

I asked Richard where he got such a pretty, pink mask, and he scoffed and told me that those were just the kind of filters that were on it. I don't think I have a full understanding of that, but I do still think it's pretty. 

Baby Bump!

A couple of weeks ago, "baby bump" could have referred to both the bump caused by the baby and the size of the bump. As in, "it's just a baaaaaby bump," similar to how we would refer to these guys as "baaaaaby gummy bears."

Stolen from Emmy's instagram -- thanks, Emmy! 

But now, the bump is no longer small. It is very clear that I am pregnant. Which is good! That means Baby Surber is growing! Grow, baby, grow! 

Get ready for a bunch of mirror selfies that show off our closet door, featuring the shoe-organizer from college. 

12/23/14 -- 13 weeks 1 day
12/31/14 -- NYE party (+ Lola's butt) 14 weeks 2 days
1/5/15 -- 15 weeks

1/8/15 -- 15 weeks 3 days
1/10/15 -- 15 weeks 5 days
1/16/15 -- 16 weeks 4 days
1/21 -- 17 weeks 2 days

1/29/15 -- 18 weeks 3 days
1/23/15 -- 17 weeks 4 days
2/3/15 -- 19 weeks 1 day
2/5/15 -- 19 weeks 3 days

Yep, you can really see the "pop" there in the last week and half or so. Craziness. Just looking between 17 weeks and 19 weeks, and the difference is so obvious! 

You may also note the emergence of some well-intentioned decorating (i.e. the pictures now propped against the wall where they will live.) 

And tomorrow we find out the gender! I'm getting more excited about knowing every day! Richard can hardly stand the wait. 

The First Ten Choices

... And we're painting again! 

You may have seen some paint squares on the walls of the dining room in the last post. Well, that's just the beginning. As of right now, there are ten, count 'em ten, different paint colors on each of the four walls in there. Sigh. And we're not even going with any of those ten!

Based on the colors that are already in that room (the teal hutch, the dark wood table, the teal and tan curtains, the light green chairs), I thought about two possible color options for the top half of the room. We know we want the bottom half to be white, and that will help the picture frame molding to look a little more polished also. For the top half, I was thinking either a mint green or a deep gold. 

Then we decided on a rug (this one), and that ruled out the gold-ish tone since that would be too much of that color. So, we went the direction of mint. 

There's our rug! Oh yeah, and hundreds (actually ten) of paint samples. 

Both Emmy and Richard made fun of me for saying that I want a "dusty" mint color. Then I used the word "muddy" because they used to (sob) use that on Young House Love, and if anyone is correct in paint-color terms, it's them. My (artist) friend Hillary informed me that I'm looking for a "tone" and not a "tint." This is because "tone" means that I'm looking for a certain color mixed with gray, and "tint" means a certain color mixed with white. And I definitely want to go in the grayer direction so that the room doesn't look like you're inside an Easter egg. 

Top row: Behr Marquee Recycled Glass, Behr Sage Tint, Behr Valley Mist
Middle row: Glidden Tropical Surf, Behr Marina Isle, Benjamin Moore Guilford Green, Behr Aqua Smoke
Bottom row: Behr Aloe Essence, Behr Desert Cactus, Behr Rockwood Jade
Winner: (not pictured)

Now I have better terminology, and I don't have to lean on the snicker-inducing term of "dusty." Thanks, Hillary!

Top row: nope, nope, nope
Middle row: Uh-uh, no, hmm...no
Bottom row: also no, still no, maybe but no

Stay tuned for the continuing saga and (hopefully) exciting conclusion!