Beams: To Paint or Not To Paint

Hey!

Beams: to paint or not to paint.  Not to steal Shakespeare's thunder, but, that has seriously been my question in regard to the ceiling beams in my living room. 

I've been contemplating painting them for a long time.  The picture actually makes them look better than they do in person.  The beams aren't even solid.  They're made to look like solid beams but are really made out of rough hewn boards nailed into place over 2x4s.  If I had real beams, I don't think I'd paint them.  This weekend, Honey Do will be installing a long beam to connect the ones coming down from the peaked ceiling. The time is now; I need to make a decision. 

I may not have a choice depending on what happens when he starts installing the long beam.  Old stain is really hard to match but not impossible.

Here's two pictures that I found online from Better Homes and Gardens showing both looks.  You can click on the pictures to go to the original site. 

 (Better Homes and Gardens)

 (Better Homes and Gardens)

What do you think? Paint? Don't paint?

Blessings,

Mimi

"The beams of our house are cedars; our rafters are firs."  

Song of Songs 1:17 NIV Bible

Hey!

Things are really cranking up at my house getting ready for our next wedding.  Doodlebug gets married in 6 weeks and the weekends for doing projects are flying by fast!  (swoosh!!!!)

The outside has been getting a little sprucing up.  Honey Do has really worked hard!  The first project he tackled this year was the fence around the pool.

Before

After

 Fixing the pool house area was next.  Honey Do had begun a retaining wall next to the pool house several years ago.  Weeds began sprouting up between the retaining wall and pool house and just looked awful. We decided to put down gravel.  

(I love how I said we .... Reality is he, as in one person, Honey Do,  put in the gravel!)

Before

Honey Do is finishing up tamping down the gravel.  First, he leveled the dirt, added some sand and  plastic and then, the gravel.

I think he did a GREAT JOB!! (But, are you noticing how awful that house looks?!)

View from out my back door earlier this spring.... YUCK!

After

Hallelujah!  A fresh coat of paint on the pool house and surprise!  A trellis has been put in.  Still working on the retaining wall and the landscape but its starting to take shape.  

Front view of my new and improved pool house with planters!  (What doesn't show is the not so glamorous parts; Honey Do also re-plumbed the pool house and replaced the filter for the pool.)

My big contribution was picking out the paint colors.

I  think its looking so good!  I can't wait to show you more!

Blessings,
Mimi

Meg, our 14 year old Border Collie, is a huge help.  Her specialty is supervision.  

She likes to keep her eyes on each of us and keep us all herded together!

 "I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me"  John 10:14  Life Application Bible

Choosing Paint for the Kitchen

Hey! 

Everyone has their little quirks.  One of mine is that I can match a color from memory exactly. I don’t have to take my fabric swatches or clothes to the store with me to match them.  (With that said, I'm starting to panic now that someone is going to test me....)   I’ve usually been pretty good at choosing paint color too from those ridiculously small sample chips. 

Which brings me to my kitchen .... The color had me stumped.  I knew what I wanted but I was having a hard time getting it right.  A couple of things were throwing the color off.  My flooring is a red toned wood and I think the other  was lighting.  I have 3 different light sources in my kitchen: incandescent, halogen, and natural sunlight.  

The original color of my kitchen was this color......a nice go-with-everything color but I was tired of it.

Porter Paint’s Muted Yellow

The first color we attempted was Behr’s Light French Gray. Honey Do was so confident in my abilities of being spot on with paint that he bought a gallon!   Well, he started painting the wall and after a foot of paint, I hollered stop!  The color was all wrong.  It was Blue.  I had a blue wall.  Why did they name it French Gray????  No gray to be found. 

Light French Gray

Next, we tried a Behr paint mixed as a Martha Stewart color called Dolphin.  This time, Honey Do bought a quart.  ( I think his confidence in me was waning..... I can't blame him.)  Aaargh!  A lovely shade of baby blue.  

Martha Stewart Dolphin

Third time, however, was the charm!  Funny thing is, I had initially picked out Behr’s Pensive Sky but passed on it because I was afraid it would come out too green.  I love this color.  I pick it up every time I go into Home Depot.  I should've trusted my instincts.  the color is PERFECT!  

Behr Pensive Sky

I can't wait to see my finished kitchen!!!   
And, I can't wait for you to see it either!!  
 I, also, need to start decorating for Christmas!  How about you??

Blessings,

Mimi 

"Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him.  This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD..."

   Ezekiel 1:28  The Holy Bible