Paint and Light

photo courtesy of startribune.com

A couple of weeks ago, I met with a woman to help her get started on a home remodel.  She has a beautiful home but her taste has changed over the years from the 'country clutter' look to something more clean and sophisticated.  She didn't even know where to start.

After an hour of meeting with her, we began to formulate a plan to begin a transformation of her home.  She hated the paint.   In theory, the paint on her walls was suppose to be a neutral taupe but it had such a strong red base that the walls emitted a strong pink undertone.  After lots of questions and introspection, it was decided that really, that paint was causing the biggest problems for her.

We chose a new neutral and she was off and running...well, until I got a call this week that they hated the paint color I chose for them.  I went right over to see what it was they hated.  It wasn't hard to figure out what the problem was and it wasn't the paint color. 

No, it was the lighting and the fact that they were judging the new color with a gold/green base beside the old pink color.  Of course the gold tones will look more shocking when placed next to pink. 

The second problem was their lighting.  In the bathroom fixtures, they had part incandescent and part fluorescent lights.  Incandescent gives off a warm light and flurorescent, a cool light.  The mixture and play of warm and cool was giving the paint a very strange tint that seemed to change as the natural daylight changed. 

I suggested that since they had only painted a bedroom and an adjoining bathroom, they needed to paint the hallway and change out all the lighting back to uniform incandescent before deciding if we change the paint color. 

The homeowner got busy and the next day when I checked in on  her progress, she was thrilled with the same old color we had chosen. 
Remember, light, space, and paint base makes all the difference in the world when it comes to choosing color.  Before jumping in with both feet, it's always wise to get a few sample paint pots and paint a small patch so you can observe how the natural light can change the intensity. 

Have you got a paint color problem in your house?  Get in touch and let's make it right.

Cleaning Tip

Don't you just love cleaning?  What?  No, you say?  Well, neither do I even though it is something I have had to rely on cleaning other people's homes this past few years.  I dread having to go but once I leave a house, I am happy to see a nice, clean sparkling environment and that makes it worth it.  But, then I have to come home to my own mess!

Today's tip is cleaning the drip pans on the stove.  What a mess those can become.  All it takes is one over excited boiling pot of spaghetti noodles to created a burned on mess.  Here is the easiest way to take care of such messes and requires no scrubbing.   You will need:
A plastic grocery bag
Can of oven cleaner
A little bit of time

First of all, take your drip pans and place them one by one in the bottom of a plastic grocery bag.  Once one pan is in the bag, spray it well with oven cleaner then stack the next drip pan and repeat the process.  Stack and spray, that's all there is to it.

 Once they are all sprayed down, tie the bag up and walk away.  The longer you can let them sit, the easier they clean.  I usually do mine right after the last meal of the day and either let them sit until I go to bed around 11, then put them in the dishwasher and start it or, I let them sit overnight and then rinse them clean in the morning.

This particular time, I let them sit overnight, then just rinsed them off in the morning.  Look how clean they end up!  They look brand new but these are actually about 5 years old.

Space Planning

Space Planning is EVERYTHING!  Unfortunately, when the housing boom was going on, contractors put up a house in weeks, rather than months.  The consumer comes along, takes advantage of the great deal but doesn't really consider if the house will function well with their family and lifestyle.  Often the 'curb appeal' takes precedence over the space or we realize some of the spaces won't work but we decide to sacrifice and make do.  Big Mistake. 

That's what I did.  Because of circumstances, I had just two weeks to find a home for the kids and I.  This home has some great spaces but some pretty dysfunctional ones.  I, like many, decided to make do.  Now, I regret to some extent the decision I made.  

Take for instance my 'office'.  When I moved in, there was no place to put a computer so I created a desk in my bedroom as shown in the picture below. 

It functioned well enough but I got sick of the constant mess and people coming and going from my room.  This past summer, I decided to make a change.  The computer ended up here...

In the hall closet.  I liked some features of this little nook.  I could shut the door on the mess and no one was in my room at all hours of the day and night working on homework.  Not a great space because it was too small if two people were sitting at the computer.

Recently, I came up with this solution. 

We have a loft in our house that is too small for much of anything.  While I didn't want my office upstairs, it really was the best solution and best use of space.  I built a corner desk unit so that we can house two computers, one for Shelbie and one for me and my business.  The filing cabinets also fit well which was a problem with the closet location.

In the past, I use the loft as my sewing/craft space too.  Well, my solution to that was to keep it there but behind the closed doors of an old computer armoire.

That has worked out great!  When I am working on a project, I pull out the keyboard tray and place the sewing machine on it then close it all up when I'm done.

The corner desk was really easy to construct.  I had two long 'card' tables so I put them edge to edge.  That left a big hole towards the back where there was no table.  I went to the lumber yard and asked for some 'throw away' pieces.  They had some particle boards that they sold to me for $2 and even cut them to fit.  I cut one the length of the table plus the empty space at the back.  The second piece I cut to fit the second table. 

I made a fitted covering complete with ruffle. 

It was so easy and didn't take all day to complete.  It has been so much better. Even still, I can't wait for the day when I can design a house that actually meets our needs, all of them, even the small ones.