Inspired by Black

I'm feeling VERY inspired by black lately.  So much so that I'm itching to move onto some more projects using anything from chalkboard paint to black lacquer.

We have several things that I think would look wonderful painted black: a touch on the fireplace, the window casing in the kitchen window, our dutch doors on the inside (lacquer?), a few of the storage closets/doors around the house,the staircase, the beams in the ceiling in the family room... see what I mean?  Obsessed much?

Here are a lot of the images that are inspiring me right now...

FIREPLACE...

WINDOWS...

DOORS...

STAIRCASE...

WALLS...

SHELVES...

CEILING BEAMS...

{all images via Pinterest}

We have all white crown and base molding in our house, which I think looks perfect with touches of black.  What do you think?

Follow me on Pinterest!  I have a very full "Black" board:)

Breakfast Nook

We worked on painting the breakfast nook wainscoting, windows, and molding for over two weeks.  Bleh.  I'm happy to report that except for some minor touch ups, we are finished!

The existing wainscoting was really marked up and was a dusty gray color that was conflicting with the light blue/gray we painted on the top half...

We decided to paint the wainscoting and trim a pure white semi-gloss to match the cabinetry in the kitchen.  I must say that I love the way it makes the wainscoting pop and how it freshens up the nook!

Notice anything else different about the "after" pic? We got new aluminum stools!  It's great extra seating for our open floor plan and for all of the hosting we do.  I found an awesome deal on Overstock for $99 a pair and couldn't be happier since the ones I originally wanted were $100 each from Crate & Barrel (eek).  And let me just say that the ones I got on Overstock look identical to the Crate & Barrel stools.  Ah, I love a good bargain high.

Close-up:

This corner of the bar was really marked up, and perhaps the most telling of just how needed this paint job was...

This room is coming along in baby steps. I've enjoyed working on and thinking about it because we spend so much time here as a family.  We can open the beautiful bay window and look outside while we eat.  Avery stands in the window and watches Jake run around in the back yard.  We open the windows in this room to let crisp, cool air flow in while we cook.  Taylor sits here in the morning and reads while he looks at our beautiful back yard.  Definitely one of my favorite rooms in the house.

Now that we've painted the windows pure white, it makes our blinds look very dirty.  I'm thinking about repurposing them with fabric to make some roman shades???  As for the light fixture, it doesn't really flow.  I'm going to try refurbishing it, too.  My BF Emily always says, "Paint it first, then decide if you want to get rid of it."  I think that's pretty solid advice.

We have now moved onto the guest suite at the back of our house- all the walls, molding, windows, cabinets, shelves, and fixtures in a bedroom/bathroom/closet combo.  Why do we do this to ourselves?  God bless Taylor for even picking up a roller for my every painting whim...pics later!

Snapshots: October 2012

{1} Doorstep. One of the many things I love about the fall is the decor and I drew plenty of inspiration from all of my neighbor's beautiful stoops in our new neighborhood.  Now if I can just keep those mums alive this year!

{2}  Pumpkin patch.  We did plenty of pumpkin- patching in October.  Avery loves them!  Here we are in Dallas visiting my sister.  Avery thinks pumpkins are balls.  She's kind of right.

{3}  Tulsa State Fair!  It was cold, but it was fun.  We decided to make a date night out of it and left the bunny to spend the night with her grandparents!  I, like most people, enjoy the people watching more than the food and rides.

{4} Utica.  October brings cooler (ahem, tolerable) weather to Oklahoma.  Which means it's the perfect time of year to stroll at Utica, my favorite place in town.  Outdoor shopping, beautiful landscaping, plenty of open space for Avery to run, and more than enough places to find treats and coffee:)

{5}  Wainscoting.  I need to blog post about this soon, but I finally finished painting the wainscoting, windows and trim in the breakfast nook! Took up most evenings over the course of two weeks, but it was much needed and looks so good.

{6} Zoo. Avery's first trip to the zoo. Taylor surprised us girls one morning by taking the day off of work and treating us to the zoo in the middle of the week.  I don't know what we were expecting, but she got more enjoyment out of the kids at the zoo than the animals.  Oh, well.

{7}  15k.  Taylor and Brent in the Tulsa Run! We were there at the finish line to cheer them on.  So proud!

{8} Feathers.  My first hand at a home made costume went well! I have to say that my last minute decision to incorporate glitter feathers was just the thing the it needed.

{9} Hoot.  Our little owl on her first trick-or-treating Halloween!  We started at her grandparents.  Three hours and four scheduled stops later, we finally tucked the little owl in bed.