I see a plain floor and I want to paint it black.

Of course my basic level of photoshop isn't going to do it justice. Just use your imagination!

All this talk of black doors is starting to get to me.

I shouldn’t write late at night with classic rock playing in the background. Though that sounds less like the Rolling Stones and more like Sylvia Plath writing mis-numbered Haiku.

We’ve been debating black floors in the vestibule. Pat can stain them and I’ve been doing some research. Found this collection and I think it works.

Painted black floors

We have to get the raw wood, stain it and install. Then repaint the wainscoting white and maybe red for the walls. It is a small space but it is very tall.

Found this on Apartment Therapy. Love the gloss but that may not work for us.

Inspiration:High Gloss Black Floors

The black floors will work with our overall plan which is to include white or cream wainscoting and red walls. I think it sounds more extreme than it will actually appear.

I think it will work. And if it sucks, well it is only the vestibule.

One colour to bind us

So when we did the poll our friend Watro (nickname used to protect the guy who has more incriminating photos of me than anyone) sent me this link.

Old house colors

I’ve also found this Toronto-based company that offers a variety of historical colours.

Homestead House

I am digging the Bayberry, Acadia Pear, Soldier Blue and the Liberty Blue. At our house my grandfather painted everything what we called Chinese Red. Everything. So not red is really my choice.

From Homestead House Paint Co. Toronto Ontario

Very interesting stuff. I sort of wish our red brick schoolhouse wasn’t actually red brick. Well not really but it is nice to know. We may employ some of these on the interior of the house.

Right now, with the exception of the bathroom and two bedrooms the schoolhouse is one big room. The ceilings are about 17 feet high so there is a lot to paint. It’s always been an off white and I’ve wondered if the space can take a rich, dark colour. Because whatever we pick we are bound to it as it will be everywhere.

Is it just me or do some of these colours appear to reflect some of the more modern trends? I guess everything old is new again.

Black is the new black

Alright the votes were tallied and black is it!

Thank you to everyone who helped us with ideas. We heard quite a few such as

• Black
• White
• Teal
• Blue
• Red
• CADPAT – Canadian military camouflage (Watro’s idea)
• Lime Green (Danielle’s idea)
• Pink (Christine’s idea)
• Aqua (Erin’s idea).

Most of these had merit (well maybe not pink ahem…) but we’ve been talking about black for some time now and the vote has sealed the deal. While most political parties would be worried about getting in with a 56 per cent win, I am happy to take our victory and run with it.

A full palette of colours was suggested but black was number one.

This past weekend Pat and I looked around and started making a few plans. That’s after I cleaned up all the little treats the mice had left us of course!

Of course after all this discussion we looked at the calendar and the proposition of taking the door off the house or even painting it is not all that appealing now that winter is here. So we aren’t sure when this is actually going to get done. Sigh. Another unchecked item on the never-ending “to do” list.

All of the discussion allowed us to really start talking about what we want to do with the vestibule, which of course is the next thing you see once you are in the door. More on that later…

Last day for the poll!

OK people make your mark on this important vote.

Well maybe not important vote. But I could use some advice on what colour to paint our front door. We went up to the schoolhouse this weekend and were able to make some plans for what we want to do in the spring but we thought we would throw it out to everyone for one last day of input.

Workin’ for the weekend

We don’t have a lot of time.

It’s the end of November and while the weather has been nothing but accommodating, our schedule hasn’t. We haven’t had a good solid couple of days up here since summer and there is a lot of work to do.

We don’t totally close things up for winter. We come up to visit every few weeks but after this summer’s “self-inflicted drought due to plumbing catastrophe” I am going to shut the water off when we aren’t here.

Along with that I have to totally clean and plug any obvious mouse entrances. Fly traps have to go up as well. Oh and we don’t want that leftover beer to go bad so we had better drink it before we leave.

I’ve got rubber gloves and garbage bags. We’ll make sure everything stored in platic tubs is still intact and anything that remotely smells of food is put away or removed.

I found this link to a great checklist for shuttin’ er up for the season from the Canadian Automobile Association.

Closing down the summer cottage

That checklist idea is a good one. I always forget what I’ve stored where and which knob to turn to get the water back on. In my defense the knob is red not blue and turns “righty tighty” when it should go “lefty loosey”.

Here is another one from Cottage Life.

How to close up the cottage in 2 days

But if anyone asks, this is not a cottage. I refuse to believe we are cottagers! That’s for another post someday.

I also hope to get my painting supplies and get Pat to measure for the flooring in the vestibule. We’re going to start shopping soon!

Mice 1— tidy hibernation 0

They’ve done it again.

I went to check up on the schoolhouse this weekend. And also to visit friend both local and from the west coast. After a great night of good food and Belgian beer I took a peek around the place. When I arrived at the house I was happy to see the poison blocks I had put out had disappeared. When I flaked out on the couch and found one under the couch cushion I had been snoozing on I was less happy.

There is some pretty heavy-duty cleaning in my future. we keep everything in plastic tubs and vacuum sealed bags so it is really just empty drawers to clean out but it is just one of those gross jobs I have to do once or twice a year. It’s like looking after the drunk friend at a party. You know he’s gonna be a mess but you’ve done it so many times you know it will be you at the end of the party searching a puke-riddled bathroom floor for contact lenses and subway tokens.

So those little furry miscreants have fooled me again. But what they don’t know is that I have a secret weapon. And his name is Beau.

It turns out one of our cats is quite the mouser. I have been feline sexist all these years thinking male cats were good for little but eating their weight in food and licking themselves in their dirty bits when company is over. However after a recent stay at the parentals Beau caught three mice in a week which earned him the nickname “Black Ops”. He was vicious and ruthless and left no survivors. Just the type of thing I like to see in my sweet little pets.

So my next trip up I am going to conduct a thorough clean (bring on the rubber gloves and mask) and remove all mouse leavings and poison residue. And then bring in the hunter.

Restore the door

So about the door.

Over the past few months the front door has started to peel like a stripper on pay cheque day. From the top down and at a rapid pace.

It went from having scabs to full on leprosy in a matter of weeks this summer. After the summer of the "toilet on the porch" the neighbours are starting to wonder about this place.

So I’ve been thinking about what colour to use. It’s been white as long as I remember. I think it is time to do something new. What to pick?

What does your front door say?

Well the red ones are nice but I’m still not sure.

Paint your front door

That makes it sound quick and easy but I am skeptical. I’ve already spent hours thinking about it so quick is out of the picture.

So we need to paint it and I’ve been thinking about going black. We’ve seen some nice red brick homes with black trim and it is hot man. What does everyone else think?