We finally stained the picnic table but it can be said that the colour is not reflective of the name of the stain.
I considered calling this post, “Redwood my ass” but thought better of it when thinking about what search terms would be used that combined “wood” and “ass”.
We have had the table for a year but just got around to staining it. It has darkened somewhat but not to a degree I would call redwood.
Here’s a little infographic that might inspire and incite some change.
Nothing too fancy here but also nothing that any of us could try on say a long weekend? Happy Family Day weekend everyone!
After many years with a great distaste for olives I have done two odd things this year.
First I started eating olives. I guess I got over that part. And second, we’ve just painted the upstairs bathroom an olive sort of green. Who would have guessed?
Now you might say, “Ariel, olives come in many colours.” And then possibly mutter, “Dumbass” when you think I am not listening. obviously that is true and it’s fairly evident given the picture above. Now who is the dumbass?
We looked around and both actually agreed on Olivine by Behr.
Behr, Olivine, 420F 5 – color-swatches.com.
That’s a sort of olive-green with a bit of sage thrown in I guess. It looks good I think. It isn’t as olive as the name suggests and it looks nice with our brown tile and black-brown cabinets. Watch for impending, non-olive related photos to support my case.
We have finally replaced the decrepit old picnic table that was more hazard than seating with a new one. Pat is going to stain it but whatever color shall we choose?
I’ve been thinking about painting the schoolhouse bathroom yellow.
This would a quick and easy solution to its current bachelor board look and may brighten up the one room that has no windows.
I thought it might be cheery but all of the selections on Pinterest are paired with grey. I think that is weird. What does everyone else think?
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Or I could just do this for fun?
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OK so I made that word up.
But a vestibule is good. You can take your boots off in here and not mess up the rest of the house. It can be where the winter clothes live while you are in summer wear. It’s a great place to stand while you wait for the school bus or your ride to town.
We haven’t had a chance to paint the vestibule yet and I am itching to do it. There is some extra vacation time tucked away in my file so I may have to do it this fall. And while we are just painting now, eventually we want to make this small, square entrance way a useful space.
I’ve turned to Pinterest to see what ideas it can offer.
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A lot of people don’t like change. I might be one of the those people.
I don’t like new Star Wars movies (despite the Ewan McGregor Factor), I hate most cover songs (OK Catherine Wheel and Cartman from South Park, you’ve done some good ones) and I especially don’t like thinking about making drastic changes to my historic summer home.
It’s a tough idea to get your head around. How can the rooster jug we bought at an antique shop in Northern Ireland in 1979 go on the window sill when we buy new windows? I still look at the blank living room wall to fix my hair because a few years back Pat moved the “awesome” flamingo mirror that adorned the wall for as long as I can remember.
But I guess if we are going to do it right, we should do it, right? Though these days we are merely patching the holes in the boat, so to speak, eventually we will have to move onto larger projects and make sure we are getting our money’s worth. And though we won’t sell the schoolhouse (read introductory paragraph about my thoughts on change) we should make sure the place is worth more than when we started.
I found this infographic that explains some of the more important renovations you can make. It covers all of the basics and seems to make a lot of sense.
I like this. It sort of sets out a plan for the future big jobs.
The bathroom and kitchen are definite jobs at some point. The basement is sort of a no go as we only have a root cellar as you all know. Windows will be tricky for us and would have to be custom but in the end I think they would be worth it.
What would you consider renovating at your home?
Our four-year old patio furniture from Ikea has had it.
We have a little set we use on our balcony at the condo. That brown acacia stuff that we have just doesn’t weather very well. With each passing year it gets more and more decrepid looking. For awhile I kidded myself and thought it was just maturing and would turn a lovely darkened colour. It went gray and scaly. So I decided it can’t get any worse and tried my hand at painting it.
And yes for all my safey friends out there, I did wear all the appropriate personal protective equipment, except for a mask. I didn’t even make a mess except a small patch of grass I will cut next week anyway. At least the paint went downwind.
I think it went well. This test chair worked out to be very simple and I hope to get the rest done next weekend. This might inspire me to do more for the schoolhouse. I’d love to get some nice old Kawartha chairs (yes we call them Kawartha chairs ’cause we ain’t in Muskoka!) and do them up nicely. Wait and see!
We are still working on condo paint colours.
Around St. Paddy’s day I started thinking about green. It would be great but now our kitchen is blue and I think maybe we should go with blue throughout?
So I’ve been looking up samples. There are light blues that work well and can still be paired with reds or greens. But a deep blue has impact. What does everyone think? I need ideas! Please comment and throw your ideas around. Especially if you have seen our kitchen blue.
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OK so I had to look it up but that’s gaelic for “enjoy the weekend”.
Given that Paddy’s day is Saturday this year, I suspect many people will enjoy it. So in honour of St. Patrick’s day, and in keeping with the theme of the blog, I started looking up green decor. I’d love a green living room but methinks the English/French guy who lives here might have something else in mind.
We know from one of my previous posts, Infographictastic!, that green inspires health and tranquility. Now who couldn’t use a little of that?
In our condo a nice cool green would look nice with our floors. And since we are going couch shopping this weekend, I’ll keep green in mind.
I have found some neat ideas that might work if I can convince him. We waffle between bold and bland colours.
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Each of these rooms has its own unique charms. The colours are rich and bold and each of them also uses a white or cream to offset the deep green. I especially like the use of green as an accent in the last photo and that map is awesome. Though I suspect my map would have to somehow centre on Buckhorn and Belfast!
MySchoolhouseRocks 
