[renos: From Where We're Starting ...]

Interested in a "before"? I'd rather show you AFTER it's done *GRIN* ... but I'll give you a bit of an idea of what we're starting to do 'round these here parts.

Choosing paint colours was FUN ... basically I'm keeping the same feel, just using more INTENSE colours than the ones I chose 5 years ago ... "aztec brick" which is a vibrant, fiery orange for the front room (it'll be finished with the lower half as white wainscoting), "olive branch" which is a thick, warm green for the powder room, and "french press", an intense chocolate brown from the BM Pottery Barn Collection for the kitchen.

I'm debating as to whether we should paint the insets again ... we have a lot of them for wall hangings and such ... I'm thinking we'll leave them this time in just the neutral (which I'm leaning towards Bennington Grey).

I LOVE our front room ... but with the new shag being ordered, we'll be taking out the area rug and I thought now's a great opportunity to try a more intense colour for the room .. Hmmm ... should've straightened those tables before taking the pic *grin* ... Here's the "now" ...

Here are a few pics of the current colours vs the updated-to-be colours. The top colour is Aztek Brick for the front room. I am in love with it. Bold. Warm. Sophisticated. This may end up being the only "woman" room in the house if we have another boy *GRIN*!!

And you can't REALLY tell that this wall is GREEN (but it is). It's the powder room on the main floor - but I never liked the hue I chose then. It was very cold, so this time I'm going to be bold and do a true Olive Branch. It's also very warm with massive amounts of pigment and screams "lush" to me.

We installed black granite in the kitchen when we first moved in. The cupboards are white - unfortunately, not wood but melamine - and stainless steel appliances. The brown I chose 5 years ago is nice, but not deep enough. I wanted a stronger contrast between the walls and cupboards. So, I chose "French Press" ... here's what it looks like against the current brown - which kinda looks green - but it isn't. Gotta love inconsistent lighting!!

Finally, we chose Josiah's stuff for his room today ... all about that on the next post.