For some people it might be the first overnight or the first meal, but for me a house starts feeling like a home once my dogs have been there. I visited twice this afternoon bringing RAV-loads of boxes from storage and trying out some paint colors (more on that later). It was interesting coming and going on my own, putting boxes of our things inside, but it didn’t really feel like it was mine.
Tonight, Aaron and I loaded up the pups and drove over to have our first official family visit. The boys promptly marked the yard as their territory. When we let the dogs inside, they raced around sniffing all the interesting smells while we checked out paint colors. After every room was given a thorough inspection, it was GAME ON!
Of course, it won’t really feel like home until we are living there, but now that the pups have been there, it won’t feel quite so foreign to me.
Back to the slightly more serious business of getting the house ready… I put up a test patch of 1 Valspar color option in each room downstairs. I have another color for each room, but I only had 3 mini rollers, so I have to do those tomorrow. Choosing colors is always hit or miss for me and this round was mostly miss. I took photos, but keep in mind that they won’t show true to life:
Den: I decided to bite the bullet and try orange because I loved the idea of a warm firelight color in that room. We chose a color called Honey Tea, which conjures up cozy winter days curled up reading. Unfortunately, I think it looks more like loud fruit salad than quiet nights by the fire. (Aaron likes it, but is less picky about colors)
I am going to put up the neutral/tan color we chose tomorrow. If I don’t like that, I will go back to look for either a much lighter or more “burnt” orange.
Entryway: Somewhere along the way, I got really into the idea of a nice buttery yellow for the entryway. I think it will be warm and welcoming. It would also mesh well with the orange in the den (if that happens) and the green of the main room. Sadly, instead of buttery yellow, “Maple Taffy” came out looking somewhere between margarine and Velveeta.
The second yellow we chose, “Soft Duckling”, looks like it will be just as bright. Aaron wanted to go with a more mustard color, but I hate mustard as a food, I’m not up for it as a color either. I am going to test out “Soft Duckling” to be sure it isn’t a fit. If it isn’t, I’ll be buying another sample at least one shade lighter, like “Toasted Wheat”.
Main Room (Kitchen, living, dining): Finally, a color I liked right away! The color, Belle Grove Moss, is a nice natural green… darker than celery or mint, but lighter than sage. I’ll still try out the alternate color, “Brisk Olive”, to see which variation we like better, but one of the two we have will certainly be a winner.
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