Back in Black, er, Blue

Two years ago, when Woody and I started working on the house, we made it our mission to vanquish as many of the truly awful color choices made by the former residents of poor embattled 517 as possible with flat white paint. This has been/is an uphill battle. For while these folks were not fastidious in their cleaning habits, they could find nooks and crannies to paint that you didn't think existed (Primary blue on the baseboards? Really?). In fact, I am now convinced that these guys commuted to work in Vegas from B'ton:

Except, maybe not, since if they lived here their irises and pupils would be blue as well. (Incidentally, if you haven't seen the sadly canceled Arrested Development's take on the Blue Man Group, you should. Check it out here.)

Ironically enough, we went from blue....to blue in the dining room. Remember this horribleness?


(The wall color, folks, I'm talking about the wall color, not the chick in the shrunken fleece zip-up.) We've gone from Cookie Monster blue to a blue with a less manic/bingey vibe:


We extended the nice slate blue from the kitchen into the dining room. (It will go up on the left wall as well once some finish drywall work is done.) A view of the windows onto the street:


The only remaining spots of Cookie Monster blue cling to the hutch and the backs of the French doors...but their days are numbered.


In other high gloss news, Woody has finished painting all of the cabinets in the stove surround!


The whole effect is much more regal and grand than, well, us. But as soon as one of you compliments us on our kitchen (and you will...), we plan to brush it off with a "What? This old thing?" and act as if we had always had more than a hotplate and coffee maker indoors.

Like pancake makeup for our yard...

A truckload of mulch has made everything look better at 517 O'Neal. Woody and I have spread wheelbarrowfull after wheelbarrowfull over sandy patches, weeds, gaping maws of toxic waste, etc. Once the mulch is down our yard looks wholesome and approachable. Not like an informal auto repair center, which is what our back yard used to be. (Nothing like using a TREE to pull out engine blocks. I imagine this skill will be useful to the fine former resident of our home when he finally gets on "Survivor: Hot Rod".)

In fact, the mulch has been so successful that I am contemplating using it as wedding makeup to mask a few of my more cavernous pores. I figure foundation in "Pine" will make my eyes really pop.

Woody did an amazing job also laying down mulch outside our bedroom window around the Japanese maple:


We also had the lovely day lilies Nancy brought over flower today!


This pretty flower is actually in our yard. Unbelievable, I know.

PB & M

Our brand new carpet in "Peanut Butter" was installed a few days ago and Madison has already installed herself as its accompaniment.

Peanut Butter is, really, the best name for a carpet color. We had "Sandy Bottom" installed on the steps and upstairs and moaning "Mmmm, sandy bottom" while wiggling your toes sounds much less healthy than doing the same while wiggling your toes in peanut butter. Which is what I do to keep my heels silky soft and my cuticles supple. Moaning "Sandy Bottommmm" sounds like a Cinemax-goes-to-the-beach feature.

More pictures of peanut butter:


You may notice that there is a large hole cut out of our beautiful drywall. Apparently using a perfectly innocent fiberglass tub as your utility sink is not a good idea. Don't do it. Don't put drywall mud down an unassuming residential drain. For real.