Sarah Sprinkles: Nesting in the Gold Palace

You know when you've gone to the hardware store enough times: the cashier recognizes you, remembers what you bought the last time and the special angel pin you wore. It was my third trip in two weeks. Well, I promised you pics and I am almost loathed to post them since they are not the best or when I have everything in place. Here they go anyway before I receive more not-so-subtle hints via text messages...

It started out with these colors: Ocean Whisper, Hayloft and Du Jour (White).

My how everything 'pops' out from the walls. I love this aqua color. It reminds me of the water off of Mexico when the water goes from sand to where it is just yards away from a darker teal and navy blue. Ignore the sofa, it is not in full AGOL glory in this shot with the slipcovers off and the mountains of pillows in disarray. I took this right after I put everything back on the walls. This color is even better during daylight especially when you see it wrapped around by the front door, most of the living room and all to way to the bathroom.

The first brush of this dark mango/saffron color was startling. I cut the color in the walls and had no choice but to color the rest in and now I can enjoy a golden glow day and night. The warmth makes me feel cocooned. It doesn't show well but the mermaid picture by Howard Pyle has teal colors that match the walls so visually it carries through from the outside.

I attempted to buy the items that would allow me to do the fabric treatment in my bedroom. Apparently, I am shopping in the wrong stores, because I can't find whatever it is. I am one of those "when I see it, I will know it" kind of person. The quest continues.

You can barely see this in the above photo (bottom right), but this is my whimsical idea to have the fish 'swimming' towards my bedroom. The big fish was a gift from my aunt and uncle while the small fish was a memento I picked from Mexico years ago.

I decided to take the Hayloft color to the wall opposite my living room and also to the counter/pass through in the kitchen. (I'll post a pic of that counter later.) From the sofa, all that gold looked too overwhelming. I decided a bit of stencilling would relieve it a little. No, I didn't take it all the way to the baseboards or all the way across the band to the right. It doesn't need it when this bit just anchors and frames the dining room nicely. The stencil started out with a medium purple in the middle of the leaves followed by black for the rest. A recent purchase of a pink gold rub on color was brushed randomly to lessen the starkness against the gold.

An AGOL doesn't forget about details in her nesting delirium. This morning I redressed three pillar candles. Out are the sage, white and decorative sequin/seed bead fringe; in with the ombre aqua, grosgrain gold and bold seed bead/stone fringe. The colors compliment the new walls. Did I mention I repainted the dining room with white and how painful it was? I forgot that you can buy a pink tint additive that dries white so you can actually see where the hell you are painting. The temptation to buy another bold color halfway through just to avoid painting white over white almost won.

There are two more major painting projects yet for your AGOL. One is a piece of furniture that will end up a deep cinnabar red with a crackle finish to reveal the undertone of black and then there is the wall in the bigger bedroom aka Sin Room (home art studio) that will rock this color. Oh yes, she is mighty sexy. Purrr..