Valspar is giving away 1,000 free paint sample kits each morning, starting at 9 a.m. CST. I signed up for mine on Thursday or Friday and the FedEx truck just showed up!
I got so excited I attempted my first stop-motion movie.
I'm a sucker for pretty much any free stuff, but this might take the cake. You get an 8 oz. sample of any color of paint (and don't think I didn't break out into mini-hives when it came time to choose), a miniature tray, roller and replacement roller head, and a $5 coupon for a gallon of Valspar at Lowe's. They also sent an envelope with a bunch of complimentary paint colors.
I decided on a warm Birchwood White and the included paint chip looks really pretty! The gob on my favorite pair of black pants, however, does not. I wasn't being careful. I was trying to hurry up and finish the stop-motion because the sun had already set and because I was sitting on the floor. I'm too old to sit on the floor!
You'll also notice that the camera accidentally caught my hand a couple of times, and apparently my dog was standing there for a while and I didn't notice! I thought about removing the snafus in Photoshop but that's just too much work.
According to my timestamps, I started taking photos at 5:54 and stopped at 6:09. See? Too long to be sitting on the floor.
One of my favorite design blogs, The Lettered Cottage, often posts before-and-after pictures of virtual remodels and calls them "presto changos."
Not to be confused with "illusions." We'll leave those up to Gob.
Recently, the beautifully talented designer at TLC decided to let people submit photos of their home for a free virtual makeover in a series called Pick My Presto.
A "presto" by Layla Palmer
A chance to have a professional give me ideas for my own home for free sounded awesome, but there isn't any space in our house that really needs redecorating.
Oh, wait.
There's that whole, bringing home a baby thing.
So I did some straightening up and took this photo of our guest bedroom and submitted it. This room is a perfect snapshot of my 2004 tastes. These used to be our master bedroom furniture and accessories. And yes, we have a queen comforter on a double bed. That's not nearly as shocking as knowing that KellerMan and I shared that full bed for more than a year!
Guest room/craft storage
Then I realized that I have a working knowledge of Photoshop and I could attempt to presto my own chango! I'm artistic in my own way, but still-life trips me up. I definitely don't understand angles and perspective, so please excuse the eye-crossing moments going on here.
My attempt at being gender-neutral has its flaws :)
As you can tell, I bleed neutrals and don't care for themes. No butterflies or outer space baby room for our kiddo!
However, our home office has a very cool baseball-slash-pop art feel to it that could easily be relocated into a boys' room.
Let's walk through the room, shall we? First, I must say that while I tried to be reasonable and only add/change elements that I would add/change in real life, I started to realize that worrying about real life was stupid while having fun with a virtual makeover!
Okay, my numbering is totally off here...
Gray walls: Beautiful and gender-neutral.*
Crown moulding: We probably wouldn't bother with it in real life because we are cheap and not too handy.
Stencil: I love the idea of tree/branch stencils in nurseries! It's a trend I've admired for a few years.
Furniture: There are three dressers/cabinets and two night stands in the room. They match and are all empty. I'm not opposed to painting them but probably won't. I want to make adjustments to use the bureau as a changing table.**
Silhouette: That's a random one I found online, but we do have a beautiful one of my mother-in-law as a child, and I really want to use it in a girls' room!
Curtains: We don't have any window treatments in the house because of the pretty plantation shutters. But now, after more than two years, I'm thinking drapes are a go.
Rug: I would LOVE to make a braided rug for the nursery. Heck, I should start on it now! And since this is my virtual makeover, I decided to make it niiiiiiiiice and big. :)
Baby photos: I've always thought black and white photos of grandparents as babies would look so sweet. I haven't found any big prints of my own parents, though.
Mobile: I'd like to make my own mobile. That one shown is from an Etsy seller. It has grey and yellow birds made out of felt.***
Crib and chair: We aren't too picky. I'm not really into bedding "sets" but maybe that's because I haven't found one I like.
What's not pictured: About half of the room :) Bookshelf, toy baskets, overpriced but adorable elephant hamper...
*I am--and have remained--completely unapologetic about my love for the color gray for at least 15 years. So don't try to talk me out of it! We even picked two tones of gray for the dining room!
**I don't need a lecture on making it child-safe, thankyouverymuch. I've had years to research these things.
***I was more into the "bird" theme until I saw this video. Hilarious if you read decorating blogs or shop Etsy often!
The lovely lady on the right is Rachael, my incredibly creative cousin. I'd say she's the Patty and I'm the Cathy.
Rachael and I don't get a chance to work on projects together since we live about 200 miles apart, so we decided to start a blog series where we work on the same type of design project and compare results when we're finished.
I'll write more about how it will work later, but for now we need to decide on a name!
Please pick your favorite title for our blog series in the poll on the right.
This is an update on the sewing machine cabinet that I purchased recently. My heart isn't broken, but I may need an intervention before I try to take things too far.
Nearly every time I walk into the ladies' bathroom at work I get these Ke$ha lyrics stuck in my head:
I've got a sick obsession / I'm seein' it in my dreams
Why? Because I have a sick obsession with this amazing piece of furniture sitting in the two-stall bathroom. It's filthy – covered in dust (and who knows what else) but it's so beautiful!
It would be perfect in a hallway or even as a small sofa table, because it's only about 10 inches wide. I do have enough personal restraint that I have not measured it. I did open the doors (by pulling on the mismatched hardware, mind you) to see what kind of storage it offers, and my oh my do I regret that decision. Let me tell you, Ke$ha probably has some creative lyrics about that kind of pot o' gold, too. Not only does it seem that someone was tired of wearing her undergarment, it seems she decided to store it in the public bathroom for safe keeping. I think I also spotted some hygiene products that aren't even in production any more.
But, moving past the Ugly of this Ugly Duckling...here's how I imagine it blossoming into a beautiful swan! Can't you just imagine? I can. Remember, I'm seein' it in my dreams.
We're not quiiiiite ready to post it on Facebook yet, which is the only true way to make something "public knowledge" these days, but
... drumroll please ...
We're in the process of adopting a baby! We received our approval at the end of December and are sitting back and waiting to be matched with a birth mother. Once that happens, we'll most likely bring a baby home from the hospital within the next, oh, 18 months or so. There are other ways it could play out, but that's generally how it works. And hopefully our baby's birth mom remains in our lives and will be there to show little Kellerkid that he or she is doubly loved!
Did you know that if you Google "baby," Justin Beiber is the first thing that pops up? Never mind.
You can follow our adoption journey at thekellermanfamily.blogspot.com. And if you know anyone who is around people who would may be considering adoption (priests, high school counselors, etc.) please send them the link.
