Saturday, April 23, 2011

how deep the Father's love for us....






How deep the Father's love for us
How vast beyond all measure
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure

How great the pain of searing loss
The Father turns His face away
As wounds which mar the Chosen One
Bring many sons to glory

Behold the Man upon the cross
My sin upon His shoulders
Ashamed to hear my mocking voice
Call out among the scoffers

It was my sin that kept Him there
Until it was accomplished
His dying breath has brought me life
I know that it is finished

I will not boast in anything
No gifts, no power, no wisdom
But I will boast in Jesus Christ
His death and resurrection

Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom [x2]





Friday, April 15, 2011

classic children's bath {SNEAK PEEK!}



As promised, here's a sneak peek at what's happening in the children's bathroom as of this afternoon. T and Mr. V are really crankin' it out, now. Their work light came in handy for photos, so here are a few. It's getting really exciting now, guys!











If you click on the photos and then zoom in, they'll get really big for you. Tomorrow we get grout in the floor tile :) Super fun.

Later, taters!




Thursday, April 14, 2011

children's bathroom design board



Hey, all. Super quick post. Sam is out of town all week, and I've been attacking the spring cleaning like a maniac (with the help of my sister and my parents!), so at this point, I'm complete toast. If I keep this really quick, I may sneak in a quick nap. Incentive :)


The children's bathroom is coming along. The plumbing and wiring took longer than expected, so we're not quite up to the finish line, but we're getting there. They finished placing the tub surround tile today, and plan on grouting it tomorrow. It's starting to finally look like a bathroom again!


The plan with this bathroom was to redo everything, but do so in a way that didn't look brand new. Well, maybe "brand new" in terms of everything being in new condition, but we didn't want it to scream UPDATED. Actually, we wanted it backdated. And, of course, you know me - classic, as well.


Here's the design board I put together a little while back (with the intention of listing out sources for you, but that will be for another day, another post).





I was a bit nervous about the addition of the black detail tile when the time came to get it up on the walls. But, now that it's up, I definitely don't regret it. It adds an instant charm. As Mr. V put it, "Without that black, this'll look just like everybody else's bathroom with all this white tile." The black gave it some character. I only wanted a pop of black, though. Most of the room is crisp white and whatever color I want on the walls. Since this is the children's bathroom for the forseeable future, I went with something very youthful and happy. A clear, bright blue. "Open Air" from Sherwin Williams. It's pretty close to this... OPEN AIR. When I want to change it up, there's just a little wall to paint and the rest of the bathroom is designed to be super flexible and classic with any color.


I'll take some photos and post a few sneak peek shots this weekend. It's been cloudy and rainy most of the week, so photos have been bleck. I should be able to manage some better shots today or tomorrow. Y'all have a great weekend! Sam gets home tomorrow evening :)




Friday, April 8, 2011

nursery inspiration for a neutral room



I love me some neutrals.


Right now, I'm in a white and gray phase. I acknowledge that it's probably a phase. I haven't always loved lots and lots of white and gray, but I have always loved subdued, soft colors as a backdrop. Even when I was in my "paint the walls chocolate brown, deep red, and billiard hall green" phase (I had a powder room the same shade as a pool table once), I still had a thing for neutrals, too. Our main living areas have always been what others deem to be "boring" colors. But, I like the versatility a neutral backdrop provides. And the neutrals are easier to live with day in and day out than strong color absolutely everywhere. At least for me.


As I showed you earlier last week, this is the starting point for the nursery.



And it's terribly unexciting to most. But, to me it's a prepared canvas - ready for the layers of color to be added. And I get SO pumped!!! I'm a little spazzy and dramatic anyway, but - really - I do get pumped :) Especially when I find inspiration like this little beauty of a neutral-at-first room from Ohdeedoh.



How cheerful and happy and clean and bright is that wonderfulness?



Just look at all that color. On a neutral background :) Really not too different than where I'm headed with Punkin and Little Dude's room. Remember the inspiration photos for that?


I won't go quite this vintagey with our room, and I don't think I'll have quite so many little knick knacky pieces (dust collectors - although a few definitely bring in the personality), but this is such a great room to pull ideas from. It's not far removed from what my brain had dreamed up so far. I lurve it. And it can easily tilt more boy or more girl with just a few key color additions.


OK. Now I have to go feed my son. He's literally sitting by my ankles, waiting for lunch. Gotta go! Hope you all have a fantabulous weekend!!!





Wednesday, April 6, 2011

just to clear up confusion



Apparently, I have somehow given the impression that I do door color consultations for a fee. I have no idea how this might have been the case, but this is just to clear things up. Hi. I'm Jacci. I'm a stay at home wife and mom. I am not available for design consultations. You see, I'm not a designer. And I barely have time to keep my family in clean undies ;) Thank you for the wonderful compliment, but I'm sorry I'm not able to help out in this way. Thanks! (comments closed)



about those black doors



We have black doors.


You all know this already.


I thought it only fair and right, after sharing all kinds of painted door inspiration photos with you and after posting about my own painted doors, to share with you how they're working out over a year and a half later. Good news is, I still like them. Bad news is, mostly. There are a few places where the black doors just haven't worked out too well.


My favorite one is still the first one I painted. Our pantry door looks really slick painted black. The problem came when I assumed that since that door looked great painted black all of our doors would look just as good. Joni even said she makes it standard practice in her interior design work to paint all the doors in a home black. So, boosted by a little success and Joni's good word, I pressed on with confidence. But...



Some doors just look better painted a lighter color. That's just how it is. My entryway doors are ugly to begin with. Nothing was going to make them look fabulous. There is something that I do like about the black, but it just pulls too much light out of the entryway. They make a bold statement and they add some style, but the over all feel of the entryway suffered some, I think. Probably because there are two doors. It's just too dark now. Bummer. They were kind of a big deal to paint with all those little diamond windows, though, so I'm not repainting anytime soon. The black is fine, but after living with it for a little while, it's not my first choice for these doors anymore. Besides, one chipped. But that's not the black paint's fault ;)


As a little side note, you also might like to know that if your bedroom doors are painted black and you're getting up with a fussy child in the middle of the night, in your shadowy stupor you might think that dark, black door is an open door. And that might hurt your forehead.


Kind of a lot.



I still like the hallway side of the upstairs doors painted black. Good thing, too, because there are six of them!



I'm very glad I painted the bedroom side of the Bedroom 2 door white, though. That room looks best with the light & bright thing it has going on. Plus, it's the baby's room. I didn't really want a black door in the baby's room.


Two of the upstairs doors are getting repainted on one side this summer. The black wasn't working. I'm just keeping it real here, guys. You should know that I didn't love these doors everywhere in our house. One door is the bedroom side of Bedroom 4 (which will be the girls' bedroom). I think it needs to be white for the same overall reasons as the door in Bedroom 2. So, it's getting repainted, but only on the bedroom side. The other is the children's bathroom door. I wasn't really prepared for the amount of toothpaste splatter that door would accumulate in the course of a year. And toothpaste really shows quite well on a black door.






I know! I didn't know that before, either! Anyway. Small bathroom + 5 children + sloppy, giggly toothbrushing = a need for a white door in the children's bathroom. That door is actually off its hinges right now (and leaning against an empty bed frame in the master bedroom) while T and his buddy, Mr. V, are working on the bathroom remodel. Yes, it's a little chaotic here this week. Sam's going to be priming and repainting this door's bathroom side once the torrential rains quit here and Peep can be assured of properly ventilated living quarters :)



The black door in Bedroom 3 is good. It's a little dark for that room, but it's the boy(s) bedroom ("boy" being potentially plural - we'll find out in about 5 weeks!) and I really like the black with the pale blue/gray of the walls. That door stays black on both sides.


And, as mentioned before, all of the hallway sides of the other doors are staying black, too. The hallway is dark as anything regardless and pretty much boring, so I decided that the white walls and trim (Benjamin Moore "White Dove") contrasted with the black doors (Martha Stewart "French Bulldog") gave the space some interest and a little graphic punch. The black doors are a nice surprise there.


Okay. Is there anything I'm leaving out? Let's see.


Oh, well, at the risk of being a total downer about the black doors and talking someone out of taking a risk like this, I have one more downside to share with you. The black doors really show dust easily. You know how you don't buy black cars because they're always looking dirty? Well, be prepared to dust your doors fairly often if you paint them black. Not a big deal for most people, really, but I felt compelled to share it with you :)


So that's it! An 18 month update on my foray with black doors. I still love them in most of our rooms, but - to be completely honest - not in all of them. Once Sam paints over the black with white paint here soon, we'll let you know if it turns out to be a big deal to cover over it. Then, you can't say I'm not giving you all possible sides of the story before you take the leap and go with doors that aren't just standard white.

I just needed to get that responsibility off my chest.


Ha.