Color Crush: Dark Ink

I have always had a strong pull to different colors at different times. I've never really been able to answer the questions "What's your favorite color?" because the answer has always bee different. And if it's always different, then can I really call it my favorite? For most of my life I could at least say my favorites were cool colors, but then something happened and I became a coral/dusty rose/millennial pink girl. I was never a pink girl. Thanks, social media..? I don't really know what it was.

Whenever I go new places, I'm first drawn to a place because of the color palette. Driving down the road/walking through downtown I'll say "I love that door color!" and snap a picture. When we were in Charleston, SC a few week ago for my sister's wedding I kept specifically taking pictures of window boxes/house fronts where I was drawn in by the color palette. When I'm shopping (for clothes, the house, my classroom, etc.) everything I end up taking back to the dressing room and/or actually leaving the store with falls in the same color scheme. When I'm painting, I have a knack for being able to identify the undertones of a color that I want to use and being able to mix it up. The same way every time. When I was roughly three years old, my mom would ask me if certain clothes matched together. Color's my thing.

So I thought it would be fitting to round up different pictures from around the instagram/blog world that show off the color I'm currently crushing on. Right now, it's a dark blue-almost black-with a dash of charcoal gray kind of color.

I think I first started being drawn to this color as I was looking at what color would look best with the brick of our house. I wanted to make new shutters (they've been made, but not quite finished and ready to post yet) and we need to replace the front door, so I started looking at the brick and noticed it had this almost black color in certain places. However, we had originally painted the door/shutters with a bright navy/cobalt blue and I loved the blue, so I didn't want to go straight black with the new color. Plus, black is just a little too traditional for the look of our house.

 left: @joannagaines | right: @rockyhedgehome

left: @e.t.shown_home (found via @jodie.thedesigntwins) | right: @peachandpinehome

I love that this color truly works for interiors, exteriors, accent pieces, and beyond. It even works regardless of your decor style (modern, farmhouse, boho, etc.). And since it does have a cool/blue undertone, it pairs well with other cool colors, like the greenery and gray chair above, and the eucalyptus and gray-washed tray below. But even though it's a cool blue-black, it doesn't have to stay with cool colors. It looks equally great with the warm wood tones from @rockyhedge home and the gold from @peachandpinehome as it does with the gray wood from @lemondropsreclaimed.

 left: @lemondropsreclaimed (found via @mmsmilkpaint) | right: @markethouserestorations (found via @oldbarnpaint)

 left: @peachandpinehome (photo by @carolinesharpnack) | right: @finn_and_bo (found via @oldbarnmilkpaint)

left: @farmhouseonboone | right: @timber.cottage

Just for fun! Here it is in small doses, just in case you think the dark color is just too bold for a whole wall or large piece of furniture. Or if you need to tip-toe into a color before truly committing.

left: @missmustardseed | right: @thecottonfieldcottage

All images found via instagram and tagged beneath to reflect ownership. I only own the very last photo (blueberries).

Entryway Mood Board

The first project I want to tackle this summer is the entryway. There are just two projects I want to complete for this room this summer -- building a bench and replacing the front door. I would love to replace the light fixture too, but I don't know about that one yet because I think it will mean replacing three at once, just the hallway lines up with the entryway and I would want them all to match.

Before I can wrap my head around what all I want (especially for those finishing touches), I think I need to create a mood board. I've never officially done one of these on paper (physical or digital). It's always just been all up in my head. However, when I was little I would draw out rooms on graph paper ALL. THE. TIME. It's almost like I always wanted to be an interior decorator and then changed my mind right before I went to college or something...

My decor tastes are all over the place at the moment:

• I like the modern look, but only to a small degree. I think I just like the clean lines.
• I like the farmhouse look, but only when it's authentic. If I'm going to have an old piece in my house it's going to come with a story, and preferably a family one at that.
• I like the rustic look because it doesn't have to be perfect and it only gets better with nicks and dings.
• I like the boho look, but it just doesn't really feel like "me" all the time.

So here's what I think I want for the entryway:

Photo/Item Sources (none affiliated, just what I found): metal tobacco basket, mirror, rug, leather pillow, bench, short vase, tall vase, wall hanging

1. Modern elements: leather pillow, octagon mirror, moody dark blue
2. Farmhouse elements: tobacco basket, simple wooden constructions, white walls, black/white print rug, jug vases? (I'm guessing that's where these fall)
3. Rustic elements: simple wooden constructions (again), dark wood plank floors, dark wood stain on bench/table top, the tobacco basket is metal instead of balsa wood
4. Boho elements: woven wall hanging, block print rug, plants!

Since I have a real life budget, those won't be the *exact* pieces we end up with, but what I already have and what I plan to build are incredibly similar! This has me excited to go build that bench now! 

Summer To Do List

I'm a list-maker. My motivation THRIVES from checking things off of my list. In fact, sometimes I'll add things I've already done (but didn't think about while making my list) just to get the feel-good vibes of immediately striking though it. Needless to say, in our foreclosure fixer-upper, there are several things that NEED to get done, and several others that I just *want* to get done. And the wants are almost always more fun than the needs. The wants are what run though my brain every time I look at a new corner of the house. Here's an example of what's currently running through my head:

But, y'all, summer break is only TWO MONTHS long, and we're already down to one and a half!

And when I look at a list like that, I just get overwhelmed and end up on the couch, snuggling with Hamilton, watching Netflix and eating ice cream instead. And this is why none of it has happened yet this summer (that and our two out-of-town weddings this month...).

So what I have to do instead is look at what can be completed the easiest/quickest/cheapest...

OR

...what will make me feel like the room it will be housed in seems "done," or at least closer to being done (because we all know no room is ever done*).

In this case, I'm going with the latter option. We have our second of those two out-of-town weddings this weekend, so when we get back I plan on making a bench to match the entryway table.

I built an extremely modified version of Ana White's "Rustic X Console" plans for our entryway table. My favorite thing about DIY pieces is the customization. Our house has very odd dimensions in a lot of places. We needed a landing space for mail and keys and such, but the dimensions were way too short and way too narrow for any entryway/console table we could find in a store. 

And in the spirit of full transparency... I messed up on the squaring of that left leg there. It's so off. It bothers me so much. I want to fix it, but have too many other things to do to worry about it (see list above...), so I just found an angle to snap a picture that hides it as best as I can and move on with my life... for now.

My plan is to build Ana White's "Providence Bench" for the other side of the front door, but again modify it to fit our space. I'll also likely swap out the 2x6 bench top for a 1x6 like I did on the above table. Our entryway space is just so small that the 2x6 seems like it would be too bulky. I plan on finishing it in the same color/style as I did the table, but plans always seems to change/get modified around here!

*Speaking of a room never being done, as I was typing I remembered another thing that is actually pretty high on my wish list to get done this summer: REPLACE THE FRONT DOOR. 

Nothing Ventured...

Sitting down and creating a blog is something I've contemplated doing for years. In fact, I actually did start this thing years ago, but then I got in my own way and never posted anything else to it. A few years later, I logged back in, deleted the *maybe* two posts that existed, told myself I would actually start this time, and yet again never did. 

I don't know what makes me think it will be different this time, other than that I actually feel differently towards it now. We've lived in this house for five years, and there are still SO many things left undone (one room even still has some unpacked boxes!), but I've slowly been adding things here, DIYing things there, and making this house look and feel more like a home.

My two biggest obstacles are:

1. MONEY. I've always had expensive taste, but I was raised by two teachers and became one myself, so we've always had to figure out ways to create the expensive look for less. Because of that, even if I had the money to drop on designing all of my rooms at once (or even one entire room at once...), I still don't think I could spend that much money at once.

2. INDECISIVENESS. I change my mind ALL. THE. TIME. I think I want one thing, then by the time I have the money saved up for it, I question myself and end up getting nothing and put the money towards something else instead. Case in point -- I've always wanted botanical prints in my house, and all you have to do is print them, but I keep changing my mind as to where I want them (but I think I've finally figured that out...I better hang them before I change my mind again!).

So here's to hoping I can force myself to find/make the time to stick with this project. Because I think this will be a good way to keep track of what I've done/what I want to do with this house. And because if I've thought about it since I was in college (2008-2012) and I'm still thinking about it now, I should just do it.

(Photos of things I've already done to keep myself motivated.)