I wish for all of you a most happy holiday full of bountiful food and blessings to you and yours. Thank you!
November 24, 2010
Happy Thanksgiving...and THANK YOU!
Just a quick note to wish everyone who passes through here, whether just once or more frequently, a very happy Thanksgiving. I'm so very thankful for my blessings and for the ability to share the things I love and care about here in blog-land.
I wish for all of you a most happy holiday full of bountiful food and blessings to you and yours. Thank you!
I wish for all of you a most happy holiday full of bountiful food and blessings to you and yours. Thank you!
November 18, 2010
Betwixt, Between...and a New Tag Line
No sooner am I apologizing ad nauseam for not posting in recent weeks, and here I am with a second post in two days! Never check a generous impulse, I've heard, so just go with it, gang.
One of the things I have been thinking about lately is the name of this blog. I think Country Contemporary is still good to go here - I'm a contemporary person and I've been back living in the country, in a contemporary house, no less, for the better part of the year, so I think the title is a keeper. The tag line - "Life and Style from the Urban Home from a Country Girl at Heart" isn't so accurate any longer, though. I remain a country girl both at heart and, again now, in fact, but the urban home from which I originated the blog, and in which I actually "originated" in life from the age of about 4, is about to become someone else's urban home. That meant the tag line needed, like some of the features of that wonderful midcentury urban home, to be updated to reflect the reality of these modern times. So I changed it (the tag line, not the house, alas).
Here at Country Contemporary, the tag line is now "Life and Style from the Country Home of a Formerly Urban Girl." It's still accurate, but more accurate and current now. I've been back in the country since March and I was a bona fide urban girl, having been born and raised within city limits.
In fact, I lived in the city until about age 36, when I bought my first country home. I had been spending a lot of time in the country over the course of about eight preceding years. I had renewed my childhood passion for horses and riding that was interrupted in my teens for all the usual reasons that derail horse crazy adolescent girls - school work, extra-curricular activities, boys, etc. - and because we lived in the city, the likelihood that we'd be keeping a horse in the backyard wasn't high. I pleaded with my dad for that, but to no avail.
After an interruption of a few years, I resumed riding a bit during college, but, once again, the realities of life - working for a living and still residing in the city - interfered with the time I'd have to spend indulging in my long-held passion for equines or the ability to be near where horses needed to live.
Fortunately, in my late 20s, a dear friend gave me a gift of riding lessons at a wonderful facility in the country near where I now sit typing this and, essentially, it changed my life. More accurately, it returned me to my long-held passion and I took it from there. After about two years, I purchased my first horse with an income tax refund I received one spring. The rest, as they say, is history.
Eventually, as my career progressed and my fortunes (read: bank account) grew, I made the executive decision to move closer to my passion and farther from the office after about six initial years of horse ownership. I knew, after spending those intervening years learning the landscape and the culture of the community, that this was where I belonged....here in horse country. But for a period of about five years that reluctantly but necessarily brought me back to the city more recently, I lived, happily, here in the country for 15 years.
All the while, I kept my post office box in the country. I knew I didn't want to give it up even though I'd later moved to another country home several miles away. I've had that box for more than 20 years now and I've used it continuously for business and for less important mailings, like magazines and such, that I didn't need to receive instantly. I'd come out to the country - only about 30 miles from the urban home - periodically to retrieve the mail. The box kept me connected to the community, to my great friends of many years who are my real support system, and, most of all, to the horses. Now, since returning to live here earlier this year, I use that box as my primary address again.
By choice, after 25 years, I don't own horses any longer, but they remain central to my existence, to my sense of my identity and to my sense of calm and happiness. I know that wherever I live, I must be in or near where they are so I can see them, watch them, pat them and just be around them, and so this formerly urban girl can always remain a country girl at heart...and in reality.
One of the things I have been thinking about lately is the name of this blog. I think Country Contemporary is still good to go here - I'm a contemporary person and I've been back living in the country, in a contemporary house, no less, for the better part of the year, so I think the title is a keeper. The tag line - "Life and Style from the Urban Home from a Country Girl at Heart" isn't so accurate any longer, though. I remain a country girl both at heart and, again now, in fact, but the urban home from which I originated the blog, and in which I actually "originated" in life from the age of about 4, is about to become someone else's urban home. That meant the tag line needed, like some of the features of that wonderful midcentury urban home, to be updated to reflect the reality of these modern times. So I changed it (the tag line, not the house, alas).
Here at Country Contemporary, the tag line is now "Life and Style from the Country Home of a Formerly Urban Girl." It's still accurate, but more accurate and current now. I've been back in the country since March and I was a bona fide urban girl, having been born and raised within city limits.
In fact, I lived in the city until about age 36, when I bought my first country home. I had been spending a lot of time in the country over the course of about eight preceding years. I had renewed my childhood passion for horses and riding that was interrupted in my teens for all the usual reasons that derail horse crazy adolescent girls - school work, extra-curricular activities, boys, etc. - and because we lived in the city, the likelihood that we'd be keeping a horse in the backyard wasn't high. I pleaded with my dad for that, but to no avail.
After an interruption of a few years, I resumed riding a bit during college, but, once again, the realities of life - working for a living and still residing in the city - interfered with the time I'd have to spend indulging in my long-held passion for equines or the ability to be near where horses needed to live.
Fortunately, in my late 20s, a dear friend gave me a gift of riding lessons at a wonderful facility in the country near where I now sit typing this and, essentially, it changed my life. More accurately, it returned me to my long-held passion and I took it from there. After about two years, I purchased my first horse with an income tax refund I received one spring. The rest, as they say, is history.
Eventually, as my career progressed and my fortunes (read: bank account) grew, I made the executive decision to move closer to my passion and farther from the office after about six initial years of horse ownership. I knew, after spending those intervening years learning the landscape and the culture of the community, that this was where I belonged....here in horse country. But for a period of about five years that reluctantly but necessarily brought me back to the city more recently, I lived, happily, here in the country for 15 years.
All the while, I kept my post office box in the country. I knew I didn't want to give it up even though I'd later moved to another country home several miles away. I've had that box for more than 20 years now and I've used it continuously for business and for less important mailings, like magazines and such, that I didn't need to receive instantly. I'd come out to the country - only about 30 miles from the urban home - periodically to retrieve the mail. The box kept me connected to the community, to my great friends of many years who are my real support system, and, most of all, to the horses. Now, since returning to live here earlier this year, I use that box as my primary address again.
November 16, 2010
Pumpkin Teapot Redux
It's official. I am a blogging delinquent. I readily admit it. That's supposed to be half the battle, isn't it? Well, I'm 'fessing up. Yup. I'm not proud of it, but sometimes life just intervenes and demands that one pay attention elsewhere. So that's what I've been doing. I'm sorry to have neglected my duties here in blog-land. I promise I will try to do better.
While I've been off the blog airwaves, I've been a busy girl. I've spent the past six weeks (yes, more than a month) engaging in an array of activities. All the while it has been autumn, which, as I might have mentioned previously, is my favorite time...and it's my time. One of the things I did was celebrate another year's passage. I don't feel a whole lot older than I did six weeks ago, but the calendar doesn't lie. It wasn't a "big deal" birthday - no zeros in this one - so I spent it enjoying a lovely dinner at the home of a friend who kindly invited several other dear friends of mine whom I've known for 20-30 years. I took it as an opportunity to celebrate our friendship more than I cared about acknowledgement of my birthday, and I think that's how I'll look to celebrate the occasion in the years ahead.
There were no gifts (thank goodness - I have more than enough "stuff" and deaccessioning the excess has been my modus operandi lately), but one very dear friend brought along two bottles of Veuve Clicquot champagne, which was an instant treat. If you haven't had to good fortune to taste it, I highly recommend it. I think it's just about the smoothest champagne I've ever had...totally, utterly lovely.
One of the things I've enjoyed about this particular autumn is decorating my country home. Now, mind you, I'm not talking the kind of decorating that you'll see on the other blogs, with lovely tablescapes, and mantles and accessories that reflect the autumn colors - I've got some of that - but, more importantly, for me, this year, is bringing out my accumulated autumnal decorative items that I've acquired over a lifetime of house and homekeeping = the Halloween pumpkin candle holders, the little wooden Thanksgiving turkeys, the orange and red leaves, the leaf plates, etc.
A few years ago, in a fit of frustration I suspect, one of my cats had too close an encounter with a special autumn keepsake that my late mom gave me for my birthday some years earlier. It was a sweet, ceramic pumpkin figural teapot and I treasured it, because my mom was not a big "stuff" person, but she knew I liked things to celebrate the seasons, so she found it, chose it, and gave it to me as a surprise. She was like that. One day, I hear a crash/smash and the next thing I knew, I was picking up broken pieces of ceramic teapot that had fallen off a shelf and onto the hard, cold stone of the slate dining room floor.
My fond memories of my mom's sweet gift were shattered along with the teapot, but it was a risk I took in putting it out within reach of an errant, furry paw, so, this year, I decided to try to track down a replacement on eBay. It didn't take very long before I found the exact replica of my teapot online in a fixed price (not auction) listing, so I could "buy it now." I thought about it for a while, saved the listing to my watch list, and one day, as my birthday (and Halloween just prior) drew closer, I threw caution to the winds and bought it.
Even though it's not the actual teapot my mom purchased and gave me, it's my teapot's identical twin, so that's close enough. I still love it, perhaps even more because my mom chose it. Now I have it again in my home to remind me once a year of all the things I love about fall...and my mom.
Cheers...and thanks, mom.
While I've been off the blog airwaves, I've been a busy girl. I've spent the past six weeks (yes, more than a month) engaging in an array of activities. All the while it has been autumn, which, as I might have mentioned previously, is my favorite time...and it's my time. One of the things I did was celebrate another year's passage. I don't feel a whole lot older than I did six weeks ago, but the calendar doesn't lie. It wasn't a "big deal" birthday - no zeros in this one - so I spent it enjoying a lovely dinner at the home of a friend who kindly invited several other dear friends of mine whom I've known for 20-30 years. I took it as an opportunity to celebrate our friendship more than I cared about acknowledgement of my birthday, and I think that's how I'll look to celebrate the occasion in the years ahead.
There were no gifts (thank goodness - I have more than enough "stuff" and deaccessioning the excess has been my modus operandi lately), but one very dear friend brought along two bottles of Veuve Clicquot champagne, which was an instant treat. If you haven't had to good fortune to taste it, I highly recommend it. I think it's just about the smoothest champagne I've ever had...totally, utterly lovely.
One of the things I've enjoyed about this particular autumn is decorating my country home. Now, mind you, I'm not talking the kind of decorating that you'll see on the other blogs, with lovely tablescapes, and mantles and accessories that reflect the autumn colors - I've got some of that - but, more importantly, for me, this year, is bringing out my accumulated autumnal decorative items that I've acquired over a lifetime of house and homekeeping = the Halloween pumpkin candle holders, the little wooden Thanksgiving turkeys, the orange and red leaves, the leaf plates, etc.
A few years ago, in a fit of frustration I suspect, one of my cats had too close an encounter with a special autumn keepsake that my late mom gave me for my birthday some years earlier. It was a sweet, ceramic pumpkin figural teapot and I treasured it, because my mom was not a big "stuff" person, but she knew I liked things to celebrate the seasons, so she found it, chose it, and gave it to me as a surprise. She was like that. One day, I hear a crash/smash and the next thing I knew, I was picking up broken pieces of ceramic teapot that had fallen off a shelf and onto the hard, cold stone of the slate dining room floor.
My fond memories of my mom's sweet gift were shattered along with the teapot, but it was a risk I took in putting it out within reach of an errant, furry paw, so, this year, I decided to try to track down a replacement on eBay. It didn't take very long before I found the exact replica of my teapot online in a fixed price (not auction) listing, so I could "buy it now." I thought about it for a while, saved the listing to my watch list, and one day, as my birthday (and Halloween just prior) drew closer, I threw caution to the winds and bought it.
Even though it's not the actual teapot my mom purchased and gave me, it's my teapot's identical twin, so that's close enough. I still love it, perhaps even more because my mom chose it. Now I have it again in my home to remind me once a year of all the things I love about fall...and my mom.
Cheers...and thanks, mom.
September 29, 2010
Autumn's Arrival
Welcome to autumn in the Northeast. While the actual autumnal equinox arrived on schedule, the changing colors are about a week to 10 days earlier than is typical for this area. Usually peak color arrives in/around the first week of October, but leaves have been changing here for the better part of the past three weeks, it has been so dry with a few chilly nights, so here we are. Suddenly, it has been unseasonably warm and balmy, so I'm enjoying the last few days of Indian summer...the temps will revert to more seasonable cool and crisp, but I don't mind. I love the warm and I love the cool...it's the frigid cold I'm not so crazy about!This is the view from my window and I can see it now as I type, although the image above is one of afternoon sun...I'm looking south and west is to the right.
I'm so very tardy in updating here on the blog, I'm afraid, and I apologize. It has been a very busy month-plus with things moving along rapidly both on the home front and in the country. I know I've promised photos of the updates to the family home (about to be sold - fingers crossed!), but I literally haven't had a moment to shoot and post them. Perhaps later this week, but in the meantime, "please enjoy the music while you're waiting..."
August 4, 2010
Wonderful Webb Weekend
First, let me say I'm delighted to see a few new followers here at the humble blog. I suppose if I was a fanatical blogger, I'd be cross-posting all over the place to attract new followers, but, while I do love to write, I'm a bit flat out lately, so things have been pretty sporadic here. I intend to change that, but for a while longer, it'll be catch as catch can...so, welcome newbies, and I hope to make it worth your while to stick around.
As you regulars know, I do post about hearth and home and thereabouts, but from time to time, I make little forays into other arenas...mostly music, because that is another piece of Life that makes breathing and getting up every day and going out into the world (or staying at home in my own world) worth doing.
Last weekend, I had the distinct pleasure of hearing one of my favorite artists perform live, right in front of me, about 15 feet away. He's a household name in the world of 20th (and 21st) century songwriting and a familiar name to many who are just fans of good, solid, popular music. Yet he's almost unrecognizable to the average man or woman on the street. If he walked up to a stranger, I'm pretty sure he or she wouldn't have a clue who he was (although they'd find him a handsome fellow, I'm sure), but if they were alive in the 1960s-70s and you said to them "By the Time I Get to Phoenix" or "Witchita Lineman" or "Galveston" or "McArthur Park" or "Didn't We", it's more likely they'd know the name of legendary songwriter Jimmy Webb. I've certainly known it for years (yes, since the 60s and 70s) and I've loved the incredible musicality and intelligence of his songs - they were wonderfully sophisticated musically and lyrically, yet completely accessible and singable, a combination of attributes that never fails to grab my attention and hold it fast.
So when the opportunity to see and hear Mr. Webb perform his own works live in a very small upstate New York venue arose at about this time last year, I seized it. How often does a legend in music perform at a nearby 300-seat venue? Not very, so how could I not go? Unthinkable to miss such a rare opportunity. It was a real thrill to hear him perform and yet, somehow, I knew I had to return for the second evening of a two-night run because I find that's when I can get beyond the "newness" and the unexpected and can pick up on the nuances of the performance, and of the man and his music, to borrow a phrase from that wonderful Frank Sinatra recording. (Sinatra was a Webb fan, too, by the way, who always introduced him as "that wonderful kid, Jimmy Webb," as the writer of "Didn't We.")
When I saw that Mr. Webb was to return to the area this summer, to another small town nearby, for another two-night stint at an even smaller but very special venue, I knew I had to be there again. In addition, he had just released, on June 29, his latest CD called "Just Across the River" - a wonderful compilation of some of his best known tunes sung as duets by Jimmy himself and a handful of accomplished friends and much-admired artists like Glen Campbell, Willie Nelson, Vince Gill, Linda Ronstadt, Lucinda Williams, Jackson Brown, J.D. Souther, Michael McDonald and Billy Joel. It doesn't get much better than that - the songwriter singing his own works with such renowned artists - so I had to go to hear him perform (just on his own with a piano) again. I wanted to here his stories of these tunes and these artists and whatever else he was inclined to impart to his audiences, because he is a grand storyteller.
Here's a link to a clip with Jimmy talking about the new CD and a few song clips from the recording. If you're a Baby Boomer of a "certain age" like me, I think you'll find a whole lot here to make you smile...and sigh over. If you're a bit younger than my generation, trust me when I tell you that many of these tunes are and will remain the standards of a certain era in American music. They have stood the test of time and they are well worth hearing anew:
Jimmy Webb - Just Across the River
Yes, I'm mostly a jazz, jazz/pop and standards fan, but, well, you know good music is just good music. As Mr. Webb said in an interview recently, "There is no drug in the world that makes you feel as elated and empowered as really good music being played right in front of you."
Amen to that...and to the fine musician that is Jimmy Webb.
Enjoy.
As you regulars know, I do post about hearth and home and thereabouts, but from time to time, I make little forays into other arenas...mostly music, because that is another piece of Life that makes breathing and getting up every day and going out into the world (or staying at home in my own world) worth doing.
Last weekend, I had the distinct pleasure of hearing one of my favorite artists perform live, right in front of me, about 15 feet away. He's a household name in the world of 20th (and 21st) century songwriting and a familiar name to many who are just fans of good, solid, popular music. Yet he's almost unrecognizable to the average man or woman on the street. If he walked up to a stranger, I'm pretty sure he or she wouldn't have a clue who he was (although they'd find him a handsome fellow, I'm sure), but if they were alive in the 1960s-70s and you said to them "By the Time I Get to Phoenix" or "Witchita Lineman" or "Galveston" or "McArthur Park" or "Didn't We", it's more likely they'd know the name of legendary songwriter Jimmy Webb. I've certainly known it for years (yes, since the 60s and 70s) and I've loved the incredible musicality and intelligence of his songs - they were wonderfully sophisticated musically and lyrically, yet completely accessible and singable, a combination of attributes that never fails to grab my attention and hold it fast.
So when the opportunity to see and hear Mr. Webb perform his own works live in a very small upstate New York venue arose at about this time last year, I seized it. How often does a legend in music perform at a nearby 300-seat venue? Not very, so how could I not go? Unthinkable to miss such a rare opportunity. It was a real thrill to hear him perform and yet, somehow, I knew I had to return for the second evening of a two-night run because I find that's when I can get beyond the "newness" and the unexpected and can pick up on the nuances of the performance, and of the man and his music, to borrow a phrase from that wonderful Frank Sinatra recording. (Sinatra was a Webb fan, too, by the way, who always introduced him as "that wonderful kid, Jimmy Webb," as the writer of "Didn't We.")
When I saw that Mr. Webb was to return to the area this summer, to another small town nearby, for another two-night stint at an even smaller but very special venue, I knew I had to be there again. In addition, he had just released, on June 29, his latest CD called "Just Across the River" - a wonderful compilation of some of his best known tunes sung as duets by Jimmy himself and a handful of accomplished friends and much-admired artists like Glen Campbell, Willie Nelson, Vince Gill, Linda Ronstadt, Lucinda Williams, Jackson Brown, J.D. Souther, Michael McDonald and Billy Joel. It doesn't get much better than that - the songwriter singing his own works with such renowned artists - so I had to go to hear him perform (just on his own with a piano) again. I wanted to here his stories of these tunes and these artists and whatever else he was inclined to impart to his audiences, because he is a grand storyteller.
Here's a link to a clip with Jimmy talking about the new CD and a few song clips from the recording. If you're a Baby Boomer of a "certain age" like me, I think you'll find a whole lot here to make you smile...and sigh over. If you're a bit younger than my generation, trust me when I tell you that many of these tunes are and will remain the standards of a certain era in American music. They have stood the test of time and they are well worth hearing anew:
Jimmy Webb - Just Across the River
Yes, I'm mostly a jazz, jazz/pop and standards fan, but, well, you know good music is just good music. As Mr. Webb said in an interview recently, "There is no drug in the world that makes you feel as elated and empowered as really good music being played right in front of you."
Amen to that...and to the fine musician that is Jimmy Webb.
Enjoy.
July 20, 2010
What a Nice Way to Celebrate...
Hey gang (all 11 - correction - now 12! - of you, my intrepid followers),
I don't normally post about various events, giveaways, etc., but I'm making an exception here since I just noticed that Mary over at Urban Farmgirl is hosting a 100th post giveaway this week - a wonderful gift certificate from White Flower Farmhouse (which, oh, BTW, is located right here in New York, at Peconic on beautiful Long Island).
It can be overwhelming to deal with all the opportunities to participate in various weekly and monthly events, and to sign on (comment) to be entered in other bloggers' giveaways, but I think this one is a lovely way to celebrate having achieved 100 posts on her blog. I started a year ago and I'm not even close to that total (life intervenes, alas), but I have to admire her accomplishment, and I do like her midwestern sensibility, her sense of simple style and that of White Flower Farmhouse, as well.
To sign onto her giveaway click on Mary's button below and give it a whirl!
I don't normally post about various events, giveaways, etc., but I'm making an exception here since I just noticed that Mary over at Urban Farmgirl is hosting a 100th post giveaway this week - a wonderful gift certificate from White Flower Farmhouse (which, oh, BTW, is located right here in New York, at Peconic on beautiful Long Island).
It can be overwhelming to deal with all the opportunities to participate in various weekly and monthly events, and to sign on (comment) to be entered in other bloggers' giveaways, but I think this one is a lovely way to celebrate having achieved 100 posts on her blog. I started a year ago and I'm not even close to that total (life intervenes, alas), but I have to admire her accomplishment, and I do like her midwestern sensibility, her sense of simple style and that of White Flower Farmhouse, as well.
To sign onto her giveaway click on Mary's button below and give it a whirl!
Good Luck!
July 17, 2010
A Better Battlesh- Uh, Bathroom
It has been exactly a month and one day since I last posted, so I caved to a little pressure and finally took a few photos of the newly repainted guest bath, one of three in my urban home. Strangely, this bath has more square footage than the other two and - are you ready? - it's in the basement! It was built as part of the original construction during which several rooms were created as finished living space in the basement, including a large family room with a fireplace, a guest bedroom which was at one time was my room and is currently my office, this bath and wide hall connecting them with the unfinished furnace room and another small unfinished room with a long workbench, etc., so it is a circa 1958 bath. It was painted twice since, I think, until I finally tackled it a week or so ago for a third go at new color.
The floor is the original solid black and greyish-white speckled 1-inch tile, and, unlike the two main floor baths, it actually has sheetrock on the walls. (The other baths are all tile - I mean classic, mid-century modern all tile, floor to ceiling, in baby blue and dove grey, and peachy rose pink with a hint of dove grey, respectively.) I actually like this bath the best of all in the house. It has built in cabinets (also original) topped on the counter and curved side shelves with striking grey/black/white marble-like Formica laminate. Who'd have guessed that 50+ years later it would actually be trendy again (well, almost trendy)? Apologies for the grainy quality of the last photo, but you get the idea.
I must say, after 50 years, it was fun to put a bright, crisp new face on the old bath walls, which were a sort of creamy, off white that desperately needed freshening. Given the black and white of the tile and laminate counter, and the and bright, shiny silver chrome of the vintage chrome towel bars (also the originals, in like-new condition), I had aimed for a nice, soft, spa-like light grey - a sort of freshwater pearl tone, but I think I ended up with something a little closer to battleship grey! I'd tell you the color name, but I actually mixed it myself from a gallon of an off-white and a quart of solid black - both reject cans I picked up at Lowe's for a total of $8! I just put some of the off white in an empty paint can (which you also can buy at the store - so cool!) and added a bit of black until I reached the depth of color I wanted, then I added a bit more - a little too much more, but not so much that it didn't work at all, so I just used it. Still, even though it was a bit darker than I originally planned, I very much like the effect of the darker grey. It tends to define the walls a bit more and makes the room feel a bit warmer, I think. I don't have time to redo them, so I'm going with it!
The only new items (apart from the paint) I added to the bath redo were four new door pulls I found very inexpensively, also at Lowe's, to replace the original chrome ones that for some reason just didn't quite work for me any longer:
The knob is Belwith's Pewter 1 1/4-inch Southwest style and, at $1.97 each, they just seemed to incorporate neatly both the silver tones in the bathroom and the darker shades of black and create a little visual interest on the cabinet doors, as well.
On the wall is an interesting abstract landscape I picked up a couple of years ago at Marshall's. It was inexpensive - $25 - and is essentially a photo reproduction of a painting, I think. I don't usually buy art that is so commercial, but something about the color and texture of this piece appealed to me at the time. I never really had a great place to hang it, but it's so durable (just laminated on a heavy board - no glass or frame), I thought it would work nicely in this newly painted bath. It's really just there for staging purposes, but maybe I'll leave it for the buyer as a "bath-warming" gift...lol.
I'm still hard at work spiffing up the house to show to prospective buyers, so here's hoping this little face-lift for the basement guest bath is just the ticket that convinces one of them that they just have to live there!
I must say, after 50 years, it was fun to put a bright, crisp new face on the old bath walls, which were a sort of creamy, off white that desperately needed freshening. Given the black and white of the tile and laminate counter, and the and bright, shiny silver chrome of the vintage chrome towel bars (also the originals, in like-new condition), I had aimed for a nice, soft, spa-like light grey - a sort of freshwater pearl tone, but I think I ended up with something a little closer to battleship grey! I'd tell you the color name, but I actually mixed it myself from a gallon of an off-white and a quart of solid black - both reject cans I picked up at Lowe's for a total of $8! I just put some of the off white in an empty paint can (which you also can buy at the store - so cool!) and added a bit of black until I reached the depth of color I wanted, then I added a bit more - a little too much more, but not so much that it didn't work at all, so I just used it. Still, even though it was a bit darker than I originally planned, I very much like the effect of the darker grey. It tends to define the walls a bit more and makes the room feel a bit warmer, I think. I don't have time to redo them, so I'm going with it!
The only new items (apart from the paint) I added to the bath redo were four new door pulls I found very inexpensively, also at Lowe's, to replace the original chrome ones that for some reason just didn't quite work for me any longer:
The knob is Belwith's Pewter 1 1/4-inch Southwest style and, at $1.97 each, they just seemed to incorporate neatly both the silver tones in the bathroom and the darker shades of black and create a little visual interest on the cabinet doors, as well.
On the wall is an interesting abstract landscape I picked up a couple of years ago at Marshall's. It was inexpensive - $25 - and is essentially a photo reproduction of a painting, I think. I don't usually buy art that is so commercial, but something about the color and texture of this piece appealed to me at the time. I never really had a great place to hang it, but it's so durable (just laminated on a heavy board - no glass or frame), I thought it would work nicely in this newly painted bath. It's really just there for staging purposes, but maybe I'll leave it for the buyer as a "bath-warming" gift...lol.
I'm still hard at work spiffing up the house to show to prospective buyers, so here's hoping this little face-lift for the basement guest bath is just the ticket that convinces one of them that they just have to live there!
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