California/Girls Trip/Family Time 2011

This past week, I got to go on a girls trip with my mom and sister to the Golden State.

We traveled up and down SO CAL and had a blast with my little grandparents in tow.

We flew into Palm Springs where my grandparents AND in-laws have a house in a great little community.

This row of palm trees (seen above and below) lines the entry road that takes you from one end of the neighborhood to the other. Palm Trees make me happy =)

This is a little house on the golf course that my in-laws are working on. This is the work of the "Machine".

After spending one day in the desert, we made our way to Thousand Oaks, CA, a two-and-a-half hour drive to see my Uncle Bob, Aunt Tammie, Cousins Darby, Dane and Sam and their three pets.

This is a REALLY BAD picture of the Disney Animation Studios.

And this is another REALLY BAD picture of the Disney Studios in Burbank. I had to take pictures, it's Disney. Hello?! Duh!

We finally arrived in Thousand Oaks to be greeted by the newest member of the Schuett clan.

Bruce.

He made my skin craw a little but he's cute!

This is Heather and Lily.  Lily is a sweet, blind Chihuahua and is the queen of the house.

This is Bruiser. This lovable pup made me miss the A-team. (Abu & Ace)

We spent the day poolside and outside enjoying the hot weather.  California has been going through a cold spell and the day we arrived is the day the hot weather came. How convenient!

The next morning we all made our way to Anaheim to visit the "Happiest Place on Earth"

We got to see a little Conan,

Some outrageously awesome architecture,

and stay at the Disneyland Hotel. 

It was great to spend time with family and see the sunshine.  I didn't come back as brown as I had hoped but had a BLAST! 

Blog Tabs

I just wanted to bring attention to the tabs that can be found at the top of this blog.

About Us - Click to learn more about our little family

Our Home - Click for before and after pictures of Casa Dobson

Our Projects - Click for quick links to projects we have done

Our Wedding - Click for a run down of the best day of our lives! (Thus Far) :)

I will be adding another soon.  My experience in home remodel has made some of my friends recruit me for decorating help!  Here I will show before and after pics as well as what my contribution to the project was.

You won't be hearing from me until next week - I am off early tomorrow morning to Sunny CA!

Have a great end of March and beginning of April!!

Feelin Blue Part Two!

So I decided to get more bold in our paint choices and chose to paint our upstairs guest room blue.

The color is Behr's "Wipeout"

And here it is...

YOWZA!

My first thought was "Oh my gosh! Why did I do this, this is why I am a neutrals person! Darnit me!"

Then it started to grow on me.  Here are the things I considered.

1. It will look great once the black curtain rods, new light and black desk drawer knobs are on.

2. The bedding will be white and the curtains a sheer white which will neutralize it a little bit.

3.The room needs carpet.

4. The scallops still need to be cut straight.

5. It could be a little darker but I like it.

The apple green and other bright accent colors will make it a fun inviting room and I think guests will feel that they're at a tropical getaway without being surrounded by Palm Tree murals and lamp shades.

One thing I am going to change is the little cubby.  I am going to paint it blue instead of the grey which I think will look A LOT better!

The desk and trims are painted in a slight grey which is called "Subtle Touch" by Behr.  At first it just looked white, as it does in the pictures.  I think white would have been a little too much of a contrast but this hint of grey looks great next to the blue.

You may think I'm crazy now, but just you wait.  I can see the finished product in my head :)

Feelin Blue

When it comes to painting the upstairs, I know that I want to be more bold with my color choices.  I want the rooms to make more of a statement and have more visual interest.

You saw in this post the journey of ridding the home of its knotty wood by adding layer after layer of primer.  Now it's time to add some color to the space...

Blue.

I taped three Behr color swatches next to the window to see what the color might look like during the and the night. 

I decided to go with the bottom swatch. Pictured more closely below, you can see the colors a little better.  I really liked the very bottom color but felt that it was a tad too dark.  After a lot of thought I decided to go with the one right above it called "Wipeout".  I am extremely excited and a little nervous about this decision.  I hope that it ends up looking great!

To break up the bold color, I chose to paint the desk a light grey.  I think it will make the blue less shocking and would be better than keeping it a stark white.  The trims, closet door and bedroom door will remain white. 

On a side note, I think I will be repainting the living room and dining room as well.  I am in tan overload and need to break up the neutral main floor.  Still need to make decisions on that and will worry about it later.  Until then, I'm off to paint.  Wish me luck!!

Got a Spring in my step.

I love spring and I welcome it with arms wide open after a season of high energy bills, dark afternoons and windshield scraping in the AM.

I realized something lately and that is how much I LOVE fresh flowers.  I've always loved flowers but it is amazing how they brighten up a room.  I bought three bunches of tulips and put them on the coffee table.  I love them. A lot.

So I vow from now on to have fresh/seasonal flowers in the house all throughout the year. =]

Wood Be Gone!

You probably all remember the upstairs of our home...

The room I am talking about specifically is the "wood room".  The room full of dated knotty pine paneling that really has not place in our house.  In the mountains at a beautiful snowy ski resort? Yes. In downtown Sumner? No.

We have had mixed reviews when we show people the space. Some shudder in fear and others love the throwback to the 60's they experience when in the room.

What do we think?  Well you all know I can appreciate things from another era but this...  Not really. I could have sanded it and made it darker or done a white wash treatment on it, but ultimately, it just needed to go away.

There were weird, creepy markings in the wood from the past residents and the wood makes the room feel dated and dark.

SOoooo,  I painted it.  Yep, I primed right over that knotty wood. Luckily I didn't have to do any sanding and three coats of the Kwik Primer worked great!

I love the character this room has.  From the built-in desk to the in-wall ledge, these are things you just cant find in homes any more. 

Along with paint, other plans for the room are new carpet, new hardware for the desk drawers and to cut the scallops above the desk and opposite side of the room to a straight edge.  Not a real fan of the "frill" look, well, maybe, but not in this case.

Painting will come next.  More on that later! Happy Hump Day!

AH SNAP!

Guess where I will be in about a week???

I am super excited to have a fun girls vacation with my mom and sister!  Hopefully I will get some sort of a tan... YEAH!

The downside will be missing the hubs and pups majorly, but I know he will be fine.  Tis the season of March Madness and that is all that boy needs - and maybe a cold brewski.

Palm Springs photo found here

Disney photo found here