not quite martha

when we were house hunting last december, our realtor was REALLY excited to show us a particular room in our soon-to-be-purchased house. he said that i would just LOVE the little girls room. i was pretty excited to see it too. the previous owners had a little girl so i figured that they must have done an extra special decorating job in her room. boy did they. extra pepto special.

i remember walking into the room and having to take a step back. my eyes were assaulted by fuschia overload. ON EVERYTHING!

the ceiling fan:

the walls:
the ridiculously cutesy lightswitch:
the curtain rod and tie back(not visible):
i HATED it. but we bought the house nonetheless. it's a good house. the perpetual pink problems were all cosmetic. like zitty skin, all the room needed was a facelift.

(scarlett in february at the beginning of the project.)

and for some reason, i thought i was the woman for the job. i took design classes in college, i consider myself an unpaid professional. so i cleaned walls, taped the molding, picked out colors, and ordered bedding. and then the real work began. who was i kidding? i am no perfectionist and this room is evidence of that. i think of my special closet full of half- finished crafts and random projects that i never got around to finishing. it looks like where bad crafts go to die. indeed, a bad craft graveyard. martha would shriek.
the pink paint was nearly impossible to cover even with my tinted primer. i scraped the bottoms of the cans of paint like my life depended on it. i should have purchased more paint. instead, i was tired of painting and considered the job finished. shortly after finishing thomas told me that if i had wanted, i could have hired someone for the job. that was information that would have been useful in january. people who have seen the room probably think i am trying to get all romantical with them since i only show it to them with the lights dimmed. my mistakes are less visible that way.



even with a flawed room, littlebigmouth still loves me.

(this was scarlett yesterday, at the end of the project. yes, all the decor details took me forever to finish. a true labor of love. someday when scarlett is an insolent teenager, i will remind her of this often. and yes, i totally put her in that dress for my little photo shoot so that she would match the room.)

my "theme" was southern belle. someday i will let scarlett pick what she wants to have in her room. that day is not today. and tomorrow looks cloudy too. perhaps when she starts bringing some money to the table i'll let her have opinions.

my little gone with the wind collection. until she can make up her own mind, i am forcing her into being a miniature fan. i sewed that table runner. the objets d'art are covering the mistakes i didn't feel like fixing.
the ceiling fan was probably the hardest thing to paint. it looks terrible. if the fan is on, you don't notice the splotchiness of the paint. i am quite pleased with the black ric rac trim. i am a glue gun extaordinaire.

in this pic, please note the FANTASTIC gone with the wind signage above the closet door. prolly my favorite item in the room. facing the closet is a print of some majestic georgia oak trees. it reminds me of the street we lived on in savannah.
feeling romantical?
you can find ANYTHING on ebay. like this switchplate. and it was only $6! someday i plan on bankrupting our vast fortune on gone with the wind knick knacks. like the cookbook i spied yesterday. or the metal character magnets. and salt shakers. and lamp. and juice glasses. and a handmade version of the infamous red velvet dress marked down to the bargain price of $400. perfect for grocery shopping. i will be the belle of wal-mart and everyone will be vying for me to come through their check-out line. this will be about the same time thomas commits me to the asylum. but frankly i won't give a damn.
in short, (but when i am ever short?) i am hanging up my paint roller. the drop cloths are retired. this was my first and last major painting project. from here on out i will be in supervisory positions only.

the end.