Thursday, July 3, 2008

. . . feel much better


today, thank you for asking. A little (very little) retail therapy, getting out of the house -- be damned with the quarter-tank of gas left in the car -- seemed to have done the trick. As I was heading down the highway I spotted a train sitting still under an overpass. I knew where I could go to take pictures of it, so I hurried to that spot, but the train had left. I took a few pictures of the overpass itself . . . I like the one above, looks all moody and mysterious. That Santa Fe primer and finish applied in 1958 seems to have done a halfway decent job -- unless it was originally white or red.
It doesn't take much retail therapy to make me feel better . . . a trip to the book store, where I can kill an hour or two just browsing and leave with three magazines and a bag of great coffee; a trip to another carpet and flooring place to get samples; then back home. It's all good.
I need advice on the floor. I want to put wood floors in the great room area. The kitchen, daily dining area and family room are just one open room. The kitchen area has white tile; I think I'll keep that because it's decent. The dining-family room has a lot of storage as well as a fireplace surround, mantle, and TV cabinet built in, all matching the kitchen cupboards that are either walnut or cherry, stained a medium color with a slight reddish cast. I can't decide whether to go lighter or darker with the wood floor. The darker will show dust, I know. The lighter looks pretty contemporary for this very traditional house. And matching would I think just overwhelm the space with too much of the same color. The leather couch and chair, which we owned when we moved in, are actually about the same color as the woodwork (someone who came to the house once said, "Wow, you matched your cupboards to the furniture.") and so is the dining set. But I think I'll quit worrying about it because I will have area rugs under the dining and seating areas anyway. So then I can worry about the area rugs. I think I will put something dirt-colored under the dining area. Or food-colored. Maybe a combination of tomato, Dr. Pepper, ground up potato and taco chips, chocolate and hamburger colors, with a touch of grease, oil, grass and soil. Now there's a challenge for an artist.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Definitely light colored wood. It's much more forgiving. In other words you know there are spills on the floor, but it doesn't show up as much. The light color wood would also flow better with the light colored tile in the kitchen. I don't know if the contrast of dark wood and light tile would work. My 2 cents for the day.
By the way, my massage therapist says that highly sensitive people can always tell when something in the world or atomosphere is going to change, by their moods swings. Maybe your intutiton is kicking in and telling you something.
Have a happy 4th without me....
H

JackeeG4glamorous said...

Thanks for stopping by my blog, and commenting about the hot mid-west summer in 1980!

I have pergo flooring in my kitchen and dining area that matches my cabinets pretty good. HOWEVER, it blends all the same, and I'm sorry I didn't go for lighter or darker. I'm still deciding if I want to go with wood flooring in my living room, with an area rug. We have a dog, and I'm afraid the hair will band together and I'll have tumbleweeds of dog hair flying around.

I love retail therapy too! I'll stop by again real soon, nice blog.

Seth said...

Judging by that fantastic photo, in addition to retail therapy you got some rust therapy too!

Mary Buek said...

Hil: Matt's friend Brandon's dad is coming next week to tell me what kind of flooring he can put in to match up with the depth of the tile. I'm thinking cherry with a light finish. Don't you think the maple like you have would be too contemporary for this house?

Jackee: I had pergo in my old house, too. Glad to know that you wouldn't go with all the same color again. That's what I was thinking, too. Please do come back. . . someday I'll even put up some art.

Seth: Love it -- rust therapy. That always does the trick and it's way cheaper than retail therapy.