The Beauty of Blue

I am not usually much for overused literature, but i can assuredly say this is "the best of times, and the worst of times" at the Shively House. If you check out the last 2 entries, you can see the Sunroom has been the focus for the past 4 months. in between deconstructing and reconstructing it we had 2 major storms that tore up the trees in the yard. lost 7 in total (these are big treees, 40 plus feet tall) and the street light three doors down now brightly shines into out unprotected back yard. Maybe that's why it took so long to get ahead on this room.

After 3 failed attempts (and 3 gallons of paint) we went with a bluestone color for the walls, straw for the ceiling and that wonderful Sherwin Williams Ivoire for the trim. Ivoire is the perfect ivory color for me, just enough yellow to keep it warm, and enough grey to age it nicely. Check it out sometime. Blue is not a natural color for me, but its good in this situation - it was not objectionable to either of us.

It's crazy how much time we have spent on this tiny (6 x 18 foot) room. But now, unfortunately, I have alot more time to spend restoring this room. Like so many in this Depression (yeah, call a spade a spade) I lost my job and am one of many standing in soup lines and crying to employers for work. I have had the pleasure, though, in between bouts of severely depressing job searches, to meticulously paint the walls and trim.

So many little things have taken so long. Merely edging each siding board took me over 8 hours (over 3 days) and just getting the right ceiling bracket for the huge stained glass light pushed me out to Home Depot 2 times so far.

Maybe its my lack of knowledge, or my insistance that it be "historic" that contributes to these delays. In the end I think its worth it, even when assulted by all those "just paint it, no one will ever notice" comments. I notice. So, at least for now, I have the time to patiently make the room perfect for me (it is off the Dining room, where we will do 99% of our entertaining, so it really will be a central part of the house, and looks out to the Japanese Garden (albeit, without trees, now) so it will have a lovely view (someday)). And the added pleasure of completing it wihtin a few weeks (god help me if I hit another snag ...)