more house photos: the stairway and little details

Yesterday the painters came to turn our gigantic orangey red stairway wall chocolate brown. I'm really happy with how everything looks, and feel like things are starting to come together. I also started hanging pictures on the walls, which is a sure indication that I'm feeling more at home.

here's the stairway wall before & after:




Here are a few of the details in my office:

The pigs flying lightswitch cover is apropos as that's probably when I'll finally get that room organized.

The one benefit of having a non-stainless steel fridge is that I can actually hang magnets. (I love magnets) Note: the super sugary cereal is for my husband -- not my children.


Then there's the powder room. Yesterday I pulled all of the outdated wallpaper down, so now I just need to sand, prime and paint it. Hopefully I can get that done in the next couple of weeks. Then we'll have to replace the sink and hideous lighting fixture.



I would love to trade this: out for this:

We've been using Benjamin Moore's Aura paint everywhere, and I gotta say, I'm loving it. Most of the time, one coat does the job, and it's low-voc, so the yucky paint fumes are dramatically diminished. In the powder room I'm going for a "french flea market" sort of feel. The walls above the chair rail will be a light greyish purple called "dreamy", and the walls below will be 2 shades darker called "French Violet". The trim will be a sort of cream which will also cover the walls above the chair rail in the dining room. The bottom part of the dining room walls will be the same chocolate brown as the stairway walls.