Project #36

Our home is currently being repainted. I hate picking paint colors. When we decided to paint the rooms in our last place from boring white to X colors, I agonized over the paint colors for about 6 months. In the end, we decided on 7 different colors and we finally got it painted weeks before Sarah popped out, which was good, because I was not fond of the idea of having our newborn get high on paint fumes. Because it took us so long to choose colors we both liked and that evoked the specific mood we wanted to express in each room, we naturally leaned toward the same colors again when we moved into our new, old home, which was also a blank slate with walls covered in dingy white.

So, now that we are getting the exterior painted, we thought long and hard about changing the look of our home. Would it be the cool house that makes people stop and look? Would it be the house that makes cars stop and repulses passerbyers (hopefully not)? Would it be the one that looks classic and tasteful? The house was previously painted in various shades of gray (remember we have a 50s home) and although gray would not normally sound like an attractive color, we gravitated toward gray again. You know, it's funny, but you see families that have a certain theme color - they own cars in that color and even dress in the color. We are becoming the gray family. Not only is our home being painted in 2 different shades of gray, we also own 2 cars in different hues of gray/silver. But I love our gray home. Even though the colors are relatively the same as before, the house looks like it got a facelift.

I love that we live in a 50s home. Before we moved in, only one other family lived in our place. It's heartwarming for me to imagine the kids who grew up here and played here. I'm told the owner's son used to play war with his plastic military soldiers on our massive lava rock wall. It sounds cheesy and corny, but I can physically see and feel all the love and care that went into our home. Many of the new housing developments I visit lack that character, not just because it's new and unlived in, but because there was no heart put into designing the house. I hear that older homes are built to last as well. For one thing, the lumber that was used back then was harder and taken from more mature trees. Our home has withstood earthquakes and every stage of a family's life. It's amazing that we wound up in this home, because we originally had lost it to a higher bidder. But more than a month after we thought we had lost it, we received a call that the other people backed out. What was their loss became our gain. There is an amazing amount of emotional energy that goes into a home. It's not only where we hang our hat at night, it's where we feel safe enough to rest our heads and find refuge from the heat, the rain and the cold, and where we build the majority of our memories. When we demolished our old wet bar in the family room for the show reDesign, we found an old dateplanner from April 1956 behind the boards of the old cabinet. It was like an episode of "If Walls Could Talk." I would love to sit and hear all the stories our walls would tell if only they could - about tough times after war and prosperity in the horizon, birth after birth, bad days at school, learning to ride bikes, favorite hiding places, feuds and make-ups, anniversaries and birthdays, and letting go of little hands so they can grow up.

Childhood ambition: To grow old and gray
Fondest memory: Being loved by my owners everyday
Sountrack: Crowded House
Retreat: Anywhere away from the valley heat and in the shade
Wildest dream: Be on the show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
Proudest moment: Closing escrow
Biggest challenge: Recovering after the earthquake of '94
Alarm clock: The sprinklers
Perfect day: A barbeque on the patio on a cool summer evening
First job: Samuels' residence
Indulgence: A fresh coat of creamy, new paint
Last purchase: A fresh coat of creamy, new paint
Favorite movie: Home Alone
Inspiration: The 50s
My life: Is my family
My card: Is American Express