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At The Picket Fence with Vanessa Hunt

Where Ideas for your Home Meet Inspiration for your Heart

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September 6, 2017

Saying Good-bye to Yellow Walls

We’ve had yellow walls for almost 18 years.

Now, granted, they haven’t all been in the same house. When we first moved to Oregon in the winter of 2000, we looked and looked before finally finding the perfect home for us. And I knew exactly how I wanted to decorate it. I wanted yellow walls in all of the main rooms. I wanted to add little accents of blue and white and have it look oh so cottage-y. And I wanted the office to be painted red because I just knew that would make it seem so much more office-y.

shutter doors as backdrop for french country decor

 

We lived in that house for 9 years. Both of our babies were brought home to that house. I cried my eyes out the day we drove away from it for the last time. We moved into a home that I was anxious to put my stamp on but, admittedly, I was a bit overwhelmed. It was considerably larger and hadn’t been updated since it was built in 1992. AND I was trying my best to be as frugal as possible. The new house had green carpet. Lots of green carpet. And it simply wasn’t in our budget at the time to have it all replaced. So I tried to work with it. I hung up the drapes from our old house and yep…you guessed it…painted the walls yellow.

(Found an old picture of how it used to look!!)

It was familiar…comfortable. And, you have to remember, this was before the whole ‘paint everything gray’ trend had hit the decor world.

So the yellow walls made their appearance in our new-to-us house but were relegated to the living room, dining room and entry.

And there they stayed. For nine years! It was about year 4 that I realized I was really, really over the yellow. But, we had other things to do to the house.

Like a deck in desperate need of replacing. Cabinets in desperate need of painting. Flooring in desperate need of being replaced. And lots, and lots of green carpet that needed to go bye-bye.

I also tend to put off things that I know are going to cause our household to be in upheaval. Even the thought of having to move everything out of those rooms and taking everything off of the walls made me feel exhausted. But, this summer, we finally reached the point where we realized that it was no longer a matter of simply wanting a new color on the walls. After all of those years, the paint was definitely starting to reflect the wear and tear of family life.

So I made the call and as I type these words the painters are here and the new color is going on the walls.

I’ll admit, there is this little part of me that is feeling kind of nostalgic as I watch them roll the new color on top of the yellow.

But as my kids head off to school (one in his last year of middle school and the other in her last year of elementary school! #holdme) and summer slips into fall, I’m embracing the changes happening in my family and my home.

I used to be so incredibly change resistant. And honestly it’s still not my most favorite thing in the world.

But as I’ve gotten older I’ve finally learned that change is going to come whether I want it to or not. And I can either follow along behind it kicking and screaming or I can march along with it knowing that while it doesn’t always bring sunshine and lollipops, it always leads me to a destination that is better than where I started.

In the publishing world, this season is known as the “second new year” mainly because it’s back-to-school time and we are also heading into the holidays. Vacations are over and kids are out of the house giving us time to regroup and having a minute to think without being asked for a snack every five minutes. And that’s what I’m doing. I’m taking some days to really reflect and regroup and tackle some areas of my home and my heart that have been neglected

So, here’s my question for you this week my friends. In what areas of your home AND your heart do you feel the nudge to make a change? I’d love to hear from you!

And, as always, thank you for meeting me at the fence today,

P.S. The yellow paint color is by Olympic Paints and is called ‘Dusty Yellow’ 😉

9 Comments Filed Under: Decorating, Good Ideas Tagged With: decorating

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Comments

  1. diane says

    September 6, 2017 at 5:03 AM

    i like that term “second new year”. i never heard it before. i think it fits me right now. im 68. as long as one is alive it is never too late for a “2nd new year”. i have been thru some health and other very difficult issues. now im on the other side but still in this world! lol

    Reply
  2. Shelley says

    September 9, 2017 at 6:08 AM

    I’d never heard the phrase “second new year”, but I love it! The Fall has always been special to me, not only for the changes in leaves and weather, but all the new possibilities that were ingrained from starting a new school year– both when I was a student and when my children were students. There is an excitement I feel when, as you described, there is a slight change in the air that says fall is coming, and it is physically and spiritually invigorating!
    Can’t wait to see your new wall color, I’m sure it will be wonderful!

    Reply
  3. Andrea says

    September 9, 2017 at 6:33 AM

    Adaptability. Such as moving on to a new wall color and seeing the possibilities, like you did! I need to dive in and adapt, change, move on, don’t wait for hand-holding. Just jump right in and paint on , or click on, or study on, don’t stew or fret. The rate of change is so crazy fast in the world today, in decorating, de-cluttering, technology and at our jobs, I can always build my adaptability. Example : I sold a bunch of my most clingy treasures last weekend at a garage sale and feel so FREE this weekend !

    Reply
  4. kddomingue says

    September 9, 2017 at 8:40 AM

    My youngest is 32 so it’s been a few years since I’ve​ felt the changes of the “second New Year” hit me. But with my granddaughter entering kindergarten this year, I’m back to scheduling my days around picking up a child from school and getting home with her and snacks and homework….. and all the things that the “second New Year” entails. Hmmmm, quite a change of pace, lol!

    I’ve had yellow walls for about 15 years now and I’m ready for a change to! And I’m having a huge urge to declutter even more than I already have.

    Reply
  5. Michele says

    September 9, 2017 at 1:44 PM

    Yours was a particularly awesome shade of yellow. I had it in a guest bedroom once upon a time. Can’t wait to see your new color.

    We recently painted almost every room in the house – in two of the rooms I just freshened but liked the paint color so used the same, just newly painted……painted the master a few years ago and I think I am going to lighten it up soon – maybe. Our biggest changes were big things – roof, windows, doors (still working on two more) new car and new carpet upstairs. Not terribly long ago painted tv/den room and the entire downstairs, including the half bath.

    SO other than finishing the landscaping, ordering the doors and possibly – maybe wait till spring – painting our master, I think I am done for a while. I change things a lot. I love change – hubs does NOT.

    Putting off redoing the master bath, I cringe just thinking about it but getting a new quote from out contractor this friday. Ugh, Really love the idea of it being done when we are gone or something lol hate that kind of upheaval!

    Have a wonderful weekend. Hugs.

    Reply
  6. Shirley @Housepitality Design s says

    September 9, 2017 at 4:32 PM

    Yellow is such a happy color for you as a very happy person….Change is good…without change we become stagnant….for both our environment and souls we all need to hit the refresh button…change is good. If it weren’t that we have the house on the market, I would be painting the walls a pretty fresh linen color…in my heart? … I need to be more accepting of things that I cannot change…

    Reply
    • At The Picket Fence says

      September 11, 2017 at 9:12 AM

      Isn’t it so hard to accept those things we simply can’t change? I’m constantly praying that the Lord would just help ME to be the one to change how I respond to those things I can’t control. Not easy for sure!

      Reply
  7. ROSE says

    September 10, 2017 at 10:42 PM

    The 2 bathrooms and their ceilings need a change! I would love to have them planked.

    Reply
  8. Chanele says

    September 16, 2017 at 7:58 PM

    What new color did you pick? The suspense…..

    Reply

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Happy Friday!! I’m working on a blog post to sha Happy Friday!! I’m working on a blog post to share all of the details of our family room shelving makeover but I’m super impatient and just had to give you all a sneak peek!! We are SO happy with how they turned out and it finally looks like I’ve always envisioned. Our quick fix years ago (scroll to see the before photo) never felt quite right but now? Soooo much better!! 🙌🏻 Big shoutout to our amazingly talented friend Matt @redemptive_woodworx for bringing our vision to life and doing such impeccable work.

I hope you all have a great start to the 4th of July weekend and make sure to check my stories later for Friday Funnies!
The month of June is coming to a close and it has The month of June is coming to a close and it has been JAM packed! The highlight by far though was my son's graduation from high school. When I started blogging, he was only 6 years old and some of you have been apart of my community here for that entire time. Now, he's 19 and there is a reason parents are told not to blink because the years truly do go faster than I ever could have imagined. He has become such an incredible young man we are so excited to see how God is going to unfold the next chapter of his life. We celebrated with parties galore (SO many open houses to attend!) and made memories we'll forever cherish. My mama heart was filled to bursting with the joy of it all! Now we're taking some time to just enjoy these warm, summer days making even more memories because, when you’re at this stage of parenting, you know all too well how much you need to grasp every opportunity to spend time together.

I hope your summer is off to a great start too dear friends! 🪴
“And so with the sunshine and the great bursts o “And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer.” F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Happy first day of summer dear friends!! I can’t believe it’s been so long since I posted something new here but life has been crazy. I’ll have some new photos of house projects and life events to share with you soon but, got now, I’m just going to enjoy this gorgeous first day of summer after our ridiculously long, wet spring. ☀️
“It was June, and the world smelled of roses. Th “It was June, and the world smelled of roses. The sunshine was like powdered gold over the grassy hillside.” (Maud Hart Lovelace) 

Welcome June!
“No man is entitled to the blessings of freedom “No man is entitled to the blessings of freedom unless he be vigilant in its preservation.”
General Douglas MacArthur

Grateful today and every day for those who were vigilant to the point of death in the preservation of our freedom. May we honor their sacrifice by being vigilant too. #memorialday
“Those who know your name trust in you, for you, “Those who know your name trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you.” Psalm 9:10
This is one of my most favorite projects from my b This is one of my most favorite projects from my book Life in Season! 

Because, if heaven has a fragrance, I’m fairly certain it smells like lilacs.

I think that somewhere along the way the verse in the Bible that said, ‘heaven will smell like lilacs’ just got lost in translation. But it HAD to have been in there at some point, right?

When I bury my head in the blossoms (which I absolutely MUST do every single time I walk past them), I immediately feel a stirring in my soul.

It seems like I wait forever for my lilac tree to bloom. Every year I anxiously watch as the buds begin to form on the branches and then when the blossoms finally burst forth I begin that agonizing process of deciding the absolute perfect moment to snip them and bring them inside.

And then, after all of that waiting and watching it’s just over…done. Because, unlike heaven, lilacs don’t last for an eternity. So, making my own lilac room spray seemed like the perfect way to enjoy their fragrance long after the blossoms have faded.

Here’s how to make it! Ingredients: Water, Vodka, Lilac fragrance oil. Directions: Fill spray bottle with 50/50 ratio of water to vodka. Add 12 drops of lilac oil. Give it a shake, spray and if the scent isn’t strong enough, simply add a few more drops of lilac oil.

Once you’ve made this lilac scented room spray you will be very tempted to spray it in every room in your house. And someone may want to use it in the bathroom to cover up other less…ummmm….pleasing aromas.

But, do not, I repeat do NOT, let them.

You’ve captured the fragrance of heaven in a bottle and you wouldn’t want to go and tarnish it now would you? 😉
We had two back to back days of sunshine (the most We had two back to back days of sunshine (the most we’ve had in a LONG time) and now we are back to pouring rain. This has officially confirmed what I’ve know to be true for awhile now.

I’m a MUCH better version of myself when the sun is shining! 🤪 So I’ll just be over here today plotting and planning how my husband and I can be snowbirds someday when the kids are out of the house.

If you could spend your winters (and apparently most of spring too!) in any part of the country, where would it be?
Happy weekend sweet friends!! We’ve had a LOT of Happy weekend sweet friends!! We’ve had a LOT of rain lately (which is saying something when you live in Oregon) and I’ll admit that it’s affecting my moods a bit. I feel like I’m dragging and struggling to find the energy to get stuff done. So don’t mind me if I’m over here looking at photos of my garden in the summertime and finding that it keeps me hopeful about those days to come. They will come, right?! 🤪. 

What are your favorite plants that you look forward to seeing in the summer?
We’re going to be giving our laundry room a make We’re going to be giving our laundry room a makeover soon. It’s LONG overdue! In fact, the folks from the counter company were just here taking measurements. While we have made some simple, inexpensive updates over the years, it still has many of the original elements from when the house was built in 1992.

Two of our bathrooms are also in need of major makeovers. And we’ve saved up enough money over the years to tackle those projects. But, for the most part, we made the decision to use the bulk of that money in another way. While we knew that it was financially wise to invest in our house, we also knew that the greatest investment we could make was in our children. 

I’ll admit, there are times where I see other people doing massive overhauls of their entire home in a matter of months and I feel a prick of envy. But, we decided that if our choice was between waiting a bit longer to enjoy a renovated bathroom or going on adventures as a family, we would choose adventures every time. And we don’t regret that decision for a single second. It’s not that we haven’t tackled home projects (we’ve done a lot!). It’s just that it’s been a slow and steady process. 

Most recently, we let our son pick where we would travel for spring break since this is his senior year of high school and we are trying to make up for lost time. With so much of life ‘paused’ for two years, we have appreciated these moments more than ever. And, since he’ll be heading to college in the fall, we are very aware of how important it is to spend this time together while we still have a modicum of control over everyone’s schedules.

We have many years left to remodel our home but only so much time left to make memories with our children.

And, while I’m always happy to look around my home and see rooms that are updated and more reflecting of our style, it doesn’t compare to the joy I feel when I look around my home and see the people I love the most who have been shaped by the many adventures we’ve experienced together.
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