Lindsay Ballard, Author at Makely

“Christmas is the time of year when you say to me, ‘How much do you love me? Now get up on that ladder and prove it’,” my husband said to me this weekend.

“Oh, that’s not true!” I replied. “But, you better get to climbing because we are losing daylight.”

Yes, I’ve become that person. Sue me.

Before we lived in our current home, I was happy with some simple white lights strung across the bushes in front of our house and a few trees in our front yard. I was a complete white light SNOB.

(This is where I’d show you those photos, but since I can’t find any, you’ll just have to imagine it. It was pretty, but simple.)

But then, I discovered this other house in our then neighborhood – the ‘Most Awesomest Christmas House in the World‘ house. It was G.O.R.G.E.O.U.S, and it was my intention to copy it as soon as we moved. At that time we weren’t even planning on moving, but I filed it away in my brain.

Fast forward a few years. Our new house was being build during the after-Christmas sales of 2007. I measured all of our windows (while there was little but windows and drywall) in the new house and rushed out to buy all of the necessary supplies. Tom knew that my plan would require him to climb all the way up to the second story windows of the house, but I’m pretty sure he didn’t think I would actually go through with it. I think his jaw just about hit the floor when the huge box of red, green, and white Christmas lights arrived at our door from Christmas Lights, Etc.

Oh, Buddy. It was ON!

It’s definitely a battle to get our decorations up each year. We just hang them up with some more of those 3M Command Adhesive hooks (they should pay me this time of year for all the plugging I’m dong for them!), some elaborate blue painter’s tape contraption, and a big long stick that Tom uses to just beat the garlands into place when he’s doing the high windows. I wish I had pictures of the process, but since I’m in charge of holding the ladder while Tom wacks at the windows, he didn’t want me to use the camera.

Silly, Tom! Doesn’t he know I have a very important blog? 🙂

Some of the garlands fell down the day after we put them up. I thought it was funny, but I found Tom sitting in the garage, rocking back and forth. I think he was trying not to cry. I’m sure our neighbors thought it was funny to see us out there on Day 2 with the big stick.

That’s okay. We’ll have the last laugh, because our house is the most beautiful in the neighborhood this time of year. Or, at least we think so. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, right?

Daytime

Evening

It’s even pretty from the inside looking out.

Do you have exterior holiday decorations? What do they look like? How do you hang them? Or do you just beat them in place with a long stick?

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I wanted to pass along a contest that I was just was emailed about. Balsam Hill is giving away a faux Colorado Mountain Spruce tree valued at $799. I’m always wary of these types of emails, but I checked it out and it’s for real (and it’s a beautiful pre-lit tree!). It’s definitely worth an entry, don’t ya think?

Artificial Christmas Tree

Giveaway at Balsam Hill

Plus, if you one of you win, I’ll win $500 for sending you their way. Gah! Oh, just think of the garlands I could buy!

Just kidding, Tom. 🙂

Happy Thanksgiving to all of my American friends! I hope that you are able to spend your day with friends and family and bask in the warm glow of laughter.

But, after you have eaten all of the leftovers you can stand, lost a football game (sorry Texas A&M; fans!), and listened to the cousins argue about whose turn with the Wii it is, you may be ready to think about something more fun. If you are anything like me, that fun thing to think about will be your home.

I’m in the beginning stages of ~~re-~~painting our powder bath. It’s a forgotten room, although one frequently visited by guests. And it’s just bor-ing. I’m embarassed to even show you how boring it is. But, I’ll do it, because I apparently have no shame.

Yikes.

Are you thinking of repainting a room in your house right now? Do you want to show your Mom the color you are thinking of for your bedroom walls? Want your Aunt’s opinion on that new color you are considering for your son’s room? Well, this is a great time to do it, folks.

If you are ready to try out some paint colors but not ready to actually pull the trigger on painting the room, I have a great way to show you how to hide test paint.

Now you see them…

Now you don’t…

When I’m painting test colors, I like to hide them behind pictures hung on walls or pieces of furniture. There’s no reason to live with test stripes on your walls if you can figure out a great way to hide them! In a room where you have a variety of lighting throughout the day, make sure you test your colors in enough areas to get a sense of what the paint will look like as the light changes.

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Incidentally, I received my Farrow and Ball colour card (with THE Tori Spelling ‘Parma Gray’ paint chip) in the mail this week. I almost immediately rushed out to Home Depot to pick up a color match test sample of paint. As much as I know (or really, assume) that the F&B; paint is far superior in color depth and quality, I couldn’t pay $125 for a gallon of paint unless it was made with 24-karat gold. And maybe not even then.

My paint guru at Home Depot reminded me that the color match wouldn’t be absolutely, 100% perfect due to the base shade and pigment content, but since I was buying a $2.97 jar of test paint, that didn’t really matter to me. I slapped the test paint on my bedroom wall (behind my framed bridal portrait, if you most know), and it seems like a pretty dang good match to me! It may be slightly more blue than the Parma Gray chip, but the chip looks slightly more gray in person than it does to me on my computer screen.

Several of you had asked me to pass along the Home Depot formula if I was able to get a good match. For those of you, here it is:

BEHR
Base: Premium Plus Ultra Pure White (PP100)
Type: Interior
Sheen: Flat, Matte
Colorant for 8oz:

B- Oz (0) 384th (30)
D- Oz (0) 384th (7)
E- Oz (0) 384th (4)

Deck the Halls and All That Jazz

Testing the (Paint Color) Waters