Colour me happy.

We have, at long last, painted the kitchen!

The last time I wrote about our kitchen renovation, I prophetically wrote, "We have arrived at the stage in this project where it is easy to run out of steam. The space is functional and attractive. But there is still a long list of things to be done. Not least of them is the backsplash. Every time the water splashes onto the counter, I wince."

That was at the end of February, folks. Almost exactly two months ago.

We've been busy, of course, but the main thing that put us on hold was that the entire household got hit by a humdinger of a cold. It took me weeks to start feeling better, and then longer to get my mojo back.

After much dithering -- and despite having "chosen" the colour I was planning to paint the walls in February -- I decided to go with a soft blue-green.



It happens to match the kitchen towels that I bought at IKEA, and is a colour I've been drawn to for years.

Pillows in the master bedroom. Be careful where you sit; Elly frequently burrows behind the pillows.

And, as much as I am drawn to bright, monochrome rooms, I can't resist a splash of colour.

The Palladian Blue went on looking a little too minty for my liking, but has settled to a soft blue-green that makes me feel happy.

About half way through the painting, I managed to knock over the paint can, which dumped out about half a litre (two cups) of paint. Fortunately, I was using a drop cloth at the time, so no damage was done, but I did gain a new dedication to using drop cloths! (No, I didn't take a picture. I was too panicky about the paint possibly leaking through the drop cloth. It didn't.)

Unfortunately, it was all but impossible to get a decent picture of the paint on the walls. That's because, in part, the tint changes colour very slightly depending on the light. And, in our kitchen, we have a combination of LED, incandescent, and natural light. I wish I could just bring you all over for a kitchen party.

Plus, I was tired. So you'll get more "after" pictures when I'm back from my vacation and feeling all pumped to do the backsplash -- FINALLY!

Speaking of which . . . I've changed my mind again. I think. Although I really liked the "snakeskin" tile, Stephen was ambivalent; he thought it looked busy.

For my part, I'd always loved subway tile, and that's what I had shopped for, but had been unable to find. When we went back to Home Depot to buy the snakeskin tile, what did we find but a subway tile in the exact same glaze as the snakeskin mosaic!

As you can see, I had trouble getting the right colour on the paint. It looks too grey in this picture.

And if you look closely, the surface of each tile has a slight waviness to it that plays with the light.

All this changing my mind is why I think I would actually make a dreadful interior designer.

I still like the unique shape of the mosaic, but I also like the classic shape of the subway tile. I've bought the subway shape, but may end up ordering the mosaic after all. Stay tuned!