I'd like to thank God, and Betsy, and Ryan, and my guts

...


Remember the ugly duckling that was missing a porch or any sort of proper entryway?? Of course you do ... because I'm forever talking or blogging about my favorite place on earth all the time. My husband says I can work Marathon into any conversation. I would be offended if he wasn't right.


Anyway, the picture above is the before picture, on a good day when it was snowing. And the pictures below are the after. I never thought I'd ever see the day when the outside of the house looked as good as the inside.


This is the after. Well, sort of. We're still working on it. New roof. New windows. New paint. I cannot express the feeling of accomplishment.

See the one and only decorative architectural element on this house? The little triangle? Well, I spent all day Sunday painting all that. Yikes. I also forgot sunscreen for some odd reason so I'm looking a little tan and crusty. My hair is getting redder by the minute.


Did you notice the interesting cedar porch? ... I'm not even going to start bragging on my husband again. It's getting old. He doesn't want people to start hating on him once they understand his brilliance and perfectness. OK, yeah, he's still a man and annoying and I don't want him getting the "big-head."

Can you believe this front door mat? I bought it at Tuesday Morning for $9, not realizing it would be the most perfect, matching doormat ever. The blue is perfect. The yellow/gold blends as well. We originally had grand visions of building a new front porch, with flagstone. And then we got realistic and decided to keep the regular, old step. It gets you in the house. And it was free. I love the front door.

OK, let's all flash forward and imagine my Academy Award winning moment: "I would like to thank first, my husband, Ryan, for insisting on the main body-of-the-house-color, SW Crater Gray, when I was waffling toward some safe earthtone. Thank you hunky man in Castroville who told me the name of the paint of his house when Ryan made me get out and go hold my paint fan up to the house...


"And thank you, world-famous Abbey Branch, for suggesting an interesting blue for the doors and windows as a Southwesty homage. Once we got new windows we couldn't paint them blue. The color is Sherwin Williams Oceanside. It's awesome, even though there's not an ocean anywhere near here. Good thing because I'm not a fan of oceans. I'm a mountain girl.


Before the music starts playing to scoot me off the stage, I'd like to thank myself for having the balls to paint the trim Sherwin Williams Brassy. It's avocado-ish, and limey, and gorgeous. Somehow it's perfect. Thank you, my husband, for not being a metrosexual freak and second-guessing me. Thank you, Mom, for not voicing your doubts, and being patient until it all came together.


In the words of Joe Danner in 1983, it's "fannnnnntastic!!!"

In praise of 6-hour car rides, handy husbands & wild West Texas storms

My name is Sami and I am addicted to West Texas. I have many issues. You might remember in March I developed a new cloud neurosis. Today on our way home from our 24-hour trek to West Texas and back, Ryan pulled my nose out of my magazine to point out some seriously ominous clouds.


I immediately reached for my camera, and then proceeded to get all wiggly and freakish when the pictures turned out really great. I could not wait to get home and share them with the world:

I saw the clouds above first. Check out all the variations of dark bluish gray, and that one little white puffy cloud.

The following clouds were to the left of our car. I'm saying these would be to the north ... For at least 50 to 75 miles, we drove right alongside this storm system, which kept nicely to itself on the left.

Over to the right, pretty whitish clouds and blue skies.

This exit sign shows all you other West Texas freaks right where we were. I captured this picture rolling along about 85 mph... Pretty good huh? Now you see why I was getting all wiggly and freakish.

Every so often, we had some good lightning, so the storm could show us it was serious.

Did you realize you can be a cracker-jack mortgage guy, talk on the cell phone, and drive through storms on I-10 and make your wife really, really happy with 24-hour treks to West Texas? Who says men can't multi-task? Cell service on I-10 is greatly improved! Back in the day we lost service in Kerrville.

Some people think we're nuts for going on long 6-hour trips to West Texas together, but can I let you in on a little secret? This is the only time we get to think, plan, talk and strategize about our life, our marriage, our kids and careers. The rest of the time we're just making it through the days. Moral of the story: trap yourselves in a car for six hours and see what happens.

OK so then, I turned my attention to what was going on behind the car. Dork alert! The wind was blowing pretty hard, which is normal even without a storm because this is all in the vicinity of the wind farms.

And now for the object of all my affection, and the destination for our 24-hour West Texas trek. See that hideous aluminum window to the left of the electrical boxes? Well, it's going bye-bye. We had to go out there and get good measurements for the new windows! The house is set to get its new paint job in July, and efficient husband doesn't think it will be efficient to paint the whole house and then later rip out the windows and then put up new trim and repaint the trim. He has a point, and since I got to go to West Texas, I was an enthusiastic supporter of his plan.

Notice the beautiful blue paint color Abbey Branch (the famous designer) helped me select. SW Oceanside -- I love it. To the right of the hideous brown, wood-rotted trim board, you can see the future paint color for the body of the house -- SW Crater Gray.

And while you're admiring the door, did you spy the fabulous landing/mini-deck my super-handy, hunk of a husband built a few months ago? If only I could show you the previous way you got into the house. Let's just say it involved a homemade step and a wooden pallet. Very classy.

Life is good, y'all.

We were driving down South Alamo Street in San Antonio the other day when I noticed this grand house for the first time. It must be the new paint job that did it because my eyes had never beamed in on it before. Apparently it is a bed and breakfast, in the heart of the King William district. "Wait!" I shrieked. "Did you see that house?"








Ryan had not noticed it, because he doesn't care about paint colors and, to be fair, it was almost dark. "Oh my gosh!" I said. "That house color combination was fabulous. Maybe we need to paint the Marathon house like that," I continued in that rapid-fire, wheels turning a thousand miles an hour way that I do when I get all flitterbated about something exciting, like paint.



"I thought we had already decided what to paint the Marathon house," Ryan said. Poor thing, he thought this subject was behind him. What he doesn't realize is until it's painted, the decision is never final. And, really, that's what I love about paint. It's never permanent. It's always changeable. I wonder what that says about me, from a psychological standpoint?



Anyway, I need your help. Do you like it? Do you hate it? Here's another view of the house that cranked my head:

I just love the crisp white against the warm tan, and the black sets it all off so nicely. Is it too formal for the Marathon setting?

Here's a picture of the dingy outside of our humble home in Marathon. It really needs some help:

This is how it looked the day we went to do the inspection. The evaporative cooler is out of the window and it has a new tin roof. The storm screen doors are off. And there are a few plants trying to grow in the yard. But other than that, it's still aching for some curb appeal. A new porch is planned to jazz up the front entry, and a little overhang is going over the back door, but those will have to wait until people can qualify for home mortgages again. (Shameless plug: www.accessmortgageplanners.com.)

The former option for this quaint little West Texas diamond in the rough was Sherwin Williams Crater Gray, which Ryan loves. I love the color, too, It's a gray/green/bluey color and quite masculine and cool. We first saw it on a beautiful house in Castroville. The difference that gives me pause is the Castrovile house sits in the shade, surrounded by beautiful green trees. This house sits out in the arid plains, set against tan, dry desert mountains. I do not want it to stick out like a turd in a punch bowl, as someone really influential in my life named Bob used to say and probably still does.

So what do you think? If you're one of those sneaky people who reads this blog and doesn't comment, please break that trend today and tell me what you really think!

In praise of red

Red has always been my favorite color. Sometimes I'll wander away from it, but I always come back. My first room of my own in Minnesota I designed in orange, yellow and green, a combination of stipes and floral wallpapers. I'm sure subsequent homeowners stripped it right off immediately.


Then in Alpine, I went through a blue phase. I'll always remember both my parents helping me with that and allowing me to do my creative thing is planning that room. Then there were the bubblegum pink twin beds I painted for me and Debi's one-bedroom apartment in San Angelo. ("Hey Debi, how's San Angeloooooo?") Just thinking of that place can keep me giggling for days.


Somehow I've never really decorated with red. But get a load of this kitchen.

My only role on this job was trying to fix what had been done by someone else they mistakenly let paint and "antique" the cabinets. The paint scuffed everytime you touched it and they not only have two big teenager kids but also a huge, ferocious dog that barked and growled at me (while I was trying to be in my groove ...)

These cabinets are now luxuriously beautiful if you ask me. My antiquing process sealed in the paint, whatever it was and whatever its problem was. Who could say? That painter flew the coop.

Here the paint looks a little orange, but it's really just my flash washing it out. I love the use of drawers under the stovetop. People just don't usually have enough drawers in a kitchen. Lower cabinets, if they don't have pull-outs, are just a hassle.

The lesson here -- painted cabinets are just cool. And see how much more beautiful and fun they can be when they are red? Mine are the color of cardboard but they have been done with this same technique.

I am helping a builder friend pick some colors for a spec house -- that really cool one on the lake Lavenderchick told you about. I asked about cabinets and they told me: "We'll probably do a stained, oak cabinet ...."

When I got together with the interior decorators they use for selects, we promptly vetoed that bad, bad idea right away. Not in a lake house. Not with travertine. As my daughter Mary would say, "it's just not correct."

My Modelo with lime will be so happy

Unfortunately, one thing I've never been called is a tease. In this case, however, I cannot help myself. You just have to see what my next door neighbor Lauren and I created in my sweltering garage yesterday. We certainly felt incredibly clever. I am so fortunate to have a new neighbor with a creative brain. The ideas were flying and the results are going to be delightful!

I don't have a picture of our creation yet because the masterpiece is not yet complete. Let's just say it has to do with outdoor living, Mexico, palm fronds, and lots of paint in turquoise and green. It's so fun and fabulous I can hardly stand it. I promise to share a picture just as soon as I can get it fully assembled.

Until then, consider me a horrible tease.

Won't You Join Me on My Painted Groove?

This being the debut blog for My Painted Groove, I’m experiencing terrible blog anxiety. It’s one thing to declare you’re going to have a blog. It’s another to actually put it on the web and let anyone see it, as if anyone cares what you have to say anyway. Acknowledging the problem is always the first step, so here we go: I’m scared out of my mind and feel like I’m walking through a salon with my skirt caught in my thong (which actually did just happen to me but that’s a story for another day).

At this point you may be wondering: What the hell is a Painted Groove? Well, it’s a blog about the major theme that drives me – beautification, transformation, renewal, and the crazy episodes that happen along the way. In my world, for some reason, all these things are accomplished with paint. Whoever invented paint must have been a whole lot like me. Paint really is the most handy thing I can think of and it solves soooo many problems. Doesn't everything look better with a fresh coat of paint?

Take dirt and ugliness for example. Paint can cover over dirt and make anything appear fresh and clean. (Sensing any psychological themes here?) It’s like fabric softener for stinky old gym shorts. Confronted with a nasty window sill? Just paint it and you’ll see what I mean. Is the kitchen in your new fixer-upper just too dirty for words? A good bottle of degreaser and a few gallons of paint is sure to change your mood in no time. The other thing that makes paint so damn fabulous is you can change it. Whenever you want. No commitment really. You get sick of Sherwin Williams Lime Rickey? Try SW Verdant instead. It's my new favorite, shocking green color and I'll show you a picture of something I painted with it in my next few posts.

Somehow I've figured out a way to make a living using my obsession with paint and my passion for transformation. I'm really the luckiest girl in the world and I have been incredibly blessed. One of the things that blows my skirt up the most in life is treasure hunting for neglected pieces that need me to transform them and find them a new home. So I plan to share stories about projects I’m working on and pieces I’ve found to fix up and renew. I hope you’ll share stories from your groove as well.

It’s an old Southern expression, but my grandmother always told me: "You can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear." In the years since she passed on, I have discovered I can make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear. I promise to post lots of pictures, assuming that I can figure out how to post them. Here's one for starters. Next time I'll tell you how this terribly interesting piece came to be.

I'm so glad you've joined me on my Painted Groove.