Well I didn't. Since I am big on color I was surprised to learn about haint blue. The shade of blue seems to vary according to region or state. Some believe that blue chases away haints which are evil spirits or ghosts. Others believe the blue helps extend daylight as dusk begins to fall, or helps keep bugs away. Often used on porch ceilings or house trim, or in this case, this new fabulous kitchen.

I do love this shade of haint blue.

Here we have my post college roommate Rhonda, also known as Auntie Mame to the grand kids, who is a kitchen designer extraordinaire in Portland OR.

Doesn't this new kitchen just sparkle? And that haint blue ceiling is swoon worthy. When we eventually do our kitchen (and Rhonda has given me some ideas!) I will start with the blue ceiling. I deal with Seasonal Affective Disorder in Winter and think this blue ceiling with the right lighting could be very helpful. I like it when a room has a wow factor. The new refrigerator wrapped in a copy of an old Auntie Mame poster is just that.

If you live in the Portland area and are thinking about a new kitchen or house remodel do yourself a favor and get ahold of Rhonda. If nothing else she is a fun person to chat with.

Since we are talking about houses here is our new red couch for the man cave in the basement. I like it against the existing peacock colored wall.

The basement TV room has little natural light so I wanted to go bright. And I have always wanted a red piece of furniture. I don't love the lines. It is boxy but good, and just made it into our basement. It came from Room & Board in Chicago. Back in June we went and sat on all the couches and rated them for comfort. This one won. It took about 6 weeks to get because the red is a custom color. I cannot say enough about Room & Board. The furniture we replaced also came from them 18 years ago. It was all down and too soft for our creaky bodies. Great product, great service, thanks Timothy!

One last bit of info on pumpkins. Buy early for best selection. Wash them in 1 gallon of water, 2T of bleach and a squirt of dish soap. Soak for 15-30 minutes. Dry. Apparently they mold because of the dirt and mold that is on them. Happy Fall!

Fall is here and that means pumpkins. I've done marbleized ones, drill holes and put lights in them, carved them, etc. But this year I am going to do shiny, mirror-like ones.

I think I may have mentioned a rather creative red wall in another house. Ever since then as soon as I am going to paint, my very sweet husband convinces me that he would really like to do this for me.

He attached a bungee cord to the ceiling in the basement, masked off the stem and tied a string from the bungee cord to the stem. Using a can of Rust-oleum Metallic Finish paint he sprayed the pumpkin. Also added some glitter while the paint was still wet.

After dry, I take off the tape and put a watery green acrylic wash over the stem as they are kind of brown.