"Oh Color, Where Art Thou?"

I've noticed from my visitor stats that a lot of folks are searching for ideas on cottage paint colors. I'm sure there are several different directions that can be taken when it comes to painting a cottage - some like the softness of pastels while others (like myself) prefer more vibrant colors. For cottage dwellers who live for bolder colors, I've think I've found a really neat resource that may help us out a bit. Goodness knows *I* need all the help I can get!

I may very well be behind the times, but just last night I discovered Maine Cottage. I will be the first to say that their prices are way, way out of my budget, but I really like the color and fabric choices they offer. They really go nicely with the cheerful and lively Kim Parker art I've selected so far for our cottage. Through the magic of the internet, the Maine Cottage site provides the ability to see how their 40 paint choices and 148 fabrics look on different furniture pieces. If you're thinking about painting that old dresser or desk you picked up at a yard sale, this is a great way to experiment with different beautiful cottage colors before buying an ounce of paint! For $15 I can afford to buy the 'Colorbook 2006' catalog (pictured left). From the Maine Cottage site: "The catalog has 190 pages of room setting and item photographs to inspire your design ideas...The best features of the catalog are the 40 'true-to-color' actual paint chips of our colors and close-up photos of our new fabric assortment. It's an excellent tool to assist you in making design choices."

Here are some of the happy cottage colors and fabrics they offer. Just click on either graphic to go straight to the site and experiment with various pieces of furniture. Remember to use the drop down menu when viewing all that fabric!





For those of us that love the beautiful fabric offered at Maine Cottage but, alas, can't afford it *sniff*, does anyone know of anywhere that we can find similar colors and styles for less? Any suggestions and links would be much appreciated!

Today was a really fun, albeit c o l d, day. I woke up with a pain in the neck, but after he got up and brought me coffee, I was feeling much better:P Hehe, just kidding, Jeff:) All kidding aside, my neck wouldn't turn to the right and was/is very sore. I couldn't get the heating pad to stay in just the right spot to relax the muscles so I just had to deal with it the entire day. We got the kids ready and headed to the city to see Seussical! It was the second time this week for L and me (we saw it on her field trip on Wednesday) but I liked it so much and knew that Z and S and even Jeff would enjoy it as much as we did. Though Jeff doesn't really care for musicals, he really liked the show:) Z asked when we were going to see it again, lol! Oh, yes, they gave away three door prizes (Dr. Seuss books) before the show began and who do you think was the first name they called? Our L! The next winner was a little girl sitting right behind us and then the next was a girl sitting two rows in front of us. I thought that to be quite ironic considering how many people were there.

I don't know if I've mentioned it here yet, but we've decided to homeschool Z this coming up fall. Her sisters go to a magnet school centered around the arts and we really love it. We want Z to be more than ready for the accelerated kindergarten curriculum they use. She must make a certain score on an entrance test to qualify. Z is our imaginative and creative little dreamer who has more than once (and quite emphatically) told us that she's just not ready to leave mommy and go to school. After much thought, I decided not to push her into something that she's just not excited about now. I did tell her, though, that we would spend the year doing school at home, learning to write and read. I homeschooled my oldest daughter S until grade 2 and L learned to read before starting kindergarten this year, so hopefully teaching Z the joy of reading won't be too difficult. It's funny - now that she knows she doesn't have to go to kindergarten this fall, she has actually become more interested in academics here at home. It's as if a burden has been lifted off her shoulders and she's feels more free to learn at her own pace (instead of 'cramming' for a February 2006 entrance test). I feel really good about the decision, too, and will soon begin to look for a curriculum for us to use here at home this year.

TTFN!