Craving Neutrals

I've been sick on and off for the past two weeks.  I don't know if it's the SIBO or that I'm still getting my immune system back up and running again but this cold wiped me out more than anyone else in the house.  The first week I had the same cold symptoms the girls had but it took the wind out of my sails like no one else.  I got up one day to wipe the counters and vacuum the kitchen floor and had to go back to the couch for the rest of the afternoon.  I felt like I had hiked to the top of a mountaintop I was so worn out from 10 minutes of activity.  At the end of the week and over the weekend I was starting to turn the corner.  I even exercised and took a walk with the dogs in the woods.  I rested over the weekend because I could tell I still had more of a cold than anyone else and Monday I woke up and felt like I'd been in a boxing ring.  It felt like someone had punched me square in the jaw, the cheekbone and the forehead.  All on the lefthand side of my face!  Ow!  I took advil but it did nothing to touch the pain.  I literally walked around the house all day moaning and holding my face.  I knew that if I didn't already have one I was about to get a raging sinus infection.  I am someone whose head hurts when a storm is coming in so I know my sinuses are more sensitive than most peoples.  I was determined not to take antibiotics.  I feel like my gut is in such a fragile state from having SIBO and candida and taking so many meds this past year that I don't want to risk taking antibiotics and killing off any more of the good bacteria in my gut.  So I waited it out.  I slept.  And rested.  And didn't work out.  And it was killing me but my head was killing me more.  I did the neti pot twice a day, steamed my face with hot water and eucalyptus, took multiple baths and long steamy showers and slept and rested some more.  Today I finally feel better.  At least I hope I do.  It usually settles in more in the afternoon.  But I'm up and out of bed and saw my kids off to school and even drove one of them.  The bright sun on the snow has almost killed me this week!  Sunglasses everywhere or it feels like piercing swords in the side of my head when I go out!!  But today I'm up, I'm blogging and instagramming and I'm even considering working out....

So on to today's post.... I don't know if my design sense is changing or in the craziness of this stage of my life I am preferring a more neutral pallet in my home.  It may also be that design trends are changing and therefor I am being exposed to beautiful things that are neutrals.  I have always loved color on my walls but neutrals for my clothes.  Now I prefer color as the accent and not the main part of a room.  Last year I painted our kitchen gray.  It had been several shades of green and I'm loving this calmer gray in the heart of our home where we really do spend the majority of our time.

I painted the kitchen Benjamin Moore Revere Pewter.  A warm gray that looks
different depending on lighting and time of day.  

In some lights it almost matches our Benjamin Moore White Down Trim & Cabinets color.  

I reorganized my entire kitchen (a post for another day) and chose to put
more white items in our glass door cabinets.  

We don't use our dining room all that often but I look at it from "my spot" at the kitchen island and was craving neutral in there.  I ended up going with the same color as our trim "White Down".  I have always preferred a neutral dining room as then the decor and table with it's place settings and tablecloths can take center stage.  In our first house our dining room was blue and I quickly changed it to shaker beige.  This dining room started more neutral and has played many roles since we moved in as living room, makeshift kitchen while our kitchen was under construction and back to dining room again.  We eventually want to build a farmer's table with benches on each side like our one in New Hampshire.  We will have it built out of the wood from the 200 year old tree we had to cut down over a year ago.  The wood is drying out now but I am getting the room ready for that beauty.

The neutral walls let me play with the decor more.  A collection of a few of my favorite things,
and a wreath I made from the boxwood bush next to our back patio.  

This just looked like a photograph to me.  Glad I had my phone with me to capture
our black lab, Nola, in the dining room watching the world go by.  

A few additions change the room for Valentine's day.  

After Christmas I was also craving more neutrals after all the color and extra decor of the holidays.   I found my decor choices were all falling in the gray, white, beige, calm, peaceful, wintery, and warm category.  We purchased a new chair for the corner of our living room figuring that not everyone wants to always crowd in with our family on our cozy sectional.  It's a nice spot to sit and read and still feel apart of the kitchen and living room.

A new chair from Pier 1 is a cozy addition to our living room.  I still love the BM Wet Cement
paint color which makes the room feel cozy! 

The santa's got put away and candles and pine cones and lights were added to our front entry.
These corals are also new additions.  I've been craving more antiques and found items
which makes sense aesthetically in our 1790's house.  

I want the color in my home to be from pictures of my family and the things and people I love.

Of course neutrals go quite nicely with our yellow lab, Sadie, snoozing
away in the living room next to a fire.  This purple rug was one of Rod and I's first big purchases
for our first house.  We still adore it and will always find a place for it.  

We have also purchased a gray neutral sectional for Duck Head in New Hampshire.  I can't wait till it comes in so we can fill it up with pillows and watch a movie with our entire family of 5 sitting together and being cozy and comfortable.  We could never quite get the seating right for watching movies comfortably for more than 4 people there.  I can't wait!  Our Christmas card wished everyone a cozy holiday season and I feel like that word has infused itself into my New Year.  I'm craving cozy and neutrals...the more the better!

I'm still trying to figure out what I'm going to be when I "grow up".  
But for this phase of my life this feels like my motto.