How to Pick a Paint Color (in the Mego Cave)

Ever find yourself dying to change something up in the house? One of the easiest and most cost effective ways (in my opinion) to make a dramatic change in the house is to change the color of the room. However, in the past I made the process of picking a color dramatic as well. I don’t recommend it. Remember when what I experienced a “paint emergency” inthe basement? Then my just “ok” reaction to the guest bedroom color? Then I have also had a few huge successes where I just want to hug the paint color (like the master bedroom and kitchen)! All those ups and downs and questioning whether I would like a color when my paintbrush hit the wall were worrisome and kind of made me stress out about painting walls.

Then came the Mego Cave, full of its rough wood paneled walls. I once thought I would never paint those walls, looking at the time and complications this room hads But once I got underway in the Mego Cave I knew it was imminent. I also knew I didn’t want to just get an “eh” color reaction. I want to LOVE the color and keep it for a long, long time, since I am anticipating a long, arduous painting process. So I decided to get it right before I loaded up on gallon cans and set to work. Here’s my color picking advice.

1.       Go to the paint store with a color scheme in mind. Remember that colors can really set the tone of the room, so have an idea of the type of feel you want the room to have. If you want a relaxing, cozy room go for warm colors (like green or blue). Want to punch up the energy? Go with a yellow, red, or orange. Purple and black families can be dramatic, although black and white can also be simplistic and pure. I like to load up on the paint chips. I pretty much pick every chip they have in the color family I have in mind that attracts my eye. Then, I step back and think outside my color palette. I always like to bring home a few off the wall (haha for on the wall!) choices I hadn’t thought of before. That way I won’t just settle for the same palette or comfort zone (not that that is bad, but I want to explore with color in our home!). This helps my mind stretch and bend a little and break outside the box.

2.       When I get home I spread the samples out and then start taping them on the wall with painters tape. I try and pick a place to tape them that is near the focal point of the room or an inspiration piece. In this case I used my artwork since that is one of my biggest inspirations for the room.

 

3.       Automatically discard the ones that just look wrong. Go with your gut on that one. If you have that reaction immediately, it's gone. Keep all the ones you like up on the wall for a while. I like to just live with them for a few days/even week. It seems that after some time the colors really begin to sort themselves in my head and “speak” to me. Yes, I think all colors should speak to you!

4.       As those little chips are getting vocal, I start separating them a little bit. A few more will probably jump out at you as no’s. Take ‘em down. There will probably still be a lot up there and it may be overwhelming still. So I start moving them into the love pile and the just like pile. It’s no big deal if your categories move around a lot. As you play and look, and they speak, you will slowly start to wean out the ones you don’t like. Keep in mind the feel of the room you want. Do you want a bold, dynamic room? How about a soft and sweet room? Or maybe a bright and cheery room? Keeping this in mind will help you decide which paint color to go with.

5.       I try and narrow it down to just a few of my absolute favorites. At this time start moving them around the room, putting them by other pieces of furniture and seeing them in natural light and at night. This is just to test that the color doesn’t look great on the light side of the room but get all wonky and wrong in the dark corner.

6.       Once you have it narrowed down (I narrowed it to 3), go buy the genius little samples they sell. At only $3 a pop with quite a bit of paint, not only do they help you choose your color but leave enough paint for a later project. (The three pictured are Valspar Tempered Spring, Olympic Thin Ice, and Olympic Glimmer.)

7.       Then slap those samples on the wall. If you are like me you are giddy with excitement and just stick your finger in the tub and smear it on the wall. But, it would probably be better with a brush.

8.       I put the samples up by the focal art piece and one just screamed out at me. Can you tell which one? So then I proceeded to paint a few samples around the room, once again checking for wonky corners and seeing how they look in all lights.

 

9.       At this point the right color seems to become obvious: Valspar Tempered Spring. The one that makes  your eyes light up and seems to have a certain glow about it. When I look at my color choice it seems to be lit up in a haze of majesty. Like it is glowing off the wall saying, “Pick me!”

After that process I now have no doubts in moving forward with painting the Mego Cave. I know I will LOVE the color and can’t wait to get started on it! How about you? Have you figured out a way to make these sometimes overwhelming choices?

The Art of Failing: Slipcover Gone Wrong

Sometimes thing just don’t go the way you expect, or want, them to. Take these homemade brownies I tried to make with a can of black beans. Definitely a mistake. Thankfully, most of these things aren’t disastrous by any means, just mistakes. Well, my friends, I have come close to disastrous with this new little experiment I tried. As you all know, I am working to make our carport room into my Mego Cave. You can see its progress when I began making it over by starting with this fabric artwork project, then got this steal of an antique door desk, and changed around the layout. When I got the new, super, awesome FREE chair, it kind of changed the direction I was going in the room. Originally I was going to get a chair that complemented the blue loveseat. Now that I have this electric blue chair, I think the combo with the soft blue loveseat is just a little too…blue. And you know we don’t want any blues in that room!

So I had this super-great idea (or so I thought). I would bring the blue loveseat to the basement to complement its blue walls down there and bring the more modern lines of the basement loveseat upstairs. The only problem was this loveseat was horribly ugly. It is a hand-me-down from the in-laws (from a looong time ago) and hopefully there are no hard feelings that I just called something they bought ugly. Although I am pretty sure I have told them that before. Moreso in the words, “It’s just not my style.” Anyways, we were planning on slipcovering this guy anyways, so I thought, why not bring it upstairs and slipcover it to fit my Mego Cave?! Makes sense right?

 

 

I know, I know. You are thinking, “Duh, Megan, slipcovers always end in disaster.” Well, I’m not a believer in that. I just have a really hard time getting rid of something that is in perfect shape just because it’s not pretty/my style. There has to be something I can to do it to make it pretty! I thought perhaps going with a high-end slipcover (aka me not cheaping out!) would be a good solution. Then, if it didn’t work then I would feel slightly better shoving the old loveseat out the door. So after quite a bit of research, I settled upon this slipcover.

Boy was I excited when this came in the mail. So excited that I don’t even have pictures of the packaging. After I found it waiting on the front porch for me after work, I ran into the house, ripped it open, and practically flew down the stairs. Soon cushions and covers were flying around the room as I worked to get the new slipcover in place. Although, I did have a little inkling in my head that this wouldn’t work, so I had picked a place with free shipping for both delivery and returns. I also made note of the packaging before opening it, so I could best replicate it and get my money back if I returned it. Weird that I had that foresight but didn’t actually take pictures of it. Did I mention I was excited?

 

Before I knew it the seat cushion covers were off and the t-cushion slipcover was on. It looked promising, right?

Then came the more challenging part of fitting the second cover over the loveseat. You had to find the tags marked “Front Center”, “Back Center”, “Left Arm”, and “Right Arm”. Then it really wasn’t that hard. Just push and pull a little bit. Then it was time to sit to see the result.

 

It was wrong. All wrong. It wasn’t even a Band-Aid solution. It just wasn’t a solution at all. Although I knew this was a real possibility it also made me sad. I let it sit on there for a few hours, but I knew it wasn’t the perfect solution. I didn’t want to settle for “okay” or “it will do”. I wanted to scream and shout for joy at the result. Done are my days of filler pieces. I want everything brought into the house to make me oh-so happy and be absolutely right. So off it came and back to the store it went.

I guess it’s just one of those live and learn moments, right? Although, I still haven’t written off slipcovers for good. I think this loveseat was a challenging fit, especially with the t-cushions, which are a lot harder to find slipcovers for than the box cushions. I think slipcovers would also work better for more plush couches. This one had thinner arms and a straighter back, so it didn’t fill out the slipcover enough (even though the packaging said the slipcover would fit the size). It's sort of like baggy pants on a really skinny person. It's just an odd look.

So what's the plan now? To save up for a loveseat that I not only love now, but will love for many years. I am looking for an investment piece, one that will make me jump up and down for joy every time I see it. So that's what I will be doing for the next few months: saving and searching for that right piece. Gosh, it feels good to not cheap out for once. Some things are worth the wait.

What about you? Any mistakes you made that eventually led to something better? Or taught you a lesson along the way? Or just made me you at its ridiculousness?

Words From My Heart…

I really love living my life on the blog. I am pretty much am an open book and love to share my thoughts, dreams, adventures, successes, and mis-steps. So in full disclosure, I am thinking about making some changes to the blog.

Change #1: WordPress v. Blogger

The first change that I am thinking about making is transitioning from Blogger (my current blog host) to WordPress. Originally when I was beginning my blog, I signed up through WordPress and started designing the blog there. Then, I got a little further into the process and thought I should check out Blogger. My limited skills and my eagerness to just begin already made me a little frustrated with the limitations I (thought) WordPress had. Since I support most everything Google, I switched over to Blogger (powered by Google) and that is where I stand today. As I think about the functionality of my blog, the features it offers, and its room for growth, I am feeling a little limited by Blogger. Yet, I am also a little nervous to make the switch to WordPress.

I am concerned that I may have to pay more fees through WordPress. Right now I don’t have any, and technically I don’t have to pay anything through WordPress either. But, if I am actually going to make the transition, I want to buy my domain, which is a low annual fee. That’s no big deal as Blogger asks you to do the same. I am concerned though that the farther I get into WordPress the more fees I will have to pay. I just wonder if it is all worth it.

Another concern I have is losing all my content and followers. Thankfully WordPress has an import tool that assists you in this process, but it still makes me a little nervous! I also definitely don’t want to lose any followers! Hopefully, this would actually make life easier for followers, since it seems like WordPress makes it easier to follow and to comment on the blogs (two of my biggest complaints against Blogger). So I am almost 100% committed to making this change but would love to hear anyone’s thoughts, opinions, advice and stories about Blogger v. WordPress.

Change #2: Blog Name

Yup, I am thinking about changing the name of my blog. Here is my internal battle: I want my blog to stay true to me, but I want to do everything I can to encourage it to grow and blossom. Which makes me think a name change would be a boost to the blog. I love the title “The Mego Blog”. It is so true to me and fitting. But, the downside is, that if you don’t know me, it doesn’t jump out and yell “read me”. I think it actually makes you just say, “Huh? What’s that mean?” So I am looking into changing the name of the blog to still represent me but to also tell a little bit more about the blog and me. Something that may pique readers’ interest a little bit. The hard part is coming up with a new name! I am struggling to hit on something I love.

Here are some ideas that I am just throwing around (bold are my favorites thus far):

·         Live Without Trying

·         No Boundaries Life

·         The Mego Diaries

·         Mego Love

·         Design by Mego
·         Simply Mego
·         The Sparkling Daily or A Sparkling Daily
·         A Sparkly Life
·         Live Life Sparkly
·         Glittery Dreams
·         Shimmering Reflection
·         Mego Styles
·         Shining Stories
·         House Reflections
·         The Mego Life
·         Mego Design
·         Mego Cents
·         The Mego Style
·         Mego Dreams
·         Life According To Mego
·         Mego Styles
·         Life Tales by Mego
·         Mego Makes It Happen
·         Mego Mania
·         The Tale of Two Settees
·         Housin’ Around
·         House O' Stories
·         Ginger Inklings
·         Mego Mood Board
·         Ginger Snapshot (I think this is my favorite!)

I originally didn’t think I would post about this process like this. I first wanted to just make all the changes, announce that I had made all these wonderful changes, and bam, it would happen. Then I thought, maybe I should be more real and tell you what I am thinking, share my thoughts and concerns. That’s why I have this blog, right? So I am telling you as it is and also reaching out to my readers. Any great name ideas that you would let me use? Or, do you even think the name should change? Do you like “The Mego Blog”? Any feelings about WordPress or Blogger?

PS – I asked my friend Carrie from DreamGreenDIY who is a WordPress whiz her opinion and she was good enough to write an entire post about it! Thanks Carrie!

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Front Row Musings at Kelly Clarkson

Something very exciting and unexpected happened to me last week. It was just like any other normal Monday, or so I thought. I was driving my 30 minute commute to work, listening to my favorite morning show (shout-out to the Mornin’ Thang with Danny, Zack, and Monica! Love them!). They always have something amusing going on that makes me laugh all the way to work. This morning they had a few things happening, one of which really piqued my curiosity. They said they were giving away front row Kelly Clarkson tickets! Sweet! I’ve been a fan ever since the first season of American Idol. I have all her albums, own From Justin to Kelly (sigh, I shouldn’t admit that), and have even been to one of her concerts, albeit from the nosebleed seats. I just really enjoy her music and her personality. I like that she seems like a really down to earth, sweet Southern girl with a little ‘tude. Plus she has a song for every mood.

Anyways, to enter into this contest for the tickets all you had to do was text in your name and location to be entered to win. Then, starting at 8:45am they began calling random people picked from the texters. You had to answer with this and nothing else, “I’ve got some cheese but not a cheese grater”. Don’t ask, cause I don’t know what that phrase is all about, and they didn't explain. All I heard was an easy way to enter to win tickets. I not a big one for having to do too much to try and win things. It’s not really worth my time. So I got to work, texted in, and wrote down the phrase on my notebook, just in case. Ok, I was playing along, even carrying my phone in my pocket in case they called.

So 8:45 rolled on by and I made a wayward comment to a co-worker, in a joking manner, “Shucks! It is past 8:45. Guess I didn’t win.” Just joking around because of course I wasn’t going to win. So there I was, just working away on a Monday morning at my desk, when a random number popped up on my phone around 8:55. The look of disbelief on my face must have been priceless. I had no idea who this number was, so it was either K92 or a random telemarketer. So I answered with a pretty excited, “I’ve got some cheese but I don’t have a cheese grater!” Well blow me over with a feather! I heard the Mornin’ Thang on the other side of the phone!

They started whooping and hollering; I started whooping and hollering. I had won! I had actually won the tickets! People came running over to my cubicle as I yelled about some cheese and started doing my happy dance (along with some high kicks) up and down the office hallway! During that time I actually had a full-fledged conversation on the radio. They actually gave me some pretty good time. It’s kind of priceless to hear. You can listen to the podcast by going here and then clicking on the September 10th 8am podcast. I am about 20 minutes into it. It’s definitely hilarious. I guess I was actually the seventh person they called (which my why I received the call so late). Either the other people didn’t answer the phone or they didn’t answer with the right “cheese” phrase. Wowsers! So I guess it was meant to be.

Here’s the kicker. Once I was off air and they were getting my contact information, Miss Monica tells me to pick up the tickets either Monday or Tuesday because the concert was WEDNESDAY! What?!?! I had entered not knowing when or where the concert was. I didn’t think I would actually win! So the deal was I needed to get the tickets in Roanoke (about an hour drive from my house each way) and get to Charlotte (three hours away) for a 7pm concert in TWO DAYS! What?!? My first thought was, “I can’t go,” but fortunately I have the most flexible work schedule ever. I also have great co-workers, one of whom lives in Roanoke and picked up the tickets for me.

Then came the hardest part: finding someone to go with me! Apparently no one else has a flexible schedule like my job! So after asking one husband, three local friends, a DC friend, and my mom who lives in New Jersey (hey, it’s only a train ride away), it was Tuesday and I still didn’t have anyone to go with. Uh-oh. What to do?! I had these awesome tickets and yet I couldn’t find someone to go with. Then I thought about how much fun I have with my co-workers. So I asked one of them and she said she could! Hurray!

So Wednesday rolled around, all bright, sunny, and perfect weather for a long day of driving and an outdoor concert (technically an outdoor amphitheater). We headed out from work early afternoon and had a nice drive down in the trusty Cube, blaring Kelly Clarkson all the way of course. We got there before rush hour traffic, had a nice dinner, and then headed to the amphitheater. Only miles from the amphitheater we passed Ikea and I had a very sad, pouty moment. To be so close but not be able to go was heartbreaking. So much so I documented the moment.

Anyways, back to the amphitheater. We were pretty excited to document every moment. Here I am just in the parking lot. See? Excited? Oh, and showing off my front row ticket!

Oh, did I mention The Fray were also on deck? Awesome! Know what was also awesome? To head in and go all the way down to the front. WOW. I’m so spoiled. I never want to go to those back row seats again!

One of the fun parts of being in the front row was that we made friends with all the security guards there. They were all really nice and we had fun joking around with them between musicians. I even got a sneak peek at the set list and a heads up that there might be some interaction with the audience!

The first band up was Carolina Liar, who was pretty good. I ended up knowing their last song, yet I don’t know how I knew it. Anyone else heard of them or knows of their songs? They were pretty entertaining.

 

Next up was…The Fray! What a bonus! I love them, and they know how to give a pretty good show. They weren’t just an opener. They gave a full length concert!

The best part? They came out into the audience. This is how it went:

·         The lead singer came over to our part of the stage.

·         He jumped down directly in front of us.

·         He barreled through the barriers right in front of us.

·         He nearly knocked down my co-worker as he came through past us. We each got a touch (how creepy do I sound!?) and he knocked all my stuff off my chair. Classic.

·         Girly screaming and squealing ensued.

So call that part of the concert a huge success. Then came the big act: Kelly Clarkson. [Warning: The light for her part of the concert in conjunction with her fair complexion and newly blonde hair did not an easy picture take!]

I just love her! She gives a great show. There is a good mix of singing her big hits, singing a few covers, a little bit of talking and connecting with the audience, some pranks by The Fray, and her bringing up her adorable nieces on stage who you could tell adored her. Oh yes. She winked at me too. Directly at me. If you know anything about her, you know she has this really good, quick wink. I got it.

 

If you squint really hard you can see an image of Jason Aldean projected on the curtain. That's how they sang their duet. It was a little...odd. But still neat! I can't say anything bad about the concert!

 

See those cute little girls? Kelly said that she should start calling Charlotte home because of all the family she had in the audience. Then she brought all her cute (totally enamored by her and wearing Kelly Clarkson t-shirts) on stage. They had so much fun dancing and singing along to the finale song "Stronger".

The only bad part? The drive home. That. Was. Rough. We got home at 2:30am, and I passed out on the bed. Whew. Don’t want to do that anytime soon again! But was it worth it? YES!

So how’s that for a spontaneous and fun week? Have you ever won something off the radio or anything else?

There’s a Seal On Our Driveway

Wait…what were you thinking? We just sealed our driveway! No real seals living in the Rapp household or surroundings. Bummer. Eric and I both have a thing for animals, especially non-traditional domestic animals. Anyways, I digress. What I actually meant by the seal title was that we just sealed our driveway. Wonder how many hopeful people just clicked the “x" with their dreams of a seal post dying...

Sealing a driveway actually can be exciting. Dubious? Read on!

·         Sealing a driveway extends the life of a driveway by a lot. Wanted to put in an actual number, but I would have just made it up. It does help though.

·         They make products that will last you 8 years in between seals! Less work! Hurray!

·         It makes your driveway look brand new, all shiny and black.

·         Those mushrooms will stop growing under our driveway and making it crack. Anyone else out there have that problem?

·         Seals will magically appear on your driveway! Okay, kidding again.

Since we have owned the house, we have not sealed the driveway, so it is definitely time. Here’s how we did it.

1.       Gather all supplies. You need crack filler, many vats of seal (calculated by square footage - ours took 13), a heavy duty drill, a mixer tool, spatula things for spreading, a leaf blower or broom to clean off your driveway, and a husband and father in-law to do the work. Or just at least two people since it is definitely easier as a two person job.

2.       A few days before you are going to seal, you want to use the crack filler to fill up those pesky little holes and cracks in the driveway. Just make sure you don’t accidentally walk in them. Tar is hard to get out of carpets. Just saying…

 

3.       Clean off the driveway right before you want to start, unless of course you want acorns permanently in your driveway. We used our leaf blower, but I am sure a broom would work well. It would just take a little longer!
 

 

4.       Pick a nice sunny day with at least three sunny days forecasted after it. Plan your method of attack so you aren’t stranded outside of your house. Our material took about an hour until it was dry enough to walk on. You either want a back way in or seal the front door path last. We chose the back door route.

5.       Use the drill to mix one bucket at a time. We rented the drill and bought the mixer (it’s done once it is used). We poked a hole through the top of each bucket so we could thread the mixer through and put the top back on. This helped keep splatter down.

 

6.       Then you pour and sweep with your spatula things. Repeat, repeat, repeat!

 

7.       Use the empty buckets to corridor off your driveway so no one drives on it until it is completely dry. We let ours sits about 3-4 days.

There you go, a brand new looking driveway. I love how velvety smooth it looks. For some reason I just really had the urge to lie on it. It just looks so inviting. I refrained though…

Here's a before and after:
 

As for the amount of time it takes, it really varies based on the size of your driveway. Ours took about 5ish hours to do from start to finish. A five hour job to protect something for eight whole years? I say that is time well spent! Oh, and just for all you hopefuls:

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