Sunday, January 01, 2012

Happy New Light Year

We moved into our house two years ago yesterday. On New Year's Eve. Not because we wanted to, but it was the way the contracts on the houses worked out.

So for nearly two years I dreamed of painting walls. Many of the walls of the house were, and some still are, a dark brownish color. People have called it khaki, but it reminds me more of the darker areas of shitake mushrooms. In full sunlight it looks nice, but once the sun starts setting and the artificial lights come on, it just looks dark. And in hallways it was terrible, like being in a cave, unless you wanted to turn the light on every time you walked through the hall. And it seemed that at least half the light was absorbed by the color, so it was still darkish.

Well, even though it wasn't officially a Christmas present, I say the best Christmas present for me this year was that my brother came and painted two rooms and two hallways, and that my husband had the idea of asking him to do it. I felt so blessed, not just in getting the rooms painted, but in being able to come home between errands or appointments and converse with "the painter" about childhood memories, or how my nieces and nephews are doing, or projects we are working on. It was fun, unlike the usual experience of having workers in the house.

Light cream and light yellow now brighten what were the darkest areas of our house. It's wonderful! A perfect way to celebrate moving into the house two years ago and to bring in a new year.

The new light in the house has gotten me noticing sunlight on the walls in these newly painted rooms, but also all over the place. Today was an especially beautiful sunny New Year's Day, so I decided to take some pictures as part of the celebration.






























Happy New Year! May it be filled with light!

8 comments:

Stephanie said...

Sheila, these are just beautiful. Thank you for sharing. It made me happy looking at your light and thinking about how happy you must have been while taking those pictures. Happy New Year!

Sheila said...

I'm so glad someone else thinks that a photo essay containing even the top of a toilet can be beautiful. :-)

CarolinaGirl said...

I really like the picture of your piano. I picked-up an electric guitar last summer (is it really "last summer" now). While I'm really bad, despite lessons, I'm still plucking away, but doubt I'll ever be as good as I remember you are playing.

Sheila said...

As long as you enjoy it, that's the main thing, right?

Lucy said...

What wonderful light you have, how sad to have covered it with brown! Heart lifting pictures indeed.

Kory Wells said...

OK, I'm jealous that your bathroom is so clean that you can take your lovely photos even there. Enjoyed them all (love the bird's nest. Have a similar one in a compote on my coffee table in my office.) Thanks for sharing!

shinote@aol.com said...

Sheila, Lovely words and beautiful pictures. Thank you for allowing your brighter walls to brighten my day! Ren Hinote

Sheila said...

Lucy, you can see in the lamp-with-red-bow photo how the brown absorbs the light. Hope to paint that room before too long!

Kory, trust me, there are areas I would not photograph!

Ren, how good to hear from you! I hope you have a very happy year ahead.