Thank you for the replies. Wish I had some of the ones you mentioned. I got a. speciosa, a. marlothii and another trunk type the name of which I don't know. Then I've got a. buhri & a. heronenesis for the lower ones. I even have a few more but they need to go in another spot. All of these babies are 5 gallon specimens. Can't wait for Spring to plant. By the way, as I read about aloes on the internet I see "river sand" mentioned as good soil additive. I have some pea gravel and cactus soil in this planting bed already. Where in the world can one get river sand or something like to improve the drainage? Any ideas?

Traci, I feel your pain. If it makes you feel any better, I'm going through the EXACT same thing as you, only with looking for the perfect not-too-yellow-not-too-tan-definitely-not-too dark warm neutral for my living room and halls. I have too many small Benjamin Moore sample jars to count. I've rejected their original contents, cleaned them out, and had them refilled. I've taken in glass spice jars for samples. With Kelly Moore and Sherwin Williams, I've bought a total of 9 quarts. I'm going through a lot of foamcore board. I start with a small 4x4" square to see if it's got a chance. If I like it, I paint a 12" square, two coats. They get moved all over my living room. If a color is still looking good, I have to paint a small 4" square on the wall (sorry Paintguy). I have knock-down wall texture and it looks different on the wall than it does on the board, and not necessarily better. I have to know the truth. I've painted squares on 4 different walls. I got so that I didn't notice them anymore. Then I hated looking at them. So, I've painted over (with the original wall color) most of them, except the latest front runners. This is no fun. Oh, and online color visualizers are absolutely worthless other than to give you a sense of how colors relate to one another. But it doesn't give you a true idea of a color at all. I figure I've spent close to $200 in samples. In a fit of pique I threw Benjamin Moore Instinct and Shaker Beige together and got a steely gray. Not the color I was looking for. ;-) I would pay a color consultant $100 to put an end to my misery. With my luck, they'd suggest a peach/pink theme.

This is hard question to answer -- simply because the answers depend on how you like a room to feel when you are working! I really like the depth and tone of the paint color -- and think it will work well for an office BUT our own home office/guest room is painted in deep olive! Soooooo ... do you like to work in bright sunny "open" rooms -- or do you like cozy spaces for work? IF you do like a cozy space -- remember to add LOTS of lamps around the whole space. We have two very tall buffet lamps on the main desk -- and a swing-arm lamp over the sofa bed AND a smaller lamp over an antique cupboard! Lighting options can be a key element to making an office space work well. For the back wall -- I would recommend bookcases or bookshelves! For example -- check out the "Billy" bookcases at Ikea. Those bookshelves come in two heights -- you could do two tall bookcases at each end of the wall -- and then a shorter one in the middle. Add an artwork over the smaller bookcase. Add bookcase lighting to the taller ones. Or you could add a long thin console table or cabinet -- with three large bulletin boards over the table -- cover with co-ordinating fabric to the rest of the room. Or check out "art.com" -- and simply broswe through categories that might appeal to you and see if a particular artists name might keep cropping up! I've included a hot link over to art.com -- and a selection from my favorite artist -- Chardin -- from the 18th century. Rich extraordinary colors. Another more modern artist is Nicole Etienne. Check out her artworks at art.com. Other possible art selections -- could be maps (new, old, vintage) of places that you might have lived or visited or hope to visit. Or perhaps a grid of (new, old or vintage) botanical prints? Or perhaps a grid of black-and-white photos of local sites or architecture of your area? Hope this helps! Jan at Rosemary Cottage Here is a link that might be useful: art.com -- Jean-Baptiste Chardin

I disagree that a crib in lieu of bed is necessary right away and it's not what's "off" about the room. But we really need to see more pictures to get a sense of your options. Preferably in daylight so we can see the true colours of your walls/chair/rug! Swapping the positions of the chair and bed would make a wonderful difference. The head of the bed under that low angled wall looks disastrous. There would be dead space behind the chair if moved there, so a better use of the space might be storage for toys & books and a soft little area on the floor for tummy time etc. Again, we need to know the rest of the room in order to suggest another spot for the chair. There is nothing wrong with the paint. Plenty of neutral grey nurseries look cozy and inviting. The blandness is coming from the lack of decor which can be easily solved! The boat picture you have already doesn't suit a child's room imo. Maybe in a lighter frame? There are lots of prints on Etsy (like the one below) where you buy the file to download and print it yourself. Doesn't need to be overly cutesy or childish. Animal heads like J Williams posted are another fun wall decor choice. I've also seen pompoms or pennants hung along the wall on a string. A nice round mirror will increase the light in the room. Plus you and baby can interact with it when they're old enough to recognize their reflection! Flowy curtains and a large plant like Jan Moyer posted (until baby is able to mess around with them of course!) Shelves styled with toys/books/pictures/etc Curvy lamp on the nightstand (silver and/or white as pp suggested). Nothing wrong with the nightstand either btw. I'd keep it. For bedding/room colours in general: Keep the navy comforter but replace all the browns and taupes with soft blues and whites. The pillowcase with the animal print is cute for a kids room but wouldn't be my choice for a guest bed. I'd put a more colourful pillow on the recliner as well, another soft blue to tie into the bedding. The reddish purple pillows on the floor by the chair do not seem to fit with the other colours present.