I am obsessed a/b decorating. Not so much a/b my house. I spend more time reading, thinking, sketching than actually doing any decorating or remodeling on my house. When I do other people's house, I can get things done so quickly. But when it comes to my house, everything moves at snail pace! I don't have the self-imposed pressure of having to have things done so I just let things slide. I bought this sofa with the intention of reupholstering it and now, 2 years later, it's still sitting in the living room in it's original musty moldy fabric LOL :-D I agree the roughest part of being a SAHM is when the kids are young. When they are a bit older & in school, you have the morning away from the kids but once school's out, it's crazy with their 1001 activities. Most SAHM moms I know with older children volunteer at school in the morning, or work in the morning until kids are out. Some went back to school so they can work once kids are in college, some open their own business. The hardest part is to find a job that allowed you to get out early at 230 pm to pick up the kids. Dh want to be a house husband once my youngest in public school. He has it all planned out: drop kids off at school, go to the golf course play 1 round, pick them up at 3pm. Goes home fix them (and himself) a snack then take a nap. LOL :-D My sisters are working moms and I think they have it tough. After working all day, they still have to deal with homework, chores, cooking, etc. They have pressure on their jobs too whereas I am pretty much my own boss. Their kids can't do any extracurricular activities like piano lessons or dance or sports because nobody has time to shuffle them around. Another friend of mine has a full-time live in nanny who drives the kids to school & all activities. Someday she said she doesn't even get to see them awake. I think once my DS2 is in public school, I'm going back to work the morning shift 6am-2pm. That way I won't miss out any of their moments. However, that means I won't have the morning to dream, sketch, and basically obsess a/b decorating. :-(

Tiffany, I see you saw....on the Blue-gray study thread. And no, it doesn't look anything like Pewter. Maybe your monitor? And maybe today I can get the curtains hemmed while my virus percolates (home from work sick!) and post a new photo. Lori, to clarify: My Ben Moore 'knockoff' was simply having them mix up their Farrow & Ball Pigeon formula in BM Regal paint. By the time I decided on the color, I had no time to wait for a gallon of paint to arrive in my mailbox! And isn't it just crazy how much time/thought/money we can all give to a paint color? I remember in my early-married days wanting some antique furniture. I was totally obsessed with that. I remember being completely immersed in fabrics.....both for sewing drapes, bedding, baby room stuff, and clothing. But wall paint was not a big issue for me. I mostly lived with whatever was already on the walls. If I lived in an apartment or rented house now, I would go crazy trying to convince the landlord to let me paint. But when we got a cute little house in 1980 and the landlord said........Knock yourselves out! We just went and looked at chips and chose them. Right there at the store. No samples. We didn't even bring them home to view in the house. We just mixed paint and painted. Now, I spend some time every month visualizing going blue green somewhere else.... Red

yes I can relate I don't think something is wrong with me..I just like to get things right once, and "they" always change what "they" carry. now I finally really need to reupholster dining chairs, and I'd just gladly repeat what they are now because I like it and I get used to things I like, but of course the fabric is discontinued (bought it in Calico Corners) currently considering something from British shop on Etsy..50 $ per meter..which is quite good in comparison to other options I like.. (and for the shipping they want 40 bucks too and what if the photo doesn't exactly captures the background correctly?all four of them? lol) in order to save money, I'm thinking of redoing just two most used captain chairs..I'm okay with worn stuff, very used, lived-in stuff but it becomes more than that, it becomes torn to shreds. Wasn't a great upholstery job either I must say-which contributed to the problem. I also have a favorite pillow..I abused it so much the fabric on it really needs to be changed/repaired. .it being cotton..discontinued of course since I bought it years ago. I'm stuck because it's a very interesting shape..and a very nice combo of colors..and frankly I've no desire to really change it, I just want to snap my fingers and make it whole again. In short it's not me, it's them. lol I'm not mentioning the broken and glued (twice) vintage pendant, which is one of the pair..I already lost hope to find the same, and I put in search on all sites known to me, to get notifications and stuff. So it hangs there missing a piece. Reflects my state of mind probably.. and yes, it can be fun, this quest, but right now feels exhausting..and not something that leaves me excited, currently. It's a chore, something that needs to be done rather than something I want, and that I have to do well-and my chances are small, and limited.

Hi ML- Congrats on the sofa purchase. There is no problem that the sofa matches the rug. Please do not buy a solid grey rug, that will not look good at all. The white and pastel striped rug doesn't really match either and it will be filthy in two days if you have children. Please select art that you like for that room. And not juvenile art please, it is not the playroom, Once you get the art you like, that will inform the colors of the rug. If you want an area rug on top of the wall to wall carpeting, get anything from Ruggables, their rugs are washable. I suggest getting the art first, because with children, the rug will get trashed where as the art won't. Get throw pillows in interesting textures in colors that you like that complement the art. Also get a beautiful textured throw. The coffee table is fine, although you might think about getting a larger square coffee table so you and the children can play games on it. Or get these round ones, and get a game table for another part of the room.