Messy work

Last week John's niece was visiting (our first overnight house guest) so we happily took a little break from house work to entertain her and enjoy the Bay Area. But this weekend we were back at it--starting with picking out paint colors for various rooms. How difficult can it be to pick out paint? Surprisingly VERY difficult. Perhaps the chore is made more complicated by the "colorful" paint names that distract and confuse you. I mean, who really wants to settle for "American cheese" when there's "sharp cheddar" or "carrot stick" available?

Long story short, we ended up with a grey that had too much red in it and a gallon of purple that will likely go unused (at least in this house). But we got some color on the walls and had some fun regressing into a little messy work again.

Here's John in his art studio/(aka the kitchen):

Between coats of paint, I oiled the bowling alley island which revealed its beauty soon after the oily rag hit the maple wood. So far I've given it three coats and it just keeps looking more beautiful...