Sometimes I feel like I am in Limbo...

It is the time of year when all of the stores start gearing up for Back to School. When I was in grade school, it was exciting to pick out new pencils, binders, and maybe even a lunch box. When college came, I got to get new and exciting things for my dorm room, like bedding, a shower tote, and nifty multipurpose desk lamp. Now that I am in grad school, I work on campus year-round and don't really have any reason to buy a lot of new supplies especially since I still haven't used up my current stock.

Now my major "Back to School" purchase is a house. While exciting, there are lots of aspects about it which I can't enjoy. Since living here after grad school is not in my plans, I don't want to spend lots of money and time fixing and installing all sorts of cool features which I hope to have someday. The whole situation is taunting me. For example, the white walls of my apartments for the last 3 years have been driving me crazy and I can't wait to have my house where I can paint the walls any color I want. I also really like solar tubes, but there is no way I am spending the dough to install one in a house I might only have for a few years. It is hard to be in a place where I can finally do whatever I want, but at the same time I am limited by practicality and money.

I have been trying to come up with some creative, yet cheap ways to fix up the place. I am considering buying a Granite paint kit to spruce up the kitchen counters. I figure it might make a good fall break project. I don't know how well these type of kits work, so if anyone has had any experience whether good or bad let me know. I have also had fun trying to figure out painting schemes using the Sherwin-Williams color visualizer. It is fun and useful, but I know colors on a computer screen look very different from on a wall and so I can't wait to go out and buy samples to try. Below is one such attempt to pick a good color for the walls. I like the original idea of yellow because it opens up the room, but I am attempting to pick a more warm neutral color that gives the same effect.

Example of Color Visualizer software

I also really don't like the tiles in the full bath. There are only two paint colors that go well with the tile, whiter or light grey. The previous owners did the job themselves and while not unpleasant it is sloppy. I would also have chosen a much better color palette. I don't want to redo the tile, but if I am given any excuse, i.e. a tile comes loose, I am going to redo it and make the bathroom much nicer looking.