Serendipity

I simply couldn't decide. Two scratched up, mismatched book cases sat in my studio, doing their job of holding books and videos, but sorry sights as contributors to the decor. I'm finally reaching the end of the re-organizing project in this room and one of the last things to do was paint those shelves.

These shelves have a history. We made them 23 years ago in our garage when we lived in Southern California. They were for our very own Montessori School that we started down there! What an adventure! My sister and her husband were owners of a very successful Montessori School and were helping us get one of our own going. Carpenter that he is, my dad also joined in to help us build a couple dozen of these sturdy little shelves for the classroom. There were perfect specifications for them. Low enough that children could reach even the top shelf -- about four feet wide and three shelves high. Just right for books and activity centers. Then all were color coded. We spray painted them. As I recall there were blue ones for the language center, peach for sensorial, yellow for math, pink for practical life. When we eventually sold the school the buyer had some of her own furnishings, so we ended up with about seven or eight of these shelves to take home. These shelves have been wonderful! With growing kids of my own they were used in their bedrooms, in our closets, as toy and book holders in the family room. I've used some at work for my speech therapy supplies. I love these shelves!

So here they sat, moved one too many times, faded and showing signs of wear. One was a faint shade of peach, but I wasn't even sure what color the other one was anymore. I couldn't decide what color to paint the shelves. With mainly blue and green decor in the room, I was concerned I'd pick out a blue or green that would clash. Finally I decided to go neutral and paint them plain white.

It was dark in the garage when I fumbled around for the paint a couple mornings ago. I found the can with the light colored dot on top, grabbed my brush and a screwdriver, and in the early morning hours sanded the shelves in prep of their new face lifts. I opened the can of paint with the screwdriver, dipped in my brush and slapped the first bit of color on the shelf. Not white! Instead, the lovely gray-blue that is in my bedroom. I love this color. It is soft, subtle, looks gray going on and drys to a quiet sky. Why hadn't I thought of that color?

Serendipity -- I found the perfect color for the book cases quite by accident. The freshly painted pair awaits, like old friends with arms outstretched, to welcome the re-organized content.

My studio is almost complete at last.