That is RASPBERRY! I'm glad your done and your happy with the results. I am not a DIY at all.

Hey there! How do all your "boys" like the pink? LOL

It looks great and you did a nice job creating such a fun and lively bathroom! We've got two bathrooms in-progress here--can't wait to be sharing pics of ours here (because that'll mean they're finally done!).

Good to "see" you rm!!!

Bully for you going with what's in your heart. I love how you have all the pictures on one wall in the black frames as it pulls the vanity in. Your ceiling is awesome with the gold on it. The chandelier is fabulous. Keep up the insanity...I LUV IT!!!! ;~)

I heart your powder room!!! It's gorgeous, absolutely and unabashedly girly and glam. The photo wall is amazing, the silver leafing on the ceiling, the gorgeous knobs. I am so glad you had fun in there. We just found out we're expecting a boy and although I love the fact that we'll have a boy, I'm starting to crave doing more girly things as I'm sure you have living with three guys! I may just have to redo our powder toom to make it as girly as yours!!

LOVE IT! Isnt it amazing what a little paint can do? It has totally transformed your bathroom. I love the photos on the wall. It reminds me of the type of bathroom you would find in a nightclub. You did a great job.

I really like that's it's unexpected. I love the high gloss black vanity with the raspberry/pink! The chandelier gives it a really pretty touch.

Great ceiling treatment; I just got some raspberry paint for my guest bathroom, I hope it turns out as nice as yours.

RM, your loo is fabulously fun! I would never pair it with the same owner of your oh so proper white kitchen! LOL.

First of all, your paint color is definitely very Purple-Rain-Prince. Second, when you said raspberry, I was thinking more purply pink. this is what I call "Rani Pink"....a sari color very popular in India.

You have no idea how much I love your chandelier. So you just bought it on ebay not knowing where exactly it would go? How high are your ceilings? 10ft? I wish we had such ceilings!

Great wall of prints...this is so like something I would see on Apartment Therapy! Love the glossy black....I can't believe you were able to find oil based paint. Impressive.

Is your marble in the loo honed as well?

Why don't you bring some splashes of this color into your kitchen, my dear?

I ♥ your ceiling and chandelier!

Oh my goodness -- Thank You all for making the time to look at my pink fantasy! I'd asked GW to send me e-mail replies but I've received none (no GW e-mails), so I didn't check GW because I thought "well, no one's responded." What a delicious surprise!

In real life the bathroom isn't as garish as in the photos, although I actually don't think the pictures look garish ... of course I'm pink-biased!

redroze -- congratulations on your son! Babies are delicious and I wish you the loveliest of pregnancies. Sons are the cat's meow, although what's best of all is a healthy baby and healthy mommy. I had the most wonderful time dressing my sons in embroidered smocked bubbles, jonjons (with white knee socks and t-strap shoes) and longalls. Some unknowing souls would say to me "but it's only fun dressing a little girl." Not even close to true, and I have pictorial proof! And no, my sons have never ever worn pink: they both have long hair and are really pretty, so I didn't want society to be even more confused. Happy baby, redroze!

newdawn, vampiressrn, eclecticme and sheesharee -- thank you for making the time to write such kind words. I really appreciate your making the time to indulge my pink dreams.

springvillegardens -- I am so excited about your guest bath. Please come back and post photos after it's painted. I can't wait to see it!

sabjimata -- I love that chandelier! Thank you for the name Rani Pink: that's my new favorite color. I love that Diana Vreeland quote about pink being the navy of India.

I bought my chandelier a few houses ago with eyes higher than my then 8' ceiling, so that's why it was never used. Yes, this bathroom ceiling is 10', so it worked out. I have a tole floral bouquet chandelier which I'd originally envisioned using but once the bathroom started coming together it was clear it would have to be this one.

The bathroom marble is honed because, or at least this is my understanding, the fabricator honed the slabs first and then cut them up. Fine by me -- that Kandoo kiddie handsoap stains like crazy, even with that Miracle sealer on it, so on occasion I have scrubbed the vanity counter (but I'm not particularly precious and I'd rather my children wash their hands than be afraid of their lunatic "don't stain the marble!" mother). If it were polished I'm sure my scrubbing would've shown up; as it is the faint green of the children's soap kinda blends in with the grey veining. Kind of.

Oh, and in the kitchen one of my projects for this spring / summer is to paint the (natural) wicker armchairs Rani Pink. (actually BM's Hot Lips, but now I'm a Rani Pink gal) I'm excited! I'd expected to already be working on it but I still haven't finished powerwashing the fence -- it snowed last week and we're expecting snow again this week. I have about one more hour's powerwashing work and then once I'm done and it's dried out (and the weather stays warm enough for a few days) I'll be staining the fence ... which should reasonably take me a few weeks.

I had totally wanted to paint the fence in a huge abstract design a la Matisse's La Vis

but my partner almost started to cry when I told him this. He is so laidback about just about everything that when he actually has an opinion I try to listen. So from feast to famine because instead I am staining it Cabot's Pepperwood, a tasteful Garden District New Orleans kind of greige. (He loves NOLA and I do not.)
{{gwi:1707643}}

I then have nineteen rose bushes to plant in our miserable rocky clay, and then I can attack my to-be pink chairs.

Here's a little more of my pink life.

These are my living room side tables:

They're IEKA Lack tables which I painted with a sticky primer and then BM's Pink Ladies. (as I got the link for the IKEA tables I noticed they have a new price and I wish I hadn't seen that ...)

And this is the den (my "office"):

It doesn't come across in this photo but you'll have to take my word for it that the fuchsia papel picado, the pink in the tin tree of life and the pinks in the masks really come through. At least they come through to my eye!

This is the hat I gave myself for Mother's Day:

that is not me in the photo, although she's a cutie!

And for Valentine's Day I gave this ring to myself:

(my partner is not sentimental so instead of fuming I just take care of it myself!)

I love this Jonathan Adler tray but I will not spend that kind of money on a tray. ($150!!!) So I found a tray at Target which I will faux-lacquer myself and I bet the whole project will cost me less than $20 (not including my time, but that's free).
{{gwi:1707651}}

Your style reminds me of my DD. She painted her kitchen in a bright pink & gray. Her house is very stylish!
{{gwi:1707653}}From Pictures

RM...check out this blog post I *just* came across...

Here is a link that might be useful: rani pink kitchen touches

whooops wrong link above

Here is a link that might be useful: ...try this one

Hey RMK, so nice to see you here. Always love to see what you're up to. That Raspberry is amazing...indeed the entire transformation is great fun! Good for you. (and keep posting...I love your pics...always)

Well that does sound exciting! Not to deter from your post too much (and I keep scrolling up just to gaze at your Rani Pink wonder)...I actually love the idea of the contrast of our son's "boyness" with my "girliness". I never had any intuition about the gender, but for some reason I always said "are you okay buddy" when I spoke to my belly, and when I purchased baby stuff I had thought about what my choices would mean if I had a boy.

Our nursery bedding from RH is lavendar, which DH and I agreed would work for either a boy or a girl. The photos you'll see on my blog show more of a girl slant...I'm going to remove some of the purple accents and put in dark brown, so really the only lavendar item will be the crib bedding.

Also, my {{gwi:1707633}} is the girliest, pinkest bag you'll ever see. Before we knew the gender, I just imagined changing a boy on the pink changing pad that comes with it, and I kind of fell in love with the idea...then we found out we're having a boy. I'm stoked!

I love your decor!

The raspberry's nice and all, and I like the chandelier very much (a friend just found one very similar in her old house in a back room-*I* didn't find things like that in our house--more like live wires coming out of seemingly nowhere that could have electrocuted us, but anyway) ...but a question about your office: have you posted that rocking chair before? Have I already said how much I love it, even from here? Or am I remembering someone else's chair? At any rate, that rocking chair is *splendid*. Can you tell us who made it? Is it --I'm blanking now..I hate that...but the man whose rockers were famous and inspired a resurgence of art-quality rocking chairs?

Holy cow! GW is still not sending me e-mails but Thank You all for all these responses! Yippee -- I feel so popular.

deedee99 -- I feel so bad I didn't thank you before! I think we posted at about the same time. I wish I knew how to do your heart.

sabjimata -- Thank You for that link. I am gaga for the striped rug. Yum yum!

pesky1 -- I love that picture! Thank you for sharing your daughter's kitchen. She is my kind of gal (although I'm sure that goes without saying)!

amysrq -- I am so happy to see your name! One of my all-time favorite people. I love your house(s)!

redroze -- We are so related it's almost spooky. Our nursery fabric was a lavender toy toile (Laura Ashley) with cream furniture and the prettiest (I think) pale green walls. We wanted gender neutral and that's why the lavender. You and I are so smart!

I sewed a crib skirt and dummy panels from the toile. If you look closely the crib skirt gathering is very imperfect but I was insanely proud of myself and no one should be looking that closely. Hmph.

I love your diaper bag! All my friends who had a Petunia Picklebottom bag adored them -- the function is great. Yours is a really pretty & glam pattern -- I love it and you and your sweet son will too. Yea! I first had a raspberry Pierre Deux diaper bag my partner's brother gave me but it just didn't work for me -- the function was perfect for my partner so this totally girly-girl diaper bag became his diaper bag. I ended up with a Skip Hop Duo in, imagine this, olive corduroy (it was a brand-new bag back then so pickings were slim) and then when #2 arrived a Skip Hop Double Duo in a multicolor stripe.

eclecticme -- Coming from you that is such a compliment! Thank you. That's how I feel about you and your taste.

flyleft -- I think we did talk about the rocking chair before. Ours was made for us by Scott Morrison. We love George Maloof (is that of whom you're thinking?) and his woodwork:

made these chairs for us
{{gwi:1600940}}
but we couldn't afford his rocking chair.

I love our rocking chair. We've had it three years and it is so comfy and gorgeous! Most everyone loves rocking in it (not the cats). Every so often I go 'round the house buttering the wood furniture with that Howard's oil and the rocking chair looks even lovelier.

I think that lack table looks outstanding. I have 5 lack tables I purchased when I needed a cheap table to use for my sons birthday party. I hope you dont mind but I'm totally copying that idea...right down to the mask on top. What brand of primer did you use?

Your powder room is so pretty and such fun to look at! I love that you've created something so personal like that! I love pink, too, and it's good to see it used so stylishly, as you have.
BTW, I love, love, love your Rick Pohler chairs! They're truly pieces of art, as well as great places to sit. TFS!
Lynn

rmkitchen This forum moves so fast it's hard to keep up!
☺
from a google search:
should work in any Windows word processor, text editor, browser or email client.

1. Make sure your keyboard is in NumLock mode.
2. Hold down the ALT key and enter the number on the numeric keypad. (Note that many laptops have a blue FN key that changes a set of keys, also with blue numbers on them and usually in the 7-8-9-U-I-O area, into a numeric keypad.)

for ☺ 1
for ☻ 2
for ♥ 3 for ♦ 4
for ♣ 5
for ♠ 6
for 7
for â 8
for â 9
for â 10
for â 11
for â 12
for ⪠13
for â« 14
for â¼ 15
for ⺠16
for â 17
for â 18
for â¼ 19
for ¶ 20
for § 21
for ⬠22
for ⨠23
for â 24
for â 25
for â 26
for â 27
for &ang90; 28
for â 29
for â² 30
for â¼ 31

that raspberry is great! You have a cavalier... I work with a cavalier rescue group. Great little dogs.

Brooke, I Heart your entire Powder Room! Love, love, love the ceiling and chandelier. So wonderful to see you!

Redroze, congratulations to you! (And btw, every inch of your home is perfect).

I think you're right RMK!! We are very smart. =)
p.s. Email me at the address on my blog "Contact Redroze" if you ever want to chat...I'd love hearing more tips from you on raising boys! =)

And what IS that gorgeous panel of fabric on the side of your sofa. I love your styling too. And that tease of an armchair. Your house is so beautiful.

Hi Marlene2007! Long time no talk! Thank you so much...we put so much into our house and love the way it's been transformed. =) I can't wait to do the stairs, then the nursery, then the laundry, powder room. I love renos and decorating!!!

And I really really really like that lavendar toile. I want to do toile slipcovers for the chairs in our kitchen. DH suggested it with the baby coming...and he said I could choose any pattern...so toile!!

So cheerful and I love that you followed your dream!!!
That chandy is gorgeous, too!

I hadn't looked at this thread because I assumed it was a request for raspberry painted rooms/colors and I had none to offer.
I am so glad I peeked! What a surprise- I especially love the ceiling finish and the chandelier and mirror- very sophisticated. I also love the DIY aspect of it all- we do everything too.

Brooke,

I have to say that I have always loved your home. You are one of the best at putting things together as well as gallery hanging art work. I am always excited to see pictures of your home and want to ask you to share more!!! I also have to say that I too now am facing autsim with our 3 year old.

Shannon

You didn't buy the Lack table that way?! It looks so great!

Can't wait to look more!

Exuberance. Love it. (Raspberry and indigo is one of my all time favorite color combinations, by the way.)

I ♥ all of you! (Thank You deedee99 -- you are a generous teacher.)

Today we had a two+ hour IEP (Individualized Education Plan) meeting for my almost four year-old who has ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) and it was great -- he is so well taken care of and our district is just phenomenal in terms of the services it is providing him. But it took it out of me. Even though I knew the meeting would go well I was a nervous wreck last night and slept barely a wink. I dipped strawberries in chocolate and made chocolate chip cookies to take to the meeting instead -- they were delicious but I could've used the sleep .... (We also took sembei and mochi as a nod to our multi-cultural family, and the folks loved the sembei but not the mochi. Luckily my children like the mochi [I do not] because it is mochi-city 'round here.)

To come online and find all your warm fuzzies makes me want to cry, in a good way! So many hugs and kisses to all you beautiful people. I was feeling so depleted and you all filled me back up. Thank you!!!

Okay, so,
eclecticme -- I am so excited about all your different projects! Any primer made for plastic will work, but be prepared for it to be a one-use brush -- those sticky primers ruin brushes. I just looked and Rust-Oleum makes a plastic primer. I used

lynninnewmexico -- Thank You! You were the first person I "knew" (through the Kitchens forum) to get a microwave drawer, so I feel a history with you. Those Rick Pohlers chairs were the v. first pieces of furniture my partner and I purchased together, a dozen years ago (how did that happen?): we call them our Thrones.

prill -- Thank you for the work you do on behalf of Cavs! Our girl is 2.75 years-old and a Therapy Dog -- I'd like her to be a Service Dog but she loves me too much (meaning: when I'm around she leaves my "special" son's side -- which is fine as a family pet but is not acceptable for a Service Dog). I take her to visit other "special" people (clinics, groups homes, schools) and hospitals; everybody loves her and she loves people. I think this breed is superb. Thank you for your rescue work! We got our Cavalier King Charles Spaniel from KC Cowtown Cavaliers in Douglas, WY. They were the most ethical, responsible, loving breeders I could find.

Marlene_2007 -- I am so so so happy to see your kind name! You and I are Calacatta twins. Because my youngest son is in (inclusive) preschool four mornings a week I have more time for doing advocacy work. I joined a state DoE commission recommending Early Intervention strategies, a local school district panel assessing special ed preschools and a state-wide group mentoring / advocating for children of all abilities. I know you'll understand my passion because of all the incredible work you do on behalf of children. Bless you, Marlene! ♥

redroze -- I'll contact you offline, although I do want to say on the record that you are going to be an AWESOME mom! Your son is so lucky to have you. My one "tip" will be that your son will love trains and the most incredible toy for boys in the summertime is AquaPlay -- it's a water canal system, like a water-based train set. We got ours in Germany (don't ask) and every single family who comes over asks me about it -- it is a H-U-G-E hit! Summer 2011 I guarantee your son will love it!

The fabrics on the sides of the sofa are paisleys -- I went paisley (piano shawl) crazy in the late '90s and hunted down like fourteen incredible examples. (I am a textile junkie. I guess better that than street drugs!) Now I look at all of them sitting in mothballs in a box in the basement and think I am one big nutjob. They actually are the cornerstone of my "things to sell on eBay" pile. But I'm so lazy! Maybe once my younger son starts kindergarten and I have more hours to myself. Maybe.

loribee -- I love validation. Thank you!

cooperbailey -- Our nextdoor neighbor's sweetest, most regal Golden is named Bailey and our backdoor neighbor's cute little Poodle is named Cooper -- you could be my neighbor! Thank you for understanding the biggest thrill is the fact that we did it. In some respects I love that bathroom more than my kitchen because I did the bathroom. (although I spend tons more time in the kitchen!)

louisianapurchase -- I am so conflicted. Thank you, of course, for your incredibly kind and generous words; I appreciate them so much. My heart aches for you what you are facing -- not because autism is a big bad wolf, but because hearing that something is "different" about our children is so hard. It's so hard for me, at any rate. When I first heard the ASD diagnosis it was bittersweet: I knew it but I'd still hoped that it wouldn't be the case. I love my son: I know him and I live with him and I supervise / coordinate all his therapies. To me he's My Son, not a diagnosis or a label. Intellectually I always know we are so insanely lucky to live in this day and age when so much is known about ASD and the sundry disorders along that spectrum. (emotionally I have to remind myself of this at times) The therapies and biomedical treatments are astounding! We don't do any biomed but I know others who swear by it. The good news: we as a society are becoming more aware and therefore more knowledgeable about ASD, autism, Asperger's, Rett Syndrome, PDD-NOS, etc. It's still a heartbreaker -- please don't hear me as being a cheerleader, like "ASD's great!" It's okay -- some days it sucks and other days I forget to realize this isn't "typical." I try to see the glass half-full. I love my anti-anxiety pill, too!

Please please please let me know if I can do anything, be of any service to you! I'm here for you.

ttodd -- Thank you for the nice words about my Lack transformation. I really love those pink tables.

kitchendetective -- I am SO happy to see your name!!! I've missed you. I found the most divine table at a store in Austin and I thought of you. I know you're not in Austin but it still made me think of you. (The table is much too large for our space but I love it, so I'm trying to figure out how I can approximate its feel in a much smaller size. Hmm.)

This is my younger son, doing SLP (speech therapy) hippotherapy (on horseback). This is pertinent to nothing in this thread, but he loves riding and I love seeing him on his horse.

Oh, my, he's so gorgeous. This is a big mountain to climb and you are going at it with your usual intensity, honesty, and intellect. I've been a bit out of it for vague and possibly (so far subclinical) hormonal reasons, but am definitely thinking of you and yours. And, hmmm, do tell, what table in Austin? I'm there more than I should be.

Only meant to send 1-10. Went a little copy and paste crazy!
♥ your home
and what a cutie pie!

I heart all things pink too!!!

Love that bathroom re-do!!

How have you been Brooke?? I've been off and on GW since my kitchen reno disasters, I remember you had many of them too, and we bonded way back-LOL
Would you believe my kitchen is still NOT done- the joys of a DIY hubby :)

Good to see you on here again :)

PS- the offspring on the horse is tooooo adorable!!

You're son is beautiful!

Brooke,

I have to say your words and energy are always inspiring. Your two boys are so lucky to have you. Your little one is precious as always in that picture. I seem to recall one I believe when he was in a stroller at the marble yard. Oh, how time flies!!

We are at the beginning of this journey called autism. My DH noticed some characteristics over a year ago and would mention it and of course I would deny it b/c, I don't know if you remember, we have issues with our oldest as well and I couldn't face that with the youngest also.

Well after hearing an interview on the radio one day with Temple Grandin there was just no more denying. So we made the appointment with our pediatrician and have moved forward from there. We are still in the diagnosis stage. We are fortunate however, that we are not on the extreme end of the spectrum and he is already making progress at speech and occuaptional therapy.

Though we face this little blip called autism, I would not change him for the world! He is the most precious little being ever and brings such joy to our lives on a daily basis. I know you feel the same about yours.

His brother on the other hand is about to find his arse in a military academy if he doesn't change his ways!!! Not so precious at the moment :)

I would love to talk to you about it further.

My love bugs! Not sure why the pictures are so big though?

Shannon

Thank you so much rmkitchen! Your boys are just lovely!

We all get special assignments in life, and you ladies look like you have beautiful children. The challenges we face help to mold us and you are all to be admired for your dedication (even during the rough times). It is great that you are able to turn your energies into such beautiful decorating projects while also being super-Moms!!! :-)

Thank you.