Time for Something New!

So, I want to decorate my house again.
It used to be decorated. Then. We had children. I don't mean one or two. Or even three. Really, even with four it was still decorated. It was when the fifth one came, that we began clearing shelves of cute little tchotchkies and do-dads, and started filling them with other things. Baby gear, school books, refrence books, places to keep scissors and markers from little hands, plastic plates and cups. Toys, movies, video games, and anything to be kept away from small hands began moving upward.
We live in a teeny-tiny house (remember the 'Tiny House' posts?). Most of the children's items are kept in their bedrooms *but* there are four children in one room, and three in another. After beds and clothes, there isn't much room left for stuff. To be fair, the children don't really have much 'stuff', because of the space issue. What they do have, we store carefully and creatively.
If you have small children that have learned to climb, then you know how amazingly difficult in can be to keep some things out of small hands.
Some items just move higher and higher up. After a bit, our house was confusing to look at. Tops of shelves crammed with items, while the bottoms were almost bare.
Now, most of the children are 'big kids'. There's still a group of preschoolers and toddlers, but they are growing up! The youngest is two. She's just now getting into her sisters' lip glosses and her brothers' legos. She is smart enough to realize that if it is out of her reach, it's probably fun to play with.
Well, a few things have prompted me to want to decorate again. One of those things is Pintrest.
I know, right?!?!?
Another one of those things is a plant. It's an umbrella tree. I've had it for ages. When I first got it, it was in a little four inch pot. It was for my office at work. Okay, it was a cubicle with a shelf. So, about 12 years ago, this little plant was about six inches high. When I brought it home, it was about a foot high. It was re-potted several times over the years until it was big enough to have to sit on the floor. Then, we brought home a puppy. We also had a crawling baby. That was baby number 4.
Between the puppy and the baby, that plant was knocked over four times. The last time, the puppy ate most of the leaves. I tried to save the plant, but it was mostly dead. I took one good branch, and shoved it in the soil, hoping. It took root and grew. It's been sitting in my kitchen window for the last seven years. Now, the tallest branch is about six inches from the ceiling. And it needs to be re-potted. Into a bigger pot. That will probably sit on the floor.
Lastly, I'm tired of looking at the walls and rickety shelves in my photos. The wall behind the dining table, where our family celebrates every birthday and holiday, is full of dry erase marker scribbles. Did you know that dry erase marker doesn't 'dry erase' off of walls? It doesn't even wet erase off of them. It doesn't come of with magic eraser or rubbing alcohol. It doesn't come off with copious amounts of elbow grease. It does come off with the paint.

Here's what I want. Sort of.

(I found this image on pintrest with no website link or mention of who the photo belongs to)
I like the idea of the above image. I like birds and birdcages, I like a vintage look. The problem with this is that it's so...light.
A tiny house with seven kids doesn't treat such light coloring well.
The Shabby Chic look is what I want, but...different. I want less white, more color. But. I have always used some shade of green and red. Except for that first apartment where everything was mauve and blue. Hey, it was 1993, and I was a college student.
I still like reds and greens. But I want a change. I want teal and orange. No, really. I do! Or Yellow. Maybe some purple.
I don't want country, I don't want Tuscan, I don't want lodge. I want cottage. I want that distressed neglected look, because, well so much in my house really is distressed and neglected!

Check out this kitchen. (photo from chicanddeco.com) Look at the table and the bench. Seriously. I wouldn't even have to work hard to make items look distressed like this. I could just paint them, set them in the house, and allow the children to use them.
Help! What colors! I need to be done with the red and green scheme, but I'm not willing to go all white and pink. Grey is good, Grey? Stone colors. With pops of brightness. I think. I hope.
Maybe in a few months, when I've had my way with the paint and furniture, I'll be able to show you my own photos of an updated, distressed, neglected, shabby house...