List 6

Love: The color gray. It's rich and complex and comes in an incredible array of shades, and with different undertones - from pale dove gray to near-black charcoal. We've used it in several rooms, including a greenish gray called Osprey for our kitchen cabinets, against a gray slate floor, and a dark steel gray in one of the bathrooms. One thing that's great about gray is how colors pop against it - orange, teal, yellow, and in this case hot pink gerber daisies.

Like: This walnut and gray Crosley radio. You can hook your iPod to it too.
Discovery: We are in the long, painful process of permitting then building a guest studio in our backyard. We will be putting in gray hardwood floors (Mirage's charcoal-stained maple planks.)

Obsession: Clara, my first cat ever. She always wants to be near, but isn't much of a snuggler - which is hard to take after the on-demand, over-the-top Labrador love we got for 12 years from the late, great Zelda. But when Clara is in the mood, it's all the more wonderful for the wait.

Complaint: People who think it's weird to have gray as your favorite color. (Ahem, Stella.)