When The Chips Are Down

When the paint chips are down and the decorating books are out, my husband knows that a room redo can't be far behind. This coincides with a lot of pleading and begging and nervous eye twitching.

"Seriously? The dining room? We just painted that room!"

"No. We painted that room five years ago."

"But it's fine, just as it is!"

"No. It's not fine. See? Right there? That's why we have to paint."

We had to get a new thermostat last summer, and the older model was much bigger than the newer model, leaving a gap of white wall. No problem! We'll just get the paint out of storage and touch it up. The only problem? We had no leftover paint in storage.

That's when I began to hatch my plan.

"I know how we can solve this! We'll just repaint the room a new color!"

Genius.

The honey yellow tone was okay for a while, but the truth is it's not my favorite yellow. It's fine in natural light, but at night when the overhead lighting is turned on, that room positively glows in a not so flattering tone. And when the tan paint went up in the great room, the colors clashed in a jarring way.

I toyed with the idea of an orange shade of paprika for a while. Maybe something spicy like nutmeg or pumpkin. But these days, I'm loving so many wonderful shades of blue.

But which blue? Nothing too grey. Nothing too green. A nice blue to match my favorite Longaberger dishes. And of course, it has to go well with the tan of the great room, the cream of the foyer, and the green of the office. Open floor plans make decorating so complicated!

Where to start? I think I'll go to the store and browse though the curtain department. I've learned that it's much easier to match a paint to a fabric than it is to paint first and then try to match later. It's like crafting a card. I always pick the patterned paper first, and then match the card stock and ink next.

I'm browsing through books and magazines and websites, looking for some affordable inspiration. A project to start out the new year.

What could be more fun?   Don't ask my husband that question, though. He'd probably have a long list.

:)