Saturday, October 5, 2013

Paint Chips & Coffee

Paint Chips with More to Come
I'll get a better picture once the sun comes up

Bad mistake.
I got up a little late today. Later than my better half. And she had already had a cup of coffee. And she wanted to talk about selecting health insurance. My company has started to push their upcoming health care selection process. And it has a narrow window from the end of October until mid-November. Yes, only 14 days to decide how your money is going to be  taken out of your pay check and used by everybody else for the next year. And how much of a co-pay that you’re going to suffer with for the next year as well. I hate this stuff and always checked off the same thing as last year. But she analyzes it much more than I do. And now she wants to talk about it. Early on a Saturday morning.
After we got through that I thought, oh good, I can sit here quietly, drink my coffee and read the blogs that I follow to see how the normal people who aren’t building houses live. The ones who get to enjoy life. And also read the blogs of the crazy ones who are going through some sort of rehab on their homes. Birds of a feather…
But instead she wanted to talk about paint colors for the new house. It wasn’t even 8 and it’s another subject that I know I can either give my opinion on which doesn’t really matter or engage her like I’m interested. So I did the right thing and suggested that we paint one of the guest bedroom walls red. She gave me that look of like “are you crazy?” And said, “We’re not doing that.” She then went through all the paint colors and told me why each color was going to work. My coffee hadn’t even started to cool never mind wake my brain up. And then she asked me what I thought about all the colors the she had selected. I knew it was a test and saying I like them wasn’t going be enough. I was doomed to fail.  And I did with flying colors.
Trying a different tack, she then gave me the kitchen paint chip along with a slab of the granite counter and said “do you like this?” I pondered. Rubbed my unshaven chin and made noises like my brain was in gear. Pondered some more. And again I did the right thing by saying “I don’t think they match.” She snatched it away. I knew my paint selection morning was done.
Thank God. Now I can go back to drinking my coffee.
Enjoy your weekend.

 

6 comments:

  1. The impatient home builders wifeOctober 5, 2013 at 7:26 AM

    And I get the job done while your still sleeping.... Xoxo

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  2. You're near the coast right? I think the better half is on the right track. These are all really nice.

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    1. Yes, we're right on the coast of RI. At the bottom of our block you can see the Narragansett Bay. I'll get close ups of the colors as we get closer. And she'll be happy that you liked them. She's read your blog and likes your work. Thanks.

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  3. Ok, so Steve is a much better source than I am, so just some random thoughts. I don't do well with neutrals, so can't help there at all. Like the group just above the wainscoting and would be interested in using shades of those.

    BUT, as a general thought. When we are choosing paint colors I always get swatches from a jillion shades and let Mitchell eliminate all those he hates or he things look bad for some reason. It sometimes takes weeks, but we whittle it down. He actually chose the purple for our kitchen and we both love it.

    One final thought. It seems like she has a pretty good idea what she wants. Unless you hate something, why don't you just throw yourself on her mercy and say, "you know .... I'm not really good at imagining how it will look. You choose." Then, of course, you have to keep your mouth shut later.

    Last thought. Most of the big paint companies have sites where you can choose a picture and then try out colors. It might be fun for the two of you to play with some of those.

    Let the fun begin!

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    1. I have to pick my causes... I think on this one I need to watch.

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