I've mentioned before that I'm not a good visualizer of how color is going to look once it's on the walls. But so far, I think I've done a pretty good job of selecting things I'm going to love and rejecting the ones I instinctively know I can't live with.

Well yesterday, my luck ran out.

I didn't just BUY paint I hated, as with the green I mentioned a couple of weeks ago. I had Dirk actually put it on the walls and ceiling of my bathroom, and when I walked in last night I knew I was fried. The lighter shade of the same plum color I intended for our bedroom walls ended up looking sort of, well, lilac. Don't get me wrong, it's a nice color, but not up against the tan tile and not with the bathmats I'd just spent so much money on and not next to the bathroom cupboards. Certainly not up against what I had feebly envisioned.

Oh my, I was devastated.

I thought about posting the pictures here and I couldn't even bear to ask you what you thought. And I shuddered at the thought of having to tell Dirk we were starting over.

So I spent several hours hemming and hawing, peeking in the bathroom door and then squeezing my eyes shut, emailing pictures to Aubrey and Lyric, pining to John, then trying to psych myself up to think I could get used to it. I went to sleep last night hoping I'd wake up this morning with a completely different outlook on my purple bathroom.

Nothing doing. In fact, in the morning light I hated it even more. I was actually thrilled when CJ walked in and said, "I hate it!"

So...with Aubrey here for moral support, at 8:30 this morning I broke the news to Dirk that I wanted the whole (large) bathroom repainted with the color we had bought for the bedroom. If he wanted to wring my neck he hid it very well, and by 4 this afternoon we had two coats of the most beautiful shade of plum I've ever seen. And now that my former indiscretion has two coats of loveliness slathered over it, I finally have the courage to show you what I mean. You may not agree with my strong feelings against paint #1, but trust me, I could not have lived with it.




Oh, I get the willies even looking at the photos!

Okay, well now for the "after" pictures. Trim is not done yet but will be glossy white-white like the rest of the house.

Dirk starts over:
The light fixture will be the next thing to go, btw...



More pictures when I eventually get everything rehung and accessorized.

Moral of the story: Admit your mistakes, cut your losses early, and most of all, get yourself a great son-in-law that will love you anyway :-)

(Oh, and the next decision is whether I'll now use a yet darker shade for the bedroom or go with the same color that's in the bathroom!)

Labels: Decorating