Changing Colors

If there's one spruce up project that I absolutely detest, it would be painting. There's nothing fun about it! The prep and the cleanup invariably take longer than the project itself, and the task almost always leads to an argument. We repainted virtually our entire interior about a decade ago. I informed Diane that either she would be solely responsible for future painting projects or we would hire someone to do it because I was finished. I would never paint again.

Diane and I rarely argue.

When we do, there's a good chance we've been painting together.

I suppose I don't understand the desire to repaint walls. I am, after all, a color blind guy who - Diane is convinced - has no fashion sense whatsoever.

None.

I still think purple and brown make a wonderful shirt and pants combination and all of the walls in our home should be painted Aztec Gold.

Diane doesn't let me wear purple and brown together and none of our walls are painted Aztec Gold. What does she know??? They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder and my eyes - flawed as they may be - behold those to be beautiful colors.

But I digress...

Some time ago Diane decided that "we" needed to repaint our kitchen, dining and living rooms. She picked Crisp Linen - which is really just a fancy name for some variety of off-white - for all of the walls except the west wall of living room. For that wall, she picked some brownish color that she says is burgundy, or some such thing.

Diane and Matthew wanted to make sure the kitchen and dining room walls were painted before Shelley came to visit at Christmas. Matthew was Diane's helper, but - as often seems to be the case - he managed to find some very important things that forced him to abandon his post after a very short stint. So, the guy who swore he would never paint again was once again forced to take up a roller.

It took two coats of Crisp Linen to cover whatever the grayish color previously covered the walls. I "got to" roll virtually all of both coats.

What fun!

Diane decided she was no longer so sure of the colors she had picked for the living room after seeing the paint on the walls in the kitchen and dining room. Mind you, we had already purchased enough paint to do all three rooms, but that is not important.

We - well to be honest, she - decided to charge on and paint the brownish/burgundy wall last Saturday. I got everything prepped. I'll spare you all of the details, but it turned into a typical painting project. After two coats (with a third still needed due to a, shall we say, "difference" in painting technique) the wall is temporarily finished. The living room's other walls have not yet been repainted because Diane is not so sure she likes the Crisp Linen paint against whatever color the brownish/burgundy wall is.

I'm not in a big rush for her to decide to paint the rest of the walls because I know I will, in all likelihood, be enlisted to take up a roller again. I would, though, like for it to be finished because I can't finish the trim and box beams on the ceiling until after the walls have been painted.

So I sit idly by while Diane peruses paint chips and decorating websites looking for the "perfect" color. (I'm pretty sure Aztec Gold would look awesome beside the brownish/burgundy wall, but Diane has not, to date, asked for my opinion.)

In the meantime, I have nearly two gallons of Crisp Linen in the basement if anyone is looking to paint their walls with some version of off-white with a really fancy name.