unmet expectations
Being the "J" that I am, I have a hard time when things don't go the way I expect. Like today for instance: For a while now I've been wanting to repaint the downstairs a pale, greyish-green, a perfect color to match the couch and the chair and the forthcoming decor I have in mind. Last night we prepped the room, moving all the furniture and taping off all the areas we DIDN'T want with pale, greyish-green all over them.
This morning we arose lazily, went to the gym, went by Lowe's to grab those couple of extra things we still needed ... and by 10:00 we were painting. As the color went on the walls, it seemed a bit blue to me, but I didn't pay too much attention to my misgivings, because I was sure it was just my eyes playing a trick on me ... changing my perfect pale, greyish-green to a somewhat pale, greyish-blue. As we neared finishing the SECOND coat of paint, our paint job looking quite perfect I might add, I finally pulled out our original paint chip from which we chose our perfect pale, greyish-green, only to discover that what we had put on our walls was in fact BLUE! I DIDN'T ORDER BLUE! I ordered a perfect pale, greyish-green, to match my couch and my chair and my forthcoming decor schemes.
Well, after trying desperately to decide that it was going to be OK, and then realizing that I would NEVER be happy with this nice but unsought-after blue, we headed back to Lowe's (making a quick stop at Baskin Robbins for some comfort food). I needed the color that would match the chip from which I chose the paint. We went to customer service, and talked with a manager who was actually quite helpful. He automatically asked if we used a primer, and we had to confess that we had not. He then went on to tell us how much the color underneath the new color can change the appearance of it. He would have left it at that, but I just couldn't see how my color would change THAT much, just because of what was underneath. After some deliberating, he finally suggested a test with the paint. He put a small dab of it directly on the paint chip from which I chose my paint color ... and sure enough, it was MUCH more blue than the original! VINDICATION! I was validated, and Mr. "You should have used primer" know-it-all manager (whoc was actually quite nice) was proved wrong. And he refunded us the full price of the two gallons of blue paint.
It was now after 4 in the afternoon, the time by which we were supposed to already have the paint on the walls, the furniture back in its place, and a newly decorated den, in a perfect pale, greyish-green, in which to sit and watch Jurassic Park (our creature feature of choice for the evening). But at 4 we were still at Lowe's, mixing new paint by another brand, buying a couple more plastic paint trays, and listening to lectures on the value of primer (which this time we were willing to take, albeit begrudgingly). The new paint color was still off the paint chip a bit, though not nearly as much as the last one.
As soon as we got home we got to work on the primer (take note, this is the third coat of paint in one day, and the square footage in the room is slowly getting smaller). Once it was finished, we had to wait for it to dry ... so we ordered a pizza and sat around waiting for it to arrive. After we ate, we started on the fourth coat of paint, the first coat of the NEW and hopefully perfect pale, greyish-green to match the couch and the chair and the forthcoming decor schemes.
At 8:30, we'd had enough. The downstairs was still a complete mess, and the fumes from all the paint and primer had probably seeped a bit too far into our brains ... so we decided to call it a night. Just to taunt the evil redecorating gods, we set up my laptop on the end of the bed and watched Jurassic Park anyway. It turned out to be a perfect way to end an otherwise frustrating day.
My frustration and tears from earlier in the day are already a fading memory ... now that we have the right color going on the walls. I would say I wish I were more of a "roll with it" kind of person, but in this situation, I don't know that it would have helped. Is it too much to expect a paint color to match the chip from which it is chosen? I think not.
This morning we arose lazily, went to the gym, went by Lowe's to grab those couple of extra things we still needed ... and by 10:00 we were painting. As the color went on the walls, it seemed a bit blue to me, but I didn't pay too much attention to my misgivings, because I was sure it was just my eyes playing a trick on me ... changing my perfect pale, greyish-green to a somewhat pale, greyish-blue. As we neared finishing the SECOND coat of paint, our paint job looking quite perfect I might add, I finally pulled out our original paint chip from which we chose our perfect pale, greyish-green, only to discover that what we had put on our walls was in fact BLUE! I DIDN'T ORDER BLUE! I ordered a perfect pale, greyish-green, to match my couch and my chair and my forthcoming decor schemes.
Well, after trying desperately to decide that it was going to be OK, and then realizing that I would NEVER be happy with this nice but unsought-after blue, we headed back to Lowe's (making a quick stop at Baskin Robbins for some comfort food). I needed the color that would match the chip from which I chose the paint. We went to customer service, and talked with a manager who was actually quite helpful. He automatically asked if we used a primer, and we had to confess that we had not. He then went on to tell us how much the color underneath the new color can change the appearance of it. He would have left it at that, but I just couldn't see how my color would change THAT much, just because of what was underneath. After some deliberating, he finally suggested a test with the paint. He put a small dab of it directly on the paint chip from which I chose my paint color ... and sure enough, it was MUCH more blue than the original! VINDICATION! I was validated, and Mr. "You should have used primer" know-it-all manager (whoc was actually quite nice) was proved wrong. And he refunded us the full price of the two gallons of blue paint.
It was now after 4 in the afternoon, the time by which we were supposed to already have the paint on the walls, the furniture back in its place, and a newly decorated den, in a perfect pale, greyish-green, in which to sit and watch Jurassic Park (our creature feature of choice for the evening). But at 4 we were still at Lowe's, mixing new paint by another brand, buying a couple more plastic paint trays, and listening to lectures on the value of primer (which this time we were willing to take, albeit begrudgingly). The new paint color was still off the paint chip a bit, though not nearly as much as the last one.
As soon as we got home we got to work on the primer (take note, this is the third coat of paint in one day, and the square footage in the room is slowly getting smaller). Once it was finished, we had to wait for it to dry ... so we ordered a pizza and sat around waiting for it to arrive. After we ate, we started on the fourth coat of paint, the first coat of the NEW and hopefully perfect pale, greyish-green to match the couch and the chair and the forthcoming decor schemes.
At 8:30, we'd had enough. The downstairs was still a complete mess, and the fumes from all the paint and primer had probably seeped a bit too far into our brains ... so we decided to call it a night. Just to taunt the evil redecorating gods, we set up my laptop on the end of the bed and watched Jurassic Park anyway. It turned out to be a perfect way to end an otherwise frustrating day.
My frustration and tears from earlier in the day are already a fading memory ... now that we have the right color going on the walls. I would say I wish I were more of a "roll with it" kind of person, but in this situation, I don't know that it would have helped. Is it too much to expect a paint color to match the chip from which it is chosen? I think not.
You are the only person I know who can perfectly articulate the feelings that I can NEVER get out in a situation like yours. I can totally relate...Thanks for that!
Posted by
Alicia |
11:17 PM