The dismal state of the economy has affected my family. Certainly not to the degree that it's affected the families of many others, so in many ways, I've been lucky. The hubs has a job, I have my freelance work (although earlier this year it took a hit from clients cutting back), we were able to buy a new house, and we're still able to pay our bills. The kids will all have to find gainful employment upon their 5th birthdays, but we're surviving.
But like many, I realize that financial ruin can happen in an instant. One minute you're employed, and the next you're fighting with the cats over who received the bigger portion of Science Diet.
But like many, I realize that financial ruin can happen in an instant. One minute you're employed, and the next you're fighting with the cats over who received the bigger portion of Science Diet.
Which is why I've decided to open a side business. Out of my home. I'm targeting a specific client base, and although the location is far from ideal (what with the toys and various other kid paraphernalia around), I'm hoping the ambiance entices clients to spend now and spend often.
Behold, my brothel.
We're having several rooms in our house painted. I chose Glidden's Red Delicious for the walls in my family room. The extremely reputable, big-name paint store made a mixing mistake. And as a result, my living room ended up being painted Elmo Red. Clifford Red. Or, as I see it, Whorehouse Red.
My point-and-shoot camera does not do justice to the horror that was this red. It looks much darker and much more subdued in these photos than it looked in living color in my family room. I hesitated to even post these photos, because actually, the walls look not half bad in them.
But let me assure you, they did not.
I knew immediately that something was wrong. I told our painter, a friend of the family, that it looked a LOT lighter and brighter than it should be, and he said that it would dry darker. When the first coat dried, it was still way off from what it should have looked like. He was suspicious that something was wrong as well, but painted a small section of one wall with a second coat, in case the true color wasn't coming through with just a single coat, and that was the problem. He said to check it out in the morning to see what it looked like.
That night, sitting in the middle of the Red Light District watching tv, I was having a visceral reaction to the walls. I loathed it. I wanted to take a butter knife and spend all night scraping it off. I had a vision for the red I wanted in the room, and this couldn't be farther from it.
The next day, I went to Large Big Box Store (not where I bought the first gallon) and tried again. This time, I knew the color was a lot closer to Red Delicious even before it went on the walls. Our painter came over that night, began to paint over Whorehouse Red and all was right with the world.
Tomorrow, we're having one wall (and a small recessed wall) in Isabella's room painted a different red altogether. This is what she's been wanting since we moved into the house and she declared she "doesn't like purple" and wanted a red room. She's getting one wall in red as a compromise. I am terrified, as visions of our Clifford-red living room are still embedded in my mind. I know it's just one wall (as opposed to the entire room), but I am nervous nonetheless. I'm currently looking for a red polka dot rug for her room, and having a very hard time finding one. Pottery Barn made one, but it's discontinued. Then, I need to find some cute white curtains (her windows are on the red wall) to finish off the room.
In case you're interested, here are some before-and-after photos of our living room/dining room, which was once a perfectly nice taupe, but is now blue. We also got rid of the awful faux-finish in our kitchen and downstairs bathroom (we have a downstairs bathroom!), and had it painted in a pale yellow instead.
I'm so glad you don't have to open your side business!!!
I'm also very glad you got the red fixed. I feel your pain. Our stairwell and an accent wall in the living room is red--it was truly difficult too. It took 5 coats to get right. I also learned never to paint it in a busy space (like a stairwell) again. It shows everything!!!
Personally, I would love to have the color taupe your dining room was in our bedroom and master bathroom.
Sorry about the rug. It's so frustrating when you find exactly what you want and then it's not available.
Love the blue, and boo to whorehouse red. Glad you got it fixed. Finding the right colors can be so hard, it's the reason we still have so many white spaces in our house.
You are making me nervous. I am picking out colors for the painter at our new house this week. I am terrified C's room will end up Pepto-Bismol pink.
That's awful that you got the wrong shade! The blue looks very nice, though.
We finally finished Little Elvis' room and are onto demolishing the brown peach cave that is the boys' bathroom. The previous owners didn't believe in taping, instead preferring to paint EVERYTHING. Ceiling? check. Air vent register? Check? Door facing? check. Shower curtain rod? Check. It's a mess!
ROX-ANNE! You don't have to put on the red light!
God, how I hate that song.
Your new house, however, looks and sounds wonderful!! (Red paint issues aside.)