Am I making this too hard?

Maybe you can learn some things not to do from me. Like Edison, I tested quite a few things that did not work. Here is why. The day came when I had to make a decision—actually several decisions.

Wood doors or white doors? All the same for the whole house? Or depending on the room?

Regular doorknobs or levers?

Brushed nickel? Brushed copper? Burnished copper? Polished brass? Antique copper? Antique pewter? And probably some more that I have forgotten.

I called on friends—Debbie, Ellie, and Beth. Also, I emailed Nicole, who stages houses and knows all there is to know about trends and paint colors. All my advisors have beautiful homes, are well read, and pay attention to new trends. The answer on the doors was fairly easy because they all agreed. It was not exactly my choice but three to one was kind of a no brainer for me. (I had not yet sought Nicole’s advice.) Especially since I am insecure and I was the one.

Doorknobs or levers? Levers pretty much are the way to go but the color? That is totally debatable! Any help there? I think I will match the hardware on my windows since we will not be changing those.

Then there was the problem of paint color in the kitchen and in the bathroom.

I went on the computer and looked at Decorating Color Trends for 2008. I finally found a article that said, “Blue is the new green” in decorating. Thank you for that! Yes, I did have to hunt, but finding one article was good enough for me. Actually, after looking, I found two or three. Here is even a blue kitchen.

I scanned the curtains on my computer and used the eyedropper tool in Photoshop and made twelve pure color samples. I could have made more. I found things around the house close to the bathroom tile color and I took my bag of items with me to ACE.

At ACE, I had the paint man run a piece of the material through his computer and he came up with 6 colors that would go with the kitchen curtains. None of them were even close. Material does not scan well.

Comparing carefully to my curtains and the computer pure colors, I carefully looked through all of the color charts. I decided which color looked the closest to the curtains. None were exact—and I looked at lots! After picking a little sample, I looked through the little testing bottles so that I did not have to pay for a whole quart. I bought two little bottles.

I bought two foam boards for testing and two adorable little rollers and paint trays. Then I went home and tested.

It wasn’t long until I returned to ACE.

After the third trip, the checkout lady greeted me as I came in, “Hello, Mrs. McDonell.” Bob has the ACE card with his name on it. She was astute and so did not call me, “Robert.”

The paint man said, “Weren’t you just here a few minutes ago?”

My son, Andy, once said, "Frustration levels, when doing home projects, is in direct proportion to the nearest Lowe's or Home Depot." (I would add ACE. Fortunately we have an ACE Hardware within about 3 minutes of our home.)

On my sixth trip to ACE, the patient checkout lady, said, “Have you still not decided on a color?

On my last and seventh trip to ACE, she encouragingly said, “One time I chose a paint that I didn’t like initially after I had the room painted, but I got used to it.”

So after getting on a first name basis with both the checker and the paint man and a rather hefty investment, and many hours of time, I decided on a paint color for each room. Here is the kicker. I chose the very first blue color that I brought home! For the bathroom, I found a paint chip right away that I thought would work. However, it was not in one of the little sample testers so instead of ordering a full quart, I tried four other colors and finally on my last and final trip, I bought a $16 quart—which is the smallest amount that you can buy if it is not in a test bottle. I should have done that right away. I think it is the best that I can do in the bathroom for matching the tile and the countertop.

I am wondering now if I made a mistake. After all, I asked advice on my kitchen and didn’t take the suggestions. Kathi reminded me that the kitchen sells the house. She asked me three times, “Are you painting your kitchen blue?”

Nicole said, “If you are selling, I would paint it neutral, but if you are keeping it, the blue in the curtains would be fine.”

The thing is, what if our house doesn’t sell and I live here for five or ten more years? I think in that case, I want a blue rather than a neutral kitchen.

At dinner, Bob went over all of the things he accomplished on Saturday. I told him I chose colors for the bathroom and kitchen. I didn’t have anything else to add to my list of accomplishments.

If you come to our home sometime, it would really help if you love the kitchen and hall bath colors. Thanks.