Changing Our Minds. Together!

Craig and I are always very deliberate when we choose paint colors.  We look at the colors in different lights (daylight and electric lights).  We compare how it will look with different furniture and throw pillows and curtains.  We're a bit ridiculous, honestly.

But despite all our precautions, sometimes it just goes wrong. 

We decided to paint our deck grey with black trim and I was so excited for it!  Our house is already a very light grey with black shudders, so I figured it would all tie in perfectly.  And then Craig started painting the railings and it looked 100 times better and we were both so pleased!

And then he started on the grey and painted a big old chunk of the deck and I was like, Huh.

It's not like I hated it.  But I didn't really LOVE it, either.  And it seemed a shame to spend so much time and money painting the deck if I didn't love it when we were done.  For some reason, it looked sort of bluish to me.  And while I'd thought it would match the house nicely, it didn't.  Not exactly.  And somehow that just felt worse.  So, yeah.  What do we do about that?

It took me a day to admit my feelings to Craig.  And another few hours to ask what he thought about changing the color?  Craig thought it over and said he thought we should move forward with the grey.  He pointed out that we'd have to paint it again in another few years and could change the color then.  He made a good point, so I agreed.  That was fine.

A few hours later, Craig found me and said he wanted to revisit the topic.  He wasn't liking the grey, either.

So we spent another day staring at the paint chips and almost on a whim (for us!), picked a new color. 

Craig got back to work re-painting the next day:

And I LOVE this new brick-red color!  Ironically, it isn't that different from the old color (if you can see what's left of it).  I didn't expect that.  The old color was a bit orangey-er, and it had faded a lot.  So I guess that's why this new one looks so much better?  Also, the basement level of our house is brick, so it should all tie in nicely still.  But the main point is, I LOVE it, and I think that's all that really matters.

No, that's not true-- I'm also loving how Craig and I figure stuff like this out.  I love that we can talk rationally and work through a problem and come to a decision together.  I've seen enough terrible marriages to know that that is a rare ability in a couple!