Tuesday, December 07, 2010

Wild Hairs

Winner! Winner! Hubby pulled a name out of the hat and Loretta won! Congrats, Loretta! Loretta, please contact me at christie(at)christie-craig (dot) com



CC

Contest! Contest! Leave a comment and one poster will win a copy of Born at Midnight.


Have you ever just gotten a wild hair and decided to do something out of the norm? Something that normally you would have never done? I recently took a walk on the wild side. Don’t worry, I didn’t cheat on my hubby with that cute grocery clerk, didn’t dye my hair rainbow colors, or get anything else pierced. I’m still tattoo-less. Nor did I decide to change careers and become a nun or world traveler, even though I saw the movie Eat, Pray Love. Nope, my wild hair involves home décor.

I know, you were hoping for something a lot wilder and crazier, but actually it’s a funny story. It started when my son’s dog ate my furniture. (That’s not the funny part, it’s actually really sad.) While waiting for the new furniture, due to arrive right before Christmas, I started thinking about décor and looking at my walls. Of all my walls, the one that really disturbed me was the entry room wall. I had some gawd-awful ugly wallpaper that had to go. I don’t have a clue why I liked it five years ago. It must have been a brain fart or another very bad wild hair. However, I decided to pull the wallpaper and get hubby to paint the entryway. Now, as much as I hate admitting it, I’m a white- wall person. Boring, right? So I decided to go with some color in the entryway. I envisioned a light taupe. I know, you’re thinking taupe is nothing more than beige and beige is just a shade away from white. And to be honest, that’s what I wanted, a shade away from white.

Do you know how hard it is to find a shade away from white? We make a trek to the paint store and we bought two little sample paint cans to try them out. Neither worked. One was too yellow, the other had hues of puke green. So back to the paint store to buy some more little bitty cans of paint. And guess what. One was orange and the other made my front door look pink. Hubby put his foot down. He’d already spent more on paint samples that the gallon of paint was going to cost. So I went back to the store, and picked out a gallon of taupe paint without testing it.

You should see my brown entryway. LOL. But you know what, once hubby finished it, I even liked it. And it hit me, if I could like brown . . . could I go with something even wilder? What about a wild and crazy burgundy wall? Add a little color to my family room.

Do you know that expression on our husband’s faces when you tell them something you want to do and they really, really hate the idea but you’ve trained them well enough that they say the right thing instead of blurting out what they really think. Never mind that what they think is clearly read in the horror on their face. Well, the look I got from hubby about my burgundy wall was the same look I got from him when I suggested he get a vasectomy. But I gotta give him credit, he picks his battles wisely. Not only did he get the vasectomy but he also went with me to the paint store to pick out a burgundy paint.


We arrive and some sweet older lady helps me pick the color. Hubby tells her which paint, and she informs him that he needs to upgrade to the better paint. Hubby doesn’t like that idea too much—only one woman gets to tell him what to do—but he agrees. Then the woman, obviously not knowing she’s pushed the limit, informs him he will need a primer. Hubby informs her that it’s only one wall, and he’s buying a whole gallon and he can just paint the wall with several coats. She shakes her head and tells him he will still need the primer. Hubby shakes his head and tells her it’s paneling and he thinks it will be fine. She stands her ground and says that with paneling, he really needs a primer. Hubby stands his ground, too, and says he’ll just take the paint. I stay out the argument. I can see from hubby’s expression, this is one argument he intends to win, but this sweet little woman isn’t going down easy. Wearing a frown, she rings us up, then she looks at me and says… “He needs the primer. You’ll see I’m right, but I know he’s not going to listen because I got one at home just like him!” I know immediately that her opposition is due to her husband-related issues.

So, the next day I’m in my office when I smell the paint, and I walk into the kitchen. “Don’t come in here,“ he says, waving me away from entering the room.

I stop. “You needed the primer, right?”

“No, it’s just it needs about sixteen coats of paint. But it will be fine. On the sixteenth coat. Really, it will be fine.”

My hubby can’t lie worth a damn. I walk into the room and . . . Oh crappers, it hurts my eyes. I mean. . . the color is barn red. Where’s my burgundy wall? In my mind and in my vision that wall looked so different.

He looks at me and asks. “What do you want me to do? I can stop now, or keep going. It might get better.”

I felt we’d gone too far to turn back. I shrug. “Go ahead and paint it, I’ll convince myself it’s for Christmas and after Santa leaves for the South Pole you can paint it another color and . . . use primer this time.”

He flinched at the mention of primer and the primer lady. Of course, he swears the change in color is not due to the lack of primer. But don’t you just know that there’s a lady in a paint store thinking…I told him so. Nevertheless, he keeps painting, and painting. A few days later, he calls me in there. “I know you are going to think I’m lying, but I think I like it.”

He’s right. I thought he was lying. But he wasn’t. Not that I was on board with his “I like it” frame of mind. I mean, every time I walked into the room and saw that barn red wall, I flinched. Seriously flinched. But he kept painting. And two days and about three coats later, I walked in and looked at the wall and guess what…I didn’t flinch. Okay, maybe just a little bit, but nothing like I had in the beginning. I don’t know if it’s because the shock is over with or if maybe, just perhaps, I’ve begun to like it.

And whenever I have to warm up to something, I worry. I mean, it was like the perm I got in the eighties. I hated it at first, but after seeing it in the mirror about three dozen times and crying my eyes out, I grew to accept it. Now when I see pictures of me with that perm, I think the only reason I kept it was because the fumes of the perm and tight curls had affected rational thought. Even worse, I wonder if it’s the paint fumes making me less disgusted with the barn red, without primer, color.





But I kept the perm, and I’m thinking I might even keep the red wall. At least until after Christmas. Oh, and I’m definitely keeping my hubby. Any man who will paint a wall with at least seven coats, knowing I might just have him repaint it, well, that’s love. Or maybe he’s just out to prove a certain paint lady wrong. Either way, I love the guy.

So what about you guys? Have you ever gotten a wild hair and made some rash change and regretted it, or maybe you loved it. Do wild-hair changes always shock us? Do we need to be shocked sometimes to get ourselves out of our white-wall status quo? Come on, share a little. Today, I will be giving away a copy of my YA, Born at Midnight. So post a comment. One lucky winner will win!

Crime Scene Christie

35 comments:

Edie Ramer said...

The red wall looks great! Kind of elegant.

I've had so many decorating mistakes that they almost equal my technical mistakes. But I'm excited about the valances that UPS delivered yesterday. It looks even better in person than it did on the computer screen. Love it when that happens. I'm venturing out in the cold today to get the rods to go with them.

Loretta Wheeler said...

Christy-- I swear our lives parallel:) Remind me to tell you about my garbage can story that runs right alongside your mattress one:)
Back on topic! I love the walls/wall:) Stay with it:) Just tell yourself you're turning a new page (why not? you're changin' everything else this year!:)
I can so relate with all this. After hiring painters to paint the whole house we just bought (Kilm Beige in case you need a solid beige that doesn't play games with you;) I decided we needed an accent wall. Went with a deep green. Looked good, except on the wall that the light hit from the side window. It took about three tries and we finally got the right shade. I darn near lost my hubby though...:) He hung in, but the bathroom I want to change doesn't look like it has a hope in H*ll:):) I can't get John near another paint section. Can't for the life of me imagine "why":):)

Lo/ZuZu

Melissa said...

This is priceless! I too have one just like him. LOL I've learned that if I can make it sound like it's all his idea things run alot smoother around here. :) Love the wall color! I've been wanting to paint my kitchen a shade of burgundy, even won 3 gallons of paint at my daughter's tennis tournament, but I'm still working on hubby. You see, he's a UT man and Burgundy just doesn't quite go over too well. I've almost got him convinced it's a deep red. Almost. LOL

Terri Osburn said...

I LOVE that wall. Do you think your hubby would come paint for me? I paid a guy to do it before we moved in and he did a horrible job. I've yet to find the strength to fix it.

Speaking of moving, that would be my wild hair. In May of this year, I decided we should buy our own place. Five months and many sleepless nights later, we were in. And I'm still unpacking!

Sandy said...

Either the picture doesn't do the barn red justice, or that isn't barn red. It looks great.

For years I had pale-peach colored walls. My hubby is one of these men who likes white walls so the last everything went white. Horrible!. On top of that, he said I couldn't put holes in his pristine white walls. lol Now, there's a story.

Robin Kaye said...

Christie~ I'm pretty wild when it comes to decorating. I have an orange hallway and laundry room (even with primer that took 4 coats) I just love.

The kids' Mickey Mouse bathroom (mostly white with black rolled marble tile counter) has two small almost black walls. It looks amazing since everything else is white and there are two sky lights. I had a rust colored living room in Boise that I adored, but the first time my DH painted my turret/living room green, I almost died. I hated it. Really, really hated it. Of course, DH picked out the green. I was so happy when we were able to finish the living room which is now painted Taupe with a green/gray cast. Lovely!

Zita said...

I like the red. It's nice :-)

I've gotten the horrid perm. I'm fortunate in that my sister-in-law knew how to fix it without damaging the hair further, so I didn't have to live with it very long. I've been lucky that my decorating ideas have turned out well so far. I'm sure the blunder is out there waiting for me, however. In the mean time I'm keeping my fingers crossed and knocking on wood every chance I get. My next big project is painting the kitchen - walls and cupboards (gasp). Wish me luck!

Ruth said...

Hi Christie
I really like the red wall too. My husband is the "all walls have to be white to keep the resale value" Now, we are not selling any of the 3 houses, I live in the same house I grew up in (since the age of 3) and the house in the country is the house he grew up in (and he isn't selling it or the little house in the back). But the walls still have to be white. I went to the hardware store and found not one, but fifteen shades of white. Who knew that white has so many variations, he's still trying to decide what color "white" to paint the walls on the house in Brenham. But I'd really like to be daring and add color, only he might disown me if I do it to the country house. So I'll just add color to the house in Houston and say suprise. (thanks for the smile today)
Ruth

Francyne said...

I once bought orange...no, actually it was rust carpet. (That's my story and I'm sticking to it.) That's what I wanted and, guess what, I never got tired of it.

CrystalGB said...

After wearing my hair long all my life, I once allowed my hairdresser to cut my hair into a short bob. I was so not comfortable with it and grew my hair back out.

Christie Craig said...

Hi Edie,

I know how you feel when you buy something not knowing if it will work and then it does. Joy! Enjoy those window treatments and stay warm.

CC

Christie Craig said...

Hi Loretta,

A new page, huh? A very bright barn red page, LOL. But seriously, it's growing on me. I think when I get my new furniture in, I'll like it even more.

I can't wait for the garbage can story. LOL.

Thanks for stopping in.

CC

Christie Craig said...

Melissa,

Too funny about hubby. Keep working on him, if I can convince hubby, you can do it.

Thanks for stopping in.

CC

Christie Craig said...

Terri,

I'll ask him to see if he'll paint your wall. But I don't think the lady at Home Depot will recommend him. LOL.

And moving is a huge wild hair, but one that usually ends up well. Good luck getting the place perfect. And don't worry if it takes a year or two to unpack. It will be like opening Christmas presents. You'll be surprised at what you find in those boxes.

Thanks for stopping in.

CC

Christie Craig said...

Sandy,

Our hubby's must be twins. Mine really hates putting holes in a freshly painted wall, too. I really love things on a freshly painted wall.

I usually win after I tell him, "I'll listen to what you want in the house, if I can go out into the garage and have my way with things. His garage is him castle and I always win.

CC

Christie Craig said...

Robin,

The Mickey Mouse bathroom sounds great. And orange is in right now. I can't imagine you being wild. LOL. Okay...on second thought, I've ready your books and I can imagine it.

CC

Christie Craig said...

Zita,

Some people just have a great eye for decorating. I can tell people what looks good, but I can't pull it together. And I swear, those paint stores have trick lighting that makes paint appear differently.

Good luck on that kitchen.

CC

Christie Craig said...

Ruth,

Resale value. That sounds like my hubby, too. LOL. Go ahead and get brave, Ruth. It will look great.

Thanks for stopping by.
CC

Diane Kelly said...

My husband is the type that won't tell me "no," he'll just hem and haw when I tell him I want something done. I've learned that if I want him to do some kind of house project, I have to start trying to do it myself in order to get him off his duff. I recently attempted to build a latticework patio cover. It looked like something from one of those commercials for children's charities where they show the poor kids living in the lean-to slums. But once my husband fixed it, it actually looks pretty nice. I do a lot of writing outside now. And BTW, I love the wall! Your hubby did good - even without primer! : )

Bethany said...

Christie,

I don't know if I quite have a story that could match yours LOL But I do know that the people who owned our house before we moved in had some strange ideas about what to paint a master bedroom wall.

When we bought our house, ONE wall in the master bedroom was this yellowish color. The only way to describe it is "Baby poop yellow". What wild hair possessed the previous owners I have NO idea. The master bedroom is now painted a subdued dark lavender color, but if you look on the ceiling in just the right place you can still see a line of baby-poop yellow LOL

I can't wait to read your YA...believe me, one way or another I'm getting my hands on that book! LOL

Anonymous said...

Christie...perms in the 80's...The first time I got one, I cried until my sister in law came over and showed me how to use rollers in my hair...years later I could leave the back to dry, but I always had to dry my bangs! I think you're right that I kept getting them because the fumes affected my brain and sense.

As far as painting goes...at one of our houses (we've moved quite a bit), I hated the guest bath wallpaper...h a t e d it! We'd painted over some wallpaper in the kitchen with good results so I wanted to change the bathroom. After trying to hang wallpaper three different times (we found out dh and I couldn't hang a straight piece...not one...even with idiot proof wallpaper with the cheat lines on the back--and this reminded us why dh didn't become a mechanical engineer--he can't draw a straight line with a ruler--which is fine, because being a computer engineer, he doesn't have to!)...we finally went to the store and got some paint...whore pink...painful to look at, and I won't even try to explain how it felt cheap just to be in the room! The next week I called my daddy who came over and hung some wallpaper! Thank heaven for daddys!!!!

Princess Alethea said...

A lot of women cut their hair after ditching their boyfriends...I completely redecorate my bedroom. The best one was the worst boyfriend -- my parents came up for Christmas and helped me paint everything from top to bottom. It was a room full of love and stories once again.

catslady said...

Unfortunately my husband more or less has me trained instead of the other way around. Ahhh but when I was younger I made a stand or two lol. This is a real hair story lol.One of the things he liked about me was my long, long dark brown hair which I had for a very, very long time and it was tons of work. I even spent 3 years wearing wigs to work because I had a bossy boss who said "girls" could not have long hair, smoke, and didn't want them to be married. I got engaged anyway and he wanted to know what kind of birth control I was using!!! They got away with that crap back then. I didn't have to see this boss much and I liked my job so I put up with it. Anyway, years later during my lunch break I decided to cut all my hair off - well most of it lol. When my husband saw me he laughed and said - ok, take the wig off. Not this time!!!!

Christie Craig said...

Hi Diane,

Starting something yourself is an old trick used on husbands from the dark ages. LOL. And it works for most people. However, my hubby is too smart to fall for it. Or maybe it's just that he knows me better than that. If I even hinted that I was going to paint something or mow something, or build something, he would fall over laughing. My abilities are in the kitchen cooking, at the computer writing, and finding anything he loses. Thanks for stopping in. And I do love that cover girl!

CC

Christie Craig said...

Bethany,

I remember what baby poop yellow looks like. LOL. It isn't pretty.

Thanks so much for stopping in.

CC

Christie Craig said...

Hi Tess,

Whore pink, huh? I sort of felt the candy apple red gave off the bordello feel to my family room, too. LOL.

Live and learn, right? Oh, and hubby is not allowed to do wall paper. That's a whole 'nother story.

CC

Christie Craig said...

Alethea,

Hey...I think I like the painting concept better than doing something totally wrong with the hair. I imagine there's something healing to the whole busy work, too.

Thanks for stopping in.

CC

Christie Craig said...

Catslady,

I imagine he was really surprised. And grrrr on the boss. Women have really come a long way. Thanks so much for stopping in.

CC

donnas said...

Many many hair mistakes and a few fashion ones thrown in there as well. Hair that ended up too short, the wrong color, extra curly. You name it I have done it. And really there are some fashion trends that only the rich and famous can get away with, no matter how much of a deal you got on them.

Stacey Joy Netzel said...

I'm a white wall person, too, but my sisters are all about painting with different colors and they always manage to make it look great! I do think your red wall in the picture looks great. Your story was great! You're right, he's a keeper.

Stacey Joy Netzel said...

Oh, geez, I just read through all the comments after posting and then read mine. Apparently, I was feeling pretty *great*. LOL

Christie Craig said...

Donnas,

The thing about hair is it grows out, die jobs can be fixed. Our misery and memories are only in pictures. LOL.

Thanks for stopping in.

CC

Christie Craig said...

Stacey,

I think your post was great. LOL. Thank you so much for stopping by.

CC

Linda Henderson said...

I'm kind of a beige wall person myself, mainly because my favorite color is brown. A long time ago when I was a teenager I told my mother I wanted to paint my ceiling RED. Well back in those olden days the only way you could get red paint was to buy enamel paint. So I ended up painting my ceiling chinese red enamel paint. It almost hurt the eyes to look at it. My mother didn't say a thing. I bet whoever moved in that house after us tore the ceiling down rather than try and cover that paint.

Christie Craig said...

Linda,

I can imagine that ceiling. I think you're right. That ceiling came down after you moved. LOL.

Thanks for stopping in.

CC