Chipping Away

Our paint chips (who names these things anyway?)

Every year around this time, we turn our attention to our house. Time to get us “holiday ready”! But before we bring the boxes of ornaments and festive lights down from the attic, we take a hard look at what we are actually decorating. Without a home improvement intervention, we will indeed be putting lipstick on a pig once again. The big ticket items that wait in the wings (replacing our windows, resurfacing our outside walkway and front stoop, etc.) will have to wait a little longer, but we are beginning to chip away at some overdue projects at last.

First and foremost this year? Painting the bathrooms! Upstairs is just looking worn and shabby, but the real patient in critical condition is our downstairs powder room. For the past several years, I have cringed whenever a guest asked to use the facilities, all because of the rather startling color of the walls. They are a shade of bright bluish-greenish that brings to mind the hue of one of the cars of my childhood, our “Lagoon Aqua” Chevy Impala.

Mo's Confirmation Day, posed with our Impala  (too bad it's in black and white!)

 This 13-year-old paint job was a labor of love, the love of my wonderful sister Carolyn for our mother. When Mom moved in with us, C wanted her to feel right at home, and nothing made Joanie feel homier than brilliantly painted rooms.  I well remember our house in Dunwoody, GA, which most closely resembled a Sherwin Williams showroom—every single space was splashed with a different garish color. Because I was raised in such multi-colorful surroundings, I had absolutely no idea of what was tasteful and what wasn’t. Therefore, I thought it was A-OK to paint my dining room the lemoniest Lemon Yellow, and to add the crowning touch of a Kelly green stenciled ivy pattern (which tiny Rose told everyone was “poison ivy.”)

In the years since, we’ve toned things down a lot, and now, with the exception of the teal-colored “homage to Mom” bathroom, our walls are mostly neutral shades. I’ve been pushing for a restroom re-do for the past several years, and now it is finally happening. Steve brought home some paint chips last night, and today’s the big day. After our scientific “eeny-meeny-miney-mo” process, we selected a VERY pale and subtle blue. I eagerly anticipate this new look (it has gotten to the point that I have kept the lights off, with a lit candle on the bathroom counter, whenever guests visited. They may have been groping in the dark for the hand towels, but at least they didn’t have to look at the walls!)

And after this? We can probably take a break and hang our Christmas wreaths. With a little luck, the time and the money will appear simultaneously during the winter, enabling us to take a few more baby steps forward. Meanwhile, I intend to revel in any progress we make in the right direction. So what do you think? Would it be weird to invite company over just to use our bathroom?