Mmmm Chocolate

The paint samples say Tender Twig and Wooden Wagon, but they’re really Milk Chocolate and Dark Chocolate, if you ask me.

My new house colors.

When it gets painted, that is. I didn’t mention how hard it was to get a painting contractor to call me back when I was shopping around for one a few months back. Apparently painting one small house is pretty small potatoes, or these people are just jackasses, but one of them finally did call me back and actually came out to bid the job. Painting a small one-story 80 year old house and it’s newer two-car detatched garage isn’t a big job, but it does require some prep work, and we are changing the color, but we finally found a licensed contractor willing to bid the job, and actually get started.

So yesterday, in preperation for new paint, they came out to pressure wash all the peeling, chipping, old dark blue off. Now the house has to dry, which might be tricky in the “summer” weather we’re having, and they have to do some scraping and a few caulking/patch jobs and the application of a special sealer designed for 80-year old shingles.

But then – if they can find a dry day – my house will magically (because I won’t be home to watch all the hard work) change from grey-blue with dark gunmetal grey trim – to Milk Chocolate with Dark Chocolate accent and White Chocolate (well, white) window trim !

I’m excited.

I’m nervous as all get-out, but I’m also excited.

It took my sister and I a year to save up the money and settle on a color. Our house has been dark blue on darker blue since we moved in, and when we painted it ourselves ten plus years ago, we just did exactly the same color. And we never painted the garage, which is a sort of …gawd, I dunno, a bluish hue I suppose.

We spent weekends driving around, looking at house colors, picking up sample swatches and the occasional sample can of paint to try out. Our garage, for a year, has been a canvass of samples.

I’m excited about the colors we’ve picked. We were going for chocolate and white, but the painter pointed out that we have a darker blue accent color on the ends of the house, and the gutters, so to paint that a darker version of the house color would look pretty nice, then adding the white trim around the windows. We agreed, and settled on “Tender Twig” which is really a milk chocolate, and “Wooden Wagon” which is a dark chocolate. Then he’s painting the garage to match, so finally it’ll look like OUR garage, and not someone else’s house.

I’m terrified because ever since buying that house, it’s been the same blue color. I know it’ll be a shock to drive home one day and find a completely different house. I remember when my neighbor took theirs from a light blue to a pretty soft yellow – it looks great, but it was a shock and took a week to get used to seeing.

But what really scares me is . . . There’s no changing my mind. Once this house is painted, that’s it. Like it, love it or hate it, there’s no going “oh, it’s just not quite right, let’s try this again in another shade.”

If you’ve been around for a while, you’ll recall what happened when I painted my room !

Unfortunately, when you pay a contractor a couple grand to paint your house and garage, you don’t get to change your mind. Sure, if I’m not happy with the WORK they do, I don’t pay till they make it right – – but picking the color is all on me (and Cindy) so if I freak out and want it changed, I’d have to pay him twice.

Which ain’t gonna happen. So however the color turns out, that’s what it’s gonna be.

I’ve already warned my sister that I’ll probably have a complete melt down and hate the color, and that she needs to be prepared for me to be a basket case for some time afterward. But like it or hate it, that’s what color it’ll be, so I’ll learn to live with it.

Honestly though, it’ll look great, right? I see this color combination in a lot of new houses right now, so it’s “in style” as it were. And I really love white trim around windows. Did you know hardly anyone does that anymore? It looks so sharp and clean when the trim is white, especially on a darker house.

I’m sure it’ll look great.

The house is so small, a darker color can’t possibly make it look any smaller. It’s actually larger than it appears, but I don’t mind looking like I have a tiny house, it makes the land it sits on appear that much larger.

It’ll be fine.

Any day now, hopefully Monday or Tuesday, I’ll come home and POOF! It’ll look like a brand new house. Sharp and clean and freshly painted. Like a shiny yummy bon bon.

It’ll look really nice.

Right?

Somebody hold me!