Help – the painter’s coming!

There was a time when we did all the painting and wallpapering in our house. Finances played a large part, but I used to quite enjoy it and the results were extremely satisfying; however, those days are long gone. I must have been a different person then. I now know that it is even more satisfying when it’s been done by someone else. It all changed with a leaking shower and a generous insurance cheque to repair the damage. It’s hard to believe, but we had enough money to hire a plumber to fix the leak, a plasterer to repair the hole and a painter to decorate the damaged ceiling and our stairs and landing as well. He did a wonderful job – quick, tidy and perfect. A whole world of painting laziness opened up before my eyes. I could see a rainbow-coloured future of beautifully decorated rooms that had been cleaned, sugar-soaped, sanded, edged and painted by someone else.

I love colour. I also love our new house, but the walls and cupboards painted in every shade of grey (who knew there were more than 50?) are starting to bear down on me. I have been wandering around with colour charts, dreaming of yellows, blues and greens. So desperate am I that pink is starting to look particularly appealing. A utility room painted entirely in Nancy’s Blushes – why not? It would lift my spirits in a way that Mole’s Breath just can’t. And as for Plummett … well, it speaks for itself.

A painter has come to have a look and doesn’t seem too daunted by the task ahead of him. I’m worried that he’ll decide he doesn’t want the job or that he’ll ask for too much money. My main concern, though, is that I’ll have to make a lot of decisions very fast. Usually, I choose colours pretty quickly, but when every wall in the house is going to be painted, it’s quite daunting. Shall I have a creamy yellow throughout to raise my spirits and reflect the light? Or maybe I should go for a different dramatic colour in every room to achieve a quirky Bohemian look worthy of Helena Bonham-Carter?

As I may have mentioned before, I am going through a rather blingy phase at the moment. In fact, I have my eye on an enormous, tasteless, ornate mirror in the second-hand furniture shop right now. I sense danger ahead in the colour department, but I’m ploughing on regardless. Just spare a thought for my long-suffering husband and cat, who have to live with the results. Although I don’t think an orange tabby can complain too much about blingy colours.