The Great Compromise. The Great Mistake.

Our basement flooded during “Hurricane Irene”.

To make a long story short (er), and to spare you all the boring details…

We have to replace our basement. New paint, new carpet/ flooring.

I really wanted a blue for the basement. It has been really dark and dingy and gross the whole time we have lived here and I thought that a blue would really brighten up the space. I went to Home Depot and selected a few colors and brought them home for Ryan to look through. He didn’t like any of them.

So, I told Ryan to pick a few blues that he liked and I would pick the one that I liked out of the options he selected. Everything was great until  we actually painted the color onto the wall. Because of the lighting, the color looked periwinkle. It really was way too much. I didn’t really like it and he hated it.

Our basements is somewhat divided into two sections. The play room and the family room.

I thought that the blue looked good in the section of the play room so we decided to keep the color in there. My Brother-in-law Eric talked me into the following idea: “let Ryan pick out the color for the living Room and you can decorate the play room anyway you want. That might be the best thing to do since you can’t agree on anything.”  I did not like the idea at first, but then I started thinking about how nice it would be for Ryan to be really excited and proud about something he designed. The same way I feel when he lets me design and decorate every other room in our house.

As soon as I agreed they were off to Home Depot to pick out paint colors.

I should have been worried when they put up a sheet to separate the rooms and then told me to not look until it was finished. But, Ryan has a pretty good sense of style. I like the outfits he picks out for himself. I like most design elements he points out to me in other homes and we mostly agree on other people’s room decor. How bad could it be really?

I HATE IT!

I REALLY HATE IT!

Oh my word.

What have I done? What was he thinking? Really? You actually think that is going to match anything? Our couch? Our new carpet? The blue that is in the other room? really? Hello!

Ugh! AHHHHH!!

I am really really trying to not be a brat about this. I actually did cry. I was trying not, but  did.

I do not want this to come between us. I do not want to constantly throw in his face how unhappy I am. I do not want to buy any more paint. I do not want to have to re-paint. I don’t want him to re-paint something that he is really excited about.

On the other hand, I want to be excited to show people our new basement. I want to love going down there any playing with Lucy, or watching a movie. I want to be proud of all the hard work that we did to put this basement together. I want us to both like something and agree on something together so we can both confidently enjoy it.

Writing this out has been helpful in my grieving, angry attitude. I do see that this is a trivial argument, and has no real substance and should not be the cause of  a disagreement between us.

I hate it.

But I love him more.

I’m going to have to get over this.

Maybe I’ll get some matching furniture out of it.

Or not.

Lord, please help me to honor my husband and love him right now. I am angry, and it is stupid. Help me to have a joyful attitude. Help me to see the positive side of this situation. Help me to honor you in my thoughts and actions. Forgive me for being ungrateful, angry, frustrated and bratty. Help us to honor you in our decisions. Please unite our desires and decisions and show us what to do, and help us to effectively communicate with one another. Amen.