For those of you who never met Kathy Jane,see what we mean? Doctored photo?? Bull roar as we used to say in Oklahoma. Don't you remember when we were peppering each other with questions that time we all met in Va..and one of mine was what on earth did you use on your face? One of the most beautiful complexions I've ever seen. Glad you are gardening KJ. Funny,I never think of gardening as a crutch..it's one of the things we DO,and to me,if not physically,at least emotionally most other things come second to that. So many you could check once a month for a few minutes?

Boxofrox your photos are so lovely ! I love all of them and think it's so sweet you generously share your blooms with everyone !! Your hydrangeas are spectacular . I have been keeping my eye out for a glowing embers since I saw your photos . Jim , if u catch this , I used to live in pa and the year of 9/11 I was a camp counselor at a camp in shanks ville ! The property was so close to the wreckage , we had to not use certain trails because there were government workers collecting various " artifacts " from the plane , and could be seen there. We didn't want to scare the children . It was quite surreal .

oceanna, your mock up is gorgeous! i am so happy you went with the colors he wanted instead of catering to that rug. i guess i was trying to say that when i suggested i had willed my taupe rug into participating:-) then, this am, i had another thought-- you know, real limestone is both warm golds and cool greys-- basically, taupe. so why can't you pick up on the warmer colors in the carpet, as if it were stone? everything does not have to match....and i think this proves that once again. spirit over rules.... you are a wonderful mom and i laughed so hard as you described his reluctance. i have a male friend whose home i help decorate and i have gotten used to hearing "um....okay, but is it going to be too much x?" i too sold him on a paint color by calling it whiskey and tabacco, alternatively. never thought to call it beer, though-- brilliant! i love the curtains and colors in your mock up. it's everything he said he wanted. he'll get used to the paint color; it's just new and i've noticed that men have a rally tough time visualizing color and accepting change. lastly, i've noticed that men like lace curtains. very, very strange. and same man will start twitching if you mention floral prints or animal prints. where's the taste?:-) can't wait to see a pic when you are done painting! hope he had a great b-day!

Thanks everyone for your answers and ideas, and especially to those who are being so supportive with the encouraging words. I just got off the phone with my son. Let me see if I can answer some of your questions. I did tell him -- and I'm sure he knows -- that I've certainly made paint booboos before, and that everyone has. No biggie. I asked him a lot of questions. He owns the house. We are in the greater Seattle area, so 9 mos. of the year it's grey and rainy. He says when he saw the gold he just kept thinking of the green and that he LOVES that green and loved how good the "fake wood" hall doors look with it. He's not happy with the blue paint, and wasn't as soon as it was done. He keeps saying he can't afford to replace the ugly blue tile right now, and I know he doesn't want to do the work. Decorpas & Funkyart, I've read you can paint tiles, but that it's a bad idea in an area that sees a lot of water and use. I looked into that too. He says he knows the kitchen is going to look bad until the tiles are gone. Funkyart, have the tiles worn well for your friend who did it? Can you please find out more? Like products? Sealer? Did she paint her grout too? I think either black or some shade of tan/brown would look good on the counters. I ran the dishwasher panel by him but he says his is so old he's not putting a dime into it. He owns the brown loveseat, bought it himself a few years ago. He owns the chair -- it's a hand-me-down antique from his dad's side of the family. It's theadbare and then some -- a pale aqua color. But he won't part with it (sentimental). The red color on the chair (which he wants) and the pillows and the draperies were my addition with the mockup; they aren't there IRL. The little rocker to the right of that one pic was left behind by a renter and he thinks she's going to come get it one of these days. The lace curtains were left by the PO. I've asked him about them and he says he likes them and wants to keep them. Go figure. He likes antiques. He dislikes modern decor. Funny, he's always been a Navajo White kind of guy in the past, so this burst of color really surprised me. I think he surprised himself, too. His LR/DR and Kitch all flow together. Like, you come up stairs from the front door (split entry) and the LR is on your right, the hallway on your left, with the kitch straight ahead. The LR opens to the DR, and the DR opens to the kitch. The wall you see painted green is the wall that separates the kitch from the LR. What you see painted blue in the above first pic is the kitch's shared wall with the DR. So at this point he says he wants to keep the gold in the LR and the half of the DR as it is (LR and DR share a common wall). He really likes my mockup and still wants to do that, and wants the green down the hallway as he has it now, and intends to paint that green in the kitchen as well. He still wants to accent with red... leaning toward the rust tone, not toward burgandy. So do you have any comments, ideas as to how to pull that off without making it look like a Christmas explosion? That green really threw me for a loop.