Husband Painting Dining Area

Go with it--that whole thing sounds too cute!

Too often, we wives control how the house is decorated and such. Just keep in mind that it's his house, too, and let him have this part. Kenny Chesney sings about it when he says "I'da done a lot of things different." Have fun with it!

This sounds exactly like something my husband would do. There are all kinds of things that you could do by adding accents and things to make it look good. I decided to paint my kitchen and dining area brown with off white cabinets. My father owns the house and he thought it was horrid at first like poop on the walls, but after it dried and I put everything together, it looks great and he likes it too. Try this website I found. If you scroll down, it shows a dining area with green walls and brown and pink accents. Very pretty, hope this helps.

http://designtalk.homevisions.com/2007/10/16/pink-green-a...

go shopping for a paint color together. Find a few each of you likes and compare until a mutual decision can be reached. If you really can't stand it and you leave it, an argument could be waiting right down the road. Talk it over nicely, and start by saying "I know you didn't like the color I chose, and I am not fond of this one, so let's decide together." Marriage is about compromise, but it is also about honesty and communication. I'm sure that in today's realm of color choices, there is one out there that you will both like. Good luck!

Embrace the green! Appreciate the change and the work hubby finally did. No matter what color it is, you will grow to accept it!

First of all, this could be his sneaky way of doing a job so poorly that you won't ask him to do anything any more, fix his wagon and make it work for you.

When life gives you limes, make limeade.

I love the green and pink that the other MOM sent you the link for. For a perfect print, look up "Citrons Verts."

Other ideas: to break up the lime, get some chair railing and paint it a contrasting color either lighter or darker. Get a trifle bowl and put wooden or plastic lemons and limes in it and use it as a centerpiece.

Decorate around a framed print. "Italian Harvest-Limes" isn't bad, or go to art.com and search for lime. There is a pretty one called citrus if you want to go bright. You can get the name of the print then search the internet for the best price.

You can even use your yellow color for accessories, like napkins or placemats. Crate and barrel has some "mediterraneo" dishes that might work, and has some "Navarro stripe," "Piazza" "Atherton" "Taos multi" and "geometric print" napkins and placemats that you can look at for different color options.

Good luck and enjoy shopping!

My mother in law nagged my father in law to paint the house for the longest time. He finally did. Bright sunshine yellow. LOL. it stayed that way forever. This is one of my fav story. This was not playful and was one step closer to devorce for them. It sounds like what you have is playful and I love it. This is how my DH is. I would go with it. Play it up. embrace your DH's sence of humor. If it doesn't make for a trendy room, then it will make for a great story. White. Starke white acceccories. They will look great against lime greem and many other colors if you decide to change it. Keep it simple and clean lines. Maybe some frosted glass and I would paint the dinnig set white also. or you could go the other way and use very dark woods and palm tree plants and give it a tropical- upscale -tiki vibe. How about martini themed with cherry red accents. there are a lot of things that could work with this. You could ask him to take pics of a house that he likes to give you some ideas. Have fun with it and him. Sounds like you guys really know how to keep things fresh in the relationship. good for you.

Wow. that is some color! Perhaps big framed art work. You can even make it yourself. Something abstract. Perhaps this is his trick to get out of painting any more rooms! :) I would have to fill the space with art on the wall. On the cabinets. Perhaps a tall vase with long stems in the corner. It can work!

Wow, lime green, and emerald green-that's an awful lot of green. If you don't have the time or $$ right now, then get an almost room sized rug for the dining area in a neutral color. Next summer, when BOTH of you are ready, rip out the emerald green carpet and put something tile or wood down, that way you can keep the rug too!

Put a lot of white accents in the room. Get a table cover that has white and softer lime green in it. Either a runner or placemats would be nice, but nothing with a busy print. Keep it simple. Wide, bold green stripes or accent borders are perfect for this. If you get a busy pattern, there will be too much going on in the room.

Get a center piece for the table in either clear glass with a white candle or frosted/silvered glass, but NO MORE COLOR! My husband and I are using a crystal hurricane lamp as a candle holder and flower vase. We alternate and it's beautiful!

Good luck and let us know how it turns out!

Hi T., Sounds like a lot of green. You could put some white lattice panels over it and go with a garden theme. you could still see the green through the lattice but the white would tone it down a bit. I have a friend who does handpainted borders and accents. Her house always has dramatic colors on the walls and it is very inviting.

Yep, I would tend to give him total credit for that color as well but keep it for a while anyway. My sister had magenta carpet in her room when she was a kid. It was actually really pretty with white furniture and small floral fabrics. I think it will grow on you.

R. in Round Rock

You betcha... We have also just done a LOT of remodeling on our home as Hurricane Rita did a number on us. May I suggest what I did with my dining room. My dining room is my pride and joy it truly is. So, anywho here is my suggestion... you do not say how large your dining area is, but here is a compromise. Tell your husband you are not completely against the color it is just that it is so bold.. go about 4 foot up from the baseboard pop chalk line on the wall to be even and paint the bottom white, find a lovely border paper that you can run over where the colors come together.. this will tone down the Lime Green and really make an elegant dining room. My daughter designs and she solves many problems this way. Be sure you pick out a nice border Not to bold and very light colored drapes/curtains, probably something in sheer to stay dropped and a nice light color over for pull back. I know sounds expensive but I promise it is not. The Dollar Store, Family Dollar all of these carry very nice drapes and they are very well priced.. Good Luck

Well this may mean more work but if it is too bright, maybe you could put a glaze or some type of faux treatment (see Home Depot or Lowes) to make it a more tolerable color. I agree I would not want that color either.

Since the carpet is green also, I would look for a large area rug in a neutral color to tone it down as well. Maybe some very LARGE pictures or maybe a tapestry to cover some wall space too (or maybe it would be just cheaper to repaint it?).

Without seeing it is hard to tell you what would look good, but yes it is amusing to us and I'm sure it is something you can look back and laugh at (hopefully :)).

Since he used a lime green that means it has a lot of yellow in the base of the paint. You could use a color of yellow in the space in wall art and other elements to pull that yellow out of the paint and into the space. It would make the green on the walls seem less lime and more sublime. If that color of yellow is not something that appeals to you, you could also do the same thing by adding a truer green accent to the space and that would push the color to the green side. Play around with the color. Hold different shades of yellow, green and even brown up to the wall and see what it does to the color of the wall.
There are also ways to augment the color on the wall but it would mean some more painting. You could add a stripe around the wall and use either a complementary yellow or green. Depending on the size and layout of the room, you could also paint one wall a different color as an accent wall. This would break up the color so the lime green isn't so loud to you. You may not be able to find specific examples of lime green dining rooms, but I am sure if you look around in magazines or even fabrics you can see what colors and shades others use to work with lime green. If you are unsure of what color to use, find some inspiration examples to take your cues from. If you have already seen examples of the colors working together and you like the results, it won't seem so scary to make a choice. Good luck with your room.

Both of you seem to have your own ideas about the spaces in your home. I know a lot of husbands are either not interested or just stay quiet about their opinion on home decor, perhaps because their opinion won't be considered anyway. It is wonderful that your husband is thinking and wanting to try things out. He just needs to include you in the process before the paint is on the wall. And to be fair, you should include him as well.

LMAO this is almost comical... you poor thing (i'd be painting over it!). You should never surprise your wife with BIG things that she has to look at or use every day.... like cars, paint, furniture. Those things you negotiate on. If he didnt like the yellow then you guys pick a colour together.

He's testing you like a little kid tests a parent... if he does it and you redo it, then the next time you nag him to help you he can just say.. "well i tried to help and you just paint over what i do... so why try?" ...

you've got a sneaky one on your hands :)

..you could, however... use reverse psychology... and keep the paint, then any time you have company make a big deal about how he picked the color and painted it all himself, etc. like you are so proud of him.

I'm a lover of HGTV and when I see them using these types of colors, I can't beleive how well the ending results are when they add all the accessories. It's just a matter of picking a few colors to accent the lime green. Try a chocolate or some shade of brown and maybe another color. Get some color swatches and place against the green. Then accent the room with pic. frames, vases, table runner and setting etc. with those other colors. We (women) tend to take over the home decor without consulting or getting the hubby's input. They have to live there too and may want to contribute their likings. If he really likes the color, show him your appreciation and communicate more working on the project together. Maybe he'll do more around the house when it's not a knock down after he finally does do something. Try looking up http://www.hgtv.com/ for ideas.

Let us know how it turns out...GOOD LUCK!

Oh sis, If you need help to re-paint the dinning area , I am more than willing to help you out . Also since your making changes in your home , maybe you should try to get rid of your husband , what do you think ? Just kidding sis , I guess you could keep him , better you than me . Just kidding again , I love you , sis and if you need help maybe we could have a party of some sort with nothing but girls and you and I can make some margarita's and have a painting party , maybe even after a few drinks we can come up with a better color for your dinning area, and then we can say to dear old brother-in-law . you see, even after a few drinks we can do a better job than you and come up with a better color too . What do you think about that ? No seriously I think you should re-paint it and maybe if you can get him to go with you to home depote maybe you two can come up with a color that both of you can agree on to re-paint the room . I have not seen the color sister but I'm sure it is well , I can't think of a word to describe it . Maybe you should have decorated it in fiesta style ,even though fiesta is over , Oh well make it fiesta everyday at your house , I'm sure he wouldn't want that , right ? Maybe that would motivate him to help you change the color.....Try it , it might work ... Good luck sis.....

Hi T., I am a painter; Maybe i can give you a few helpful hints to help with this and for the future. (hubby well no help there men can be hardheaded)lol for the last wall to be painted- you could always lighten the color(just add some green to white this will give the room an accent wall and change the apperance and the demension will look different) if that is not an option.1- you can always add a chair rail around the room, 2 add a boader to top of wall or3 around the middle. i don't know you decor but there are very pretty vine and fruit boarders. very easy to apply. or4 you could sponge on some foe (faux) finish all will change the apperance. i've seen greens accented with sun flowers (more for kitchen) many options. I deal with shurwin williams mostly and they are a great help. suggestion- in the future go in and get sample color strips with different colors on them that you like and then let hubby pick out the one he likes best. at least youd get a color youd prefer.......best of luck let me know how it goes. Valerie

I have a couple of suggestions that you might like. As far as the carpet is concerned, why not get an area rug that you think you can live with for a while. That will hide the majority of the funky carpet and make the hubby happy that you are not pushing for wall - to - wall. Area rugs go on sale frequently.

How about wallpaper, or fabric on the walls ? Perhaps lots and lots of photos would do the trick. I once purchased a roll of burlap, then I stapled it to my wall and used it as a giant bulletin board. I had pictures of the kids and notes and all kinds of stuff up there. The burlap insulated my wall and it stayed much warmer in that room during the Winter and cooler in the Summer.

My cousin built a wood frame on one wall of her dining room. She then stretched padding on the wall and covered it with fabric. It looked great !

Hope this has been helpful. Best wishes and good luck.

First off I would be extremely mad if my husband chose a color that he did not consult me on. My husband would also be mad if I did the same thing. You may want to talk to him about compromise and next time choosing a color that you both like.

Since he's already painted, one way of toning it down or making it look more modern is to use a faux finish like sponging. You can sponge a lighter or contracting color over the lime green to make it more your style.

You can also use a clear glaze to creat a striped look. For example you can tap off strip sections and paint alternating clear glze stripes, it gives it a very sophisticated look. But if you really can't stand the color I would go with sponging.

You could also use decorative borders or stenciling to creat a different look.

Good luck!

OK, this sounds funny to, more because it sounds like me and my husband for instance for my 1st mothers day he got me a gas powered, very powerful and manly weed eater that also had blades all sorts of manly things. SO for his 1st fathers day I bought him a very womanly steam powered carpet cleaner. Needless to say he never used his carpet cleaner and i never used my weed eater. BUT we have always picked out our own gifts ever since..by mentioning them a thousand times...
my suggestion, just go with it, it will always be the inside joke for you two and you can always have a good giggle about it. Decorate it with what ever colors you can think of that go with the lime green, such as yellow make it your 7-up room.

Too funny! What if you told him that since he picked such a trendy color that you now need new flooring and furniture to match to decor properly. Use reverse psychology and make over it and mention to all friends and family that you just might need new furniture and what do they think would look great. Your hubby will see $$$$$ and may suggest another color to avoid the cost!!!!

some hubbys just aern't ones to do this kinda things around the house sometimes it is just easier to do it yourself i know after 30 years i don't even ask any more and life is a lot more peaceful and i don't have lime green walls believe me there isn't enough room for me to tell you about all of my sweetheart's artistic ideas the mildest was a bright yellow stripe all the way thru the house may GOD be with you looks you are gonna need it