Good luck! This one sounds promising. I know what you mean, I just posted a comment on Beekeepers thread and took out half of it and it was still too long. But your stories are helpful and interesting! Mine I feel are just whining since I'm so not able to ever stand up for myself in real life but hoping to post a happy ending one of these days! Hope you continue to like this one and good for you getting that paint guy to help you!

Sarakat, it's easy to start to learn how to stand up for yourself.

It's just this:

"No. It's not what I want." Silence.
Don't say another word.
We tend to babble, but just don't.
You'll start to sweat, squirm, feel dumb/demanding/silly/b!tchy/mean, but don't say a word.
If you were a guy, you could chew on a toothpick or something.
So pick your nose, but don't say a thing.

Then, you can practice with, "It's what I want." (More nose picking.)

But it's interesting how people will start to squirm themselves because they're not getting anything from you.

We do not need to explain ourselves 90% of the time.

But no, you're not whining. When someone's looking for support here, they get it. Of course, we have to examine the other side of the story, but I think that helps us determine whether or not we are expecting the unobtainable. Or not.

For me, it helps me learn!

(Watching my paint dry...)

Love your stories. Keep em coming.

Thanks CF. I'm going to try that for sure. What about on the phone? Do a dead silence?

Love this one! So glad you found the color.

I was at a local hardware store last week- they were having a sale on BM Satin Impervo at $20 a gallon! Well, I needed some paint for my laundry room cabinets, but they only had a dark base. So I ask the guy, can you tint this for this color? To which he looked it up and said no, but 'we could try to mess with it a bit' to which I perked up and said OK!

So, for $20 a gallon, I got a darker base with 1/2 the amount of colorant of the next color up on the chip, and it turned out to be exactly the color I wanted! WHOO HOO!

Sometimes you just have to speak up and ask! Why is that so hard for us gals to figure out!

Pictures! We want pictures!!!

Sarakat, I think the phone would work with a dead silence. when they say, "Hello?" Repeat exactly what you said the first time.

And never forget that "Because I am paying for it", "Because it's what I want", "Because it looks crappy and I don't want it in my home." "By the way, are you familiar with Angie's List, Garden Web, and the Better Business Bureau? I'm sure we can resolve this issue that is none of my making."

But the last is a long one and a last resort. I find silence is the best motivator. Particularly with people who think they're intimidating. Bullies.

Hang in there girlie!

oldhousegal, GREAT JOB!
And thanks all, for celebrating this small but momentous moment with me. :)

C.

I'd looooove to see pics, ya know. ;)

Congrats on finding the color. You're having an adventure putting your kitchen together!

Good job, Oldhousegal and CEFreeman! Another way might have been to take the paint chip to some place that carried the paint finish you wanted, and had them do a computer color match. I can't wait to see pics, also!

Hope that paint continues to dry to the perfect color. Picking paint colors can be so fun and frustrating. Loved reading your post. I've never read a single post of yours and thought it was too long. Never. Keep them coming! :)

Why were you pissed? There may be a good reason that color doesn't work as a high gloss, i.e. colorant load. Would you rather he make you a product that isn't going to work?
in years past, paint companies had ready-mixed colors and tinting bases were not used very much, if at all. As a factory blended color, the colorants and methods are different and probably would not compromise the quality of the finish product. Today, almost all paints are tinted using bases and colorants which offer the 2500+ color choices that we as a consumer demand but like so many things will sacrifice quality in certain situations.

I would ask the reasoning behind you wanting a high gloss here. High gloss is a typical finish of European slab cabinets in a lacquer finish, but it is not at all typical of any painted finish cabinetry in either the US or abroad. Semi-gloss or satin is what is typically chosen if hard wear is anticipated, but with today's harder wearing formulas, many people are even choosing an almost matte look for their painted cabinetry. Look at the ubiquity of "chalk paint", even in kitchens. The beauty of a less glossy paint is that it is far more forgiving of a surface with less than stellar prep. The glossier the paint, the more it shows the flaws in the surface beneath that paint.

I do hope the color ends up being what you want. If not, then I would suggest doing a custom color match to something that you have that you like the color. I've matched magazine prints, towels, scarves, or even my own hodge podge mixing of various paints until I got the exact right color. Sometimes, mixing your own little testers and having it matched is the best route you can take.

I don't think you guys are getting the problem here. Matching isn't the issue! As much as I've ranted over it. I've found 10 colors that I absolutely love and are perfect.

Until .... I get them home in the natural light.
THEN, they turn turquoise, teal, or any way a green can blue.

It's the light. I can't take that to any store I know of and have them match it. I've taken 10 paint chips to the store which they've made perfectly. Bring it home? Blueish in some lights. Ick.

As far as the sheen, I like it in this instance. It's woodwork and the dining room can be somewhat darkened because of the porch outside. I understand the issues with a glossier paint.

For being pissed? I was annoyed that yet again I was finding I was given the lip service "no" without someone actually taking the initiative to figure out the possibilities. So many can't think on their own. "No" is a good answer when "no" is the only answer. Even then, there are options.

When my paint man actually looked up the formula, the high gloss was a base option. It wasn't a question of an inferior product.

I am very open to information as to the whys of something. Automatic nay-sayers piss me off. I lived with one, who addressed every idea with, "The problem with that is...." rather than, "hmmm.. let's see what we can do."

I choose to face all this crap I deal with optimistically, believe it or not. Or I'd probably kill myself. Or them.
Even my Multi-Purpose Man has quit saying no. He asks, "Tell me how you see it?"

BTW.
So far, in the lights of two days, the color remains....

[drum roll]

PERFECT!!!

Thank you.
[bowing left and right]