Son had a large wedding and reception but because it was in the afternoon, no dancing. But if we did have a song it would be Celine Dion's "Because You Loved Me." His small high school graduating class sang that to the parents then they gave the mom's a rose. Talk about crying! DIL knows what a close knit family we are and she loves how close I am to my son's. Now that she's a mother of a son she really understands the special bond between son and mother which is not like the old saying goes, "A son is a son until he takes a wife, a daugther is a daughter for the rest of her life." Heck, I still get onto my children! I'll always remember Barbara Bush speaking about Jr., "Just because he's the President doesn't mean he can put his feet on my coffee table!" lol

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.

He is doing really good. His job started this week, so I probably won't hear from him again til Sunday. He did say that they wanted to try and wrap the job up by December before the bad winter months were upon them. That is a nice long job for the crew. Thanks for asking! Trin

It's so hard for me to understand a disinterested grandparent. I would be thrilled to death if I ever have a grandchild. My father is a very disinterested grandfather. My mother, on the other hand, adored her grandchildren. (she and my father were divorced many years ago) As my children grew up, they had a loving relationship with Grandma, but not so with Grandpa, who took no interest in them at all. I feel that Grandpa is the one who lost out, he chose not to establish any kind of relationship with his grandchildren and now that they are adults, they are polite if they see him, but have no real interest in him either. He is like a distant relative that they barely know. I agree with the post who said invite them but don't expect much. My kids grew up fine without Grandpa in their lives, what is important is that you have a warm and loving relationship with him. And yes they surely do grow up fast!