Hi all! Posting a bit late, but it's been a busy day! I'm exhausted from working all afternoon and evening, mowing, sweeping, raking, digging a last few plants...also lugging all these plants over to the side yard. I worked until it was too dark to see, and at this point, not much more is going to get done and the gardens are what they are. The weather looks like it will be partly cloudy, humid, and hot tomorrow. If the sun doesn't come out in the AM, the temperature may stay moderate, which would be good. At least they're not predicting rain for the morning! Ejr, I hope you can make it tomorrow. It would be great to see you! One of the reasons the swap thread is started a month or so before is to give people a chance to pre-arrange swaps and organize their plants. I potted a lot of stuff, over time and did it while dividing or planting out anyway. No way I could have done it all just a few days beforehand. And I hope that no one feels uncomfortable or intimidated about what is essentially a bunch of plants...and I'm telling myself that too, because hosting the swap is a little intimidating!! Well at least there are a lot of blooms in the garden this time of year, although they're a bit water-logged at the moment. The Miss Kim Lilac is in full bloom and smells heavenly, but is drooping from the weight of the water. Here's what she looked like 3 days ago, before the rain: And today:

Good morning from California. You are right asolo and I stand corrected. This isn't a support group at all. It is a shame it comes up on google so often. It's easy to address and even have a lively debate about lots of things, without attacking the person. I hope sadwife finds some other neighborhood to hang out in where her character is not under fire. Sadwife *said* she was an english as a second language person. Why would we not believe her? Just because it *sounds* like a made up story doesn't mean it is. Lots of threads on this forum has someone accusing the OP of making up a story. This confounds me. I was directed here from another forum. Maybe people with good marriages don't often think to look up marriage forums on google. That is a good thing, I suppose. I'd hate to depend on some of you to give me advice. Ick.

...and then there are those who have never driven a Lexus to know why it is different from a Toyota. If you don't know any better when it comes to paint, then you really aren't missing anything. ...and then there are the people who just don't see it, or get if, if given the opportunity to choose Lexus over Toyota. Really, no one cares. It's paint. The best thing to do is stick with what you know and want and that makes you happy. Or, go experiment and decide for your own self so you can *know* for yourself and ignore all the chatter back-n-forth. I chimed in because I think it's really unfair to painters to lob out there that they are intentionally marking up cans of paint to the point that's been implied. I said painters aren't making a living by being paint resellers. If selling paint was where they could make a living do you think any of them would actually paint? They make a living based on their skills and knowledge. Some are better at their craft than others and it is true that some are better businesspeople. The better craftsmen will quote your job based on how much labor will be involved and how much of their time your job is going to take. Time and work. Not paint. Paint doesn't matter in the grand scheme. I've found the less confident painters, the painters who do lesser amounts of high-end residential, commercial, and industrial work use the margin they get on a gallon to help them win jobs. They make it look like their cost for time and work is less than the next guy by using the delta on whatever margin they may get from the paint stores to help cover their landed costs. The bottom line is no different, folks. You will pay a painter what he's worth plain and simple. It all comes out in the wash -- smaller crews to bigger crews -- small volume guys to the poster child for a brand boys. At the end of the day, you are going to pay what it costs for their particular skillset, their time, their effort. Now, the core of this is client agreeing with the painter about how much the painter's skill, time, and effort are worth -- that's another discussion. If a little monkeying around with the numbers, shifting a few hundred bucks from the time and effort bottom line to somewhere else that isn't itemized out to the last cent makes you feel better and helps them get your job, do ya think it matters to them? Nope. They're going to make sure they are getting paid what they need to cover their overhead. As they should. No one is going to paint for someone and lose money doing it. The painters who are honest, savvy businessmen concerned about their reputation and neighborhood spin often don't monkey with itemized paint quotes. You're going to get a price and as long as you don't step too far outside the box to stuff like Fine Paint of Europe, or Farrow & Ball, or some specialized treatment, or prep, etc., their price for their work is what it's going to cost you to hire a professional painter, not a professional schlepper of paint. Fairness matters. Compare apples to apples and work with real numbers, not arbitrary pulled-out-of-someone's hat numbers.

Igloo, I am so glad you asked! :-) I did not say I don't look at "stuff" at all. It's just not my first priority. People first, light second, structure and stuff last. OP's situation is a great example. Sounds like the designer's argument for her color choices were based solely on her evaluation of the inherent light, atmosphere. It is very important, and it takes a certain skill set, to find the right range of wall colors to partner with inherent light and resulting atmosphere. However, the selected wall colors have to be in alignment with identified client expectations and design goals too. It has to be a combination of people, light, structure and stuff. Isolating and focusing on just one area of that strategy *might* fit the expectations and design goals best -- that can be the case sometimes, i.e. a picture is the focus and the wall color is chosen with that as a priority. Usually, when someone is struggling or looking for that "wow" factor, it is a matter of carefully considering all three areas (people, light, and structure/stuff) to bring it all together and truly design with color so it meets expectations and desires and is overall a good fit for the space. On the back of my business cards, it reads, "I customize environments and create unique atmospheres. Your exclusive color strategy goes beyond choosing pretty paint colors." Designing with color is different from just picking out paint colors. Sometimes just picking out paint colors is good enough, and that is typically, what most designers/decorators do. However, there are homeowners who *know* that there is more. The typical methods of color leave them a bit flat, unsatisfied. The colors in their house all "match" and "flow", but they are never quite right for them. They can't quite put their finger on what's "wrong". All the decorator color tips and tricks were sought out and followed. The room was duly 60-30-10'd, the palette was repeated room to room, the values of the wall colors were kept consistent, they didn't mix warm and cool colors, etc. etc. etc., but it still isn't them, what they envisioned the space would look and feel like. Those people can see the possibilities, feel that color can have more meaning and *do* something for them in their environment. They just don't know how and the staid methods of color simply do not cut it for those people. Sometimes you need to go deeper and more complete. It all depends on individual expectations and tolerances, and defined goals and objectives. Allowing "stuff" to be the immediate go-to method for choosing wall colors is not the approach that I find most consistent, reliable, or successful. Might be the fastest and easiest, but it is hardly the only or best way.