Why the Home Depot Paint Department Hates Me

While jay was busy sanding the ceiling, I wanted to paint over the pink walls in the bedroom. We really liked our friend, Grant's colours so he gave me the names - Classic Ivory and Traditional Tan - and I went to Home Depot.

Now, the only problem with the brand new Home Depot in Huntsville is that it's employed with brand new people who know less about what they're selling than we do. Our detailed questions didn't help. And now I'm sure the paint department has a picture of me behind the desk saying "Avoid this #$@% Torontonian".

The new paint woman looked a little scared when I handed her the paint names I wanted and told her that she should be able to retrieve them from the master palette in her computer. She looked at me as if to say, "We have a computer?". I'm sure she sighed with relief when I suggested the colours might be Benjamin Moore. More than happy to get rid of me, she gave me directions and I go to Benjamin Moore. Although, by this time, it was nearly whiteout conditions so I was a little tense. The Benny Moore woman looked in their computer and tells me the colours are Home Depot. So back to Home Depot I went.

The paint woman, delighted to see me again, called for some assistance and the colours were eventually found in their computer. But without samples or paint chips, I didn't want to order anything without seeing it first. So they generously mixed up 2 gallons of paint and said if I didn't like them, I wouldn't have to pay for them. The traditional tan looked like mint green and the classic ivory looked beige. They said they were from an older collection. So then I grab a hundred paint chips from the display, go home and Jay and I pick new colours for the bedroom and main living area. What should have taken 15 minutes took 3 hours, but I finally got around to painting that day and I think it turned out well. Camel back for the bedroom:

And Mushroom Cap for the rest:
Kitchen before:

Kitchen after:
It's amazing what just a little paint can do. Of course, after a consult with Grant, our designer friend, we ended up having to repaint some of it, but that's another story...

And, regardless of not knowing everything about their store, I really can't say enough good things about the Home Depot people. So friendly, so courteous - I think more Huntsville employees shook my hand than Toronto employees have even bothered to make eye contact with me.