I almost titled this post The World’s Most Boring Post Ever aka Staring at Primer White Walls, but I’m a bit of a stickler for consistency. I present to you: The Laundry Room No. 4.
You probably saw the title and expected to see painted walls, maybe an appliance in place. I hear you! That’s what I would have expected, too. But, alas, I had no time for such things. I was too busy discovering that D.I.Y. actually stands for Divorce Imminently Yours.
Perhaps you’re thinking the walls look good. The moulding looks amazing. The patching and repair works is great and the nail holes–what nail holes? I know. That’s what I thought, too.
Too bad after I took these pictures my husband then spent two hours caulking, filling, sanding, wiping and all around driving me insane. I joked that he was like Lady Macbeth with the nail holes, and that maybe he was just filling in his imagination. It looked good enough for me. He was unimpressed with my literature humor.
“It looks great! Why are you caulking it all again? Let’s just paint and get it done.”
“Because I caulked it all last night and things have settled since then.”
“Settled? Really? Because I would love to settle right now. I say let’s settle with ‘looks good’ and move forward.”
Then. Then! He said he could not and that’s why he has to do all the D.I.Y. (Divorce Imminently Yours) projects because my attitude towards detail work was too, “casual.”
I replied that if by “casual” he meant “not insane,” then yes. Guilty as charged!
Then. Then! He reminded me I was sick and suggested I lay down. In the bedroom. At the other end of the house. Under the covers and with the door closed.
You don’t have to tell me twice, Mister. You can stick your caulking where the sun doesn’t shine, thankyouverymuch!
I’m pretty sure he’s still in that exact spot.
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New here? For the next 31 days I�m living according to the famous William Morris quote, �Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.� You can learn more about the project here, and catch sneak peeks of my projects by following me on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram (I�m @pancakesfries).
Lol! I thought it looked pretty good too! Just think, in a months time you will be able to look back on all of your hubby’s pernickertiness, with all the appliances back in place and laugh about it! (Or at least breathe a big sigh of relief that it is all over).
BTW is your hubby still in that spot !
No, he’s in bed waiting for his poor back to loosen up. I will be beyond thrilled with the results because it will look like a professional did it–but it looked like a professional did it before he went crazy with the caulking! I’m a perfectionist, but he is something altogether different when it comes to DIY projects!
What a guy. As irritating as it can be to have a perfectionist husband, in the long run, it usually works in out favor.
He’s a super star! He is normally a perfectionist anyway, but I think he really wants this done right because he knows all of you will see it. :) I keep telling him it already looks perfect, but he doesn’t believe me.
I love that acronym. Divorce imminently yours. Just talking about DIY is enough to start something between me and my husband and me.
Yup! That’s what happens when two perfectionist with two entirely different ways of doing things get together on a project. We have entirely different ways of processing information. He has an incredible visual memory and knows how things work. I read lots of instructions and intuitively know how things go back together. You would think it’s a great combination, but we’re both convinced our way is the better way. ;)
We never have these problems with painting, though. Hah!
My ex-husband cut doors off too short, hung flower prints upside down and left strips of the last paint job showing, among other things. Then he wondered why – and had the nerve to be angry about the fact – I wouldn’t help finance a self-built house. Be grateful for a perfectionist husband, he’s far preferable to a sloppy one.
I am very, very grateful for my husband. He’s amazing, and really I was just poking fun. I’m sure you know that, but just in case anyone reading doesn’t!
Your story reminds me of my friend’s ex-husband, who was a handyman. You couldn’t tell that guy anything because he knew it all. When he would see my husband’s home improvement work (which was always perfect thanks to his attention to detail) he would sniff and make comments about it being okay for a rookie. Ooooh he used to burn me up!
(Not that your ex-husband was terrible like that. Your story of the strips of paint just reminded me of him because he did something similar when he painted his house. He just didn’t feel like taping off walls so…it was just a mess.)
You may be on Day 28 but I have just started. I may be a little slow on the uptake but once I get going … watch out. I tackled my kitchen pantry cupboard and rearranged things on the counter top. My hubby is away and he’s going to love not being able to find anything when he gets home!
That’s how I am. I could probably do a William Morris post 5 days a week and be happy if I had a limitless budget.
Oh my goodness! This post had me laughing out loud and reading aloud for my husband who is exactly the same … And it’s MADDENING! Painting is an issue in our house. Apparently you have to fill holes, sand holes, wash walls, tape edges ….. I say, grab a brush and start painting. Unfortunately, his jobs always look better than mine. Must be all that prep time.
Well, therein lies the rub. I complain and joke about it…but his work is always superior to mine. It kind of ruins my point. ;)
p.s. I had that same attitude about painting in the past, but his professional quality paint jobs pretty much made me admit defeat. Was the walls we shall.
These good perfect(ionist) husbands, what would we do without them? Laundry perhaps?
We once had a bunk bed that shifted the very foundation of our marriage, now, when we’re completing each other’s sentences we laugh at the thought of ‘divorce by Ikea’.
Thank goodness for separate rooms ;)
Your bunk bed comment made me laugh out loud!
I know how frustrating it is not to be able to get things done already, but in the long run I’m sure you’ll appreciate your husbands perfectionist tendencies. It’s much better than seeing flaws in the final product! The fact that my boyfriend is a DIY perfectionist is something i LOVE about him. :-)
Plus being sent away while someone else finishes a project is a reward in my mind!
True, except I felt so guilty and useless! I would have liked to help. :)
“You can stick your caulking where the sun doesn�t shine…”
Ha!
Jeff has no interest in details, none. That’s my department. Jeff follows me around going, “Why are you caulking the baseboards again? No one is going to see it except US.”
He may have been unimpressed with your literary allusion, but I for one found it hilarious. “Out damn spot!” Hahaha. Wonderful! Not often you can quote Shakespeare when working around the house. Unless it’s laundry I suppose….
Haha! Yes. I thought it was funny. He just rolled his eyes.
Am I allowed to just say he’s cute and I love the tattoo? :)
Of course! I think he’s super cute. Always have, always will. :)
Oh the things we inflict on our hubbies because of the visions of “what it looks like in our head”. Probably reason 101 that the CatMan stays clear until I absolutely need him. And I think we all know too well the flaws we’ve see after the final coat of paint goes on…
Ok – this post came at the absolute PERFECT time this eve. Restoring our antique card catalog today and was trying to get my blog post up but the piece still wasn’t done and�
I read this in a moment of frustration and it was so perfect that I linked to you and your laundry room escapade at the end at the end of the post.
THANK YOU (and yes, now this marriage CAN be saved). ;) And I can also get to sleep before 4AM.
Claire – ALittleClaireification
Haha! Too funny, Claire. I’m glad I was able to provide a little marriage counseling. ;)
I think my husband and I have had several rounds of essentially the same argument! Sometimes we even trade sides just for fun. I like to tell him it’s “good enough” when it comes to cooking (so you didn’t press the tofu–oh well!) but I’m a little more like your husband when it comes to painting (I always finish a section by rolling down so the finish is the same). The joys of be married to someone different!
OK, I just about spit my coffee out laughing at your definition of DIY. In our house, the words that strike total fear into my husband’s heart are, “Honey, I was thinking…”
Cracking me up, Jules. My husband and I have similar attitudes to what you depict here.