I'm settling in on the paint decision. Sort of. I'm going to hire a pro to do the entry way, stairwell and living room high ceiling insets -- the three areas that are either extremely difficult to do, or important to be done really well. He's going to charge $1600. It's expensive, but I've decided I really want the change and those areas are too much for me. Bill is not interested in painting, and doesn't mind hiring someone. I painted the master bath yesterday, and absolutely love the color (or non-color, as it were). So it helps to feel really good about the choice of color before I sink $ into it. Then when we get back I'm going to tackle the rest of the house. If I go nuts, I'll hire it out. It's odd (or nuts) that with the master bath a neutral beautiful non-color, the rest of the house suddenly looks garish. I know it's all in my changing perceptions --

It actually helped settle my nerves to paint the bathroom, because it's definitely a high level of energy around here -- excitement and tension. Painting is just stroke by stroke, wall by wall. Or maybe I just like the fumes.