My hubby is a wonderfully handy guy to have around, but it took me years (because I was working such long hours for most of those years) to realize that while he's exceptionally talented at the carpentry/electrical/plumbing/physical aspects of remodeling, he was virtually colour-blind and completely unaware of (and disinterested in) the aesthetic side of things.

For much of my adult life, before hubby came along, I was too poor to be able to afford to choose my surroundings...my furniture, dishes and even knick-knacks were mostly from the second-hand stores. So I got used to being surrounded by a mish-mash of styles and colours. So I'm not much better at envisioning the "can-be's" when redecorating, but at least I can tell when something's NOT right or when colours aren't working well together.

I have a gay friend who has very elegant and tasteful skill at redecorating. He's bought several rundown houses and restored them, inside and out, and they're usually showpieces by the time he's finished with them. He has that knack of putting odd colours together and getting them to work beautifully, tying them together with just the perfect lamps, rugs, cushions, knick-knacks and paintings on the walls. I don't know how he can envision all that with what he starts out with, but it's a delightful gift to watch him turn chaos into beauty like that.

[ January 12, 2006, 09:15 PM: Message edited by: Eagle Heart ]