Photo A Day – November 2: Colour #FMSphotoaday

SIX MONTHS after our civil partnership (the first to be registered in a place of worship in the UK) we are nesting before winter comes. Today a carpet fitter came to measure up, and a decorator arrives on Monday.

It’s all about colour and compromise – we have been together almost five years and lived together for four, but I have been here for nearly ten years and the flat is still pretty much as it was before, except for more shelves and cupboard space for my partner’s stuff. The large sitting room/dining room and hall are painted a neutral magnolia at the moment, but the lounge suite is in aubergine – a deep shade of purple, my favourite colour. We can’t afford to replace it, but what do we choose that goes with it and matches his taste too?

His favourite colour is green, mine is purple. This was the colour scheme for our civil partnership service and reception, and it worked really well on the day.  But finding a colour scheme to live with, day in, day out, for years to come – now that’s a different matter. It’s a bit like learning to live together once the honeymoon’s over, Finding a way of blending our tastes so it feels like his home too (we can’t afford a new place together just yet). The carpet above is not the answer – too busy for a relaxing room, though in a hall or stairwell I could see it working. He called it ‘bilious’, so it’s definitely a no-go!

We haven’t made the final choice yet. We’re still learning to live with each other’s preferences and and pecadillos, and every new situation throws up more. We are looking forward to having the place sorted before the Christmas holiday, but in the meantime in this one bedroom flat we will have a week or so of tripping over each other and boxes of stuff we have emptied from the rooms to be painted.

Let’s hope our tempers don’t become as frayed as the old carpet!

For the background to the Photo A Day challenge, please read the intro to Day 1 here.