Pee Wee's Playhouse Green: A Shutter Mishap on the Hottest Day of the Year

This weekend I hopped out of bed cheerfully Saturday morning. I'm always cheerful when I wake up to a house project. A cheap idea that can be completed with a $10 trip to Home Depot and a quick stop-off at Sonic for a peach tea. Those are the kinds of things that put a spring in my step. Those, and the never-ending flame that burns in my heart at the thought of winning the lottery.

I decided the shutters in the dining area needed a change. A summer makeover if you will. They were a dark shade of red, which I felt was a little too country. A little too wintry.



So off to Home Depot I went, the yellow morning sun already beating down angrily as the little thermometer in my car flashed 97. Eek.

Once in the store I chose (what I thought was) a stunning shade of bright green. I also bought this new cheerful succulent plant in celebration of my 'green' makeover. Actually, the spray paint was almost an exact match to this little sun loving plant. Turns out, bright green looks fabulous on a succulent. And perhaps not so fabulous on my shutters.

As I began to eclipse my formerly dark red shutters, I drew back in horror. My cheerful green was bright. Garish. Blinding. Day-Caresque. Matt ventured outside into the paint fumes, shook his head and said, "It reminds me of Pee Wee's Playhouse."

At this point it was 101 degrees in our backyard.

The color was so heinous that I didn't even take a picture of it. I thought about it. I thought to myself, "Hmmm... I should document this for the blog so everyone can see how ugly this is." And then I decided that my green-monster-shutters needed NEVER be digitally documented for posterity. Some things deserve to be forgotten.

I made a speeding, two-wheeled trip BACK to Home Depot in the scorching heat to buy some trusty old red spray paint. Red paint has never done me wrong. Green on the other hand, not so easy to pick.

And so the shutters went back to their state of red. Only this time, I picked a candy apple red as opposed to the brick red they were before. It's a subtle change, but a good one.

I also lost several pounds in sweat as I labored outside, hair matted to my forehead, simmering sun scorching the tip of my nose as I struggled desperately not to shout profanities. It wasn't a pretty day, and neither was I as I hunkered, white legs reflecting the sun like tin foil and one hand pinched over my nose lest I pass out from the ozone-hole-making spray paint clouding over our back yard. Needless to say, it's a day I don't care to remember.

But at least the succulents didn't fail me. Their shade of green is just perfect.