My husband can literally do anything. Hes currently building an investment property from the ground up, but I cannot get him to do anything with our house! I know when he comes home he wants to relax, but I want this place painted dammit! I really want my kitchen and master bath painted. I would settle for my just my bathroom right now. We have lived here for 4 years and Im ready to decorate my bathroom! I dont want to pay someone to do it, because my husband does it better than if I would pay someone. I literally have to con him into doing things. My neighbor and I painted the whole living room one day and when my husband came home we were like "Oops, you're going to have to cut in because we dont know how."
I usually have to wait for my birthday and ask for a house project, how could he refuse that?? But I dont want to wait 6 months! I want er done!
I would try to do the bathroom by myself, as much as possible, but the toilet is going to have to be taken out so I can paint behind it, as well as the light fixtures. I dont know how to do that, and I have the coordination of a newborn, I could never cut in!
How can I con him into doing this without waiting until my birthday!?
Oh my gosh! You ladies are genius! Im going to buy all the supplies and calling my dad!! Wouldnt hurt if I spilled some pant on the floor either, maybe a big blob of paint in his sink. ;) Ah hahaha!
I wanted the bathroom painted. My hubby was taking foreverrr to get started... so *I* started... and he quickly took over. I am no where near as capable as he is, and it showed. The thing is, if I'm doing something wrong, he HAS to fix it... so even if it means I have to roll up my sleeves and make something worse before it gets better, I'll do it ;)
Tell him your dad or his dad is coming over to do it. Mine FLIES into action when I say that. It turns into a pride thing then.
I've even had my dad "stop over" and have him ask what needs to be done. My dad is a great actor apparently and gets my husband's attention. LOL
Why bother conning him? I painted my whole whole myself, tiled my bathroom, I can fix just about anything. there is so much info on the internet.
You can do it!
Another ploy is to get your father or father in law to come over and start helping you - chaching! your hubby will be there in no time!
HAHAHHAHAHA!
If you figure out the answer to this, and it works for you and my husband, I will pay you a million dollars.
Our house is still in the "works" after years of starting projects that never get finished.
Ideas (sometimes these worked, at least to get him started!)
- Sex bribes(if nothing else, you will both be in a better mood).
- Make him his fav dinner
- Set up a weekend to do it together, no kids, and try to make it fun. If my husband knows we have an entire saturday set aside to work on the house, he is more likely to do it.
- Get estimates as to how much it would cost to have a pro come in, then show him how much you will save doing it yourself.
Good luck!
I can build a house as well. I just start projects if he doesn't. He hates when everything isn't done to his standards so he jumps in and finishes it. :)
Go buy some DIY books and buy the materials, should scare him into action.
I would just paint it myself. Oops I actually did the other day. :) I painted around the mirror and vaniety and extra countertop. As for the potty I painted as far as I could behind it. If he wants me to paint all the way behind it then HE CAN DO IT. He won't and you can't tell that the potty wasn't moved.
The trick I was taught is to keep a wet papertowel in your hand so if you get the paint on something like the potty or mirror you can easily wipe it off asap.
Hah hah! When you find the answer, please pass it on! ;-)
Ask him to help, or tell him you will hire someone. Saving the money, might motivate him.
Honestly, I'd do it myself. :) I don't know if both of you work, but he sounds busy...maybe if you at least STARTED on it yourself, he'd pitch in. You can learn to do it!
Sometimes I wish I had your problem...I can't get my husband to stop doing "projects." He's currently finishing the basement and he says when he's done he's not going to do any projects for awhile...I'll believe it when I see it! When's he's doing projects all the time, it means no break for mommy : /
Buy blue tape at Lowes or Home Depot or Aco and tape off the trim and ceilings at the edge and do it yourself.
Not difficult.
If it's a relatively simple project like painting, I do it myself. My stepmom and I removed wallpaper in my kitchen and hallway, prepped, mudded, and painted. It took us about a week to do because of the sheer size of the kitchen (and how many layers of wallpaper were on it), but it looks AWESOME! I did all the mudding & sanding & cutting in (because I didn't have any blue tape) and both of us tackled the priming and painting.
Who am I kidding... Even when it's NOT a simple project, I'll do it myself or both hubby and I will tackle it together.
Why not choose the colors, get out the supplies, tape the room and lay down plastic. You could even do all of the roller work (just fill in the big easy spaces with a roller). Should take a few hours - totally doable. It's the damn trim, and the corners, and behind the toilet, and and and (I just finished a "quick" project...and it took be four times longer than I had planned - ha ha ha ha ha) that takes a LONG time. If he get's home, and much of the work has been started and the rest is just a matter of jumping in, perhaps he'd be more inclined to JUST DO IT. Sometimes, if a project is laid out and I don't have to figure out HOW to do it, it's a really straight forward thing I can just walk in and do, I'm more inclined to get it done. My brain doesn't do the whole, "OH NO! There's so much to think about and all I want to do is ______!)
With my husband, including him in the process is helpful. Rather than, "I want you to paint the kids room," I said, "I am going to remodel the kid's room," he said, "why would we do that right NOW?", I said, "it's summer and my mom will have the kids for a night. Also, it's a good birthday present for them, and it will increase the value of our home." He said, "Fine. But I don't want to have to do it." I said, "Okay. What color do you think we should do? I'll get it all started, and do most of the work, but are you WILLING to do some work too?"
Begrudgingly, he agreed. (Hey, it's progress for us ;-) It was helpful to have his hands at the end, and he ended up seeing where I was coming from as the project came to completion. In the end, he was glad he'd helped, and glad I'd done it. It's not likely, but maybe he'll remember that the next time I suggest doing something like this!
I start to get all the supplies ready and start to do the job myself. When my husband see's that I am going to do it he steps in and does it. Our hallway going up the stairs is pretty steep. When we moved in a friend of mine was helping me. He could not reach the high spots. So our hallway was 1/2 done for over a year. I kept asking my husband who is 6' 2" to help me finish it. All I got is I will get to it. So one day I got the paint ready and a ladder and went to do it. I mean I did a really messed up rig job to get to the top. He saw what I was doing and told me to get out of there that what I did was not going to work and I will fall. He finally finished it. I knew it wasn't going to work. Thats why I did it. You have to play it up alittle.
