Thinking Outside My Box

The renovation of the kitchen is reminding me that sometimes I need a Whack on the Side of the Head so that I start to think outside the box that I have made for myself. I've had some good ideas about how I want to "decorate" the kitchen with granite, tiles and colors. They would work. They would work, that is, if I could pull all the pieces together. But it ain't happening.

If you've been reading along with this blog you know I've been trying to get some sample tiles made up. The design is a done deal. It is a standard design for the tile company. All I want is for the colors to be changed. But we have been through four or five samples and every time it is as if I didn't communicate what I wanted. And I'm talking to another fluent English speaker. Each round of samples takes at least a week if not two weeks. I'm a little slow but I've finally realized that I need to get another plan...outside my box.

The carpenter has been making samples of stained wood for me. The one I liked best was a darker color. It was a nice contrast to the granite and I thought it would look good with the stainless steel appliances. But the sample he had was alcohol based rather than oil based and all of the carpenters say that the oil based finishes are better especially in a kitchen. So far out of 6 or 7 samples we don't have a color that comes close to matching the darker alcohol based sample. If I want contrast with the granite and I can't get darker, try something lighter than the granite....like a pickled white. I'm a little slow but I've finally realized that I need to get another plan....outside my box.

Do you find yourself in situations like this? You have put together a plan and when that plan isn't working you go into problem solving mode for that plan because at that point you are determined to make it work. You are invested in that plan. You have a single minded vision about that plan.

Are you, like me, a hard-headed person who can be determined and stubborn and By God, you'll get it done whatever the cost? When maybe what you need is a new plan. But you have to step outside of the box you have made for yourself before you can see new possibilities.