Bathroom Blues 2

Remember last month, I was having Bathroom Blues? We've had a few more problems since then...

Once the bricks had been tied together, things went smoothly...until we unwrapped the shower. It came part-assembled, so we'd checked the glass was intact with our plumber, but hadn't taken every bit of cardboard off the frame, thinking it was more likely to get scratched/dented if we unwrapped it.

The frame was bent. I mean SERIOUSLY bent. With a dent so deep in the top, it had split the metal. We arranged a replacement to be delivered (after a bit of haggling with the supplier). Our plumber moved on to fitting the sink - which leaked.

One quick phonecall later, and a new sink was arranged, to arrive with the replacement shower.

Both turned up a few days later: shower mercifully undented, and fitted without problem. The second sink was fitted - and leaked. In exactly the same place as before.

Discussions with the supplier disclosed that this was a recognised quality issue for the model we'd chosen - so a third sink was despatched. And hooray! It's in - and doesn't leak!

Everything is now working as it should. We've still got bare boards until we finish painting, but the kids are enjoying using the new shower and - more importantly - I get my loft bathroom back! No wet towels on the floor...no wiping down after splashy teenagers...only two toothbrushes and toothpastes on the side of the sink...

But the new bathroom; the saga doesn't end there.

I decided to decorate it a bit 'funky', so we've had feature mosaic tiles in frosted glass and metal and I found a bathmat in a limey green and white zebra pattern. As a result, a couple of the smaller sections of wall are going to be the same limey green.

A trip to a well-known DIY warehouse, and I found the perfect match for the limey green - which isn't actually lime, according to the paint charts. I chose Kiwi Crush 3 on the Dulux mix-and-match (or should that be match-then-mix?) range. A sample was duly tested, given the seal of approval in artificial and natural light, and Mr Squidge was sent back to the DIY warehouse to purchase a big pot of said colour.

However.

DIY store will not be stocking Dulux in the future - they've found a new supplier doing a mix-whatever-colour-you-want range. Fine, thought I. Mr Squidge had gone back the day after purchasing a tester, so they'd still have plenty, wouldn't they? Well, yes, they did, but not in matt emulsion. Endurance emulsion, but not matt. "Fine," said Mr Squidge. "Here's the code and colour - mix away." That was Saturday.

Today was my first chance to get the green on the walls. I checked the label - yep, Kiwi Crush 3, code matches the tester. Lovely jubbly. Roller at the ready, I took a screwdriver to the lid.

As soon as I lifted it up, my heart sank. There was no way on earth that I was looking at the same colour I'd brought home in the tester - it was far too blue. I don't mind admitting, I clutched at straws. Perhaps it hadn't been mixed properly? So I mixed it. Perhaps it was because it was a different base? So I put a brush-worth up on the wall next to the tester patch.

The one it should be is on the right...

There is no way that the colour on the left is the same. It's not my imagination, is it?

I'm waiting to hear from said DIY warehouse to see whether they have enough Dulux stuff to remix...or whether they'll refund my money.

And I've found another stockist of Dulux mix-it paint, just in case...