Chris Maclean: £1,500 well spent?

There is a little bit of a cold atmosphere in our household tonight. Put bluntly, I have the hump.

My wife has decided to commission decorators to paint the hallway for the princely sum of £1,500. Without telling me.

It is frustrating for three reasons.

Fifteen hundred quid, plus paint, is a lot of money and such a decision would normally be negotiated between us. But I guess she was acting in my interests and didn't want to burden me. I don't think I am a control freak but, reading this again, I am starting to wonder.

The second issue is her choice of painters. It defies logic. I have a pub full of painters and decorators. I am sure we could have chosen a decent one from amongst them. At least someone with some experience and reputation. Someone who came recommended. Not someone simply drawn, at random, from the Yellow Pages​. The only benefit from such a choice is going to be that I will be over them like a rash trying to pick fault in their work. But beware. The danger of employing anyone who comes into the pub as a customer is that, if the job goes sour, apart from the damage caused by the job, there is a risk you lose the customer and perhaps others as well.

And the final issue is to do with the choice of project. Eight months into this pub and things are looking pretty good. Trade is brisk in the bar, the hotel and the restaurant. We are way ahead of schedule. But there is always something out there to spoil things. I live in fear of that random electricity bill that apologises for not reading the meter for two years but the bill now stands at £24,000. That sort of thing. I am being very cautious. There are other, competing issues. Smoking shelter. Carpeting. A new car. A holiday.

The hallway is in need of decoration but it isn't a catastrophe. The bar is done. The rooms are OK. The restaurant is lovely. No one has ever said any part of our business is compromised by the hallway. So I was happy to leave it. But the decision has been made.

At least I shan't have to face that tricky bit at the top of the stairs. That scares me. So maybe fifteen hundred quid will be well spent.