By JANINE A. ZEITLIN

In a land of blasé beige and jailhouse gray, a Hideaway Beach couple decided to go gutsy. They had their house painted bright pink. 

To be exact, John and Gail Schmidt chose the color hydrangea for their three-bedroom home that hugs the gulf in this wealthy Marco Island gated community. Hydrangea, named for the flower, is a rich salmon shade. Or perhaps, a deep coral. More or less, it's bright pink. 

"This is the wildest thing we've done in our lives," said John Schmidt, a seasonal Marco Island resident since 1988. The couple splits their time between Marco and Burr Ridge, a Chicago suburb. The 74-year-old retired attorney and railroad executive hoped to retire in peace in the couple's spot on Sea Dune Lane. But peace is the last thing he's found since choosing a color outside the accepted palette.  Seeking $15 million in damages, Schmidt and his wife are suing The Hideaway Beach Association Inc., the association's board of directors and three members of the association's architectural review committee, where Hideaway Beach homeowners go to get the thumbs up before making changes to their homes' exteriors.

John and Gail Schmidt painted their Hideaway Beach home on Marco Island the color hydrangea, which stands out among the usual muted pastels, whites and grays of the neighborhood.

They are suing on counts of injunctive relief, libel and slander. 

Schmidt says the review committee reneged on its approval of the hydrangea color for the home. Committee members then bullied and badmouthed the pair about the color and the lack of shutters and a door, he alleges. 

In a Feb. 18 letter to Schmidt, the committee's chairman threatened to take decorating into their own hands if the couple didn't stop their delinquent design ways by March 8. 

"If this deadline is ignored, the Association will be forced to complete the approved package at your expense. This will include repainting your house the approved color and acquiring and installing the approved shutters and doors," said John Solverson, chairman of the decorating committee in the letter. 

Hideaway Beach officials said there will be no militant makeover of the Schmidts' house anytime soon. 

Solverson and committee members Lawrence Dress and Mona Zeiger, could not be reached for comment. Tony Zeiger, Mona Zeiger's husband and president of the Hideaway Beach Association's board, refused to comment. 

The committee approved the hydrangea color — 25 percent muted — according to a May 6, 2001, letter from the committee's secretary. 

And an executive with The Aerial Cos. Inc., the couple's painting company, confirmed that the Schmidts' house was painted the hydrangea color toned down 25 percent. 

However, in the Feb. 18 letter to Schmidt, Solverson said the hydrangea house was not the color the committee approved. The color was not muted by 25 percent, he said. 

"You did not paint your house the approved color. The sample of the color originally submitted was the color you painted your home ... That color was not approved," Solverson said in the letter. 

He said the Schmidts' plan was approved April 2001 and was lagging too slowly. The approved door and shutters had not been put up, Solverson said. Schmidt said the committee-approved shutters are up and the door was not approved. 

In the lawsuit, Schmidt alleges that Solverson and Dress badmouthed them at a November Hideaway Beach picnic to their embarrassment. He and his wife went "over to say hello" and were "verbally attacked in an aggressive, confrontational style," the suit reads. 

Solverson refers to the meeting in his Feb. 18 letter. "I personally spoke to you at the company picnic about this matter." 

David Somers, general manager at Hideaway Beach, had little to say about the matter. 

"We do not want to comment on the specifics and exacerbate what we hope is a misunderstanding among neighbors that can be resolved amicably," he said. 

The hydrangea incident started ever-so-innocently. The couple closed on the 4,100-square-foot house in May 2000 and moved in with only two plastic chairs, a mattress and tables. "It was battleship gray," he said. 

Clearly, they needed to redecorate. 

They sought the services of Sally Kramer, a well-known island interior decorator. They wanted a tropical feel, a change from their 60-year-old white home in suburban Chicago. 

Kramer set to work. She started with interior jolts of hydrangea — from the molding in the downstairs bedroom to the stripes on the pineapple-printed kitchen stool cushions. The finale: a hydrangea exterior. 

The color is not a fad, she said. It's been featured in designer magazines, like Vogue, for at least five years. It's a trend, she said and those complaining about the color are out of the loop. 

They're "not in tune with the fashion world," she said. "They're a bunch of trunk designers. They design their homes out of their car trunks." 

And "what," she asked, "are qualifications of retired dentists, doctors and lawyers," to decide the colors of a home? 

Many of the couple's neighbors on the tucked away Sea Dune Lane have no qualms with the color. 

"It looks pretty from the water. I was kayaking by it. It's his choice. It's not like he's painting purple, yellow and pink all in one house," said Dianne Ryan, who admitted she'll be painting her house a more muted peach. 

John White, who lives across the street from the couple, said "I have no objection to his decision about painting his house." About the color he said, "It doesn't bother me," but would not admit whether or not he actually liked it. 

Schmidt said the hydrangea horror has taken a personal toll. 

"It was just very bad stuff. We don't feel welcome here. This has affected us terribly ... and spread like wildfire," he said, his eyes welling up. He recalled the time when he was gardening and heard a passer-by say, "Those are those flashy people." 

They bought the Hideaway Beach spot for its jaw-dropping view of the water, he said. "The sunsets are gorgeous. They're kind of hydrangea." 

And they're not leaving. Ever since they were drawn to vacation in Marco in the mid-1960s by an advertisement they spotted in Chicago newspapers, they wanted to live there. "I'm not someone to be driven out of my spot, the dream of your life." 

Schmidt said he plans to attend the association's board meeting Friday morning to present the issue. He's already met with the legal representative of the association's president. Review committee officials called Schmidt Friday to inform him they had canceled their meeting scheduled for that day. 

Despite the personal pain, Schmidt maintains a sense of humor as he bids adieu to a visitor. 

"You've seen the offensive house. I hope it didn't spoil your day."