Actually, paint itself doesn't really have an upside down. The color is the same on the roller or brush no matter which way you turn it. The idea of a whole wall being upside down is more about the design or pattern being flipped. Like if you used a stencil of a tree and painted it with the branches at the bottom. That would totally create an inverted look and is a great story starter. The mental image of a room where everything is painted wrong-side-up is really fun to think about.

Totally get what you mean about one-size-fits-all rules... it's such a trap. That line about not blindly following a recipe hits home, because you really do have to understand how things work together. I see it all the time with parenting advice, trying to force some strict method on every kid. @claire_moore is right that it applies everywhere... you learn the basics so you know which parts you can change for your own situation. Otherwise you're just following steps without knowing why anything works.

Nature's way of telling you that rock really didn't want a fence there. It waited patiently through the digging and pouring just to give your post a wobbly housewarming gift. Between hidden boulders and sneaky knots in the wood, it's a wonder any fence stays upright. What did you end up doing, digging the whole thing out or just working around it?