Old House My House

It seemed like it would be easy to pick colors for the exterior of the house.  After all, you just pull a bunch of paint chips and select the ones you like. Ah, how naive.

Michael wants a color that doesn't make too much of a statement. We want to stay with historic colors, but not trade off on the playful factor. I wanted a purple door. Carol, our color consultant, is there to make sure that whatever we do will complement the metal roof. And you want to be sensitive to house's self image—last thing you want is for the house to say "does this color scheme make me look fat?"

So we pick green as a starting point. Green—my favorite color from childhood. But quel green? (Sorry about that, we just watched Breakfast At Tiffany's this week and I picked that up from Audrey.)

Taking into account all of our parameters, we find a pretty green with yellow undertones for the body color. Pair it with a handsome red for the wood screens and a plum color for the door. Sounds great.  Paint it on the house to see for sure. The red is too soft. Look at it with a second coat. The green is too sweet. A second trip to the paint store. Now the red is just right. 

More paint chips, more decisions. How about a new body color? We're leaning towards a mustard right now. It's a little bold. Maybe too Goldilocks?

—Michele