A lesson in exterior paint colors

We need to paint the exterior of the house. We made that decision earlier this year and contacted a number of painters for bids and settled on a father/son combo who had painted the new house next door. They did a great job and came in as the low bid. We were happy.

But then it started.

Picking the painters, it turned out, was the easy part. Now we had to pick a color; actually two colors - one for the body and one for the trim.

At first, we just said we were going to paint it the same color as it was. Then, well, then we started thinking that if we wanted to mix it up a bit, this was the time to do that. Neither of us is planning to be in this house when it needs painting the next time so this was our chance to put our mark...our design...our color choice...on the house. Sheesh.

Well, June passed and it was time to go to Shaw for two months. Randy emailed the contractor and said the paint job would have to wait until September. Whew - that was a close one. We almost had to decide on paint!

But then September came and we couldn't put it off any longer. And we still didn't have a paint color. So, we jumped in with both (well, all four) feet.

But do you know how many shades of tan there are? You might not be able to tell but there are at least 6 different paint colors on this wall.

Or how many shades of taupe? Oh, I bet I didn't mention that we have shakes on the roof and are concerned that it go with the weathered look of the shakes, did I?

Or how many shades of tan-y taupe and taupe-y-tan? There are five different colors on this wall...not counting the original house paint!

There are thousands, I tell you, thousands. And the names...who comes up with these names? Rocky Ridge...Cottage Walk...Sand Castle...Monteray Bay...Dry Creek...Ethiopia...Driftwood. I need that job.

And while most people wouldn't get bogged down between shades of tan and taupe, we can't seem to get out from under it. We worry that if we pick taupe, it'll be too gray and it's already pretty gray here in the winter so having a gray-toned house might be too much.

But if we pick a dark tan like Mocha Latte, will the house look like a giant Hershey bar? Hmmm...Ethiopia's not bad; not bad at all. Of course, next to Sand Castle, it's pretty dark...and pretty taupe.

We drove around some of the newer Felida/Lakeshore neighborhoods Sunday afternoon looking at the newest paint colors. That's also a requirement...we'd like the color to be something that's in style for a while. Everyone paints their house taupe or tan, Randy says. And we'd like something a bit bolder...well, maybe bold isn't the right word. Slightly different from everyone else would be a better way to phrase it.

The other thing is that the color on the printed paint chip isn't necessarily the color the paint turns out to be when it's brushed on the wall. And don't even get me started about the lightness and darkness issues between shaded walls and sunny walls. I could write a book!

The painters are starting a week from today. And we still don't have a paint color. So, we did what we should have done in the first place.

We hired a decorator to pick the colors for us. But we didn't hire just any decorator. Oh no, not us. We hired the daughter of the people who built and lived in this house until we bought it from them. We had issues before when we hired her to help us pick interior colors but we're putting that aside.

Since she lives close, she knows this neighborhood and we walk past her house everyday. I like her colors - Randy, not so much. He thinks it's too taupe. Hmmm. She's coming over tomorrow at 10. This should be interesting.