Picking Paint Colors

Is there anyone out there that enjoys picking paint colors and picks the "right" color the first time??!  I can say with all certainty I am NOT one of them.  I am however a big fan of the little sample paints from the orange store! 

I wish I had a before picture of the door with the dozen or so little paper paint chips taped on the door.  Family and neighbors were making their picks and we had it narrowed down to 3 colors.  We were looking for just the right red to add a "pop" of color, but not be obnoxious, but match a colonial house.  We ruled out one color really quickly as it was a bit on the pinkish side and that left us with the 2 colors below:  Dozen Roses by Behr (the orange store brand) and Classic Burgandy by Benjamin Moore. 

I really wanted to love the Classic Burgandy since we have a colonial house and it just seemed like it should be the right fit (is this a good time to mention that hubby liked Dozen Roses better?), but it just seemed so dark next to the black shutters.  I left the colors up for a few days, looked at it at all times of the day, from my lawn, from the street, and from the neighbors. 

In the end, concensus was with Dozen Roses and I must admit I love the name and it makes me smile :)!  Since the Sherwin Williams paint had such great reviews, I had them do a color match on the Dozen Roses sample.  

I'm glad I did all my testing of colors on the door that will be removed.  I was going to paint the sidelights red too, but hubby thought that would be too much.  We took a ride through a neighborhood that had both painted and white sidelights and with red I liked it unpainted.  Glad we did that as it saved me some time!  I did finally paint the front door all one color and I also sanded and painted the garage door the same red. 

I am so excited to get my new door this week ~ although I'll have to paint it all over again ;)

Painting Vinyl House Shutters

The first project I'm tackling is painting the vinyl shutters black.  I read the reviews online for exterior paint on vinyl and found great reviews for Sherwin Williams Duration line.  We chose black to paint the shutters so I just got their Tricorn Black which is a basic black. 

I must say the paint is REALLY thick, but I really like. Some spots will need another coat and it is is kind of tricky to get the sides, but so far I'm loving the color and I'm happy with how great the paint looks!!  Hubby said he was surprised how great the paint looks :) 

The House

Well, since I haven't spent much doing my digi scrapping or been on the computer too much, I thought I would share some of what I have been doing.  Since we are in the Northeast, we definitely have a summer season and the weather has been wonderful! While we've been enjoying the weather, I've needed a few days in a row without rain to do some outside painting.

My projects right now revolve around the outside of the house. As you can see in the picture below, the house has yellow vinyl siding with teal shutters.  When we first bought the house 8 years ago, the door was also the color of the shutters.  We had planned on taking off the shutters, but they are installed with shutter locks and they leave a hole where all the screws were, so we've just left them for the past 8 years!

You probably can't see too much, but in the bottom right corner of the door, the moulding is rotting and it has now rotted through the door.  So, we ordered a new front door at the beginning of July that will be installed the first week of August.  This was a process because in order to decide on a door, we had to decide what we wanted to change on the house, if anything, just so it all matches.  When the door guy was out measuring, he suggested painting the shutters.  I thought it was a GREAT idea.  Hubby did NOT.  He thinks I'm crazy. What's new?!  So, I've been on a mission to get them painted without removing them. 

So, check back here to see my progress!!

Thanks for stopping by!

July 14th Sassy Lil Sketches Reveal

Once again Cherie over at Sassy Lil Sketches has come up with a great sketch!  

This is the July 14th Sketch ~ 

Below is my take on the sketch ~

I'm just loving this Fireworks and Pinwheels Megakit from Team Divine over at Divine Digital.  Be sure to stop on by Sassy Lil Sketches and check out the other great sketches, forum and gallery!

Thanks for stopping by.