Choosing Paint - Not for Sissy's!

My family and friends can tell you how I agonize over paint choices, it can literally take me a year to decide on a color. I know it's said that paint is cheap, but really, it's not! Okay, relatively speaking, paint is an inexpensive way to improve the look of your home. However, when the paint for one room of my home costs more than $100, I can't say that it's cheap. Not to mention the time it takes to actually paint the room! We've painted 3 rooms of our home since June of this year and I've gained some confidence in choosing paint, still it isn't a job for sissy's!

Last week we had our 'roofing system replaced'. We thought we were having our house re-roofed, but it turned out to be more of a renovation. Our roof is new from the rafters up - oh wait! Some of the rafters are even new! The fascia boards are new and some of the siding was replaced as well. This means we need to paint!

Here's a "Before" shot of our roof -

I know, it's not the greatest picture, but I didn't think to take an actual "Before" of my ugly old roof!

Here's an "After" -
We had thought once the roof was finished, we'd have a landscaper come in and help us with the front yard. We'll still do that, but after we paint. Which brings us back to choosing paint. We live in an historic district, and while they don't have strict guidelines, or any at all really, most of the homes are painted colors that blend into nature. I've been walking the neighborhood, looking at houses and the colors they are painted. I noticed there are A LOT of soft yellows and creams, and decided I wanted something different. I've never been a fan of green, but I found a house with a paint scheme that I really like and headed to Home Depot for samples and paint related reading material.
Much of yesterday was spent with the ott light on the table as we looked at different colors together, trying to narrow down the choices so we could buy samples to try on the house. These are the first two selections we'll try.
Kind of a greenish blue with an antique white trim and red doors. I really like red doors. I am also influenced by paint color names - the darker greenish blue is called 'dragonfly' and I like that!

The white across the top is for the fascia and soffits, which we are going to do in vinyl. (Note: Until last week, I didn't even know what fascia and soffits were! Now I know what they are and that it's a good idea to do them in vinyl.)

If these turn out to be the paint colors we use on the house, I'll have made a HUGE break through! Stay tuned. . . .

I'm a Winner!

I have been enjoying Bookreporter.com's newsletter since they were a part of the AOL community. Every Saturday morning I sit down at my computer with a cup of coffee and spend an hour or two with their weekly newsletter. I started out making my reading wish list in a small notepad I could carry with me when I went to the bookstore. After a year or so, I graduated to a PDA. Today, I head to Amazon and send a sample to my Kindle. How times have changed!

No matter how I make my list, Bookreporter has pointed me in the direction of many wonderful authors I may never have found on my own, Lisa Tucker being one of them. Imagine my surprise to learn that I had won a copy of her latest in their monthly drawing! Also included in my package were:

have a little faith, by Mitch Albom

The Last Song, by Nicholas Sparks

Her Fearful Symmetry, by Audrey Niffenegger

The Promised World, by Lisa Tucker

An Echo in the Bone, by Diana Gabaldon

I'm looking forward to reading all of these, but especially Her Fearful Symmetry, as I loved her first novel, The Time Traveler's Wife. I've only read the first two of Diana Gabaldon's series, but now that I have the latest one in hand, I think it's probably time to catch up!

I hope you all have a great weekend - if you need me, you'll find me curled up on the couch with Jake and Gracie reading!