The Fixer Upper House and Garden

Shades of White

A situation with my painter has caused me to rethink the way I am parenting my daughters.

Last week after the painters had been working on the exterior for 2 days, I realized they were using Brilliant White on the trim, when I had told them to use Dove White. (How to describe the difference? Brilliant White is the color of Oprah's teeth after a visit to the dentist. Dove White is like Half 'N Half ... before you pour it into coffee).

 GC and the painters tried to convince me that even though I thought I wanted Dove White, the brighter Brilliant White which they had chosen was actually a better match to the window mullions. They talked about the importance of maintaining consistency; they said it was the architect's idea; they said it looked really good; they didn't remember hearing me mention Dove White. And they pointed out that they'd already purchased xbezillion gallons of Brilliant White and had invested 2 days of labor into the job.

Choosing Exterior Paint Colors

One of the things I tried to avoid throughout this renovation was making decisions at the last minute. When we renovated our first house 13 years ago, I was so unprepared for finishing decisions that I would have to rush out and buy stuff the moment the carpenter told me he needed it. For example, when he informed me it was time to install bathroom tile, I buckled my baby into her car seat and raced off to the tile store. When he needed the bath tub, I frantically dialed Husband's cell phone and told him to get one on his way home from the airport. We picked out the kitchen cabinets from a lineup at Home Depot and decided on exterior paint colors after half an hour in a paint store. It turned out well enough---it was a 100-year old Victorian two-flat that we rescued from decades of neglect, and for the five years that we lived there, we loved it completely.

This time around, as many of you know, I took the opposite approach: I researched and priced out every centimeter of The Fixer Upper House ... Until now!

The painters are here to do the exterior work. All along I've been planning on a "sand" color for the window trim, but I haven't figured out which of the hundreds of "sand" colors I should go with. I want the shutters to be dark green--but which dark green? I have given not a moment's thought to the beadboard, fasciaboard and all of that stuff. And I totally have disregarded the centerpiece of the house: The Front Door.