i posted this to my original inquiry but decided it might get more eyes if i made it its own thread, so .... <br> <br> <br> <br>great help so far with the porch but now the painters, who have finished power washing the clapboard, are just now finishing up the sanding and want color answers pdq. at first, we'd thought silver sage -- california paints' hawthorn -- but no longer, it seeming a little washed out and bla bla in the evening light. we've run through all kinds of blue greens and can't settle on a one. the thing is, we're not at all interested in being historically accurate, we just want to be somewhere in the realm of more fun oriented (perhaps) bungalow possiblities, and the choices are driving us nuts. that said, we've just about thrown up our hands in frustration and are thinking of going with bunglehouse gray for the body, vellum for the trim, and this kind of neat carbon black for the sashes. no red anywhere, since my g.f. is against it. <br>any other more outre combinations come to mind? we don't like yellow, if that helps. we do like blues and greens but haven't seen any shades that work for us. <br>i do have the bungalow exteriors book and find, among other things, that while the ideas are great the color reproduction is horrible; i mean, the variations in what's supposed to be bunglehouse gray truly bungle the imagination! er, boggle. <br>so, help anyone? <br>the gray default position we may go with just to end up with a netural stance that can be enlightened with plants and whatnot. <br>oh yes and finally: what about painting all the gable edges that carbonlike black all around all four sides ... would that be too weird for words?

My first thought is to paint the gable ends a brick-red type, and some sort of buff/green underneath. That will give a more horizontal appearance to the house...since you want a bungalow emphasis. I am not sure of the colors...but I would start with some paint chips. I personally wouldn't chose to paint the trim black. I think that will look too stark. Perhaps a dark brown or a contrasting color? This is where I use CAD drawings or at least a photo that I can copy and colorize so I can get a pretty close idea of what the house will look like.

To me grey isn't a fun color and the dead colors you mentioned dont do it for me either. I can see grey with maybe blue-green trim and vellum for the window sashes. I have two grey houses on my block, one looks like a depressing battleship and the other one actually is quite nice. The big difference is the use of color in the trimmings for the depressing one even bright pretty flowers wouldn't liven it up. If you go with the greys I'd suggest a warm grey and go from there, come to think of it then the black and the vellum wouldn't be so bad. Paint colors really do drive a person mad. <br>tanya

Might I suggest the Sherwin Williams preservation pallet. This link is for their exterior colors and they have sample selections grouped for possible combinations.

well, i went out and got a sample quart of bunglehouse gray and freaking hated it. yetch! as it happens none of the arts & crafts preservation palette SW colors do anything for me, but in the victorian grouping rookwood blue green has some appeal, so i'll try a quart o' that tomorrow. this paint selection thing is driving me bonkers and soaking me at the atm machine too. if anyone has any offbeat suggestions for a trim color and accent color for rookwood blue green, feel free to fire away! <br> and thanks again for the help.

I'm with ntuition, go to the web site for SW and see what they have for suggestions for rookwood or even grab one of the pamphlets they have offered. I think a coppery color would be really sharp with a blue green and then that vellum color you mentioned before or even that black you liked so much (maybe not with the copper though). Good luck. I thought SW offered those little sample jars of paint or is that just Ben Moore. <br>tanya

I just went and looked at some of the pics of your house and with those bricks I think the coppery/caramel or even mahogony would be really nice. There is another subject in here about the mahogony color with some pics. You can get a pretty good look of the color in the light if you check out the garage. <br> <br>On a whimsical side a red/white/blue house would be pretty cool with those brick pillars on the landing it would be quite striking. <br> <br>I don't know if you're up to this but if you were to go to a big box store and just starting pulling paint chips in colors that you like (both of you) you could get a better idea of what you want to do with this house. Don't overthink just see a color grab it, maybe make a time limit (that way you're too pressured to think about what you're grabbing) and then see what you've both chosen. Are there any colors you both grabbed? That is a starting point and build from there. Take the chips home and analyze in the light and weed out what you don't like. I did that with the red colors I was looking for on my trim. Amazing how a color can look so great in the store and outside is really nasty. Then I'd get the quarts of paint if you aren't sure. Then if it isn't quite right you can have them adjust to your liking and buy the gallons. <br> <br>good luck and above all try to have some fun doing this. If the painters keep pressuring you tell them to come back in a week or two. You have a long weekend to do some searching, heck get paint chips from several locations. I'm sure that SW (if that is who you want ot go with) can do a color match. Actually I know they can since I'm having them do a color that I got from Lowes. <br>tanya

It may help you to look at the 1912 Bungalow site and see what they went through choosing a color, this link tells the final decision colors: <br>http://www.1912bungalow.com/archives/2004/11/exterior_paint.php <br>I find them inspirational and informative- and say they found their color at Home Depot of all places, since they had so many colors. I can picture your house a green-ish color (but not a true green) with a dash of a red color on the sashes for interest and to bring in the color of the brick. A gray body with your roof and foundation would be too much gray. <br>Let us know what you decide! <br>

I don't think I better offer any suggestions since I am presently painting the lower half of my house Bunglehouse Grey(which I don't really find to be a true grey). I love it. <br> <br>Each to their own. That's what makes life intresting.

We are considering Bunglehouse Gray, which happens to look greenish gray for us. We think it will cover lots of imperfections on the siding of a 1910 house. MY SUGGESTION: put primer coat on the area around your left hand window. Let it dry. Then paint a 2 foot square with some Bunglehouse Gray (and maybe another 2 foot square with sage green or any other historic SW Bungalow colors). You do not have to paint in the lines, just keep away from any trim or windows. The bigger the surface painted, the more the color will look like it will on your house, which is not the same as on the paint chip! When you make your choice, your painters can just put more primer over your experiment. Good luck.

I chose Bunglehouse Grey for the lower portion of my house because it changes with the changing light, sometimes grey,sometimes green/grey, sometimes tan/grey. That makes it much more intresting to me than a color that is always the same in any kind of light. <br>