[.ca] The Perfectly Painted House: A Foolproof Guide for ... (ISBN 1564968537)

Disappointing:
Anyone using this book as a means by which to choose paint colours, is making a huge mistake. Like most books of this genre, it is candy for the eye - you may be inspired, but to go out and use the same colours as in the book is foolish. The homes featured in this book are mostly country, or traditional. Any paint colour you choose is dramatically influenced by the architecture of your home, the climate in which you live, whether it faces north or south, etc. The homes in this book seem to exist in isolation on snowy plains or country acreage unobstructed by neighbours, power-lines, garages, etc. She does not talk about size at all. For example: a tall skinny home, with little architectural detail, painted fire engine red will not look nearly as charming as a cosy cottage with heavy moldings and shutters. There is little mention of accent, or trim colours. It is a flimsy read - if you love the idea of a yellow home (as I do) you will only find ONE yellow house. There is only ONE red house. A better book would have shown pictures of 4 or 5 homes, in different styles, painted red, yellow, blue, etc. We're talking about photographs here - why not include more? A better option for house paint ideas is to drive around your neighbourhood, which shares the same light, climate, etc. as your own. Find a few houses you really like, then ask the owners what colour they used.

BEST EXTERIOR COLOR BOOK:
This is a great book for anyone serious about choosing paint colors for their house with professional results. A wide range of house styles and color combinations are presented. The book starts out with a brief step by step for choosing exterior paint color. It provides instructions for actually painting the house yourself. This is followed with page after page of gorgeous photos of painted houses, and it includes the paint color used for each house. There are very few resources available on the subject of choosing color for the exterior of the house. The book is truly the best I've seen.

Not recommended:
I was disappointed in this book because I expected any book that is exclusively devoted to exterior house color and paint to have info that is not readily available for free on any paint and/or home improvement site for free. It did have nice photos, but few examples of each home style. Many of the color combos will be "dated" in just a few years too.

Great Book! Great Help!:
I have two of Ms. Krims' books, The Perfectly Painted House and The Perfect Palette. We bought a Federal Style home built in 1820 in downtown Fitchburg, MA for my husband's psychology practice last year. We consulted the book and decided on the Phelps Putty color, but kept the shutters black (although your choice of gray was stunning and I may do that in the future). The color suggestions along with the pointers on painting cedar shingles in the appropriate way yielded great results and we have gotten many compliments. Our next project is our own home and I chose the Glastonbury combo for my main floor and the Marblehead for our downstairs. Clearly Ms. Krims' books have been used and enjoyed. Thank you very much!

GOOD NEWS!!:
I am going to have my house painted this spring and have been dreading getting the color right. Then I found this book. Here's the good news: the paint colors are right there in the book with pictures of the painted houses. It's got the answers I was looking for. I think this book could be used by anyone with any style of house.