And the color is (drum roll...)

...Indigo Batik from Sherwin-Williams.

It makes me swoon.

A friend agrees, saying it's a good color for a South Carolina home. And, "it's got enough juju to scare away the haints."

Fine by me.

And, drum roll.... This is part of the north side of my house. Shot during the Southern Great Storm of 2010, which blew 8 inches through South Carolina in one day. (And melted in 36 hours). I peeked inside a wall inside my laundry room, which has the original siding in older colors, and found that this dark blue might have been the original color of the house. Good color karma.

i likee.

House color help!

Looking for a good dark gray -- a saturated color that still is warm....for the exterior of my house. Want to mimic those beautiful Portland, Ore. arts and crafts homes.

I have a gray now, with darker trim, but want to change to white trim.

I used a color application to mimic one of these colors -- this is Olympic Range from Sherwin-Willliams, sloppily on the left, with white trim.

Any other suggestions?

Impressions

I'm tidying up, clearing some space, taking out the garbage. It's a big day, and I want to make a good impression.

The plumbers are coming tomorrow to install a new faucet and kitchen sink.

Why am I so concerned with what these contractors think? After all, I pay them to do work.

Maybe it's that little hint of smug superiority when someone discovers that my big problem has an easy solution.

The heating guy was all full of himself ("This is a story I'm going to tell the guys in the office," he said, with a slight swagger in his voice) when he found out my programmable thermometer was wired wrong, triggering the heat AND the air conditioning, freezing me out of my home for THREE SEASONS.

Last week, another plumber pulled out a teeny black washer from my bathroom faucet and declared it fixed. Months ago, I dutifully replaced a cartridge (see "Drop by drop, draining" blog entry, if you care) but left an extra washer in the handle. It didn't take him five minutes.

I'm all grateful and that after a problem -- like the heating -- is fixed, but it reminds me that this home improvement thing is a lot more overwhelming, and I need a lot more help. And money to pay for the help.

UPDATE: Post-plumbing. "That sink don't fit." My bargain sink is going back, and an expensive one will take its place. Damn you, superior beings!!