You're getting lots of good advice here gw, but didn't see this mentioned: don't paint in extreme heat. Not sure where you live, but that's just lethal to an outside paint job. DH and I had a crew of nearly a dozen friends/family lined up to paint our house pre-move in, lots of surface to cover. Was supposed to be ideal weather, and at last moment it got pretty hot. We were hustling to stay ahead of the heat and sun, or timing to stay behind it till siding cooled. Because odds were slim to none we'd get that crew assembled again and having so many other big ticket repairs, paying someone later was not an option. ;) Paint job was only meant to hide the fugly existing paint till we could afford to get siding, so when it started to fail I didn't get too upset. About the 3 year mark it started to blister and crack in small areas. 4th summer was much more pronounced. (There was something really funky underneath as well, tho, that was coming through.) But it wasn't long after that we were able to put up siding. It's a benefit you have all the time you need to do this job, just be warned about timing the paint application and avoid hot days!

Here's an interesting factoid. I had SW tell me what color is most like the color that's been on this house since I owned it (3 yrs now). I had an actual paint sample, right out of the can, albeit dried into the shape of the bottom of the can (heh). The existing color is/was very close to SW "Crushed Ice." And I'm tempted to use it again since it's slightly grayish but still very neutral. The SW rep suggested "Super White" for the trim as he said that's perfect for exterior use and has really good coverage. And THANK YOU Lindybarts, teachbls, and everyone else who is offering feedback and opinions. Keep 'em coming!

When we moved here the house was painted wood siding and the whole house was white. We put vinyl siding on and it is a pale yellow with bright white trim. When we put on a new roof 4 years ago it was a darker brown, but was never happy with the color. Thanks to a hail storm this summer we put on a new roof and it is multi colored lighter brown and looks a lot better than before. Funny thing is our old house was the same color, when we were deciding the colors for here we went with the same colors because we liked them so much. Stacie

We did not do the painting ourselves but did get references from the painter we did hire. Here's our before and after:We went around our neighborhood and compared paint choices on a lot of other houses to see how we felt about making changes. Originally I wanted a darker and slightly less intense teal, but the painter wanted to use a different brand of paint, and so I settled on a more intense color. It was exactly the hue that I wanted, and my brother preferred it, and now I am happy that we used this color instead. Our house is on the west side of Los Angeles, less than three miles from the beach, and so color schemes here are probably brighter than most parts of the country, except Florida. I'm very glad to be rid of the fake shutters, and I don't miss the planter shelf, even though it was original to the house from 1950. We never used it, and so it only collected dirt. The front yard is busy enough without it.