Just came across one of your posts about BM Aura. I see that you have used the color Tumeric and that is one color I have been considering. I have the sample color and would like to know if it is really dark? I want it for my dining room. I also am thinking about grasshopper and citrine for some other rooms. Do you have any pictures you can post? I painted my bedroom in thicket and love it. Used eggshell since the MBath will be painted this color too. The eggshell is wonderful. Does not have a shine to it at all. I agree with you that Aura is a great paint. I want to paint my whole house in these colors.

The cabinets I think were Cypress. I live in Louisiana & I have the remodel plans from the person that built the pool house addition & they call for cypress. That is a wood that is native to here but, the grain is much like an oak so maybe it is cypress or maybe it is oak. Anyway, there is definitely a grain to it. DH and i argued about the primer coats & how many to put. I won that won (not that it got me anything) because the ones I did don't show any graining with 2 coats of primer. The ones he did do. So if you have thick coat of stain and/or any top coat on oak, you have to sand really well first. Then 2 coats of primer are a must - IMHO. I can see the grain in the ones that DH did and it drives me nutso. Like the underneath of the upper cabs for example. If he had sanded better & done 2 coats of primer, I don't think you would see it since I don't see the grain on the other surfaces. Who knows though because they were custom cabs, the cabinet guy could have used other woods too. They are 8 years old. Don't be afraid though. It is a lot of work but, if you follow the advice on this forum, the result is worth it. The cabs are not that shiny, it's just the lighting in the pool house is not great. They are very pretty. To the poster that asked about DIY cabs, there are some, mostly though people rip out old and put in new. I think that totally depends on the age of the cabs and the condition. If you can save what you have you are technically "going green". How in vogue is that? If they are nasty and have no character to them, then you have to start over. I have seen several posts for people that re-did therofoil or whatever it is called. It is more detailed what needs to be done but, nonetheless, less than new cabs are. I have friends and have seen many posters whose cabinets were $75k. Wow, that's a ton of money. So if you can figure it out, use what you have! Go for it. A little at a time is fine too. If you hate your cabinets, paint them. There are many posters here that have black, blue, brown or white cabinets. All look good. If you can use what you have then a little paint is so cheap compared to new. To be honest, I have the same types of cabinets in my kitchen, laundry, DD bath in my 1950s/remodeled in 2000 house that are 8 years old. All of those cabinets, I will either paint or have painted professionally, the wood is not really nice enough to restain. The ones in my Master bath & guest bath that are original to the house and then painted from 1950, they are out. They are just flat front wood nothing cabinets. There is no saving those. Anything in the last 20 years thougth might be savagable. There are so many options for colors. I can post some colored cabinets from my inspiration file if you would like to see them. that will show you paint grade cabs that are just beautiful.

I actually find that all acrylic exterior paints set up too fast, not just Aura. Extender doesn't help enough either. Doors really need to be rolled and backbrushed. The roller is just used to get the paint on faster. You just need to be fast. Of course, DIY'ers are not fast and neither is every painter. Basically, the bottom line is that painting outside in the year 2009 sucks. I hate it and I'm a painter. The trend seems to be that manufacturers are making paints that are thicker and dry faster so it probably isn't going to get any better any time soon. I feel sorry for homeowners doing their own painting outside these days...truly I do. If I struggle to get decent results, how hard is it for them?

I love BM meditation, I used it on the trim of my house outside. I have a cream colored siding house, with the predictable black shutters and red door and white trim. I changed the trim to dover white and still wasn't happy, it took me 6 months of looking and I looked at everything but something grey/green and then 1 day the light bulb went off. That color was perfect, it went well with my roof shingles and grey-green is a great contract with yellows.I changed my shutters to a very dark Savannah green and painted my door, BM's Dinner Party. My house just pops now and looks so good with all the greens, greys, pinks in my yard. I learned a very valuable lesson that the right paint color is not one that I will naturally gravitate to.