And the winner is ...... Benjamin Moore Hampshire Grey. My DH and decorator and GC all like this one best. I like the shade, I just worry that it may be too dark. DH makes a good point ... he said " we have watched and seen that professionals make their share of mistakes. SO we will try it. If it's a mistake, we will fix it." By the way, I am very grateful and impressed that the designer replied to my email: Here is the reply: "After looking in our records, I have found that the color used was a Farrow & Ball paint, number 1, Lime White, but due to the lighting and photography, the color is much more similar to Farrow & Ball's number 18, French Gray. " Honestly, as someone who has her entire family room in Lime White, and several bedrooms with Lime White trim, I do not think it could have been lime white. But there is our old friend, French Gray! Anyway, thanks all. Here is a link that might be useful: this is it, but its much darker in person, and greener too

Don't give up, mahlgold! If you look at the boxed out lower windows, the trim on the sides and bottom of the windows is stepped back from the upper piece - there's a name for that piece and it escapes me at the moment - anyway, it creates a very nice shadow line. That's really key - shadow lines are wonderful at adding depth and interest. As for the shutters, if you have more substantial trim, properly placed shutters would sit so that they are at the window edge, basically covering most of the side trim - and I can hear you saying 'then why add the trim???' Because it will show a bit from certain angles and the look it creates is not something you can fudge. If it's not there the shutters would be sitting flat on the house (as they are now) not angled back a bit. In an ideal world the shutter size would be so that if they were closed, they would meet in the middle of the window. In the real world, we can't always do that, but we get as close as possible and let the eye imagery do the rest. If you get reasonably close to half window width, it will look fine. I think a black door would look wonderful with Fairview Taupe or any of the earthy historic colors. However.....with your recessed door you might lose some of the detail and it might look like a hole. I love your brass handset - maybe consider a larger, more important looking door knocker as another way to brighten a black door. And if your handset is the forever brass that doesn't tarnish, make sure your door knocker is the same.

Brick and roof go together well... by intention Im sure. The yellow siding.... well.... not a fan. I would take one of the darker browns/charcoals from the brick and paint siding that color - would give the house more cohesive look - plus cream for trim (more flattering of red brick than stark white). Also as others have mentioned tackle the landscaping now - get your beds established, your trees/shrubs in the ground and growing. Also stain the concrete steps some compatible color. Then, long term work on your master plan - roof colors, windows - really taking time to come up with good budget and design. It sounds to me like your immediate goal is getting your exterior more presentable/appealing now but may not have budget for extensive re-doing of things..? Actually if youve moved in recently, its often recommended to live with a house for a while before committing to major overhauls.

I am a huge fan of Bonsai and I've given tours at Longwood about our collection. We also have a real one that DH created at a Longwood bonsai class. I think I would prefer orchids or something other than a Bonsai tree as your beautiful bowl is a bit deep for Bonsai. (The word "Bonsai" actually means, roughly translated, "shallow container with plant") Also, I know this is sort of splitting hairs, but Bonsai trees do not live indoors. That's why so many die, people think they will thrive on a coffee table. Ours lives outside unless the temps plunge. It isn't a big deal to take artistic license, I just prefer seeing them outdoors.