Wow, looks like Mr. Shaw and myperfectcolor is owed an apology - big time. ctlane - sure, I can explain why looking at the darkest color doesn't work. Even when it looks as though a strip of color is a nice, even, orderly stepping down (or up) from darkest to lightest, you have to consider how many factors change to arrive at those 5 or 7 colors on the strip. It's not just a backing down or reducing in the amount of colorants. That's why 'letting down' a color is so different from 'cutting' formulas. In the process of letting down the formula from darkest to lightest, various characteristics in the actual colors can shift - maybe ever so slightly. Viewing color in the context of a strip chip skews the reality of each individual color. When you take a color off the strip, out of that context and into the context of a three-dimensional room and unique inherent light, that new context will very likely enhance different parts of that color's character thus 'giving' it a different undertone than it appeared to have while on the strip next to the other paint colors. When you are working with the darker colors, the darkest color on the strip indicating undertone has a better chance of holding true. Most people don't choose to use the darker colors on the strip. We mostly choose the midtones to lighter colors - the range on the strip where colorant + base combinations become more complicated. This area is where there isn't one colorant in the mix that will unquestionably dominate taking the lead over all the other colorants to define an undeniable undertone. Those more complex, less direct, colors don't have such clear-cut undertones. Their undertones can only be established in the context of a room and among the other elements.

My thanks to all of you who posted comments, both good and bad. I can't begin to tell you how feedback about my florals opened my eyes, so I was able to change things for my next set of photos. I'd never think that removable "props" would turn someone off. I also have to say that you're taking it well and seem to appreciate the feedback. Those of us selling can now see our house through strangers eyes and what a potential buyer might think when seeing our house online. How the photos look will dictate whether they take the time to actually walk our houses. The last time our house was for sale we did not get any feedback, so I'm very thankful for this forum and hope that the feedback you got helps you. I noticed that the wallpaper in my home got some of the most frequent and critical remarks and it's left me wondering about something. Is wallpaper no longer in vogue in new or remodeled homes or is it that my particular wallpaper is not to the liking of most of you? I've walked a lot of new communities with model homes and can say that here they are still using wallpaper but not in all of the rooms. You might pick the nicest rooms to keep the wallpaper. I love the foyer wallpaper but not with the door color and not with the flooring. You might think to leave some of it up and paint other walls, using it as an accent. Back entrance wallpaper - I would take it down. Half bath - I like the wallpaper but not with the light fixture. Study - I've seen similar paper used in homes I've walked. Utility - dislike the walls - would sheet rock & paint 1st floor master - would paint 1st floor master bath - I like the paper but not for a room like this. I would paint and think about putting up beadboard 2nd floor master - while I like the top paper, I think it would look better painted. The wood on the door is much too dark. I'd also think about putting up a scarf on the windows, then opening the blinds for the photo. While I like pink, others do not :( Second floor vanity/dressing area - this paper you could get away with leaving. Bath 2, second floor - I would try to lighten this room up or leave the picture out. Living Room - I would paint this I also realize that the paneled family room is dated but my thoughts on that is to either paint the paneling a neutral color or rip off the paneling, put up sheetrock and then paint. I also want to install engineered wood flooring in that room and perhaps extend it in to the foyer where, I admit, the tile color is also dated. Another area of critical comments was due to my home having so much carpeting. Has carpeting also gone out of style or do I just have too many rooms with carpet? We just did this in the master bedroom. I would sheet rock. The carpet wouldn't bother me here. I'm one of the weird ones that actually likes carpet, especially for my bad back. Walking on wood floors kills me. BTW, the Saint Bernard that appeared in at least one photo and brought about a comment or two that some people wouldn't even consider buying a home where a dog had been passed away on June 10 much to my hurt. I'm in the process of cleaning up all traces of his presence here. That is, everywhere but in my heart! Very sorry for your loss. After 22 years, I still miss our German Shepherd.

I finally got my walls painted. Trim still needs to be done. In the end, I couldn't get the Mercury Glass at Sears, so I had my BM dealer match it. They had a formula in their database, but it came out a little "off", so they matched it to the chip and it really looked identical (and I am very color sensitive). I had it done in Aura paint. The color is simply beautiful. It is light gray with a subtle lavender/violet undertone. In some lights it takes on a bluish cast. It is highly changeable. I would be happy to share the BM formula with anyone who wants it. It looks fabulous with the exposed brick chimney. I will try to take some pictures later, but I don't think the color will photograph very well. It is too subtle and complex. Now I have to choose a trim color, and I really think a white, even a creamy white, will be too stark and cold. The existing trim color is a 1940's (yes it's been that long since it was painted) peachy beige. I might do a toned down version of that, as it is rather interesting with the gray. Thanks to all of you for your help. Anyone interested in the formula, let me know.

I'm in CA and used a local large custom-ish cabinet maker that does a baked on conversion varnish. We will see how it holds up, but they were (of course) confident in their product and contractors had good things to say about them too. Most people I talked to seemed to think as long as it was a heated finish rather than just painted it would wear well, regardless of where it was manufactured. I'm not an expert and have only had my cabs for less than a year though, so time will tell!