You'll find colour experts/fanatics on the Home Dec forum who might be able to help, especially if you post a picture of the house. I know just enough to know that some very subtle differences could make a real difference to the outcome. For example, there are whites, and whites, and then still other whites. If it's a cool white with blue tones vs a warmer white with yellow or pink tones, your choices may look different. Of course, it may just be a white white - ours was too, by the way, when we bought it; white all over, inside and out. I came to appreciate that as I started stripping paint and realized that at some point the house was likely sort of an acid jade green on all surfaces inside and out, as were most of the houses in this neighbourhood. We did paint the house, and I'm happy we did - not an original colour though. I'm not a huge stickler for maintaining original colours for the sake of authenticity. You obviously do feel that way, and I respect that, but I would question your belief that changing the whole house colour would be more work than merely painting the trim. You might like to visualize whether you'd be happy with white trim if you changed the house colour. This is because painting trim is more work than you might think, especially if you have three porches. Having said all that, with a base scheme of black and white, your range of colour choices is enormous, and personal taste is going to play a huge role, as will the kind of presence you want the house to exude. Obviously earth tones won't go (rusts, olives) as they go with beige, not white; nor beiges or navies, being too close to your two base colours. I tend to think soft pastels might be your best family to look at, and you could go either two-tone (light green and darker green) or two contrasting colours: blue and yellow, blue and pink, etc. Those would be a bit country, I suppose, or maybe a little feminine. If you prefer a really dressy look, grey might be your best option, perhaps with some black highlights to connect to the roof. Taupe and black might also work for that look. You might consider photoshopping a few ideas, or if you prefer the non-tech route, taking a few photos, printing them out, and colouring on them. I'm linking below to a blog entry by Maria Killam on choosing exterior trim colours in which she also talks about different whites. The rest of her blog may also be of interest to you. KarinL Here is a link that might be useful: Colour me happy blog

I picked up some paint chips yesterday. The 'cream' is Valspar Eddie Bauer 'Craftsman White', and I guess 'cream' isn't the right term, but it is a very warm white. The color we like for the living room is the same line 'Calico', kind of a brick red. We plan to do the typical tall Craftsman wainscoting, more than halfway up the wall, in the living room only. This would be the Craftsman White. On the other end of the house, in the kitchen, we would like a soft gray. The Craftsman White seems to go better with cooler grays as opposed to warmer grays, at least to my deficient eyes. It certainly is doable for the kitchen cabs. That leaves the DR in the middle. Is there any way to transition from the red LR to the gray kitchen? What kind of tones should I be looking for? The colors grouped with the Calico sample went to a brownish gold, and then a lighter gold, but that's not where we want to go in the kitchen. BTW- we are not married to the red LR- it was just a thought. We could work backwards from the kitchen, starting with the gray, and going to?? Another question- If we go with the very warm Craftsman White for trim, what color would we use on the ceiling? Try to match, or go with a typical flat white? There will be a fairly large crown molding. I really appreciate the help. Both my wife and I are pretty color-challenged. At the paint store, they all seem to be 'yes-men', agreeing with whatever we are looking at, rather than offering useful criticism. It's no wonder our old house was just white throughout! One thing that gives us fits is how much the colors change depending upon time of day, weather, and the seasons. We are out in the woods, and the colors look quite different on a cloudless winter day than they do on a rainy, green summer day.

try soy gel stripper. I use it all the time in my refinishing and it works great. cleans up with water, no harsh chemicals like the other strippers and there's no odor. those closet doors, are they down to bare wood or is there a finish still on them? like a clear coat of some kind? if not, why don;t you do a milk paint? (milk paint is not chalk paint, although you could also use that) I used milk paint on my own sliding doors in my bathroom. started w/raw wood and they came out great. if you don't want that, try General finishes Milk Paint (it's actually not a real milk paint but an acrylic). I've also used this on dozens of pieces as for the brown part on the stairs, what color do you want? I'd do black and redo the stair treads natural wood if you plan on removing the carpet. if carpet is staying, then just paint all the olive white and redo the wall color.

I would paint the window casing white, as well as all the trim. As for the floor, changing the color is not so simple.You would have to have the floor sanded down to the bare wood, stained and coated to change the color. It is definitely possible and if it were me, I would be willing to do that to get a less orange looking stain. Good luck!