Customer Reviews

Benjamin Moore's Paints The Art of Exterior Painting: A Step-by-Step Guide to Choosing Colors and Painting Your Home

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I have purchased several guides for painting houses in the "home improvements" category. They were fine for learning about painting a house, but I'm hiring painter, so I don't really need that information. What I need is help choosing the right color. Obviously I don't want to make a mistake. I already know that I want a yellow house. But none of the colors I have tested look right. They are all too bright or dark even though they look pale on the paint chips. When I saw this book, I noticed the phrase "choosing paint colors" right in the title, so I assumed it was the answer. But, I felt every bit as stuck at the paint store as I did before reading the book. My expectation was that I wouldn't have to start going through paint chips anymore, but the information in the book wasn't specific enough to be useful to me. The book did not meet my expectations.

I bought the book because I needed help figuring out what color to paint my house, but it really didn't help me. The book looks good, but what I need is help choosing colors. I returned it.

I thought this book would give me photographs of painted houses and their paint colors. Instead it gave detailed information on the paint process itself with scant few houses where the whole house shows. Its mostly pretty photos like the rooftop of a house with a weatherwane on it, or a window with a window box of flowers under it. Where are the painted houses? I can't figure out what color to paint my house using this book.

Painting a house or even thinking about it is no fun. I visited a Benjamin Moore Paint Store and browsed through the store's only copy of the book, The Art of Exterior Painting. The book is very well written with the basics of house painting described in detail and with color photos describing problems, solutions and ultimate results. The book impressed me so much I went home and ordered it via Amazon for my own reference as I plan to paint my house. An excellent PRIMER!

Obviously, since this book is printed by Benjamin Moore Paints, there will be a certain amount of self-advertising following it's advice on choosing the proper paints and equipment (like the recipies on the back of soup cans).
However, this book was a good primer (pardon the pun) for anyone who is compentant enough to paint the insides of a house, and is just starting to tackle the outside of their home.
I found it chock full of useful advice, but lacking in enough procedural details to be called a "step-by-step" guide.
It'll say things like "Strip and sand the exterior trim before priming" and I'll say things like "HOW?!?"